Bake a fixture

Bake a saved world once with valheim-test, then load it in later runs.

Purpose

A bake runs your mod once on an owned dedicated server and saves the world. It then publishes the saved world as an immutable fixture, and later runs load that fixture with --world-fixture. The bake never edits the source fixture or the game install. For the rest of server-load, see Valheim.Testing.NativeSmoke.

One-phase bake

Use a one-phase bake when your mod can prove its generated state is ready during one server boot.

valheim-test server-load --server-only \
  --mod ./bin/Release/net48/MyMod.dll \
  --world-fixture ./fixtures/poi-base \
  --bake-fixture ./fixtures/poi-baked \
  --before-save-command 'mymod_generate_sites' \
  --before-save-line 'OK: generated sites=' \
  --assert-command 'cli_extension mymod.testing/bake-ready' \
  --assert-line 'EXTENSION_RESULT mymod.testing/bake-ready ready=true'

If the bake succeeds, the command prints Baked fixture: and the destination, then a SERVER_LOAD_PASS line.

Option Meaning Required
--server-only Runs the owned server with no client. Yes
--world-fixture DIR Source: exactly one named world, directly or under worlds_local/. Without it, the packaged smoke world. No
--bake-fixture NEW_DIR Destination of the baked fixture. It must not exist. Yes
--before-save-command TEXT with --before-save-line PREFIX One-time change. Runs once, before the assertion. No. Give both.
--assert-command TEXT with --assert-line PREFIX One strict pinned command after the world accepts connections. Yes. Give both.

The tool hashes the source and verifies its disposable copy. It also checks the world's UID against the world's own metadata. Choose an assertion whose accepted reply means generation is complete. Make --assert-line specific enough to exclude a partial or refused result.

Option rules

The parser refuses these combinations:

  • --bake-fixture without --server-only. A joined-client bake has not been verified.
  • --bake-fixture with --hold or --preflight-only. A bake needs a completed run and a clean stop.
  • --bake-fixture without --assert-command and --assert-line.
  • --before-save-command or --before-save-line alone, or without --bake-fixture.
  • --assert-command or --assert-line alone, or --assert-command without --server-only.
  • A --before-save-command or --assert-command that holds control characters. Each must be one game command.
  • --scenario or --scenario-project with --bake-fixture or --assert-command. The scenario owns its assertions.

start and server-load-ab accept neither --world-fixture nor --bake-fixture.

What a bake does

  1. Checks that the server loaded the fixture's world UID.
  2. Waits until the server accepts a game connection.
  3. Runs --before-save-command, if you gave it, and requires --before-save-line.
  4. Runs --assert-command and requires --assert-line.
  5. Asks ValheimCLI for a save and requires the save number to advance.
  6. Lets the server save again at clean quit, with up to 300 seconds to quit.
  7. Fetches the saved world and checks its name and UID.
  8. Publishes worlds_local/<name>/ with fixture-manifest.json in the --bake-fixture directory. It publishes only when the whole run and cleanup passed.

The manifest records:

  • every output hash
  • the source hashes and UID
  • the selected mod hashes and the dependency-lock hash
  • the run ID
  • the confirmed save number and the final exported save number

Fails when

Case Result
An option rule is broken Exit code 2. The error and usage are printed.
Preflight refuses an input Exit code 3. REFUSED lines name the problem.
Assertion fails, save is unconfirmed or stop is unclean No fixture. Private evidence remains for diagnosis.
Destination already exists No fixture.
Export fails after the game run Exit code 1. The error is in evidence/fixture-export-failed.txt.

Load a bake

Load the baked fixture again to test persistence without the one-time action:

valheim-test server-load --server-only \
  --mod ./bin/Release/net48/MyMod.dll \
  --world-fixture ./fixtures/poi-baked \
  --assert-command 'cli_extension mymod.testing/generated-state' \
  --assert-line 'EXTENSION_RESULT mymod.testing/generated-state sites=12'

The run verifies fixture-manifest.json before it loads the world.

