How to Add Mods to Your Colony Survival Server

Mods in Colony Survival always consist of their own folder containing a modInfo.json file. On your server you upload those folders via SFTP and then enable the mods for your world.

Caution

Stop your server before adding, changing or removing mods. Also create a backup beforehand – after a game update mods can become incompatible and prevent the world from loading.

Download the mod

Your server has no Workshop integration that downloads mods on its own. So you download the mod files on your PC and then transfer them via SFTP.

1. Subscribe to the mod in the Workshop
   Subscribe to the mod you want in the Colony Survival Steam Workshop and start the game once so Steam downloads the files.

2. Open the mod folder on your PC
   The downloaded mods are stored in your Steam directory:

   ...\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\366090\

   Each subfolder represents one mod and is named after its Workshop ID.

3. Pick the right folder
   You need the folder that contains the modInfo.json file. If that file sits in a subfolder, this subfolder is the actual mod.

Note

If a mod is offered outside the Workshop, download it there and extract the archive. The same rule applies: the folder containing modInfo.json is the mod folder.

Upload the mod to the server

1. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard.

2. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP.

3. Open the mod directory
   Navigate to the following directory:

   /gamedata/mods/

   Note

   Out of the box it already contains the bundled example ExampleTexturePack – it shows you how a mod folder is structured. If the directory is missing, create it.

4. Upload the mod
   Upload every mod as its own subfolder. The structure afterwards has to look like this:

   /gamedata/mods/<ModName>/modInfo.json

   Warning

   Never upload the contents of a mod directly into /gamedata/mods/ – the modInfo.json has to sit inside its own subfolder, otherwise the mod is not detected.

Enable the mod for your world

Uploaded mods are not active yet. They are enabled per world in the file worldconfig.json.

1. Open the file
   Open the following file via SFTP. <worldname> is the folder name of your world – it matches the World Name field in the dashboard:

   /gamedata/savegames/<worldname>/worldconfig.json

2. Add the mod
   Add one entry per mod to the ModConfigEntries section:

   {
     "DisplayName": "My World",
     "WorldType": 2,
     "ModConfigEntries": [
       {
         "ModName": "ExampleTexturePack",
         "ModVersionLastKnown": "---",
         "Enabled": true
       }
     ]
   }

   Note

   Only change the ModConfigEntries section and leave the other values of the file untouched. The value of ModName has to match the name field from the modInfo.json of the mod exactly. "ModVersionLastKnown": "---" is what the server itself writes when it sees a mod for the first time – if you write the entry by hand, use that value. For Workshop mods the field WorkshopID is added as well – do not delete it.

3. Start the server
   Save the file and start your server. On startup it loads the enabled mods.

4. Check the result
   Look at the console in the dashboard to see whether the mods were loaded. Errors during loading almost always point to a wrong folder structure or an incompatible mod.

Warning

The file modstate.json mentioned in older guides no longer exists. Mods are enabled exclusively through the worldconfig.json of the respective world.

Do players have to install the mods?

Note

No – for mods that add content such as blocks, textures or recipes, the server transfers its files to the client automatically when connecting. Your fellow players will briefly see the server files being loaded when they join. Your server is then marked as "modded" in the server browser.

Tip

To disable a mod without deleting it: set the "Enabled" value of the corresponding entry in worldconfig.json to false and restart your server.