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The massively popular Stardew Valley has a bustling mod scene, with tons of passionate fans creating content or adjusting the farming game’s mechanics. While mods for some games, like Skyrim and Fallout, feature a lot of wacky content, the Stardew Valley mods are primarily focused on quality-of-life changes and art overhauls.
While developer ConcernedApe has put out several content updates since the launch of Stardew Valley, the passionate mod community on sites like Nexus Mods has been working hard on new content too. Some modders have gone the extra mile to make new areas and NPCs, but many of them have chosen to focus on changing the art style or fixing small inconveniences in the game. Many of the small mods focus on refining some divisive aspects of the game, such as the fishing minigame. If other games like Stardew Valley aren’t doing it for you, adding mods can give you a new experience. All of the mods in this list can be found on Nexus Mods, with direct links to their pages. We’ve included instructions on how to mod Stardew Valley at the bottom of the page, but if you’re facing errors, each individual mod page has its own instructions and troubleshooting sections. Here are the best Stardew Valley mods to install right now.
How To Mod Stardew Valley
While some games make use of the Steam Workshop feature to install and manage mods, Stardew Valley has its own process. You’ll need to alter the game files, but if that sounds scary, fear not. It’s more simple than it sounds, and we’ve got instructions on how to install mods, whether they’re XNB files or mods that utilize the Stardew Modding API. If you’re tinkering with game files, remember to keep a vanilla backup somewhere, just in case undesirable side effects start coming into play.
For XNB files:
- Locate the content file at C:/Steam/steamapps/common/Stardew Valley/Content
- Find the folder that represents the mod you’re trying to install. For example, if you want to add a new cow variant, head to the Animals subfolder.
- Replace the “cow.xnb” file with your replacement file.
- Restart the game to apply the mod’s effects.
To use the Stardew Modding API, download SMAPI from Nexus Mods. This open-source software will allow you to install DLL files with ease, and also regularly checks for new updates. SMAPI will also help to make mods compatible with future Stardew Valley updates. All you need to do, when your DLL file is downloaded, is move it into the SMAPI mod folder.
While that’s it for the best mods to install in Stardew Valley, take note of the house upgrades, and recipes list for your next playthrough. They may be vanilla inclusions, but there’s far more on offer than you’d expect.
Skip Fishing Minigame
Created by: DewMods
The Skip Fishing Minigame does exactly what the title says: If you don’t enjoy the fishing minigame in Stardew Valley, this mod will just skip it, automatically catching whatever you hooked. It also has some nice options to fully automate the process, or set a minimum catch amount before the mod kicks in, forcing you to at least catch each type of fish once before the minigame gets automated.
Canon-Friendly Dialogue Expansion
Created by: Ben and Witchweed
A very popular mod, the Canon-Friendly Dialogue Expansion adds a massive amount of new dialogue for every character in multiple scenarios. There are roughly 4,200 new lines across day-to-day interactions, festivals, and marriage. These new lines don’t replace any existing dialogue, and all of them are meant to fit in with the tone of Stardew Valley. They are also all in-line with the same level of vulgarity as the rest of the game, so there won’t be anything in there to spoil the cozy vibe.
Seasonal Outfits – Slightly Cuter Aesthetic
Created by: Poltergeister, Agent Lyoko, Pathoschild, Hopewashere, Alvadea, Ailin, IronZelly, Geckobud, Tanpoponoko, Airyn, Seyph, Jaksha, Seusmothesaurus, PKpixel, Periera1495, Longevity, Schrodingers Kit, DaniAlbrtSancEs, Medinaquirin, ParadigmNomad, daftpatiance
This artwork mod combines a couple of different mods to create Seasonal Outfits – Slightly Cuter Aesthetic. It gives all of the NPCs new outfits for each season and changes the portraits to reflect these new outfits. It also includes some minor tweaks to the normal portraits and some festival outfits to bring the overall aesthetic together into a cuter look, for anyone that isn’t in love with the Stardew Valley style.
