Where Does Stardew Valley Store Mods?
Stardew Valley mods live in a Mods folder beside the game install, loaded by SMAPI. Paths per store plus load order notes.
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Saves hold farms while mods change the game. SMAPI loads every subfolder inside Mods next to the install at launch. That folder sits apart from saves in AppData.
The existing saves post covers farm files; this one covers the mod side. Launch through SMAPI rather than the plain executable or nothing loads. Content Patcher mods only need JSON while script mods need DLLs.
Where Stardew Valley stores this, by platform
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Stardew Valley\Mods
One subfolder per mod beside the game install, loaded by SMAPI at launch. Steam, GOG and Game Pass installs each keep their own Mods tree. Saves live separately in AppData per the saves post.
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/Stardew Valley/Mods
Same Mods interior under the Mac app bundle or GOG prefix. Keep one Mods tree per install when running both Steam and GOG copies.
~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Stardew Valley/Mods
Identical layout on Linux under the Steam library. Native and Proton builds share the same Mods convention through SMAPI.
Frequently asked questions
How do I install Stardew mods?
Install SMAPI first, then drop each mod into its own subfolder inside Mods. The SMAPI console lists loaded mods at launch with errors in red. Update SMAPI before updating the game, since new game versions break the loader first.
How do I back up a modded farm?
Copy the whole Mods folder with the game quit, plus the save folder from the saves post. Mods travel as folders while saves reference them by name. Removing a mod mid save orphans its items, so finish the season first.
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