Valheim Guide: How to Build a Fire Indoors

The campfire is one of the most essential craftable items in Valheim. You need it to help fight off the cold, cook meat, and keep various enemies from approaching your camp. A fire is also required to sleep and claim a bed as a spawn point. With that in mind, you’re probably wondering how to build a fire indoors since you’ll be cold otherwise. 

This Valheim guide tells you exactly how to do that. Luckily, it’s rather easy, and you don’t need too many tools or materials to do it. 

How to Build a Fire Indoors

To start, you’ll need:

• A hammer
• 5x stone
• 2x wood

Since it’s likely your shelter has a wooden floor, you must remove a piece of the floor by equipping the hammer, hovering over the floor tile you want to remove, and clicking the middle mouse button to remove the floor tile. A fire must be placed on the ground; it cannot be placed on a floor tile. 

After you’ve made a place for your fire, you can select the campfire from the building menu and place it on this bare patch of earth. 

Build a Chimney or Leave an Opening

Be sure to either build a chimney or leave several openings in your shelter so that the smoke from your campfire can escape. If you don’t, smoke will accumulate, and you’ll receive the “smoked” status effect, which can quickly kill you (thanks for the heads up, Ricky Fuentes).  

There are multiple ways to build a chimney or a shelter that allows for the natural release of smoke. A simple chimney is just a three-sided box in a corner or section of your shelter that exists through the roof, as seen below. You will need to put a roof on the chimney so that water doesn’t put it out when it rains. 

Just make sure the roof doesn’t trap smoke either. An easy roof to attach is the Thatch Roof Ridge 45 degree building piece, raised above the chimney.

Also, if your fire goes out completely, check to make sure there’s enough wood (fuel). If it goes out and then relights, it’s because the smoke can’t escape the chimney properly and is choking the fire. 

Other Ways to Build Campfires for Your Shelter

It’s worth noting that you can build a campfire on a natural rock formation if you’re building in a rocky area and want to incorporate the rocks into your building design.

You can also build a fire underneath your shelter if you’ve built a home on stilts. The fire will still provide the warmth you need to use your bed and sleep, though you’ll likely have a hard time cooking anything. 

Why Build a Campfire Indoors? 

Aside from needing it to set a spawn point with a bed, it is useful to have the campfire indoors to keep it from getting doused out by a storm. Protecting it with your roof ensures you don’t lose your spawn point if you die.

It’s also aesthetically pleasing if you’re going for a realistic build to have your fire trench in your hall to cook your meat over. 

That’s it for how to build a fire indoors in Valheim. The Viking-themed survival building game is currently available in Steam Early Access for $20. If you found this guide helpful, consider reading our other help articles, such as how to place map markers, how to find tin, and how to build a raft.