Stardew Valley doesn't have official Steam Workshop support, but its modding community has absolutely blossomed since it released in 2016. There are thousands of mods out there that do everything from changing what your animals look like, to making fishing easier, to adding items and adjusting game balance. We've completely overhauled our guide to the best Stardew Valley mods that change how the game looks and make farm life more convenient.
Most of these mods were found either on the official Stardew Valley Mod forum or at the game's Nexus Mods page, both of which are getting more amazing mods everyday.
An important thing to note before jumping in is that Stardew Valley is still actively getting updates. Since there isn't any official mod support (yet) there's a chance that mods will break or need to be reinstalled after updates, so it's smart to back-up any files you are going to modify in case you need to revert the changes. And back up your save data just to be safe. It can be found by default at C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\StardewValley\Saves.
- Page 1: How to install mods and basic mod tools, Visual and aesthetic mods
- Page 2: Utility mods and cheats
- Page 3: Gameplay mods and additions
- Page 4: Fandom crossover mods
How to install Stardew Valley mods
Most of these mods are simple modifications to the game's XNB files. That means all you need to do to install them is download the modified XNB, find the corresponding XNB file in the Stardew Valley 'Content' folder—default location is "C:\Steam\steamapps\common\Stardew Valley\Content", and the XNB you are looking for may be in a subfolder within the 'Content' folder—and then replace the original XNB with the one you downloaded. Though, like I said, you should make a back-up of the original in case you want to remove the mod.
Stardew Modding API (SMAPI)
Mods that make more complex changes may require the "Stardew Modding API", or SMAPI for short. This is a community-made API that is frequently being updated and allows you to use DLL mods. It's a slightly bigger hassle to install these mods than the XNB ones—as you first need to install SMAPI and then download DLL mods to place into SMAPI's mod folder—but it also allows those mods to make much deeper changes to the game. You can download SMAPI on the Stardew Valley modding forum, and I'll be sure to mark which mods require it to be used.
Stardew Valley ModManager (SDVMM)
There's also a great community-made ModManager tool created by modder yuuki called SDVMM. This will help you install and update SMAPI, as well as keep track of all of your mods. It allows you to easily activate and deactivate specific mods without having to remove the files completely, giving you more flexibility if you want to try something on this list out but potentially not keep the mod forever.
Stardew Valley Content Patcher
Many of the most current Stardew Valley mods are compatible with Content Patcher, a tool which loads a whole host of mods without changing the XNB files, making install and uninstall easier, as well as reducing the likelihood of conflicts between mods. Content Patcher can be unzipped into Stardew Valley's "mods" folder in the same location dictated above. You can then run Stardew Valley with SMAPI.
Now then, let's get to the mods!
BUILDING TEXTURES
Ali's Overgrown Fairy Buildings
Fairies aren't going to be to everyone's personal taste, but the Overgrown Fairy Buildings mod is too nicely done not to include in our list. It retextures all of your farm buildings to be pink and white, as well as being covered in vines and flowers. It's an adorable way to personalize your farm, and I especially like the Slime Hutch being transformed from a castle into a sweet little cottage with a flower garden. And if you're into flowers, you may want to pair this with Ali's Flower Grass which turns all the long grass on your farm into vibrant wildflowers. Ali also has a Modern Farm Buildings mod, if you like this modders style but aren't exactly into adorable ivy-covered farmhouses.
Bathhouse Hot Spring
The bathhouse north of Pelican Town where you can refresh your energy is handy, but the ambient whir of exhaust fans always feels just a little out of place in the idyllic valley. The Bathhouse Hot Spring mod turns the old bathhouse into a beautiful hotspring complete with the gentle sound of running water. The original mod hasn't been updated since 2017, so another modder has uploaded a version of Bathhouse Hot Spring that's compatible with the Content Patcher mod manager.
