Frequently Asked Questions

You can find answers to frequently asked questions on the modding discord (and about modding in general) here.

Consider using your browser’s Find on Page functionality (usually Ctrl+F) to quickly search this page for key words in your question.

Is there a question you see asked a lot and would like to see it here? Feel free to discuss them on the Discord Server, or add them yourself via the 'Edit this Page' button in the top right.

How do I install mods?

The first step is to download the Satisfactory Mod Manager. You can get it from ficsit.app, or by clicking here.

Next, follow the steps below:

For Windows 10:

Steps to install SMM on Windows 10

For Windows 11:

The installation process should be similar to that of Windows 10, but if you encounter a popup like this:

Windows 11 "Search for app in store?" popup for untrusted installers

Ignore it because it is not correct. Instead, right-click on the installer in your file manager and go to the properties tab.

The properties window for the SMM installer

Click the "Unblock" box and hit OK or Apply. Then try running it again, and it should work. Refer to the above illustration for the rest of the steps.

How do I turn off mods?

Or: 'How do I disable mods?'

The mod manager handles putting mod files in the relevant locations in your game install. If you launch the game outside of the mod manager, those files will still be in those folders, so you will still have your mods loaded. If you want to turn off mods, you must disable them from the mod manager so the files get removed.

If you want to turn off a single mod, press the pause button next to its name in the mod list.

To turn off mods entirely, flip the "Mods" switch in the top left corner of the mod manager.

Satisfactory Mod Manager Off Switch

If for some reason this still doesn’t work, delete the "Mods" folder from your game’s install directory.

The mod manager can’t find my game!

You might see error messages like: - No Satisfactory Installs Found

SMM queries the APIs of the Epic and Steam game store apps to determine where your game is. If you manually moved the game files after installation, your installer client will not know where it is. We do not support pirated copies of the game.

If you’re playing on Steam, you need to point Steam to the new library folder. To do that in the top left click "Steam", select "Settings", in "Downloads" tab press "Steam library folders" and add the folder that you moved your game files to. More information can be found on this Steam help page.

If you’re playing on Epic Games, you have to reinstall the game as Epic Games Launcher does not have an option to locate the game files.

Moving or reinstalling will not affect your save files.

Can I add mods to a save I’ve already started?

It varies depending on the mod, but in general, yes, this is totally fine. The mod should say on its mod page on ficsit.app if it can’t be added to an in-progress game.

Do mods work with multiplayer?

It is up to the mod developer to support multiplayer. Check the mod’s page on ficsit.app for information about multiplayer support.

If the mod page doesn’t say, try it out yourself and see!

Are Satisfactory mods safe?

Or: 'Why does Satisfactory Mod Manager trigger my antivirus?'

Using Satisfactory mods is safe, as long as you only download mods from ficsit.app and install them via the Mod Manager.

All files uploaded to ficsit.app are tested for malware and such before they are approved for download.

Your computer may claim that the Mod Manager is unsafe when you try to open it. This is because the mod manager does not have a signing certificate. The certificate costs hundreds per year. It’s completely unnecessary for normal operation, and not worth it to pay for it.

But rest assured, this community created Satisfactory Mod Manager from scratch. We all use it. Provided you only get it via https://smm.ficsit.app/ we can assure you it is safe. You can find the source code for it here: https://github.com/satisfactorymodding/SatisfactoryModManager

How do I use <insert mod name here>?

It is up to the mod developer to inform you how to use their mod. Check the mod’s page on ficsit.app for documentation.

Generally, most mods will require you to unlock something in the HUB or MAM before you can use them. Mods can be configured from the 'Mods' tab on the main menu, or from in-game via the 'Mod Configs' tab on the pause menu.

Do mods work with Experimental?

It is up to the mod developer to support Satisfactory’s experimental branch. Check the mod’s page on ficsit.app, or the mod manager extended details, for support.

Once you’re on the page, check mods' Compatibility via two stickers found in the description. The rocket icon indicates Early Access and the flask icon is for Experimental.

