The map of Valheim is huge, and traveling across it can take you many hours. It is particularly annoying when you have to sail around large islands and then run out of wind. Players have now found a way out: they dig channels themselves.
What kind of technique is this? Valheim allows you to adapt your world through terraforming. This way, you can excavate hills and ditches – and in some cases, a channel to pass through with a ship.
If you dig deep enough, you will often encounter water at sea level. Some players take advantage of this to create a channel through the islands on the huge maps of Valheim.
You can see how that looks in this clip from Reddit, where a player has dug a channel for his Karve to connect a lake and the ocean:
What is the benefit? With this technique, you can use your ship to travel straight through a large island instead of around it. This way, you reach different places faster – for example, to the swamp to mine iron. You can still cross the channel with a bridge.
This is especially useful if you want to cover long distances without a portal or transport ores. Make sure to dig deep enough, or your ship won’t be able to pass. A Karve shouldn’t have any problems, but for a Longship, you’ll need to create the channel properly.
Channels and Terraforming in Valheim – Here’s how to do it
How do I create a channel? You only need two tools: a pickaxe and a hoe. You can easily lower land with the pickaxe, and with the hoe, you can raise areas or even lower them further than intended.
To create a channel, you should stand at a low point on one of the two banks you want to connect. Dig deep enough to just barely stand and then start using the pickaxe to tear down the surrounding heights.
Stand a little away from the wall, or you’ll also raise the part you’re standing on. A pickaxe lowers the height of the part in front of you to the level at which you are currently standing. In our guide, we explain to you how to get a pickaxe.
This is important because you can usually only dig eight meters deep. However, if you are already at a deeper point and hit a wall in front of you, it will be instantly demolished regardless of its height. YouTuber Slindrep shows more terraforming tricks in his video:
Tips and Tricks for Terraforming: If your channel is not deep enough, you can use two tricks to dig even deeper. The first trick is the “legal” one. Equip your hoe and select the “Flatten” function.
Stand on a point that is lower than the one you want to adjust. If you can’t reach it because it is underwater, place a wooden floor above it and stand on it. It will calculate your distance from the bottom of the world, not from the ground you are standing on.
If you flatten the ground from there, you will lower it another notch – in most cases deep enough for a Longship to traverse the channel without issue. Alternatively, you can take the route through admin commands if you own the server:
- Open the console with F5
- Type “imacheater” and confirm to activate commands
- Then type “debugmode” and confirm
- Close the console and press the “Z” key
You are now in flight mode and can fly up and down with the Ctrl and Space keys. With the pickaxe, you can continue digging even underwater – at least for a few blocks.
By the way: If the wind plays tricks on you, the power of the fourth boss, the Dragon Mother Moder, can help you. When you activate her power, you will always have the wind at your back while sailing for five minutes. This way, you will never experience calm. In our guide, you can find out how to summon and defeat all bosses in Valheim.
