How to Install Satisfactory Mods (SMM / ficsit.app)

Satisfactory does not use the Steam Workshop, so installing mods works differently than most games. Everything runs through ficsit.app and the Satisfactory Mod Manager (SMM). Here is the complete, beginner-friendly process, including the rule that catches out every multiplayer group.

Step 1: Get the Satisfactory Mod Manager

Download SMM from ficsit.app (the official Satisfactory modding hub). SMM is a desktop app that:

• Installs and updates mods for you.
• Automatically installs SML (Satisfactory Mod Loader), the framework every mod needs.
• Manages "profiles" so you can switch mod sets on and off.
• Handles dependencies and version compatibility.

Install and launch it, then point it at your Satisfactory install if it does not detect it automatically.

Step 2: Understand SML

SML (Satisfactory Mod Loader) is the layer that lets mods hook into the game. You do not install it by hand; SMM installs the correct SML version for you and updates it when needed. Just know that if SML is out of date after a game patch, some mods will be temporarily disabled until authors update them.

Step 3: Install mods

In SMM:

1. Browse or search the mod list (it pulls directly from ficsit.app).
2. Click to install the mods you want, for example Smart!, Micro Manage, and Area Actions.
3. SMM resolves dependencies and downloads everything.
4. Toggle the profile on, then launch the game from SMM (or normally once the profile is enabled).

That is it for single-player. To remove a mod, toggle it off in SMM; no file wrangling required.

Step 4: Dedicated servers, the matching rule

This is the part groups get wrong. On a Satisfactory dedicated server:

> The server and every connected client must run the exact same mods at the exact same versions.

If your friend has Refined Power 1.2 and the server has 1.1, they cannot join. If the server has a mod a client lacks (or vice versa), the connection fails. Before playing:

1. Agree on a mod list and versions with your group.
2. Everyone installs that identical list via SMM.
3. The server gets the same mods installed.
4. After any game or mod update, everyone updates together.

Installing mods on a dedicated server means placing the server-side mod files in the server's mods directory (SMM can target a server install, or your host provides a manager). The versions must line up with what clients run.

Step 5: Handle game updates carefully

When Satisfactory updates, SML and mods may briefly break until authors push compatibility updates. If you depend on mods, check ficsit.app before letting the game auto-update, and update your server and all clients in lockstep.

Using profiles

SMM's profile system is genuinely useful. Keep one profile for your solo save, another that exactly mirrors your dedicated server's mod list, and a clean "vanilla" profile for when you just want to verify a bug is mod-related. Switching profiles is a single click and avoids the mistake of joining a server with the wrong mods enabled. Export a profile and share the file so your whole group installs an identical set in one step.

Common pitfalls

• Looking on Steam Workshop. There is nothing there; use ficsit.app and SMM.
• Mismatched versions. The single biggest cause of "cannot connect" in modded multiplayer.
• Skipping SML worries. You do not manage SML manually, but a stale SML after a patch disables mods until it updates.

The easy way

Getting mod versions to line up between a dedicated server and every client is the real chore. Nxeon's Satisfactory server hosting includes a one-click Mods manager that installs server-side mods and keeps versions clear, so matching your SMM client profile is straightforward.

Spin up a modded dedicated server from our game servers, install SMM on each client, match your mod list, and start building. Once you know it is ficsit.app and not the Workshop, Satisfactory modding is smooth sailing.