How to Install Mods on Your Vintage Story Server

Vintage Story has one of the easier modding stories. Mods are zip files, they go in one folder, and since version 1.16 the server sends them to your players automatically.

Get the mods

Download from the official mod database at mods.vintagestory.at. Check that the mod's version matches your server's game version, which is printed in the panel console at startup.

Install them

1. Stop the server.
2. In the panel open Files and go to the Mods folder in the server's data directory. Create it if it does not exist.
3. Upload the mod .zip files. Do not extract them. Vintage Story loads mods as zip archives.
4. Start the server.
5. Read the console. Each mod is logged as it loads, with its version.

Your players do not need to do anything

Automatic mod distribution means the client downloads the server's mods on connect. The first join after a mod change pauses while that happens. Players who prefer to preinstall can do so, but they do not have to.

The exception is a mod that is client side only. Those are installed by each player and are not sent by the server.

Check what is loaded

From the panel Console:

/mods list

This lists every mod the server loaded with its version, which is the fastest way to confirm an upload worked.

Configuring a mod

Most mods write a config file into ModConfig in the server's data folder on first run. Start the server once after installing, stop it, then edit the file that appeared. Editing before the first run is overwritten.

Removing a mod

1. Stop the server.
2. Back up your world. In Files, download the save from the Saves folder.
3. Delete the mod zip from Mods.
4. Start the server.

Removing a content mod leaves blocks and items in the world that no longer exist. Vintage Story usually handles this by removing them, which means player builds and chests can lose contents. Back up first, always.

After a game update

Mods are built against a game version. After the server updates, check the console for mods that failed to load, and update them from the mod database. A modded server should be updated deliberately rather than left to update on its own.