The modding community has been hard at work since Stardew Valley update 1.5 and have introduced many new quality-of-life features players can add to their game to simulate an even greater variety small-town farming life experiences. Players can add mods to Stardew Valley and experience new features, improve the quality of life, and keep the game feeling fresher longer. Some of the most famous Stardew Valley mods are well-known throughout the community, including the Stardew Valley Extended Mod, which introduces new NPC characters, the Automate mod, which allows machines to automatically pull resources from nearby chests, and the Skull Cavern Elevator, which made Skull Cavern easier to navigate. Some of the newer mods players have designed could become just as popular and classic as these.
The best new Stardew Valley mods give the player more control over the events, give NPC marriage candidates more or less autonomy, add more immersion, and even introduce new events for resource gathering. To add mods to Stardew Valley, players will need to have a PC copy. Some mods can also be added on mobile. Most mods can be extracted from a zipped folder and placed directly into the game folder, but others require a special program to install. Here are some of the best new Stardew Valley mods and how to install them.
The Best New Stardew Valley Mods
Most of the Stardew Valley mods on this list were published or updated in 2021. Because they are so new, some of them may still be works in progress or include a few bugs. Players are encouraged to be patient and make sure to report any issues they encounter to the developer so they are aware of them and can patch these in future updates.
Reverse Proposal
If players don't want to always be the one to make the first move in a romantic relationship, they can install the Reverse Proposal mod by GreenOnion24. This mod allows a pursued NPC to ask the Farmer to be their significant other, rather than the Farmer always having to do the asking. So far, this mod is available for Sebastian, Alex, Harvey, Sam, and Shane, and the developer has plans to include Elliot, Abigail, Haley, Maru, Emily, and Leah in future updates. They have also expressed interest in updating the mod in the future so NPCs also propose marriage.
Event Lookup
To better organize and plan for events, players can install the Event Lookup mod by shekurika. This mod includes a new GUI and commands that let the player look up events by ID or character name, and to see all available daily events. This mod is especially powerful when used with the Stardew Valley Expanded mod to keep track of all the different daily and character events.
Better Critters
A very simple art overhaul can do a lot to extend a game's lifespan, and the Better Critters mod by Kanafile can refresh the look of birds, squirrels, and other critters throughout Stardew Valley. The developer took inspiration from real-life creatures to design new, varied sprites for many of the animals seen in-game.
Early Community Upgrades
Having a sense of control over the world can be an important aspect to any life simulator, and the Early Community Upgrades mod by Vertigon expands that capability for Farmers. In this mod, players can decide when they want to purchase Community Upgrades from Robin. They can also set the cost of upgrades, either from a list of presets or with their own values.
Empty Spouse Room
Players really seemed to love the No Spouse Rooms mod, but if they want to still give their partner a space without it ruining the aesthetic of the rest of the house, they can install the Empty Spouse Room mod by Lerura. This mod keeps the Spouse Room free of all objects, with the exception of Emily's parrot. The room comes in 7 styles to match the style of each Farm Map.
Fishing Trawler
Mods that change gameplay mechanics can be a lot of fun, and the Fishing Trawler mod by PeacefulEnd introduces an entirely new minigame. The Farmer and friends can go on a weekly fishing trip and catch fish in bulk. The minigame also adds new rewards, like Ancient Flags and the Angler's ring. It also includes a working radio, a new NPC, and a cat. Players will need to catch fish and prevent their boat from sinking.
Remember Your Umbrella
Immersion is extremely important in life simulations, and the Remember Your Umbrella mod by heyseth adds a seemingly mundane feature that can greatly increase player immersion: a wetness/dryness system. The mod adds a functional umbrella clothing option in 7 styles. Players can enable the wetness/dryness option. If a Farmer is caught in the rain without an umbrella, they will receive the wet buff, which slowly drains stamina. Once they go inside and dry off, the buff will gradually disappear.
How to Install Stardew Valley Mods
Typically, every mod a player downloads will include some instructions for installation. Players should always consult these instructions first to learn what each mod requires. Because Stardew Valley does not yet offer official modding supports, there are a few ways installation might work, depending on the specific mod.
Most simple Stardew Valley mods will only require players to add the files to their Stardew Valley Mods folder. The instructions for this process appear below:
- Download the selected mod.
- Open the zipped folder and click Extract All. This may require a program like WinRar or 7Zip.
- Open the Stardew Valley root folder. This can usually be found by opening the Steam library, right-clicking Stardew Valley, selecting Manage, and choosing Browse Local Files.
- Move the mod files to the Mods folder in the Stardew Valley root folder.
- Launch Stardew Valley.
The more complex mods require players to first download and install the Stardew Modding API (SMAPI) and Content Patcher. Then, they can install these mods. The instructions for installing mods with the SMAPI system appear below:
- Launch Stardew Valley at least once to set up game files.
- Download the latest version of SMAPI.
- Extract the .zip file to a new location. Note: Do not extract to the Stardew Valley root folder.
- Double-click install on Windows.bat. Follow the onscreen prompts to complete the installation.
- To continue to launch SMAPI and Stardew Valley using Steam, copy the text from the Installer, including the quotation marks.
- Open the Steam library, right-click Stardew Valley, and select Properties.
- Under Launch Options in the General tab, paste the line of text from the Installer.
- Click OK.
- Download the Content Patcher.
- Extract the files from the zipped folder and place them into the Mods folder in the Stardew Valley root folder.
Players can then use the first set of instructions to add mods into their game.
There are inherent risks to modding, and mods can sometimes cause trouble with game files and saves. Before installing mods, players should be sure to back up all their game files in case they need to uninstall their mods and revert to a previous save.
Stardew Valley is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Linux, iOS, and Android.