Valheim keyboard, mouse, and controller
Combat, hammer building, map pins, and how to open the cheat console.
Valheim 1.0 ships with full controller support on Steam (Windows, Mac, Linux), Xbox One, Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2. The mouse-and-keyboard layout is still the fastest way to build, but a pad is entirely playable through Kall Fimbulbringer if you remap a few face buttons. This page is the practical map of those inputs, not a screenshot of the options menu.
Rebind anything under Settings before your first troll. Then run the Getting Started loop so the keys have a job. If you are hosting, skim Multiplayer so chat and the join code are not a surprise mid-raid.
Movement and world keys (PC)
WASD moves. Space jumps. Hold Shift to run (this is a stamina dump; walk when you are exploring). Hold Ctrl to crouch and sneak; deer and Greydwarfs both care. E uses, opens, and picks up. Auto-pickup grabs most drops at your feet; turn it off when you are standing in someone else’s ore pile.
Tab or I opens inventory. G (and M on many default layouts) opens the map. Pin copper, crypts, and boss altars the moment you see them — fog of war does not come back. Q fires your equipped Forsaken power. Keys 1–8 are the hotbar; put food, a hammer, a shield, and a bow on it so you are not digging through bags in a raid. Enter opens chat. X sits, which is how you start the Rested timer at a fire. Z toggles auto-run on long trails.
Hold E on a bed, portal, or chest to claim or rename it. Middle-mouse (or the ping bind) drops a world ping your group can see. That ping is how console friends mark a Gammeltroll without typing coordinates.
Combat: attack, block, specials
Left mouse is the primary attack. Right mouse blocks with a shield or weapon. Stamina pays for both. A perfect parry (block the instant the hit lands) staggers most creatures and opens a heavy punish; learn it on Greylings before Bonemass. Middle mouse is the secondary / special attack: charged melee, knife backstabs after a crouch, bow zoom on some weapons, and later magic casts.
Dodge by blocking and tapping jump while moving. It costs stamina and has iframes. Do not dodge-spam in the Deep North; stamina is the death bar there. Weapon types matter more than raw numbers. Pierce bows melt The Elder. Blunt maces exist for Bonemass. Fire arrows are not a personality, they are a plan. See Bosses and the weapon tier list before you spend a weekend on the wrong silver sword.
Food is part of the control scheme. You eat from the inventory or hotbar; you cannot drink a frost resist mead with the map open and expect it to land if the slot is full. Keep three foods and one mead on 6–8. The food guide explains why three raspberries is not a build.
Hammer, hoe, and the build menu
Equip the hammer and right-click to open the build menu. That menu is the entire building game: floors, roofs, crafting stations, furniture. Left-click places. Scroll wheel rotates. Q and E in build mode cycle pieces inside a category on keyboard. Middle-click often snaps to a grid. The hoe flattens and raises ground; the cultivator plants. In the Deep North you also need the shovel — snow has to be cleared or the piece will not sit.
Workbench radius is a hard wall. If the ghost piece is red, walk closer to a bench, or build a second bench. Stations need a roof to function. Repair is not a key: hover the damaged item at the matching station and click the repair tab. On a controller, the build menu is a radial / category list; give yourself a dedicated “rotate” button in the pad map or you will hate every roof.
Controller, consoles, and shared binds
Xbox, PlayStation 5, and Switch 2 use the same logic: left stick move, right stick look, south face jump, east face interact, bumpers or triggers for attack and block, a hold for the build menu, a back button for inventory, and a dedicated map button. The Forsaken power is usually a d-pad or a hold on the power slot. Camera invert and look sensitivity are worth ten minutes in a Meadows field.
Gyro and mouse on Switch 2 help bows. On PlayStation, Adaptive Triggers do not change damage; ignore the haptics and watch stamina. Split-screen is not a thing — every player needs a copy and a network slot. The ten-player cap is the same on pad and keyboard.
Console, cheats, and dedicated servers
The in-game console is not on by default. Enable it in Settings → Gameplay, or add -console to the Steam launch options. Press F5, type devcommands, then the cheat. god, ghost, fly, tod, spawn, and exploremap are the usual suspects. Cheats disable achievements on that character. Dedicated servers do not get a free F5 window; admins need extra setup (admin list, server commands) documented on Codes. Do not type devcommands on the viking you intend to finish Kall Fimbulbringer with.
If a bind fights the hammer menu, change it before the Plains. Reset to default, then change one key at a time. Once the pad feels invisible, go back to Getting Started.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common Viking questions.
How do I open the Valheim console on PC?
Enable it under Settings → Gameplay or launch Steam with `-console`. Press F5, then type `devcommands`. Full command lists are on Codes.
What does middle mouse do?
In combat it fires the secondary / special attack. With the hammer, right-click opens the build menu and middle-click often snaps placement. See Building.
Is there full controller support on PS5, Xbox, and Switch 2?
Yes. Valheim 1.0 has full controller support on every platform, including crossplay sessions described in Multiplayer.
Which key uses the Forsaken power?
Q on keyboard. On a pad it is a d-pad or hold on the power slot. You equip a power by hanging a boss trophy at the spawn stones; see Bosses.
How do I sit to get Rested?
Press X near a fire under shelter, or use the sit emote on a controller. Comfort furniture extends the timer; Building covers comfort.
Do cheats disable achievements in 1.0?
Yes. Once `devcommands` is on, that character stops earning the 1.0 achievement list. Keep a clean save if you care; details stay on Codes.