What you need before you start
The community's Satisfactory Mod Manager, SMM for short, is the supported way to mod a server. Version 3.0.0 and later can manage a remote server as well as your own game, as can the command line tool ficsit-cli. Download SMM from smm.ficsit.app or ficsit.app. The modding docs ask you to launch Satisfactory to the title screen once on your own PC before installing mods there.
Not every mod can run on a server. Mods are compiled separately for dedicated servers, and the docs note that this only became possible with SML 3.7.0, the mod loader everything else depends on. On each mod's page on ficsit.app, the Latest Version table has a Server column, and a tick there means the mod supports dedicated servers. While SMM is managing a server, its compatible filter shows only mods that do.
Manual installation on a server is not supported by the modding team. It means finding the server build of every mod and every dependency by hand, and SMM does that for you.
- Satisfactory Mod Manager 3.0.0 or later, or ficsit-cli
- SFTP, FTP or file share access to the server's files
- Mods with a tick in the Server column on ficsit.app
- The same mods installed in every player's game
Add the server to Satisfactory Mod Manager
In SMM, look under Other in the left panel and choose Manage Servers, then enter the connection details. Once added, the server appears in the Game Version dropdown, and you manage it exactly as you manage your own game. A server installed on the same PC through Steam or Epic may be found automatically.
SFTP is the method the docs prefer, normally on port 22, and FTP is the fallback. The account needs permission to read, write and delete files. On Windows you can also give a local path or a network share path; on Linux a network share has to be mounted to a local path first.
Point SMM at the folder that holds FactoryServer.sh or FactoryServer.exe, the server's start files. If you select the top folder of the install instead, SMM's file browser can find the right subfolder. On a rented server the SFTP host, port, user name and password come from your control panel, and how game server hosting works explains that access.
- SFTP: sftp://username:password@ServerNameOrIP:Port/path/
- FTP: only if SFTP is not available
- Windows: a local path or \\ServerNameOrIP\ShareName\Path
- The path must lead to the folder with FactoryServer.sh or FactoryServer.exe
Install mods, step by step
The order matters because of one rule in the docs: a running server keeps its mod files locked, which stops SMM from updating or removing them. Mod changes also only take effect after the server restarts. So stop it first, change the mods, then start it.
SMM installs each mod with its dependencies and the mod loader, SML, so you do not install SML yourself. On the server the files land in FactoryGame/Mods, with SML in its own folder there, which is a quick way to confirm the install arrived.
- Stop the server
- In SMM, select the server in the Game Version dropdown
- Turn on the compatible filter so only server mods are listed
- Install the mods you want; dependencies and SML come with them
- Check that FactoryGame/Mods on the server now holds SML and the mod folders
- Start the server and watch the console for errors on startup
Keep every player on the same mods
Players must have the same mods installed as the server to join, so the server and the group's games have to move together. The docs advise against installing mods one at a time on each side, because it is easy to end up with a client on one mod version and the server on another.
The recommended way is a single profile in SMM that you use for both your own game and the server. A profile is a named set of mods. Export it as a file and send it to your players, and they import it to get exactly the same list. If you want a readable list instead, Copy mods list in the Mod Manager settings menu gives one.
Some mods only belong on one side, client only or server only. For those, the docs suggest separate profiles for the client and the server, so each side gets only what it needs.
- One profile for your game and the server
- Export the profile and share the file with players
- Update mods on the server and in every game at the same time
- Separate profiles only when a mod is client only or server only
Mod settings and world settings
Many mods have their own settings. The docs recommend configuring mods on your own game and then copying the config files over to the server, because settings that differ between client and server can cause problems.
Some mods also add options that must be chosen when a save is created. Those cannot be set from the in-game Server Manager. Create the save in your own modded game with the options you want, then upload it to the server. Our Satisfactory server setup guide covers uploading a save, the ports and the admin password, and the Satisfactory game page shows the plan a modded factory runs on.
Mistakes that break a modded server
The single most common one is copying the Mods folder from your own game to the server. The docs warn against it directly: client mods are compiled for the game client and will not work on a dedicated server. Always install through SMM pointed at the server, so it fetches the server builds.
The second is changing mods while the server runs, which fails on locked files. Stop the server first, every time. The third is a mismatch after an update: when you update a mod on the server, update it in every player's game too, ideally by sharing the profile again.
To take a server back to vanilla, remove or disable its mods in SMM with the server selected. On your own PC, SMM's Mods off switch in the top left turns all mods off, and if that fails, the docs say you can delete the Mods folder from the game's install folder. Keep a copy of the save before you remove a mod that added buildings or items to it.
- Never copy your own game's Mods folder to the server
- Stop the server before installing, updating or removing mods
- Update mods on the server and every client together
- Back up the save before removing a mod it uses