Installing Mods

Railroader mods are distributed as an Asset Pack: a directory containing an Info.json file plus the mod’s other files. If you have a zip file of a mod, unzip it first; that should leave you with the asset pack directory.

You don’t need to build anything to use a mod someone else made. Just install the files as detailed below and enable it in-game.

Installing a Mod

Copy the mod’s directory into Documents\Railroader\Mods. This folder may not exist yet; if so, create it inside your Documents folder first.

You can have multiple versions of a mod installed in separate directories; the directory name doesn’t matter. Only one version can be enabled at a time, though.

Don’t install mods into the game’s own StreamingAssets folder; it’s reserved for built-in content and there’s no benefit to doing so. Railroader 2025.1 and earlier loaded asset packs from a directory in %APPDATA%; this is no longer used.

Quit and reopen Railroader so it picks up the new files. Mods you’ve just installed won’t show up in Manage Mods until you do.

Enabling and Disabling Mods

Click Mods on the main menu to open Manage Mods, where you can turn mods on and off. Mods are grouped into three sections:

• Mods you’ve enabled, along with anything they automatically pulled in as a dependency
• Mods you’ve installed but haven’t enabled yet
• The base game’s built-in packs, collapsed behind a Show/Hide toggle since you normally don’t need to touch these

The search box lets you filter the list by name, author, or identifier.

Each row shows the mod’s name, version, author, and (if the author provided them) a link and a short description. Toggle a mod on or off, then click Apply to commit your changes, or Revert to discard them.

Your mod selection is global, not tied to a particular save. Turning a mod on or off applies the next time any save loads, not just your current one. You don’t need to keep track of which mods were loaded for a particular save; the save stores that itself, as explained in Mods and Your Saves below.

Dependencies and Conflicts

If a mod requires another mod to work, that dependency is enabled automatically when you enable the mod that needs it, and you’ll see it appear in the list as a non-toggleable row. If a required dependency isn’t installed, or you have the wrong version of it, the mod that needs it is disabled and the list shows you why. The same happens if two installed mods declare themselves incompatible with each other.

Mods and Your Saves

Most mods are required for a save that used them: if you load a save that recorded a mod you no longer have installed (or a different version of it), you’ll be prompted to use the version you have installed, load the save without that mod, or cancel. Loading without it means anything that mod added to your world may be missing, and the mod will be dropped from the save the next time you save. If this happens, we recommend not saving until you’ve resolved the mod issues.

Some mods are marked optional by their author. These enhance the game but aren’t required to load a save that used them. They’re silently skipped if you don’t have them installed, and never trigger the prompt above.

If the mod set recorded in a save doesn’t match your current global selection at all, you’ll be asked whether to switch to that save’s mods or keep the mods you currently have enabled.

Playing Multiplayer

To join someone else’s game, your mods need to match the host’s (same mods, same versions) except for anything marked optional. If something’s missing or mismatched, you won’t be able to join, and you’ll be told exactly which mod is the problem. If you’re prompted to confirm before joining, keep in mind that doing so adopts the host’s mod selection as your own going forward.

Making Your Own

Want to build a mod instead of just installing one? Head over to Asset Packs to get started.