1oxnes and talkohlooeys’ Seasonal Portraits
Created by: talkohlooeys, 1oxnes, and fuzzlepuzzle
Created to go along with the Seasonal Outfits mod, the Seasonal Portraits mod offers a complete overhaul of the in-game portraits to have a more hand-drawn and cuter art style. Not only are the base game portraits redone, but there are also versions to match the seasonal outfits from the other mod, helping to bring a cute vibe to the game.
Gift Taste Helper Continued X2
Created by: JoXW
This helpful tool adds a list of loved gifts to each villager when you view either their birthday on the in-game calendar or the relationship tab in the menu, so you don’t have to create a spreadsheet or keep a guide open. The Gift Taste Helper Continued X2 can have all gifts listed from the start, or it can add them as you give loved gifts for the first time, if you still want to discover them on your own.
NPC Map Locations
Created by: Bouhm and Pathoschild
NPC Map Locations fixes one of the most frustrating, although incredibly small, issues with Stardew Valley: It adds icons to the map to show the current location of every NPC in the game. Without this mod, you have to memorize NPC schedules or spend time searching around town for them if you want to turn in a quest or give them a gift.
Stardew Valley Expanded
Created by: FlashShifter, Poltergeister, iKeychain, EscaMMC, spacechase0, Mouse, Jessie#4755, xNytax, HopeWasHere, CherrySymphony, Coldazrael, halloikbenzander
There are a few different mods that add more content to Stardew Valley, but the standout choice is Stardew Valley Expanded. This mod adds more areas, NPCs, character events, festivals, fish, crops, and so much more. As the name implies, it truly does expand Stardew Valley, so if you just need more Stardew content in your life, this mod will deliver on that front.
Stardew and Chill
Created by: Haphestia
While the name might make you think it does something else, Stardew and Chill is a music mod that changes out the in-game music for a lo-fi hip-hop Stardew Valley-inspired album. It takes music from the Stardew and Chill album made by DJ Cutman and Coffee Date and uses it as replacement tracks throughout Stardew Valley. The album is also on YouTube, so you can check out the music before installing the mod.
Skull Cavern Elevator
Created by: Lestoph
If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated that Stardew Valley’s endgame dungeon didn’t have an elevator in it, the Skull Cavern Elevator mod fixes that. Now, the Skull Cavern has an elevator just like the regular mine, checkpointing your progress every five floors so you can return to the furthest depth you previously reached. This can save a ton of time and resources since you no longer have to start from the top each time.
Wildflower Grass Field
Created by: Hesper
The Wildflower Grass Field mod changes the appearance of grass fields to have more variety and to fit whatever season you are in. It adds a ton of flowers and grass for each season, providing a cuter aesthetic as well, if you would prefer that over the default look. The flowers in each season are mixed together randomly, creating unique patches of grass throughout the game.
DaisyNiko’s Earthy Recolor
Created by: DaisyNiko
Another visual mod, DaisyNiko’s Earthy Recolor changes the visual look of both the environment of Stardew Valley and the exterior of buildings in town to have a warmer, earth-colored aesthetic. It’s not a massive change, but it’s a bit easier on the eyes and matches the relaxed vibes of the game.
DaisyNiko’s Earthy Recolor Interiors
Created by: DaisyNiko
A sister mod to the previous entry, DaisyNiko’s Earthy Recolor Interiors applies the warmed and cozier visual color palette to the interior of buildings across the game. If you enjoy the look of the Earthy Recolor on the outdoors, it only makes sense to apply it to the inside of buildings as well.
Custom Kissing Mod
Created by: Digus
Stardew Valley does let you kiss someone once you’re married, but if you ever felt disappointed you couldn’t kiss your partner prior to marriage, you aren’t alone. The Custom Kissing Mod allows you to initiate a kiss with an NPC once you have seen their 10-heart event. It cures exhaustion and provides some relationship points just like the marriage kiss.