To check for an object such as the FullLifecycle marker, assert with cli_zdos_at X Z 8. Match its specific ZDO <prefab> line.

Ordered phases

server-load-phases runs two to ten strict server-load --server-only bakes in order. Each phase gets a new owned server copy. Its confirmed fixture becomes the next phase's input.

Write a plan:

{
  "schema": 1,
  "worldFixture": "/absolute/path/to/fixtures/base",
  "keepFinal": true,
  "commonArgs": ["--server", "/absolute/path/to/ValheimDedicatedServer"],
  "phases": [
    {
      "name": "generate",
      "args": ["--mod", "/absolute/path/to/Generator.dll", "--assert-command", "cli_extension generator.testing/ready", "--assert-line", "EXTENSION_RESULT generator.testing/ready ready=true"]
    },
    {
      "name": "decorate",
      "args": ["--mod", "/absolute/path/to/Decorator.dll", "--before-save-command", "cli_extension decorator.testing/place", "--before-save-line", "EXTENSION_RESULT decorator.testing/place placed=true", "--assert-command", "cli_extension decorator.testing/ready", "--assert-line", "EXTENSION_RESULT decorator.testing/ready ready=true"]
    }
  ]
}

Run it with two absolute paths. The output directory must be new:

valheim-test server-load-phases --plan /absolute/path/to/phases.json --output /absolute/path/to/new-private-run

On success, the command prints a PHASES PASS: line that names the final fixture and the evidence directory.

Plan fields

Field Meaning
schema Must be 1.
worldFixture Absolute path to the source fixture, or "packaged" for the toolkit's pinned small world.
keepFinal With true, the final checkpoint stays.
commonArgs Options every phase shares, as option/value pairs.
phases Two to ten phases, run in order.
name Distinct per phase. Lowercase letters, digits or hyphens, 1-40 characters.
args This phase's options, as option/value pairs.

commonArgs selects the server environment, loader, adapter and ValheimCLI bundle with --inventory, --server, --server-env, --loader-package, --adapter, --cli-manifest and --cli-files.

A phase's args can use --mod, --config, --plugin-file, --plugin-dir, --search-root, --optional-reference, --assert-command, --assert-line, --before-save-command, --before-save-line, --expected-log-error and --expected-log-reason. Each phase needs at least one --mod and its own --assert-command and --assert-line. The runner adds --server-only, --world-fixture, --bake-fixture and --output itself.

Output

Path Holds
phase-plan.json A copy of the plan.
phase-state.json The active phase, its state, input and checkpoint.
phases/ Each phase's private run evidence, for example 01-generate.
checkpoints/ Each phase's confirmed baked fixture.

Behaviour

  • Before phase one, the runner validates every phase's command. It also hashes the plan and every named input file and directory.
  • Before each phase, it refuses to continue if an input changed.
  • After a phase succeeds, the runner removes the previous phase's checkpoint, never the source.
  • With keepFinal: true, the final checkpoint stays. Otherwise the runner removes it.
  • With "packaged", the runner retires the generated source after a successful build.
  • A failed phase stops the sequence and leaves the last confirmed checkpoint for inspection. The runner exits with code 3 if the phase was refused, and 1 otherwise.
  • If the runner is interrupted, run valheim-test env status to find the active phase's run ID. Then run valheim-test env recover --run ID before you inspect or clean its checkpoint.

Limits

  • A native macOS dedicated server places the world briefly in the signed-in user's default worlds_local. If a world with the same name exists there, preflight refuses. Use another host or a separately named fixture.
  • Keep plans and evidence private. Paths, logs and game data can identify your machine or world.
  • One assertion runs per bake. For a longer event wait, use a PinnedServerRun scenario: see Valheim.Testing.GameSessions.
  • This page does not cover authoring terrain or biomes with Expand World.
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