---
title: "Valheim Save Editors and Parsers After 1.0: What Still Works"
description: "Which Valheim save editors and parsers work after 1.0, which to avoid, and how to edit a dedicated server world safely. Checked against 1.0.20."
url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/valheim/valheim-save-editor/"
category: "Valheim"
category_url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/valheim/"
published: "2026-10-28T03:26:08.370Z"
updated: "2026-10-28T03:26:08.370Z"
source_format: "markdown"
site: "GameServerKings"
---

# Valheim Save Editors and Parsers After 1.0: What Still Works

Iron Gate does not make a Valheim save editor. What exists in October 2026 is a handful of community tools, and since 1.0 changed the world save format, most of the older ones should be treated as pre-1.0 until their authors say otherwise. For a **character** (`.fch`), there is now a browser-based **Valheim Save Parser** that reads your file without changing it, plus a couple of brand-new editors we cannot yet vouch for. For a **world**, a 1.0 save is a folder of chunk files, and nothing well-established edits that format yet.

This page covers what each tool actually does, which one we would avoid, and how to edit a save safely when the world lives on a dedicated server.

> [!NOTE] Checked on 28 October 2026 against Valheim **1.0.20**
> Patch 1.0.20 shipped on Steam on 15 October 2026. Tool versions and dates below are from each project's own GitHub, Nexus or Steam page on 28 October. This area moves fast, so check the date on anything you download.

## Character files and world files are different problems

Valheim keeps the two apart, and the difference decides which tool you need and where the file is.

| | Character | World |
|---|---|---|
| What it holds | Skills, inventory, appearance, known recipes, per-character stats | Terrain, buildings, chests, boss progress |
| Format since 1.0 | One `.fch` file, **unchanged by 1.0** | A **folder** per world: `_main.N.fwl2`, `_main.N.db2`, a `.chunks` index and many `.chunk` files |
| Where it lives | `characters_local` on **each player's own computer** | `worlds_local`, on whoever hosts the world. On a dedicated server, that is the server |

Iron Gate said it directly when 1.0 changed the save system: "the new save system only affects world saves, character saves remain the same." That is why character tools survived 1.0 better than world tools. [Valheim save location and the 1.0 world folder format](/knowledge-base/valheim/valheim-save-location/) covers the paths and what each file in a world folder does.

> [!IMPORTANT] The server never has your character
> On a dedicated server, including ours, there is no character file to edit. Each player's Viking travels with them from their own PC or console. So an admin cannot fix a player's inventory or skills from the server side, and a "lost character" is almost always on another machine or account rather than on the server. If you want to change a character, the player edits their own file on their own computer.

## What the tools do, as of October 2026

### Valheim Save Parser (reads characters, does not edit)

This is the tool people mean when they search "valheim save parser". It is an open-source project by Melichor on GitHub, with a web version at `melichor.github.io/ValheimSaveParser`. It **reads** a character file and tells you things the game does not show:

- **Achievement Hunter.** What you are still missing for the 1.0 achievements: items to craft, pieces to build, creatures to kill, trophies and fish, filtered by the biome you have reached.
- **Upgrade predictor and cost.** How many Forge of Potential upgrades an item in your inventory will take before it breaks, replayed from the seeds stored in your character file.
- **Drop counters.** How far your character is from each rare drop. The tool reads those counters from the character file. That fits Iron Gate's 1.0.20 note that "pseudo-random drop logic will no longer be reset between player sessions".

The web page says the character file you choose "is never uploaded", so the parsing happens in your browser. The project started on 5 October 2026 and was last updated on 21 October. It is new, small and has no licence file, so use it as the read-only tool it is. It writes nothing, and that makes it the safe end of this list.

### Editors that write to the file

| Tool | Edits | Status on 28 Oct 2026 | Our take |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Rune** (asaphe/rune-workshop, GitHub) | Characters and 1.0 world folders | GPL-3.0, created 18 Oct 2026, local-only, backs up before writing | Too new to recommend. We have not run it |
| **Valkyrie** (Nexus Mods 3821) | Characters, plus cheat-flag cleanup in world chunks | Windows `.exe`, v0.1.0-beta. Its Steam guide was **removed by Steam** "because it violates Steam Community & Content Guidelines". The author's own text says two antivirus engines flagged the download and "a false positive has not yet been confirmed" | **Avoid** until that is resolved |
| **valheim-save-tools** (Kakoen, GitHub) | Maps and characters, via JSON export and import | Last release 1.1.3 on 3 June 2024 | Predates the 1.0 world folder format. Treat it as a pre-1.0 tool |
| Valheim Player Editor (Nexus 1536), the ankursundara.com CharData editor | Characters | We could not confirm 1.0 status for either | Unknown. Back up and test on a copy |

> [!WARNING] Never run a save editor because a video told you to
> At least one "Valheim save" repository that appeared after 1.0 has a template-filled description (a literal `{title}` placeholder) and no real history. That is the classic shape of malware bait. Stick to projects with source you can read and a real commit history, and never turn off your antivirus to run one. The Valkyrie author says the same about their own tool: "Do not disable antivirus protection or bypass blocks to run it."