Oasis Greenhouse
Created by: DaisyNiko
The Oasis Greenhouse mod overhauls the Greenhouse to make it bigger and add a bunch of additional features, like a Spa that can restore energy and a cellar that can hold casks. The biggest bonus is the additional space, as the Oasis Greenhouse has space for six iridium sprinkler fields and enough space to have two of each kind of tree. If you have found the Greenhouse in Stardew Valley lackluster, this version has a bit of everything.
Wear More Rings
Created by: bcmpinc
The Wear More Rings mod allows you to equip more rings than normal in Stardew Valley. If you have spent a ton of time in either the mines or Skull Cavern, you probably have far more than the two rings you are allowed to wear. This allows you to increase the limit up to 20 rings, letting you utilize as many special powers and bonuses as possible.
Visible Fish
Created by: shekurika
The Visible Fish mod adds, well, visible fish. Now you can spot which fish are currently catchable at your current location by seeing them in the water. This doesn’t affect how the fishing minigame works, and the fish won’t be visible while biting your line, but it’s nice to know what’s available when you cast. It also works with other location and fishing mods.
Better Ranching
Created by: Urbanyeti
The Better Ranching mod makes a few small tweaks to the ranching system in Stardew Valley. It adds visual indicators for every animal to show if they can be either milked or sheared, along with an indicator showing if you have pet them yet that day. It also removes failure for both activities, making the overall process of caring for your animals and making money from them much easier.
Part of the Community
Created by: Space Baby
Friendship points in Stardew Valley are typically only gained by interacting with that villager directly, but the Part of the Community mod adds in passive boost to friendship points. Shipping new items, talking with a villager near other villagers, and visiting shops are just a few of the new ways to earn friendship points with the mod, which rewards players for interacting with the community in any capacity.
Immersive Family
Created by: xiaoleiwen
Having a family in Stardew Valley has always felt a bit tacked-on, but the Immersive Family mod aims to fix that. It adds 35 new events for your children, along with a ton of NPC dialogue based around your children. This is meant to make the children feel like an important part of the game, where the NPCs actually acknowledge their existence.
Medieval Buildings
Created by: Gweniaczek
The Medieval Buildings mod changes the design of all of your farm buildings to have a more old-timey feel. Instead of the modern wooden look, buildings are instead made from bricks. While the name implies they will look like castles, they look more like a regal hamlet located just outside of a castle.
Farmer Helper
Created by: aedenthorn
The Farmer Helper mod is a simple tool that helps you not only remember everything you need to do each day, but also prevents you from making simple mistakes while farming. It does two main things, the first of which is to either warn you or prevent you completely from planting seeds too late in a season to actually harvest them. The second is a warning that pops up as you go to bed for the night if you forgot to tend to either crops or animals.
Do Not Eat My Crops
Created by: u_u__w
Do Not Eat My Crops is a very specific mod that does one thing, which is prevent crows from eating your crops if you don’t have scarecrows protecting them. This mod takes away the stress of placing scarecrows in the proper places by making it so crows never eat your crops, regardless of scarecrow placement.
Automate
Created by: Pathoschild
If you find yourself tiring of checking your furnaces, crab pots, and other machines every day in Stardew Valley, the Automate mod allows you to create automated machines to do it all for you. By connecting a chest to different machines, it will automatically collect finished products and place more raw materials into machines. You can even connect multiple machines to make an assembly line.
Save Anywhere
Created by: Aredjay and Sweet Panda
The Save Anywhere mod allows you to save (almost) anywhere. Normally, Stardew Valley only saves when you go to sleep at the end of a day, but the mod allows you to save wherever you are, although certain events can prevent you from doing so. Still, it’s better than having to either waste a day by cutting it early or lose any progress you have already made that day.
Elle’s New Barn Animals
Created by: Elle
If you have ever thought to yourself, “I wish these animals were cuter,” when looking at your cows and pigs, Elle’s New Barn Animals mod overhauls the barn animals design to be much cuter in design. There are multiple options to choose from for each one, including the option to fully replace some, like having deer instead of cows.
