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Where is the Valheim Save button? Or how to pause the game? These questions haunted me for quite some time now, and I am really sure I’m not the only one.
If you have the same dilemma and wonder how to save and/or pause in Valheim, well, you’ll be quite disappointed to find out that you can’t.
But I also have some good news I want to share with you because I know that, most likely, you don’t want to lose your progress, especially after you spend tens of hours with the video game developed by Iron Gate.
So let’s start from the beginning by mentioning that Valheim is still in early access, and although the option to save the game may become available later, as of right now, you can’t do that. By normal means, that is.
Fear not because there are two alternative methods. The first one is legit, while the second one is more of a walkaround.
How To Save In Valheim (Legitimately)
Even though the game doesn’t come with an actual button to save the progress, Valheim comes with an auto-save option.
Which, as you can guess, is the legit way to save your progress.
Simply put, the auto-save is activated whenever you quit the game. Yes, that’s when the game saves your progress. And although most likely you won’t be thrilled to use it, you should.
Why? First, because it will save you time, and second because Valheim doesn’t require a rocket rig. Meaning that loading your game takes only several seconds. Even my potato rig is fast enough.
Obviously, this is not the best way to do it, but it’s better than nothing, and it is extremely helpful, especially later in the game, before engaging a boss.
Early in the game (when you start building your workbench), for example, you don’t need to regularly save your progress because the threats you’ll face are not as dangerous as they look.
But, the moment you fully establish your settlement and begin exploring other regions (which are truly dangerous), you may want to.
That’s because it’s far better to Logout and waste 20 seconds while your game reloads than to retrace your steps once you get killed.
How To Save Progress (Not So Legitimately)
The second method is well not so fair, but it’s faster than the previous one.
What you need to do is to use a console command. To access your console, simply press F5, and here you’ll get to type various console commands.
When you are done, hit Esc.
In order to save your Valheim game/progress, you’ll have to type: imacheater. You’ll then see a small message (Cheats: True).
Yes, this command line basically turns ON/OFF your access to cheat and cheat codes in Valheim, but on top of that, it also allows you to save the game.
Now just type save, and your game is saved.
You don’t have to use any Valheim cheats or cheat codes if you don’t want to.
How To Pause
When it comes to pausing in Valheim, here things are even easier, meaning that you can’t.
The only option available at this point is to Logout. And honestly, you may want to learn this the moment you start your Viking adventure.
Keep in mind that even when you are checking the menu or the tutorials, or anything else in between, time passes.
That’s why if you need to take breaks, you have a guest or need to get dinner ready, you’ll have to Logout to actually pause the game.
If you don’t; when you return, things may look a bit different. Or may not even be there, as it happened to me while going out to buy a soda.
The whole lack of a true pause – to hit the loo, for example – is frustrating as all get out. I’ve gone back into my well-built house, hit ESC, and gone to get a beer, only to return to find I was killed in the interim. That is just shitty game play, IMO.