Here's the thing: if you go to Steam to launch it, you may not find it. It doesn't show up in my offline library, along with other internet connection required games. That's why I go directly to the folder. I would imagine this would be true of players other than me. I make a shortcut just to make it easy.

btw: I was being sarcastic when I said it was complicated. It's really actually simple.

will this let me actually pause the game?

I doubt it. And in MP, it certainly wouldn't. In SP, just dump back to the character screen. Sure, it takes a bit to get back in, but you're perfectly safe.

A good addition would be a voted pause. In other words, if all players agree, the game can be paused. Either that or an "in-game" admin that can control the feature. Right now, it's like that for sleep, so it's not a foreign concept. You might want to post up asking for it, because it would be handy. I'll bump your thread if you do.

Does this extend to stand alone server LAN / Solo play?

That's a good question. Let me check.

I went in to the game, chose 'start server' and 'community server,' and it ran. Whether or not it would allow a connection from another computer on a LAN I cannot test at this time (I only have 1 Valheim here), and I have literally disconnected it from the network to test. If you routed all internet traffic through a specific machine, and disabled the internet while still having your system neighborhood in place, it might possibly work. Those additional machines would also have to be connected offline to Steam, of course. If you have a couple of accounts, you might follow up and then post your findings.

If you're thinking of setting up a LAN during a camping trip or something, I can see looking in to this, but otherwise, it seems like a lot of hassle.

I simply fire up Steam while offline. I boots, tells me it can't connect to the Internet and invites to enter offline mode. I accept. Steams loads. I go to my Steam Library as usual and run Valheim from there. I never use a shortcut to the exe. This simple method as never failed me.

Ahm why does it have to be so complicated. Turn off your internet connection or disconnect the cable. Start steam offline and play the game

Just out of curiosity, why would you need to do this? Unless you specific state that a world is a server upon logging in, you are effectively in SP mode.