No Spouse Rooms
Deciding who to pursue as a spouse is an important part of every new farm I start. While I love all of Stardew's beaus and belles, I'm always a bit disappointed when my sweetheart moves in and totally trashes the aesthetic of my house with their own weird hobby room. As modder Lydocia says, "Was my house not good enough for you?" No Spouse Rooms solves this problem by removing the extra room added by your partner when they move in. Marriage is all about compromise, apparently, but the sanctity of my decor isn't an area where I'm willing to meet in the middle.
Modern Gothic Interior
Speaking of decor, modder Coldazrael's Modern Gothic Interior reskins a bunch of interior furniture with dark wood and stark white fabrics. If you've worn out the possibilities of Stardew's vanilla furniture, the Gothic furniture brings a whole new vibe.
Seasonal Victorian Buildings
Seasonal Victorian Buildings is another very extensive visual mod for giving your farm a whole new look. Modder Eemie really went the extra mile by creating seasonal versions of each building, meaning that these Victorian structures fit right in with the word all year round.
PORTRAITS AND CHARACTER SPRITES
Hi-Res DCBerger Portraits
My own favorite portrait mod is the Hi-Res DCBerger Portraits, an update to stylized low-res portraits by modder DCBerger that are no longer available on Nexus. DCBerger's reimagined character portraits give all of Stardew's characters a more angular and slightly masculine look. Modder Ra has updated the DCBerger's portraits in higher resolution, meaning you'll need the Portraiture mod which allows for character portraits of higher resolution than the vanilla version of Stardew Valley.
Gigi's Hi-Res Portraits Mod
For a totally different feel, Gigi's Hi-Res Portraits turn characters into colorful anime portraits that feel a bit like Pokemon and One Piece had an affair. They're a fun take of several characters. Harvey in particular makes out like a bandit by going from dork mustache man to verified senpai. Remember to download the Portraiture mod for this one as well!
Stardew Anime Mods
Stardew Anime Mods is one of the most popular portrait mods for Stardew, for good reason. Its detailed and brightly colored pixel work fits in great with vanilla Stardew Valley. Unfortunately, it mostly just includes portraits for the young women of Stardew Valley, meaning that the bachelors will all look just a little less sparkly in comparison.
Monster Valley
Games about dating monsters and swords and birds have worked their way into gaming mainstream over the last year and Monster Valley carries in their freaky footsteps. "Ever wanted to date a demon? Seduce a slime girl? Marry a merman?" Asks modder Blizzriel. "Well, now you can!" Monster Valley changes both the portraits and sprites of Pelican Town's most eligible and their families into spooky alternatives. Sebastian and Robin become demons, while Maru and Demetrius are patchwork dolls. Elliott, of course, is a merman.
Coii's Hair Sets Pack
Coii's Hair Sets Pack adds a bunch of new hair styles to choose for your farmer, both long and short varieties. From elegant braids and bows to stylish slick-backs, there's more than enough to choose from even for a picky character creator like me.
Elle's Cat Replacements
Another wealth of choice is Elle's Cat Replacements which can turn your farm cat into anything from a calico to a tortoiseshell and everything in between. Elle has made a number of animal replacement mods, including Dog Replacements, New Horses, and several others.
Cuter Fatter Cows
Cuter Fatter Cows turns Stardew Valley's bovines into plumper versions with rosy cheeks meant to look like the cows of Harvest Moon. A number of modders have created new animal sprites but these are by far my favorite. Modder Identitypollution has recently released an update to Cuter Fatter Cows which includes all of their cuter and fatter animal retextures.
Horse Bear
The Horse Bear mod turns your useful steed into a grizzly bear. I like bears, which makes this a good mod. There are actually several mods for turning your horse into a bear, but this one is my favorite. I guess modders like bears too.
Horse Boys
Horse Boys lets you turn your horse into one of Stardew Valley's bachelors. They look pretty horrifying galloping around on all fours and I really don't want to get into the implications of riding your spouse (or someone other than your spouse) around town. This mod is the kind of weird that toes the line of outright messed up without quite crossing it, which I can respect. For more horrifying and uncanny villagers, try PamCrow. It is exactly what you think.
