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Valheim guide: How to mark the map

Why you should use map markers

A Viking stands in a field in Valheim Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

Everyone who loads into the brutal world of Valheim will get their own procedurally generated map to explore. Clearing the fog of war throughout your playthrough can take hours (or seconds if you use console commands), but even with the whole map revealed, navigating can be challenging.

Valheim’s map only shows the most basic of geological features, so trying to remember where important landmarks are can be difficult. Thankfully, you can use map markers to customize what your map displays.

In this Valheim guide, we’ll show you how to read your map and use map markers to easily navigate through Viking purgatory.

How to use map markers

At the beginning of your adventure in Valheim, the only icons you’ll find on your map are your spawn point and (eventually) the location of the first boss you must defeat, Eikthyr. Everything else is covered in a fog of war, so even trying to make sense of your immediate surroundings can be confusing.

A screenshot of the map in Valheim
The map doesn’t offer much help at all at the beginning
Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

As you explore more of the map, you’ll discover different locales and biomes. Despite how much of the fog you’ve cleared, the map still won’t offer too much detail about your surroundings. As you run across abandoned buildings, places where resources spawn, or runes that offer up tips, you either need to commit those places to memory or use map markers.

In Valheim, there are five markers that you can place on your map:

  • A campfire
  • A building
  • A T-shaped icon
  • A circle
  • A rune with a circle in the center

You can use each of these map markers as much as you like. To set up a map marker:

  1. Open your map by pressing the M key on your keyboard.
  2. Click on the icon you want to place, which will highlight it.
  3. Double-click on the map to place your selected map marker.

If you don’t click elsewhere, you can name the map marker by typing in a name. Pressing the Enter key after typing in a name sets the name of your marker below it.

You can place a red X on any map marker by clicking once on a marker. You can use this to denote whether or not an abandoned building has already been looted, but you still want its location left on your map, for example.

To delete a marker, right-click on it.

A screenshot of a map in Valheim
Exploring the map with map markers
Image: Iron Gate Studio/Coffee Stain Publishing via Polygon

Valheim’s map is quite large, and it’s difficult to keep track of where everything is while looking at a bare map. Map markers make it easy to remember where key locations are so you can travel safely without getting lost. Use multiple map markers to customize your unique map, and don’t forget to name each marker.

The next level of puzzles.

Take a break from your day by playing a puzzle or two! We’ve got SpellTower, Typeshift, crosswords, and more.

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