How to change the difficulty on a V Rising server
V Rising difficulty is a preset that overwrites sun damage, blood drain, enemy and V Blood stats, loot, and durability. Set GameDifficultyPreset in ServerHostSettings.json to Difficulty_Easy, Difficulty_Normal, or Difficulty_Brutal, then restart.
V Rising 1.0 added three difficulty presets: Relaxed (Easy), Normal, and Brutal. Picking one overwrites a bundle of combat and survival values, not just a label. Leave the preset empty if you have custom multipliers you want to keep.
This is not the same as Game Settings Preset in Startup (StandardPvP,
StandardPvE, and the rest). That loads a whole ruleset. Difficulty is
GameDifficultyPreset in ServerHostSettings.json.
What each preset changes
Numbers are multipliers against the default (1 = unchanged). The files use
Difficulty_Easy for Relaxed and GameDifficulty 0.
| Setting | Relaxed | Normal | Brutal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun damage | 0.75 | 1 | 1 |
| Blood drain | 0.75 | 1 | 1 |
| Enemy damage | 0.7 | 1 | 1.4 |
| Enemy health | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| V Blood health | 0.8 | 1 | 1.25 |
| V Blood damage | 0.6 | 1 | 1.7 |
| V Blood extra levels | 0 | 0 | +3 |
| Loot | 1 | 1 | 1.25 |
| Durability drain | 1 | 1 | 0.5 |
Boss mechanics (GameDifficulty) | Relaxed (0) | Normal (1) | Brutal (2) |
Relaxed is gentler sun, slower blood loss, and weaker fights. Brutal is a harder fight with slightly better loot and slower gear wear. Normal is the stock balance.
If you're unsure, start on Normal. Raising difficulty later is easier than walking back a Brutal server that is wiping the group.
Applying a preset overwrites the keys in the table, even if you already set them in
ServerGameSettings.json. Example: a unit health multiplier of 3 becomes 1 if you then pick
Normal. Leave GameDifficultyPreset as "" to keep hand-tuned values.
Change it on berrybyte
Back up your server
Open Backups and create a manual backup before changing world settings.
Open ServerHostSettings.json
In Files, open save-data/Settings/ServerHostSettings.json.
Set GameDifficultyPreset
Set "GameDifficultyPreset" to "Difficulty_Easy", "Difficulty_Normal", or
"Difficulty_Brutal". Use "" if you do not want the preset to overwrite your other
settings.
Save and restart
Save the file, then restart the server so V Rising loads the preset.
Change it on any server
Same files if you self-host or use another host. The persistent data path is
save-data on berrybyte (-persistentDataPath save-data). Elsewhere it is
whatever you passed to -persistentDataPath, with a Settings folder inside.
Stop the server
Stop it so a running process cannot write over the file on shutdown.
Open ServerHostSettings.json
Edit Settings/ServerHostSettings.json under the persistent data path. You can copy the
default from VRisingServer_Data/StreamingAssets/Settings/ if the file is not there yet.
Set GameDifficultyPreset
Set it to "Difficulty_Easy", "Difficulty_Normal", "Difficulty_Brutal", or "".
Start the server
Start it again so the preset applies.
The official preset files live in
VRisingServer_Data/StreamingAssets/GameDifficultyPresets/
(Difficulty_Easy.json, Difficulty_Normal.json, Difficulty_Brutal.json).
Those are the values in the table above.
Tune individual values instead
If you only change "GameDifficulty" in ServerGameSettings.json (0, 1,
or 2), you change boss behaviour (simpler vs Brutal phases). You do not
get the health, damage, sun, blood, loot, or durability bundle unless the
preset is also set, or you copy those keys yourself.
To mix, for example Brutal bosses with easier trash mobs, leave
GameDifficultyPreset empty and edit save-data/Settings/ServerGameSettings.json
directly. If that file is missing, copy the default from
VRisingServer_Data/StreamingAssets/Settings/.
Once the server is back online, the new difficulty applies immediately. There is no in-game confirm step.
If the server will not start after an edit, check the JSON is still valid (a missing comma or quote is the usual cause) before opening a support ticket with your server linked.
Frequently asked questions
What does each V Rising difficulty setting change?
Relaxed (Easy) cuts sun damage and blood drain, and makes enemies and V Bloods hit softer. Normal is the default balance. Brutal keeps sun and blood at default, but enemies hit 40% harder, V Bloods hit 70% harder with 25% more health and 3 extra levels, loot is 25% better, and gear durability drains half as fast.
Where is the V Rising difficulty setting stored?
GameDifficultyPreset in save-data/Settings/ServerHostSettings.json. Valid values are Difficulty_Easy, Difficulty_Normal, and Difficulty_Brutal. Leave it empty if you want to keep custom multipliers in ServerGameSettings.json.
Does changing difficulty affect a server that's already being played?
Yes. The preset applies to the whole world on the next restart, including characters already playing. Back up first, because it also overwrites related multipliers you may have tuned by hand.
Can I set a difficulty other than Relaxed, Normal, or Brutal?
The three presets are the built-in bundles. Leave GameDifficultyPreset empty and edit ServerGameSettings.json if you want a custom mix, such as Brutal boss mechanics with easier enemy damage.