The Pinkpocalypse
I should not be shocked by the number of mods that specifically turn various elements of Stardew Valley into cotton-candy pink. To start with, turn all of Stardew's dialogue boxes and inventory screens pink with The Pink Interface. Follow that up with Cute Valley Pink and More Buildings for Cute Valley which together pink-ify all of your farms buildings, interiors, tools, and machines. Do you want pink sheep? Of course you do. Why have scarecrows when you can have a bunch of adorable catcrows instead?
- Page 1: How to install Stardew Valley mods, SMAPI, SDVMM, and Content Patcher
- Page 2: Visual and aesthetic mods
- Page 3: Utility mods and cheats
- Page 4: Gameplay mods and additions
- Page 5: Fandom crossover mods
UTILITY MODS
Mod Update Menu
The Mod Update Menu is a handy tool accessible from the start menu that lets you know if you need to update any of your mods or SMAPI (that required tool for modding Stardew you've installed). If you'll be installing more than a couple mods, the update menu is a great way to keep your ducks in a row.
UI Info Suite
There's a lot to keep track of on the farm and sometimes you just can't remember when you planted your cauliflower or whether or not you pet your sheep this morning. The UI Info Suite contains a lot of useful game information that doesn't quite cross into cheating territory. Animals that need to be milked or pet have icons over their head. On mouse over, plants will display their name and days until they can be harvested. The Info Suite has a number of other useful features perfect if you're a forgetful farmer.
Jump Over
Do you place gates for your fences based on what looks nice instead of what's actually practical? You can stop walking all the way around your fenced in fields and make life a whole lot easier with Jump Over. Does precisely what it says on the tin.
Gift Taste Helper
If you constantly have to Alt+Tab out of your game because you cannot for the life of you remember which gifts to give to Caroline and Evelyn, Gift Taste Helper keeps you from having to leave the game to get answers. This mod adds a tooltip with a villager's favorite items when you mouse over them in the relationships menu or their birthday on the calendar. If suddenly becoming omniscient in the ways of gifts feels a little too cheaty for you, modder Tstaples has added a progression version of the mod where you'll only know a villager's preferred gifts if you've successfully discovered them yourself through trial and error.
Reader's Digest
If you've downloaded the Victorian buildings mod but can't stand ruining your immersion with a television in your farmhouse, Reader's Digest is the era-appropriate mod you need. Receive daily letters to your mailbox with Livin' Off The Land and Queen of Sauce tips so that you'll never have to turn on that devil box again.
Get Dressed
Wearing the same shirt and pants every day is odd enough for a cartoon character, let alone a farmer whose dirty field clothes definitely need to get wash every so often. Get Dressed adds a dresser and mirror to your house that you can use to open the character customization menu and change appearance. It also lets you set favorite outfits so that you can easily change from work pants into stylish nightwear before heading to the saloon on a Friday night.
Categorize Chests
By year two of any Stardew farm, I've typically got an entire fleet of chests housing all of my excess fruits, building materials, and rarecrows. Each one has a specific spread of items known only to me from an inventory list that exists only in my head. Categorize Chests allows you to make sense of the madness by dictating exactly which items go in which chests and putting only those items in it with just one button press each time you open it. I've never felt so organized.
CHEAT MODS
In-Game Cheat Menu
This is a very far complex and impressive mod that adds an extensive cheat menu inside the game. You can teleport anywhere, adjust your skill levels on the fly, change the weather, freeze time, give yourself money, increase movement speed, turn on god mode, adjust fishing difficulty, make your watering can never run out, and a whole heck of a lot more—all from within the game. The cheat menu actually has some features of other mods on this list built in, so if you liked the look of some of the mods on the previous page, they may be covered here.
CJB Item Spawner
This mod—potentially combined with the cheat menu above from the same modder—might be the closest Stardew Valley gets to having a "creative mode" for a while. You can spawn any items you may want directly into your inventory, allowing you to build your dream farm immediately. Flick on the cheat menu's infinite stamina option and freeze time, and you could build the entire thing before the first day even passes. Item spawners are a powerful tool, and hopefully this will lead to some amazing looking farms that would otherwise taking hundreds of hours to create.