In the Mod Manager:

SMM Compatibility Info screenshot

On ficsit.app:

ficsit.app Compatibility Info screenshot

You can hover over the sticker for any notes that may have been left by the author. They may indicate a version to use, which you can change to in the Mod Manager with the dropdown right above the stickers.

  • Green - Working: The mod should be functioning as intended.

  • Yellow/Orange - Damaged: Something is wrong with the mod that is causing it to work improperly, but it is partially working. Be sure to click the icon to see an explanation of what is going wrong!

  • Red - Broken: This mod is suffering from a critical problem, and could do things like crash your game at launch if you were to install it. Be sure to click the icon to see an explanation of what is going wrong!

Please note, these are updated manually, and may be slightly out of date. If you find a mod that is missing its stickers or ones that seem to be incorrect, please let us know in the Discord (including a SMM debug zip if it does not work is useful as well!) and we will investigate and update the info if necessary.

Satisfactory Mod Manager is open, but I can’t see it’s window!

The program’s window somehow got offscreen. We’re still not sure what causes this. To fix it you need to edit the %appdata%\SatisfactoryModManager\settings.json file and within the windowLocation property, set the x and y to 0 to bring the window back on the screen.

Restart SMM after you do that.

Where do I get help with a mod that is not in the mod portal?

We try to keep everything we work on organized through the ficsit.app mod portal. If you need help with something that isn’t there, check the mod’s information page for a mod-specific discord to join, or ask nicely in the #help-using-mods discord channel.

What happens if I open up a save without mods installed?

If you were to load up a save file without mods, all of the content from those mods will simply vanish from the save, and the game should load just fine with no modded content.

Keep in mind that after saving the game after loading it with no mods, the modded content would be permanently gone from that point on. So, if you want to keep modded content, don’t play in that save without your mods installed!

If you ever load a save without mods by accident, just quit the game without saving and launch the game with your mods, your content should still be there.

How do I make my own mod?

If you’re looking to write your own mods, we suggest you start with making blueprint mods first rather than C++ mods. Check out the Getting Started Guide and consider picking up the Aspiring Modder role in our Discord's #rules channel.

How do I share my mods with my friends for multiplayer?

You can use the Mod Manager’s profile import/export functionality.

SMM Import/Export screenshot

Where can I find the game’s log files?

You can find various log files at different locations:

  • In your game install folder, pre-launch-debug.log and SatisfactoryModLoader.log

  • At %localappdata%/FactoryGame/Saved/logs, where FactoryGame.log is located

The easiest way to gather logs is the Mod Manager’s "generate debug info" feature:

SMM Generate Debug Info screenshot

Where are my game files located?

The answer to this question depends on if you installed the game via Steam or Epic.

On Steam:

Browse Local Files on Steam

On Epic: (Note that the Early Access and Experimental branches are separate entries with separate install directories!)

Browse Local Files on Epic

How do I verify my game files?

On Steam:

Steam screenshot

On Epic:

Epic screenshot

Why is the mod manager downloading slowly, or failing to download?

You might see error messages like:

  • Unexpected error while downloading file: getaddrinfo ENOENT github.com

  • Unexpected error while downloading file: read ECONNRESET

  • Unexpected error while downloading file: unable to verify the first certificate

  • Unexpected error while downloading file: self signed certificate in certificate chain

Internet restrictions, and sometimes VPNs and proxies, mess with our services. To work around this, download the mod files mentioned in the error message from SMR manually. If they are named [modname].zip rename them to [modname].smod, then place the file into %localappdata%\SatisfactoryModManager\downloadCache\smlVersions\[the SML version you need] for SML and %localappdata%\SatisfactoryModManager\downloadCache\mods for everything else.

You can also try using a proxy or VPN.

The mod manager can’t download any mods

You might see messages like:

  • error while downloading file […​] Premature close

  • Error 3 attempts to download <ModName> failed

  • Error: Unexpected error while downloading file connect ETIMEDOUT

Your internet speed is likely too slow and the download is being cut off early. Try disabling the mod manager’s timeout as shown below.