Polyamory Sweet
Created by: ApryllForever
Sometimes you just can’t decide which Stardew Valley character to marry. It’s a struggle, right? How do you choose from such a variety of fun NPCs? With the Polyamory Sweet mod, you no longer need to make any difficult decisions. The mod allows for multiple spouses or roommates, you can even marry multiple people in one wedding. For the affectionately-inclined, unlimited hugging and kissing is also included. Remember that, unless you’re using something like the Friends Forevermod, relationship decay is still a thing so you’ll need to pay plenty of attention to your spouses of choice or risk upsetting them. You can mirror real-life too, and select a primary partner by gifting them the Aine Flower, which you can buy at Pierre’s or plant with seeds. You can even change bed order or size in the configuration file, so everyone is comfortable.
Elle’s Seasonal Buildings
Created by: junimods
Have you ever been wandering around Stardew Valley wishing the building aesthetics had more options? With Elle’s Seasonal Buildings, there are seven different color palettes and three building themes, including more colorful, full brick, and all-white. There are eight different farmhouse styles too, whether you want it to be made entirely of stained glass, or you’re going for a cottagecore look. Upgraded farmhouses can even benefit from configurable external wall colors, and there’s optional holiday or festival-themed decor for farmhouse and cabin exteriors. The mod even gets into the finer details, allowing for the adjustment of fence, mailbox, shipping bin, and fish pond recoloring.
Automatic Gates
Created by: Rakiin aka ScheKaa
How much time do you think you’ve wasted manually opening and closing gates in Stardew? Well, we’ve not been keeping count, but trust us when we say it’s a lot. Probably. Waste no more time! Installing the Automatic Gates mod does exactly what it says on the tin. It opens and closes gates automatically for players. Animals won’t be affected, so you don’t need to worry about your herd getting loose. If you don’t want all gates to be automatic, there are options to exclude some too.
Bigger Backpack
Created by: spacechase0, bcmpinc
We’ve addressed the issue of not being able to access your chests anywhere on the map, but what about the increasing frustration of having a limited inventory on your person? Sure, you could move things between chests using the Chests Anywhere mod above, but the Bigger Backpack mod goes one further. Simply head to Pierre’s and part with 50,000g to get a backpack with 48 slots. While your inventory starts at 12 slots, it can be upgraded in the vanilla game to 36. But what good is 36? We want 48!
Baldur’s Village
Created by: BV
This Baldur’s Gate 3-inspired mod adds your favorite BG3 characters to Stardew Valley, with more than 20 new NPCs. There are six new locations straight from the turn-based RPG, and everyone’s favorite undead vampire, Astarion, has a romanceable questline. Bumping into Karlach or Wyll isn’t unheard of in Baldur’s Village, and the art style lovingly brings the beloved NPCs to Stardew in an adorable pixel style. It’s a must-download mod for fans of both games.
Custom Companions
Created by: PeacefulEnd
Have you ever found yourself running around Stardew Valley and dreaming of a cute little cow following you around? A bat? A crazed spinning girl? Okay, so the latter might not be super desirable, but it is possible thanks to the Custom Companions mod. After installing it, you can create custom animals, people, or strange entities that can spawn on the map, or follow you around. This is a mod aimed at people who create other mods, or who may want to try their hand at creating custom content.
Chests Anywhere
Created by: Pathoschild
The Chests Anywhere mod removes the frustration of forgetting an item in a chest at home. You can access not just your chests, but fridges, dressers, shipping bins, and Junimo huts from anywhere in the game, and organize their contents. You can move items from one place to another without needing to run across the map. If you’ve found yourself with a full inventory on a mining expedition, you can now transfer your items to your chest on your farm and continue digging deeper.