Save Anywhere
Stardew's save function taking place at night makes total sense, but sometimes my life isn't as orderly and predictable as my farmer's. Although it's a bit cheat-y, Save Anywhere allows you to do just that. Be warned, the compatibility notes for Save Anywhere are not super promising, saying that it isn't compatible by default with any mods that add new locations or items to the game.
BJS - Time Skipper
Sometimes you get to year five of a farm and have achieved just about everything aside from amassing a fortune. When you've got nothing to do but watch your crops grow, BJS Time Skipper lets you use an Elder Scrolls-esque time waiting function where you choose the number of days you'd like to skip and then watch the days fly by.
Night Owl
If you need more time in your day to farm, the one surefire way to get it is just not sleeping! Stardew Valley forces your farmer to pass out at 2am if they haven't gone to bed yet. With the Night Owl mod, you can stay up forever and never sleep. The game will save at 6am by making it look like you're passing out, but unlike the main game you won't lose items or be forced back home again.
Custom Warps
Custom Warps adds a menu to Stardew Valley where you can set and travel to any tile on the game map. It's a cheesy solution to the problem of walking or riding around town, but a cool mod nevertheless!
Pelican Fiber
After ridding Pelican Town of the evil that is Joja Mart, you can instead introduce it to the evils of the internet! Pelican Fiber lets you shop online at any of the valley's stores "even on Wednesday, even on Tuesdays, even at midnight or 6am" says modder Jwdred. Since Marnie is never in her shop when I need her and Wednesday always seems to be the day I need seeds from Pierre, shopping online is a lifesaver that lets me get what I need while still saving those local businesses I fought to protect.
Purchasable Recipes
Purchasable Recipes allows you to buy recipes that you normally learn from the Queen of Sauce TV program from the saloon instead. I call this one a cheat because it shortcuts the process of learning recipes the way the game intended, but buying a food recipe from the local bar is a great lore-friendly solution to the problem of forgetting to check my TV every morning.
AutoAnimalDoors
Do you ever remember to shut the doors to your barns and coops at night? I don't. No matter what I do, I always seem to leave my poor animals out in the cold on rainy days. AutoAnimalDoors does the remembering for you by automatically opening and shutting all barns and coops each day. It's a small but life-saving change.
Stardew Valley Save Editor
This save editor is a seperate tool, not technically a mod, that allows you to adjust certain variables about your save file without having to dig around in a text editor. Sure, you could use it to cheat money and power into your game, but it also lets you do more difficult things than that. You can rename your farm, change your outfit, and even move farm buildings—all things that were otherwise unchangeable once set. The save editor can be used to cheat your way through the game, but it can also be used to subtly adjust variables that you couldn't control any other way, making it a valuable tool even for those of us using no mods at all.
- Page 1: How to install mods and basic mod tools, Visual and aesthetic mods
- Page 2: Utility mods and cheats
- Page 3: Gameplay mods and additions
- Page 4: Fandom crossover mods
ADDED MAPS
Farm Extended
For those of us who really struggle to choose a farm type when starting a new farm, Farm Extended gives the standard farm benefits of all the specialty farms. The extended farm features dedicated areas for fishing, foraging, and mining as well as fenced areas designed to keep animals from escaping. Modder Forkmaster also added a minecart stop behind the farmhouse for quick travel to other parts of town directly from home.
Bathroom house upgrade
Despite all the upgrades Robin can add to your farmhouse, she apparently wants to keep the bathhouse north of town to herself. This mod for adding a bathroom to the farmhouse's second upgrade gives you a private in-home spa for refreshing your energy on busy farm days. This mod won't work with any others that change the interior layout of the second farmhouse, so beware!
