How To Install Mods On Your Vintage Story Server

Adding mods to your Vintage Story server is a fantastic way to introduce new mechanics, creatures, and quality-of-life improvements for your community. Whether you are adding a few simple tweaks or completely overhauling the game, installing and configuring mods on your MintServers host is a very straightforward process.

Important Warning: Before adding, removing, or updating mods, always create a manual backup of your server in the Backups tab. Mod changes can permanently alter or corrupt your existing world saves!

Step 1: Download Your Mods

First, you need to grab the mod files from the official community database.

1. Visit the official Vintage Story Mod DB.
2. Find a mod you want to use, making sure it is compatible with your server's current game version.
3. Click the download button for the correct version. You will receive a compressed .zip file.
4. Do not unzip this file. Vintage Story requires mods to remain in their original .zip format to work properly on the server.

Step 2: Upload to Your Server

Next, we need to place the mod files into your server's specific mod directory.

1. Log into your MintServers panel and click the Stop button to safely shut down your server.
2. Navigate to the Files tab on the left-hand sidebar.
3. Look for a folder named Mods. Click to open it. If this folder does not exist yet, you can create it by clicking New Folder at the top of the file manager and naming it exactly Mods.
📁 Data (or your main server directory)
📁 Mods
📄 YourDownloadedMod.zip (Upload your file here)
4. Drag and drop your downloaded .zip mod files into the panel to upload them. If you are uploading a massive modpack, we highly recommend using an SFTP client like FileZilla for faster transfers. You can follow our SFTP Connection Guide if you need help getting connected.

Step 3: Configuring Your Mods

Many mods come with settings you can tweak, such as spawn rates, damage multipliers, or custom rules. However, these configuration files do not exist until the server runs the mod for the first time.

1. Return to the Console tab and click Start to boot up your server. As it starts, it will read the new .zip file and generate the necessary configuration files.
2. Once the server says it is online, click Stop again.
3. Go back to the Files tab.
4. This time, look for a folder named ModConfig and click to open it.
📁 Data (or your main server directory)
📁 ModConfig
📄 modname.json (Click to edit this file)
5. Inside this folder, you will find .json files corresponding to the mods you installed. Click on a file to open the text editor.
6. Carefully adjust the settings to your liking. Make sure you do not accidentally delete any quotation marks, commas, or brackets, as this will break the file.
7. Click the Save Content button at the top of the editor.
8. Return to the Console and Start your server one final time.

When players join your server, Vintage Story will automatically prompt them to download the matching mods directly from your server, making the connection process seamless! If your server crashes on startup after installing a mod, double-check that you downloaded the correct version for your server, and verify that you didn't accidentally make a typo inside the ModConfig files. If you need any extra help getting your mods running, just open a support ticket and our team will be happy to assist.