Ridgeside Village
Created by: Rafseazz, Mamaesh
The massive Ridgeside Village mod introduces more than 50 new NPCs, a brand-new location, new items, shops, festivals, music, quests, and more. It’s an incomprehensibly massive mod which introduces tons of new content while not being intrusive to the base game. 22 of the 50+ new NPCs can be befriended or romanced, and the late game challenges provide a test for even the most seasoned Stardew veterans. There’s even the Ridgeside Village Seasonal Outfits mod, which introduces new aesthetics for characters in the mod. There are new quests and festivals if you’re bored of the Night Market, and even hotel rooms to stay overnight, and the odd jobs service to hire assistants on your farm. If you’ve been playing Stardew for years like the rest of us, installing the Ridgeside Village mod is truly like playing a brand-new version of the same farming sim we know and love.
Tractor
Created by: Pathoschild
Vehicles in Stardew Valley? While characters like Lewis have a truck, it’s never seen moving around the village, probably because of the incomprehensible scale of the thing. It’s almost the size of his house! You can join in on the motoring fun now too, with the Tractor mod by Pathoschild. You can buy a tractor, as well as a garage to put it in, to help you be more efficient with crops, as well as clearing twigs and rocks on the farm. With the mod installed, you’ll buy the tractor and garage from Robin who will come over and build it. Then, just get on the tractor and select a tool, seeds, or fertilizer from the toolbar. Pressing the backspace key will also summon the tractor to your current location. The tractor even has a melee weapon to break open mine containers or attack monsters.
Mod Config Menu
Created by: spacechase0
The Generic Mod Config Menu allows you to add a menu option in-game which views all mod settings at once. If you’re finding yourself working through our mods list and installing almost all of them, this could be a helpful addition that enables you to manage all of your mods in one place. To find it in Stardew Valley, just use the cog icon either in the title screen or during your playthrough. Note that not all mods support Generic Mod Config Menu, so if some you’ve installed are missing from the settings page, don’t panic.
Downhill Project
Created by: Kiyugamods
The Downhill Project is an extended map that allows the player to explore a forgotten neighbourhood between Backwoods and the Mountain. The run-down old location holds plenty of secrets despite its resident NPCs totalling just three: a priest, a miner, and an old lady. Each of these characters have their own homes, as well as a ruined church and a depleted mine – symbols of the community’s hope for the future.
The Downhill Project is compatible with several other mods, including Stardew Valley Expanded and Ridgeside, and the town sits perfectly alongside Stardew Valley’s art style, map logic, and general vibe. The introduction of these kindly characters will make you want to spring into action to help this crumbling community (and learn their secrets).
DBB’s Victorian Gothic UI
Created by: donutbunnybunny
This cottagecore Stardew Valley mod overhauls the user interface to make everything a bit more romantic. DBB’s Victorian Gothic UI mod’s swirling fonts, paired with intricate carved wood-style overlays and floral decor make a significant upgrade to Stardew Valley’s default UI, especially if you’re going for that Victorian gothic town vibe.
Character portraits are given a sultry rose garden background, while inventory tabs are overlaid with a lace effect, making them look almost cross-stitched. Expect a lot of roses, wrought iron, and thorny branches from this charming UI mod.
The Muttering Farmer
Created by: YunHikari
If your farmer doesn’t yap enough for your liking, the Muttering Farmer mod will soon get them chatting. Once installed, your farmer will verbalise all their actions with a speech bubble over their head, adding flavor and variety to what can become fairly mundane tasks. It’s a simple tweak, but one that makes the world of Stardew Valley feel more immersive, and inserts you as an active participant in its social development.
Some of the comments are useful, such as location or character reminders, while others are simply funny comments on the daily goings on of Pelican Town. If you’re a seasoned modder, you can even customize the lines of text for an extra dose of role-playing fun.
Marry Me – Reverse Proposals
Created by: Kantrip
Our farmers do a lot of the romantic heavy lifting in Stardew Valley, but this Marry Me – Reverse Proposals mod promotes a bit more amorous equality among suitors. Each of the twelve original love interests have a custom proposal event, while modded NPCs can make use of a more generic event. NPCs can even propose to your character while they’re dating someone else, in a more desperate and chaotic style.