### The cheat flag is less of a reason to edit than it was

A lot of 1.0 editing interest came from items wrongly marked as cheated. Iron Gate fixed that in the game: patch 1.0.20 (15 October 2026) "reset the cheated flag on all items and build pieces from previous versions, to undo the damage done by a bug in the initial 1.0 release". If that bug is why you were looking for an editor, update the game first and check again. Iron Gate has not said how its cheat detection treats a hand-edited save. Don't assume an edited character is achievement-safe. [Valheim's cheat flag and achievements](/knowledge-base/valheim/valheim-cheat-flag-achievements/) covers the rules and Iron Gate's own opt-out command.

## Editing a server world safely

On a dedicated server the world is on the server, so you never edit it in place. This is the routine we use:

1. **Stop the server** from the panel. A running server keeps the world in memory and writes it back on save and shutdown, so changes made underneath it are lost or, worse, half-overwritten.
2. **Take a panel backup** from the **Backups** tab ([how to create a backup](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-create-a-backup/)). This is your undo button.
3. **Download the whole world folder** from `.config/unity3d/IronGate/Valheim/worlds_local/` over [SFTP](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-upload-files-via-sftp/). Since 1.0 a world is a folder, so copy the folder, not one file out of it.
4. **Edit the copy on your own computer**, with a tool that explicitly supports the 1.0 folder format. Today that is a short and unproven list (see above), so test the result in single-player before it goes anywhere near the server.
5. **Upload the folder back**, replacing the old one, and start the server. [How to upload your existing world](/knowledge-base/valheim/upload-your-existing-world/) has the upload steps in detail.

> [!TIP] Most "edits" don't need an editor
> Most of what people want from a world editor can be done in the running game, without touching the files. You can change difficulty, raids and death penalty with world modifiers ([Valheim world modifiers](/knowledge-base/valheim/valheim-world-modifiers/)), reveal or reset the map, set boss keys, spawn or remove items with [console commands](/knowledge-base/valheim/valheim-console-commands/), or add 1.0 content to explored land with the Upgrade World mod ([best server mods after 1.0](/knowledge-base/valheim/best-valheim-server-mods/)). Those routes are part of the game or long-established mods. A file editor that is three weeks old is not.

If your group is still deciding how to host, a [managed Valheim server](/games/valheim/) handles the panel backups and SFTP side of this for you. The editing itself stays on your own computer either way.

## FAQ

### Is there an official Valheim save editor?

No. Iron Gate does not ship or endorse one. The game's own **Manage Saves** menu restores and deletes backups, but it does not edit anything. Every editor is a community tool.

### Do old Valheim save editors work with 1.0 worlds?

Assume not. 1.0 replaced the old `.db` and `.fwl` pair with a folder of chunk files, and a tool last updated before 9 September 2026 was written for the old format. Character files did not change at 1.0, so older character editors have a better chance. Still, back up and test on a copy.

### What is the Valheim Save Parser?

A free, open-source tool by Melichor that reads a Valheim character file and shows missing achievements, Forge of Potential upgrade outcomes and rare-drop counters. It reads only and does not modify the file. The web version says your file is never uploaded.

### Can a server admin edit a player's character?

No. Character files live on each player's own device, not on the dedicated server. An admin can give items or change things in the world with commands (Server devcommands is needed on a dedicated server), but cannot edit a character file they do not have.

### Will editing my save disable achievements?

Iron Gate has not said. What is documented is that cheat commands like `spawn` flag the character and the world save, and spawned items are marked as cheated. Expect an editor that adds items to be treated the same way, and keep an unedited backup if achievements matter to you.

## What to Read Next

- [Valheim Save Location and the 1.0 World Folder Format](/knowledge-base/valheim/valheim-save-location/): where character and world files are, on every platform
- [Valheim Cheat Flag: Do Cheats Disable Achievements?](/knowledge-base/valheim/valheim-cheat-flag-achievements/): what counts as cheating at 1.0, and the opt-out
- [How to Upload Your Existing World to Your Valheim Server](/knowledge-base/valheim/upload-your-existing-world/): getting an edited world back onto the server
- [Valheim Console Commands](/knowledge-base/valheim/valheim-console-commands/): the in-game alternative to editing files
- [Managing your Valheim server](/knowledge-base/valheim/managing-your-valheim-server/): backups and restarts as a routine

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