How to Set Up Mods on Your Satisfactory Dedicated Server

Modding a Satisfactory dedicated server used to be a chore. The mod loader fought you, half the mods refused to acknowledge dedicated servers existed, and any game patch was a coin toss between "still works" and "spend the evening rolling everything back". I am very happy to report that all of that is over.

Since the 1.1 series, dedicated server modding is genuinely good. SML is stable, ficsit.app has a "works on dedicated servers" flag right on each mod page, and on LOW.MS specifically there is a one-click mod manager built into the control panel that handles SML installation and mod management for you. The whole pipeline is, finally, the boring well-trodden process you would expect.

This article covers both flows — the easy panel-based one and the manual SFTP fallback for groups that prefer to manage their own files — plus the gotchas that still exist and a shortlist of mods that are actually worth running in multiplayer.

The three things you are dealing with

Before any clicking, it helps to know what these three names mean, because they show up everywhere:

SML — Satisfactory Mod Loader. The plumbing every mod sits on top of. SML versions are tied to game versions, and a mismatch is the single most common reason a freshly modded server refuses to start.

SMM — Satisfactory Mod Manager. A desktop app some players use locally. SMM resolves dependencies, fetches the right SML, and drops files where they belong on a local Satisfactory install. On LOW.MS the panel-side mod manager covers most of what SMM does for the server side, so you only need SMM if you also want to keep your local game in sync without going through ficsit.app manually.

ficsit.app — the official mod index. Every mod's page lists its compatibility flags, including a server column. The LOW.MS panel pulls from ficsit.app directly, so anything you can find on ficsit.app you can install through the panel.

The easy way: SML Fiscit Mod Manager in the LOW.MS panel

LOW.MS ships a built-in mod manager — the [NEW] SML Fiscit Mod Manager entry in your service's left-hand sidebar. It handles SML installation, browses the ficsit.app catalogue inside the panel, and installs mods with a single click.

1. Open the LOW.MS control panel and go to Service Management → Game Services.
2. Find your Satisfactory server in the list and click Manage in the Actions column.
3. Stop your server before making mod changes — the START button on the service overview becomes a STOP button when the server is running.
4. From the left sidebar, click [NEW] SML Fiscit Mod Manager.
5. At the top of the page, pick the SML version that matches your current Satisfactory version (the dropdown shows the available versions; for Satisfactory 1.1 the current SML series is 3.11.x). Click Install next to the version selector.
6. Browse or search the ficsit.app catalogue below. You can sort by downloads to see the most popular mods first. Each mod card has its own Install button.
7. Click Install on each mod you want. The panel handles dependencies and file placement.
8. Start your server again from the service overview and watch the Web Console in the sidebar for clean mod loads.

That is the entire flow for most groups. If you stick to the panel mod manager you do not need SFTP, do not need a desktop SMM install, and do not need to think about which SML version goes with which game version — the panel only offers the ones that match.

The manual way: SFTP from your own machine

If you would rather manage mod files directly — for example because you want to use SMM's profile-export feature to keep a group of friends in sync, or because you are installing a mod that is not yet on ficsit.app — the SFTP path still works.

Step 1: install SMM locally

Grab the latest Satisfactory Mod Manager from the official releases page. It has builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Install it, launch it, and point it at your local Satisfactory game install for now (you will be using its file output, not asking it to manage your server directly).

Step 2: get your SFTP credentials from the LOW.MS panel

1. Open your Satisfactory server in the panel.
2. The service overview shows SFTP Info — the host and port (default port is 8822, not the usual 22).
3. Your SFTP username and password are issued separately under your account; check Service Settings in the sidebar if you do not have them.
4. Stop your server before pushing mod changes.

Step 3: install the mods locally with SMM

1. In SMM, browse or search the ficsit.app catalogue.
2. Before installing each mod, check that it has the Server compatibility flag on ficsit.app — a checkmark means it works on dedicated servers, an X means it does not. Installing a client-only mod on the server will not break anything, but it will not do anything either.
3. Click Install in SMM. It pulls down the mod, all its dependencies, and the correct SML version for your current game version, in one go.

Step 4: upload the Mods folder to your server

1. Connect to your server via SFTP using port 8822 (FileZilla and WinSCP both work fine).
2. Mirror the contents of your local FactoryGame/Mods/ folder up to the same path on the server.
3. Make sure the SML files are present on the server too — if you let SMM install everything for you locally, they will be in the same tree.

Step 5: start the server and watch the logs

Start the server again from the LOW.MS panel and open the Web Console in the sidebar (or Log Viewer for a longer scrollback). The startup logs will print each mod loading. The three things to scan for:

• Version mismatches — a mod expecting a different SML than the one installed. Update the mod, or remove it.
• Missing dependencies — a required library mod that did not get uploaded. Almost always a "I forgot to mirror the whole Mods folder" mistake.
• Conflicts — genuinely rare these days; the logs will tell you which mods are involved if it happens.

If the server starts cleanly and the mod count in the log matches what you installed, you are done with the server side.

All players must have matching mods

This is the part that bites groups, every time. Every player connecting to the server must have exactly the same mods installed, at the same versions, as the server itself. Any mismatch means crashes, desync, or a refusal to connect — usually showing up as a stuck loading screen.

The easiest way to keep a group in sync is SMM's profile export on the player side. One person sets up the mod profile in their local SMM, exports it as a file, drops it in your group chat, and everyone else imports it. After that, when you update the server's mods (through the panel or via SFTP), you re-export, re-share, and tell everyone to re-import before the next session. It feels fiddly the first time and then it is just a thirty-second ritual.

