Satisfactory has a thriving modding community, with hundreds of mods available through ficsit.app, the official mod repository. Modding a Satisfactory dedicated server used to be painful — the loader fought you, half the mods refused to acknowledge dedicated servers existed, and any patch was a coin toss between "still works" and "spend the evening rolling everything back". Since the 1.1 series, that has changed: SML is stable, ficsit.app shows server-compatibility right on each mod's page, and on LOW.MS specifically there is a one-click mod manager built into the control panel that handles SML installation and mod browsing for you.
This guide covers both flows — the easy panel-based one and the manual SFTP fallback — plus the gotchas that still exist and a short list of mods that are actually worth running in multiplayer.
The three names you will see everywhere
Before you click anything, it helps to know what these three things mean — they show up on every guide, forum post, and error message in the modding ecosystem.
SML — Satisfactory Mod Loader. The plumbing every mod sits on top of. SML is tied to the Satisfactory game version, and a mismatch between SML and game version is the most common reason a freshly modded server refuses to start. The LOW.MS panel mod manager only offers the SML versions that match the current Satisfactory build, so this is one fewer thing to think about if you stay inside the panel.
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 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, or if you want to share a profile export with friends.
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.
Installing mods through the LOW.MS panel (the easy way)
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 ficsit.app inside the panel, and installs mods with a single click.
Step 1: open your server in the panel
- Open the LOW.MS control panel.
- From the top navigation, click Service Management → Game Services.
- Find your Satisfactory server in the list and click Manage in the Actions column.
Step 2: stop your server
Mod changes should not be made on a running server. The service overview page has a START / STOP button — make sure the status reads Stopped before continuing.
Step 3: open the mod manager
In the left-hand Manage sidebar, click [NEW] SML Fiscit Mod Manager. The mod manager page opens with the SML version selector at the top and the ficsit.app catalogue below.
Step 4: install SML
If SML is not currently installed, the page will tell you so at the top. Pick the version that matches your current Satisfactory release in the version dropdown — for Satisfactory 1.1 the current SML series is 3.11.x, and the panel will only show you SML versions that match the build you are on. Click Install next to the version selector. The panel handles the rest.
Step 5: install mods
Browse or search the catalogue below. Each mod card shows a thumbnail, the mod name, download count, a short description, an Install button, and a More Information link. You can sort by downloads (default) or search by name.
Click Install on each mod you want. The panel pulls down the mod, its dependencies, and any required files in one go. There is no separate "apply" step — install on each mod is enough.
Step 6: start the server and check the logs
Go back to the service overview and click START. Then open Web Console in the sidebar to watch the startup logs print each mod loading. You can also use Log Viewer in the sidebar for a longer scrollback if you want to inspect the boot in detail later.
If you see clean mod loads and the server reaches the running state, you are done.
Installing mods manually via SFTP (the fallback)
If you need to 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 you are testing a mod that is not yet published on ficsit.app — the SFTP path still works.
Step 1: get your SFTP credentials
The service overview shows SFTP Info with the host and port — note that the LOW.MS default SFTP port is 8822, not the usual 22. SFTP credentials are issued under your account; if you do not have them, check Service Settings in the sidebar or open a support ticket.
Step 2: install SMM locally
Grab the latest Satisfactory Mod Manager from the official releases page. It has builds for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Step 3: install the mods locally
In SMM, browse or search the ficsit.app catalogue. 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. Click Install in SMM and let it pull dependencies and the right SML for you.
Step 4: upload the Mods folder
Stop your server in the panel first. Then connect to your server via SFTP using port 8822 (FileZilla and WinSCP both work fine) and mirror the contents of your local FactoryGame/Mods/ folder up to the same path on the server. Make sure the SML files are present too.
Step 5: start and watch the logs
Start the server again from the panel and open Web Console in the sidebar. 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.
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 (matching what is installed on the server), 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, 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.
A useful habit: 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:
- Wait a day or two. Mod authors are fast but not instantaneous. Trying to update the same evening a patch ships is usually frustrating.
- Stop your server before doing anything else.
- Apply the matching Satisfactory build to the server. The 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 you are running. This ensures the server binary matches the version your players are on.
- Update SML and mods through the panel mod manager. The version selector will offer the SML release that matches the new game version. Update each mod card from the catalogue.
- Start the server, watch the Web Console for clean loads, and only then tell players to update.
- 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. If you start seeing crashes during autosave after adding mods, RAM is the most likely cause — see the performance tuning guide.
Some mods are still client-only. Visual tweaks, UI mods, that kind of thing. They are not harmful on the server, but they will not do anything either. Read the ficsit.app page before assuming a mod will affect server-side behaviour.
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 each is something we would actually keep installed on a multiplayer server. Always install the current version through the panel rather than pinning a number; mod versions move fast enough that anything written down here would be out of date by the time you read it.
Smart! is the mod 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.
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 coordinated multi-floor builds where vertical item movement gets 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.
Troubleshooting mod issues
Server fails to start after installing mods. Check the Web Console in the sidebar (or Log Viewer for longer scrollback) for errors. They almost always identify the offending mod. The usual suspects are SML version mismatch, a missing dependency, or a single mod that has not been updated for the current game version.
Players cannot connect to the modded server. Almost always a mod version mismatch. Confirm every player has the same mods at the same versions, and the same SML version, and the same game build.
Strange in-game behaviour. If two mods are touching the same systems, conflicts can produce odd symptoms. Disable mods one at a time to identify which combination is misbehaving and report it to the mod authors so they can coordinate a fix.
For broader connection issues that look mod-related but aren't, see the common issues guide.
Related guides
- Getting started with Satisfactory on LOW.MS — initial server setup.
- Server settings guide — configuration file reference.
- Common issues and fixes — troubleshooting common problems.
- Performance tuning — including the performance impact of mods.
- Admin guide — administrative tasks.