Jamie's Balanced Greenhouse
There are a ton of mods for expanding the greenhouse, most of which are excessively large. Personally, I don't want to do all of my farming inside the greenhouse. Jamie's Balanced Greenhouse is a perfectly modest expansion to the greenhouse space. It turns the central plot into a 15x15 square, meaning you can evenly place either medium or iridium sprinklers. It also adds 12 individual square plots meant for planting trees, since we were all planting our fruit trees in a ring around the default greenhouse plot already.
NEW ITEMS
Coffee Shoppe
Pelican Town may be a rural town but that doesn't mean that its villagers should have to settle for just your average cup of joe every morning. Coffee Shoppe adds a new espresso machine for creating fancy drinks like maple macchiatos and peppermint mochas. There are a number of new pastry recipes that it adds as well for cake pops and petite fours to pair with these stylish urban drinks.
Animal Husbandry
The Animal Husbandry mod, formerly known as the Butcher Mod, allows you to turn your animal friends into their component meat parts. If you don't care for using the meat cleaver on your cute little hogs, modder Digus added a "softmode" that changes the cleaver into a Meat Wand that lets you "exchange your animals for meat that grows on trees on another dimension." As another uncanny alternative, the mod Fresh Meat adds plants that you can grow and harvest meat from. Does that count as vegan?
Cannabis Kit
"Mayor Lewis has recently passed legislation allowing you to now grow cannabis on your farm!" says modder Paradigmnomad. Cannabis Kit adds a number of cannabis strains that can be bought from Harvey and Pierre during the summer and fall. Your mature cannabis plants can be crafted with original Stardew Valley artisan machines to produce products like hemp cloth and cannabis oil.
Six Winter Crops
Six Plantable Crops for Winter does exactly as it says and no more. Winters can be dull in Stardew Valley when the only activity is delving into the mines. For those of us that really just prefer farming to fighting, these six new crops give you a goal for the winter. Your farm can still look lively in the snow if you plant napa cabbage and blue roses!
EXPANDED FEATURES
Automate
The Automate mod is a huge boon to productivity on the farm that reminds me of complicated redstone machinery in Minecraft. Automate allows you to pair chests with machines that automatically pull raw materials from a connected chest and push the output back into the same chest. Smarter folks than me will be able to chain together complex interactions that save you from running about your farm to fill up machines all day.
Tractor Mod
Modern farmers rejoice! No longer does escaping to the countryside mean you must also submit to ancient farming techniques. The Tractor Mod allows you to purchase a tractor that performs the same functions as many of your basic farm tools but faster. It does everything from tilling dirt to breaking rocks to planting seeds, all from the comfort of a cushy seat.
Teh's Fishing Overhaul
Stardew Valley is one of few games where I don't outright detest the fishing minigame, but Teh's Fishing Overhaul makes the experience that much better. It adds the possibility for fish to be unaware of you, making them easier to catch, and rewards you for consecutive perfect catches as well. I'll still never choose the riverland farm map, but this overhaul will certainly make grabbing those fishing achievements less painful.
Minerva's Harder Community Center Bundles
After playing a number of new Stardew farms, the community center bundles can easily start to feel more like an annoying chore than a fun challenge. Minerva's Harder Community Center Bundles expand the items needed for each collection. In Minerva's words, the mod is designed for "those playing this game for the umpteenth time."
VILLAGER MODS
Polygamy
Choosing a paramour from all of Pelican Town's eligible individuals is a struggle every time I start a new game. Abigail speaks to my nerdy little heart but doesn't poor Shane deserve to be saved from the clutches of JojaMart? With the Polygamy mod, modder Bwdy says, "If you have the energy, the passion, and the dedication to see it through, you can pursue them all." After your first marriage, Pierre will sell additional mermaid pendants to propose with at his store and you'll be free to run about town and bend the knee to all of your lovers.
Shane's New Job
As mentioned, I have a soft spot for poor Shane and any time I choose a different spouse I feel so badly that he's out of a job when I chase Morris and JojaMart out of town. With Shane's New Job, Shane will start working at the Stardrop Saloon after the community center cut-scene. Finally I don't have to feel guilty to robbing the man of his gainful employment!
