❔Using Mods
Modding your game, for users
Summary
Published: Jun 15, 2023 by manavortex Last documented update: Aug 25 2024 by manavortex
This page will give you a brief introduction of how mods work and how to install them by hand.
We strongly recommend using a mod manager, as manual modding is only recommended for advanced users.
Here are your options (wiki links):
Wait, this is not what I want!
If you want to create mods instead, check Getting started: Making mods
If you need help installing Cyberpunk, check Getting Started: Installing Cyberpunk
If your modded install is acting up, please check Troubleshooting
How to install mods
TL;DR: Your mods will not work unless you
put all files exactly into the right place
make sure to install all requirements (and their requirements)
If you are on Linux/Steam Deck: follow this guide to the letter
When you fuck things up, hit up Troubleshooting or run mod remover and start over.
To see an Overview of mod folders, scroll down.
How do I mod?
You mod Cyberpunk 2077 by adding files to your game directory. The game natively supports modding, and the core mods will take care of everything else.
You can install mods by using Vortex/Mod Organizer 2, or by hand.
Regardless of your past experiences, the Nexus Mod Manager Vortex works reliably and well for modding Cyberpunk.
What are dependencies / requirements?
For more detailed information, see Users: troubleshooting requirements.
TL;DR:
Unless a requirement is marked as optional, your mod will not work if it is not installed.
Some requirements have requirements of their own. Make sure to check.
The core mods
To learn more about this, check Core Mods explained.
Cyberpunk 2077 offers limited out-of-the-box support via REDmod. To allow greater freedom, a number of core mods have been created — without them, we couldn't add items, influence the weather, or have flying cars.
Since this kind of mod interacts with the game's executable (.exe), they will break every time CDPR updates.
This is the reason why game updates break mods — we recommend to turn off auto-update and only update your game once it's safe. After each patch, you can find a post on our Discord that is kept up-to-date as the modders update their tools.
Overview of mod folders
TL;DR: you can ignore this unless you want to understand how things work, or want to install mods manually.
This list is supposed to give you an overview of which files go where. It is not a bucket list of things you have to install.
To learn more about the individual frameworks, check Core Mods explained
\mods
REDmod directory: contains .archive mods (in subfolders). Contains only a .stub file if empty.
\archive\pc\mod
Default mod directory: contains .archive mods and .xl files in legacy (non-REDmod) format. Most of your mods should be here.
\bin\x64\plugins
Plugins like Cyber Engine Tweaks and RadioExt
\r6\scripts
Redscript mods (not the same as REDmod)
\r6\tweaks
red4ext tweaks
\archive\pc\patch
Mod directory from before 1.3. Use \archive\pc\mod instead.
Installing and activating REDmod
If REDmod is not installed and activated, your mods in /mods will not load.
REDmod never took off and most people stick to the legacy format. If your /mods folder is empty, you don't need this. For more information, see What's the difference? below.
Loading a mod as REDmod means that Cyberpunk will precompile it to optimize load times — integrating it into the game's other files by adding it to the files under r6/cache.
By contrast, vanilla mods (from /archive/pc/mod) will be loaded individually and might add to your load times.
For instructions on how to install, see here.
For documentation on the Vortex installation toggle, see here.
For instructions on how to activate it, see here for GOG and here for Steam and Epic.
REDmods are installed in Cyberpunk 2077\mods, where every mod has a subfolder with an info.json.
If the mod contains only files inside the folder archives, you can un-REDmod-ify it by moving all of those files to archive/pc/mod.
Installing Mods
You can install mods via mod manager (Vortex, mo2) or manually. There are upsides and downsides to each — however, for beginners, we recommend using Vortex.
If you had terrible experiences with Vortex for other games, be assured: Cyberpunk integration is working extremely well. Maybe give it another chance?
Manual install
"Manual install" is a rather glorified term for "extracting the downloaded archive into your game directory". However, you have to make sure that the right files end up in the right folders.
You can inspect the file structure by simply opening the downloaded file, or by using this feature on Nexus (unless a mod author has disabled it):
The file structure is different for REDmods and non-REDmods. Mod authors usually tell you which file is which, though. To find out what that means, read on.
Mod format: REDmod or vanilla?
If in doubt, install the non-REDmod ("legacy") format. To learn why, check What's the difference? below the table.
Here is how you can tell the two apart:
is in a folder named after the mod
may be in an extra folder if packed incorrectly
has an info.json
does not have an info.json
contains a folder with any of
- archives
- tweaks
contains any of the folders
- archive
- bin
- r6
with files nested under them
Is packed with one level of nesting (info.json is in top level folder)
Has multiple levels of nesting
Manual install instructions:
Extract the folder ModName into Cyberpunk 2077/mods
Manual install instructions:
The folders archive, bin, r6 from the download must merge with the same folders in your game directory (do not put the bin in the bin).
What's the difference?
All REDmods mods will be preloaded by redMod.exe before the game starts up. After a short delay, the mods will then be loaded as if they were part of the game itself — you're saving the startup delay on every savegame load.
On top of this, Vortex will let you define load order for REDmods. To support compatibility, it offers you automatic conversion.
Mod format: a collection of loose files
Some mods (especially older ones) are just a loose collection of files without any folder structure:
To find out how to install, you have to read the mod's install instructions. You can read the next section for a general overview of which files go where, but that is not guaranteed to work.
Mod folders by file extension
As a rule of thumb, here's which files go where (unless the mod's instructions tell you otherwise):
.archive
/archive/pc/mod/
.xl
.archive.xl
/archive/pc/mod/
.reds
/r6/scripts/
.tweak
.yaml
/r6/tweaks/
.lua
a subfolder of /bin/x64/plugins/cyber_engine_tweaks/
.ini
engine/config/platform/pc
.script
part of a REDmod, can't be installed standalone
Troubleshooting
If you have problems with Vortex, check the corresponding section of the guide.
For everything else, this wiki has a dedicated troubleshooting page with step-by-step instructions for pretty much every common problem. If that doesn't cut it, you're welcome to find us on Discord in the #mod-troubleshooting channel (but your first answer will be a link to that guide).
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