Timeout disable screenshot

How can I troubleshoot crash issues?

The easiest way to gather logs is the Mod Manager’s "generate debug info" feature and send the file on the Modding Discord’s #help-using-mods discord channel.

SMM Generate Debug Info screenshot

You can also follow this process to track down which mod(s) you have installed are leading to a crash (or other undesired behavior):

Troubleshooting flowchart

How can I tell what mod added an item/milestone/recipe/thing?

Consider using TFIT - The Ficsit Information Tool and MAM Enhancer mods which add tools to help you identify content.

I’m having VRAM issues, how do I fix them?

If you’re having trouble with VRAM usage it’s important to understand the two things that are the biggest contributions: graphics settings and texture content. Other things contribute, but there are a smaller fraction than these. Additionally, with multiple monitors and/or other programs running, they will also eat up available VRAM, so consider closing extraneous programs especially things that are highly dynamic like streaming apps.

The more mods you use that add more texture content, the more they will eat up your VRAM. This is a direct relationship that can’t be change by any settings or details from the user’s end. It is unlikely to be a single mod causing the problem. It is a death by a thousand small cuts and every mod author has to do their best, but more content means more space is used.

If removing mod content is not desirable the other option is to adjust your graphics settings. Even at minimum there are extensive options Unreal provides for you to tune it even lower. These may cause unforeseen glitches and issues so be careful with them.

Can I put the Mod Manager on a drive other than my C drive?

In order to change the location where SMM caches the downloaded mod files you need to create a symlink for the SMM cache folder.

  1. Close SMM

  2. Move the folder %localappdata%\SatisfactoryModManager to a drive that has enough space. You can rename the folder to something like SMMCache if you want to make it easier to remember what that folder is.

  3. Open Command Prompt as admin and run this command mklink /D "%localappdata%\SatisfactoryModManager" "The\New\Location", replacing The\New\Location with the path of the new folder location (for example D:\SMMCache).

  4. Open SMM and download a mod to test and make sure the change has taken effect.

Why are my game’s textures blurry or low resolution?

No particular mod causes your textures to be low resolution - it’s a base/engine game bug that can be exacerbated by mods. Unreal engine "streams" in low resolution textures at first and then gradually loads better versions. This process is getting stuck and thus some textures stay low resolution. In terms of fixing it there’s three different things you can try.

  1. Try swapping your graphics mode between DX12/Vulkan/etc. Different people have different levels of success with each.

  2. Randomly pick mods that add a lot of new textures you aren’t that into and uninstall them. It’s never a specific mod.

  3. Try turning down some graphics settings or upgrading your graphics card. The issue has been reported on 30XX series though.

How do I start the game with launch arguments?

Launch arguments are special options passed to the game at startup to control its behavior.

The process for specifying them depends on how you are launching the game:

How do I get the Experimental or Early Access Branch of the Game?

On Steam, right click the game, select properties, select the betas tab and opt into Experimental in the dropdown list. "None" is Early Access and "experimental - experimental" is Experimental.

Steam Installer

In the Epic Games Launcher they should be available as separate games. If either is not there, try restarting the launcher. Epic Installer

How do I backup my save files?

It is suggested to routinely and especially when the game updates, to backup your save files. You may copy them to the same disk/drive, a USB stick, the cloud, or anywhere you feel would make your save files be safe.

Both Steam and Epic Games version use the same PATH depending on OS used.

Windows (either Path will work)

Path 1:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\{YOUR ID}

Path 2:

\Users\<your Windows username>\AppData\Local\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\{YOUR ID}

If you cannot find your steam save folder (probably because you have owned the game in Epic and just bought the Steam copy recently), first start a new game with Steam, then save the new game. You should now be able to see your steam save folder beside epic. The steam ID is usually shorter than the Epic ID. The folder location is stated above.

Linux using Steam Play:

~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/526870/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Local Settings/Application Data/FactoryGame/Saved/SaveGames/{YOUR STEAM ID}

Steam:

~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/526870/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/FactoryGame/Saved/SaveGames/{YOUR STEAM ID}