Romanceable Rasmodius
I've never been inclined to marry Rasmodius the wizard, but apparently modder WerewolfMaster was so inspired after playing another mod, Wizard Narrative Overhaul. Romanceable Rasmodius builds on the narrative overhaul created by Haywrites to turn him into a marriage candidate complete with heart events, post-marriage dialogue, and festival dialogue that references your relationship. I suspect this would pair well with a mod that changes Rasmodius's portrait to make him look a little more age appropriate for your young-adult farmer.
Responsible Marnie
I'm clearly not the only person that has failed to memorize Marnie's schedule. Any time I want to buy a new animal she seems to be anywhere but the shop that she owns and runs. I just want to give you my money, Marnie! Responsible Marnie is a small but crucial fix to one of my greatest Stardew frustrations. It ensures that Marnie will actually stand behind the counter of her shop on weekdays like a good shop owner.
MULTIPLAYER MODS
Cabin Owner Displayed
If you're running an operation with several other farmer friends, it can be tough to keep track of which houses belong to which friends. Cabin Owner Displayed is a quick fix that shows the name of a cabin's owner when you enter. No more pranking the wrong friend by accident.
Multiplayer Backpacks
Another useful way to keep tabs on your multiplayer friends is the Multiplayer Backpacks mod which lets you see what all your fellow farmers are carrying with them. Ideally you can use it to plan better as a group but if you just need it to figure out who's been hoarding all the hoes, it can do that too.
Unlimited Players
Now that Stardew Valley's official multiplayer support is out, we no longer need the Makeshift Multiplayer mod, but there are always greater heights for mod makers to aspire to. Unlimited Players removes the cap on cabins that can be built on a farm and the limit on number of farmers that can join a session. Only the player hosting the multiplayer session needs to install Unlimited Players, meaning you may be able to surprise some strangers with overpopulated farms.
Warp To Friends
Warp to Friends adds an additional menu to Stardew Valley showing the location of all other farmhands and a button for warping directly to them. Especially useful for helping out new friends if they get lost or need help deep in the mines.
- Page 1: How to install mods and basic mod tools, Visual and aesthetic mods
- Page 2: Utility mods and cheats
- Page 3: Gameplay mods and additions
- Page 4: Fandom crossover mods
THE POKEMON MODS
Pokemon never go out of style and adding them to any game makes it instantly cuter. There are an absolute plethora of Pokemon related mods:
- Seasonal Eeveelutions changes your cat into various Eevee evolutions depending on the season.
- Vulpix Pokemon as cat turns your cat into the adorable fox Pokemon, Vulpix.
- Pokemon Retextures changes all pets and livestock into Pokemon of similar species.
- Pokecrows makes all of your scarecrows and rarecrows into various Pokemon effigies.
- Pokemon Gym gives the exterior of your farmhouse a Pokemon Gym face lift.
- Pokemon buildings turn sheds into very horrifying Pikachu and Eevee heads.
FALLOUT MODS
I'm not sure I see the appeal of turning beautiful Stardew Valley into a desolate wasteland but some modders have taken to bringing a bit of Fallout to the valley:
- Mr. Doggy turns your pet do into a Mr. Handy unit.
- Mutated cows with two heads makes all cows look like irradiated brahmin. Still cute though!
- NukaCola replaces a number of JojaCola signs around town with NukaCola alternatives.
STAR WARS, SAILOR MOON, FINAL FANTASY
- JG BB8 turns your cat or dog into BB8 from Star Wars Episode VII.
- JG LightSabers replaces Stardew Valley's default weaponry with more badass lightsabers.
- Moogle Cat Replacement brings a bit of Final Fantasy to the valley by turning your cat into a moogle, kupo!
- ChocoboMod it would be positively criminal not to include a mod that lets you ride Chocobos. Every game should have chocobos, really.
- The Sailor Scarecrows last in the lineup of weird scarecrow choices are Sailor Scouts. I guess even magical girls eventually want to retire to greener pastures.
