Mods

A sample screenshot of a list of available mods

In Space Engineers, players can modify the game content by installing Mods. Mods are unofficial and free, and are different from official paid DLC. Mods add monolithic functionality and are easier to install and keep up-to-date than for example in-game Scripts.

Typically, you download community-created mods from a public Workshop, but you can also learn to write your own mods. You enable mods for each saved world from its World Settings screen.

Should I install mods?

For new players, it is recommended to learn the base game (so called “vanilla”) first. Only if you need to fix a “quality of life” issue or want to modify blocks or game mechanics, then start looking into mods.

How to install mods

Since you install mods into each game world individually, you can have several combinations of mods downloaded and play each modded world without having to quit and restart the whole game, like many other games require. This gives players much more control, especially when resolving mod conflicts.

Community mods are hosted on mod.io, or on the Steam workshop, or stored in local folders:

1. Go to one of the workshops and search for interesting mods.
   Tip: When searching the Steam Workshop, use the "type:mod" filter!
2. Log on and subscribe to the mods of your choice.
   Subscribing will download them into your local mods directory.
3. Open Space Engineers and click Load Game.
4. Select a game save and click Edit.
5. On the World Settings screen, click Mods.
   A window opens that shows subscribed mods on the left and active mods on the right.
6. Enable individual mods by moving them to the right side. Disable them by moving them to the left side.

How to update mods

When loaded from a Workshop subscription, enabled mods auto-update when you re-open a modded world.

Tip: In the Steam Workshop, mods that belong together can be grouped in a Steam Collection for easier installation. Similarly, when joining a Multiplayer server that uses mods, all required mods are automatically identified and downloaded to your instance.

See also Troubleshooting below.

Mod Troubleshooting

If mods are trying to modify the same SBC file, and you may see error messages in the log file. Identify mods with potentially overlapping effects and re-order them in the Mods list under World Settings>Mods before loading the world again. Sometimes it's possible to find a load order that is compatible, but not always. Also, read the notes by the mod creator who may be recommending load orders that are known to work.

If it says you cannot join a server because of a "version conflict", either your game or the mod versions are outdated. If mods do not auto update, try unsubscribing and resubscribing to the mod or mod collection in the workshop.

To find the path were your mods are stored by Steam on the hard drive, see Modding.

If you get crashes or errors, there's a list of known solutions to crashes or errors.

Differences Between Mods on PC and Console

Microsoft and Sony do not allow executing script mods on their Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

If the script mod is installed on a dedicated server and fully runs on a PC, console users can join the hosted game and use the script mods there.

Beyond that workaround, Xbox and Playstation players can install only SBC mods. SBC mods, much like other non-core game files, are written in an human-readable XML format by Keen. They do not contain any C# scripts that would run on the console itself. An example of an SBC mod that works on consoles is Reddit Custom Encounters by Meridius_IX/Lucas.