You won’t need a mermaid’s pendant for these, but you might get one if you say yes. You’ll still need to put the work in to build a relationship and see those heart events, but at least you can sit back and wait for them to come to you with the big proposal.
Potatoes’ Cozy Furniture – Joja’s Replacement
Created by: BackedPotatoes
Another one for those trying to turn Stardew Valley into cottagecore wonderland, this Cozy Furniture mod replaces Joja’s furniture with rustic mushroom-y forest goodness. If your dream Stardew vibe is witchy and whimsical, these interior layouts could really cozy things up.
There are two palette options – one in witchy greens and purples and one in warmer reds and browns. Items like toilets and bathtubs are still fully interactable, and candles will illuminate the world around them with ambient light. The latest patch brings a standalone version that introduces the furniture as their own items, rather than mere reskins, which adds a few more immersion features if you opt for it.
Cornucopia – More Crops
Created by: MizuJakkaru
If you feel like you’ve grown every Stardew Valley plant to perfection, Cornucopia–More Crops is an ambitious mod that adds many more crops, bushes, and trees for you to nurture. Cornucopia is an umbrella title for a series of customizable mods, introducing new crops, artisan machines, recipes, flowers, and more, while still respecting the tone and aesthetics of the base game. In this case, we’ve picked the More Crops bundle, but searching for Cornucopia on Nexus Mods will yield an array of results for you to choose from. It’s generally recommended to download the Growable Forage and Crop Bushes mod alongside this one, to fully embellish your crops list.
Cornucopia–More Crops adds more than 90 new crops and over 35 new trees (and associated produce) to Stardew Valley, including giant crops and wild foraging plants. Grow a selection of fruits and veggies, from avocados and olives to white grapes and figs, as well as flavourings, beans, nuts, and herbs like vanilla, chickpea, peanut, and thyme. Hand-drawn trees and produce sprites make each new offering look like it was there all along.
Categories Chest
Created by: mahsouto
If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated by lost items, or having to check every chest to find one specific gift, Categories Chest is a must-have mod. Time is precious in Stardew Valley, and this handy mod makes your life far easier by organizing chests based on categories. Once you’ve linked a chest to a specific category, you can transfer everything in that category to the chest with a single click.
Float Chest Label
Created by: Nookick
Another chest sorting mod, Float Chest Label allows you to easily identify your chests through more than just color co-ordination. Each chest can be given a label of between 1-50 characters that floats above it, identifying what’s inside. Label size and colour can also be adjusted to make sure they don’t clutter up your aesthetic too much. Once you’ve got your labels sorted, you can toggle them on and off with the general settings menu.
Spouse Farmhouse Schedules
Created by: Nikanor24
Do you ever wish your Stardew Valley spouse lived a more varied life? The Spouse Farmhouse Schedules mod beefs up their daily schedule inside the farmhouse, introducing new animations, sprites, and real-time in-game editing. Create your own schedules for your beloved (or beloveds, this mod supports polyamorous marriages), using triggers to spice up their routine–for example, specific weathers or days of the month–and watch as they cook, workout, change clothes automatically, and more.
Sunberry Village
Created by: skellady and sophiesalacia
If you were looking for more content outside of the base game in Stardew Valley, then look no further than the Sunberry Village mod. This mod adds a new settlement south of Pelican Town, and introduces over a dozen new characters, items, jobs, and more to your playthrough. There’s also a story to uncover and lore to learn about in Sunberry Village, giving you dozens of hours of additional content just in a single mod. Basically, if you want the mod to have something, it probably has it.
They Deserve It Too – Portraits for Extras
Created by: cresolyn and Dolphin Is Not a Fish
There are dozens of characters you can meet and interact with throughout Stardew Valley, but you can’t put a face to each NPC’s name. “Extra” characters, who don’t have a lot to say or do, have a blank portrait when you speak with them. To increase your immersion and just start putting faces to names, you can download the They Deserve It Too mod, which adds custom portraits for every extra character in the game.
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Updated: Feb 11, 2026 02:21 am