Pick an "update night" with your group instead of updating mid-week. It saves a lot of "why am I crashing on connect" messages.

Updating mods after a game update

Game updates are the most common cause of mod issues. When Satisfactory ships a patch, mods built against the previous version frequently break.

The order to do things in:

1. Wait a day or two. Mod authors are fast but not instantaneous. Trying to update the same evening a patch ships is usually frustrating.
2. Stop your server before doing anything else.
3. Apply the right Satisfactory build to the server. The LOW.MS panel sidebar has Switch to/Update Latest Release for the live branch and Switch to/Update Latest Experimental if your group is on the experimental branch — pick whichever matches.
4. Update SML and your mods. In the panel mod manager, the version selector will offer the SML release that matches your current Satisfactory version; install it and update each mod card. If you are using SFTP, do the equivalent locally with SMM and re-mirror the Mods folder.
5. Start the server, watch the logs for clean loads, and only then tell players to update.
6. If a mod has not been updated yet, disable it temporarily — a single incompatible mod can prevent the entire server from starting.

Compatibility tips and common pitfalls

The version-matching rule is the rule. SML and game version, every mod and every player. If something is going to break, it is going to break here.

Start small and grow. The temptation with a fresh modded server is to install fifteen mods at once. Resist it. Three to five mods on day one, play a session, add a couple more, play another session. When something breaks, you know exactly which mod broke it.

Back up before adding content mods. Mods that add buildings, recipes, or items to the world write things into your save file that become invalid if you later remove the mod. With a backup you can roll back; without one, removing a content mod can corrupt the save. The order is: back up, install, play. Do not reverse it. The LOW.MS panel takes daily backups automatically — you can also trigger a manual one through Cloud Backup in the sidebar before any mod work.

Mods cost RAM. Not a huge amount per mod, but it adds up. A server that is comfortable on its current memory tier with a vanilla world can struggle with a heavy mod load on top. If you are running many mods, give yourself some headroom over what a vanilla server of the same factory size would need.

Some mods are still client-only. Visual tweaks, UI mods, that kind of thing. They will not break the server, but they will not do anything either. Read the ficsit.app page before assuming.

Mods worth running in multiplayer

This list is intentionally short. Every entry is a real mod, you can find them all in the panel mod manager (and on ficsit.app), and each is something I would actually keep installed on a multiplayer server. Always install the current version through the panel rather than pinning a number — version numbers move fast enough that anything written down here would be out of date by the time you read it.

Smart! is the one nobody argues about. Mass-build with automatic connections — ten constructors in a row get their belts and power lines wired up for you. In multiplayer this is genuinely transformative because it cuts the boring half of factory work in half, which means more time on design and less on placement clicks.

Refined Power adds genuinely interesting alternatives to the vanilla power progression — wind, solar, modular generators, the lot. Particularly nice in multiplayer because it lets different players run their own independent grids without all fighting over the same coal nodes early game.

Linear Motion adds vertical conveyor systems, lifts, and improved logistics for multi-level factories. In multiplayer, where coordinated multi-floor builds get tangled fast, this one earns its slot quickly.

Modular Load Balancers does what it says — drop-in load-balancing splitters that take the maths out of evenly distributing items across multiple machines. A favourite for groups that build big production lines together.

Infinite Zoop lets you mass-place buildings far beyond the vanilla zoop limits, in two dimensions. Pairs naturally with Smart! for fast factory expansion and is a real time-saver in multiplayer building sessions.

Ficsit Networks is the deep end. Programmable computer networks, in-game scripting, automated monitoring of your factory. If your group has someone who enjoys writing little scripts, this is the mod they have been waiting for. If nobody in your group enjoys that, give it a miss — it is overkill for casual play.

I have deliberately not listed teleport mods. They are popular and they work, but they short-circuit one of the things that makes Satisfactory feel like Satisfactory — the slow expansion of a road and rail network that ties your factory together. Use them if your group prefers convenience to that loop; just go in with eyes open about what you are trading away.

The few gotchas that still exist

Game updates can briefly break mods. When a patch ships, give it a day or two before trying to update. Mod authors are fast but not instantaneous. The order is: wait, switch the server to the new release branch, update SML and mods through the panel mod manager, start the server, then tell players to update.

Back up your save before adding a content mod. Mods that add buildings or items to the world write things into your save that become invalid if you later remove the mod. With a backup you can roll back; without one, removing a content mod can corrupt the save. The order of operations is: back up, install, play. Do not reverse it.

Mods cost RAM. Not a lot per mod, but it adds up. A vanilla server that runs fine on its base RAM allocation can struggle with twenty mods on top. If you are planning a heavily modded server, give yourself a memory tier of headroom over what you would budget for vanilla.

A few mods are still client-only. Visual tweaks, UI mods, that kind of thing. They will not break the server, but they will not do anything either. Read the ficsit.app page before assuming.

Where this leaves you

If you take one thing from this article, take the workflow rather than the mod list: panel mod manager open, ficsit.app open in another tab if you want to verify a mod's server-compatibility flag, install through the panel, restart, watch the Web Console for clean loads, and keep your group's mod profile in sync. Once that loop feels routine, you can add or swap mods on a Tuesday afternoon without anxiety.

If you need a server with the headroom to actually run a respectable mod list, our Satisfactory hosting plans start at 10 GB RAM on Ryzen hardware, which is enough for a comfortable modded experience without fighting the memory budget.