How to install mods in BeamNG.drive
Installing a mod in BeamNG.drive is three steps: put the .zip in the mods folder, start the game, switch the mod on in the mod manager. The catch is the folder. It sits inside a folder named after the game version, and the game makes a new one every time it updates.
This guide is for Windows.
Before you start
- You need the mod as a .zip file. BeamNG reads mods as zips, so do not extract it.
- Close the game. You can add mods while it is running, but closing it first avoids a class of odd behaviour.
- Make sure the download finished. A part-downloaded zip looks normal in Explorer and simply never appears in the game. Compare the size of the file on your disk with the size shown on the page you downloaded it from.
Where the mods folder is
Mods do not go in the folder the game is installed in. A zip in your Steam directory does nothing. They go in the user folder, which on Windows is here by default:
%LOCALAPPDATA%BeamNG.drive
Press Windows+R, paste that in and press Enter. Explorer opens it. %LOCALAPPDATA% expands to C:Usersyour-nameAppDataLocal, and AppData is hidden by default, which is why pasting the path is easier than browsing to it.
Inside are one or more folders named after game versions: 0.34, 0.35, 0.36 and so on. Open the one that matches the version you play, and inside it you will find mods. The full path looks like this:
%LOCALAPPDATA%BeamNG.drive .36mods
Use your own version number in place of 0.36. The game shows its version in the main menu. Do not guess from the folder list: old version folders stay behind after updates, so the highest number is usually right but not always.
Letting the game show you the folder
If you would rather not work it out, the game can open the folder for you. It has to be running for this, so do it before you start installing:
- Start BeamNG.drive.
- Open the mod manager from the main menu.
- Use its option to open the mods folder in Explorer. The wording and the icon move around between game versions, but the option is on that screen.
- Note the path, then close the game and carry on below.
Whatever folder that opens is the one the game is actually using, version number and all. It is also the only reliable method if you moved your user folder somewhere else, because then the default path above does not apply.
Installing the mod
- Close BeamNG.drive.
- Open the mods folder for the version you play.
- Copy the .zip into it. Leave it zipped, and put it straight into mods rather than into a subfolder you make yourself.
- Start the game. Zips found at startup are normally switched on straight away.
- Open the mod manager from the main menu and check the mod is listed and switched on.
If you dropped the zip in while the game was running, it will not appear until the mod manager rescans the folder or you restart the game.
Then go and find it. Vehicles appear in the vehicle selector, usually under the brand or author name the mod uses rather than the file name. Maps appear in the level list when you start a free roam session. Parts and configurations for an existing vehicle appear in that vehicle’s parts selector or configuration list, not as a separate entry.
Turning mods on and off
The mod manager lists everything in your mods folder with a switch next to each entry. Turning a mod off leaves the zip in place but stops the game loading it. That is the quickest way to test whether a mod is causing a problem.
- Vehicle and map mods usually work as soon as they are switched on. You may need to go back to the menu and start a new session.
- Mods that add user interface apps or scripts often need the game restarted before they appear.
- Turning off a mod that a spawned vehicle is using can leave the session in a strange state. Switch mods on and off from the menu, not mid-drive.
The mod does not show up
Work down this list. The first two cover most cases.
| What is wrong | How to tell | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong version folder | The zip is in a folder like 0.34 while the game is on 0.36 | Move the zip into the current version’s mods folder |
| Zip inside a zip | Opening the zip shows a readme and another .zip | Extract one level and put the inner zip in the mods folder |
| Incomplete download | The file on disk is smaller than the size shown on its file page | Download it again from the same page. A ModsDrop link stays valid for six hours, so you can usually resume rather than start over |
| Extracted by mistake | You have a folder in mods, not a zip | Delete the folder and put the original zip back |
| Mod switched off | It is listed in the mod manager but the switch is off | Switch it on |
| Not a mod file | The download is a single .pc file | A .pc is a saved configuration, not a mod. It goes in the vehicles folder of your user folder, for example %LOCALAPPDATA%BeamNG.drive .36vehiclespickup for a pickup configuration |
| Built for an older game version | It loads, but the vehicle is missing parts or the game crashes on spawn | See the next section |
If the mod is listed and switched on but you still cannot find it in the game, search the vehicle selector by the author or brand name rather than the file name. The zip name and the in-game name are not always the same.
If something is clearly broken, turn every mod off, start the game, then turn them back on a few at a time until the problem returns. It is slow, but it finds the culprit without guesswork.
Removing a mod cleanly
The tidy way is from inside the game: switch the mod off in the mod manager, then use the delete option next to it. That removes the zip and the game’s record of it together.
Doing it by hand works too. Close the game, delete the .zip from the mods folder, start the game again. Deleting a zip while the game is running can leave a dead entry in the mod list until the next restart.
Two things to check afterwards:
- If you ever extracted a mod for editing, the mods folder may also hold an unpacked subfolder with a copy inside it. That copy keeps loading after you delete the zip.
- Saved vehicle configurations that used parts from the mod will no longer load. That is expected, not a fault.
Do not delete the whole mods folder unless you want every mod gone.
Why mixing game versions causes crashes
BeamNG keeps a separate user folder for each game version on purpose. Vehicle definitions, the materials system and the scripting interface all change between updates. A mod built for 0.32 can reference a part, a material or a function that no longer exists in 0.36. The game does not always refuse to load it. It loads it, then falls over when you spawn the vehicle.
Signs of an out-of-date mod: the game crashes to desktop when the vehicle spawns, the model has white or missing textures, parts are absent from the parts list, or loading hangs at the end of the bar.
The update itself is the trap. The game creates a fresh version folder and your mods stay behind in the old one, so everything looks like it vanished. Copying the whole old mods folder across is the obvious fix, and it is also how a pile of broken mods gets into the new version.
Better approach after an update:
- Start the game once. The new version folder is created on first launch and starts out empty.
- Copy mods across a few at a time, beginning with the ones you actually use.
- Test each batch: spawn the vehicles, load the maps.
- Leave behind anything the author has not updated. Old version folders do no harm beyond the disk space they take up.
If a mod you rely on breaks after an update, check the author’s page before trying to fix it yourself. An updated zip may already be there.
Downloading from ModsDrop
Every file here has its own page at modsdrop.com/f/ plus an eight-character code. The page shows the file name, the size, the upload date, how many times it has been downloaded, and the VirusTotal result: clean with the number of engines, too large to scan, or not scanned yet. VirusTotal does not accept files over 650 MB, so those cannot be scanned there and the page says so.
The Download button runs a short countdown, then starts the file. The link is valid for six hours, and downloads resume if your connection drops, which helps with large files. No account is needed and nothing is installed on your machine.
If a file is wrong, mislabelled or should not be here, there is a report form on every file page. Copyright holders can use the DMCA page. Reports reach me by e-mail.
For more on the download side, see the download guide.