Starfield mods: the Creations menu, Nexus Mods and SFSE explained

4 Nov 2026 · 4 min read · ModsDrop

Official image from Starfield — Image: official, via Steam.

This guide is for Starfield players who keep hearing about mods but are not sure where to actually get them or what SFSE does. By the end you will know the difference between the in-game Creations menu and Nexus Mods, when you need a mod manager, and how to keep your save safe while you experiment.

Back up your saves first

Before you install anything, copy your save folder somewhere safe, such as an external drive or a cloud folder. Mods can change how quests behave or how certain systems load, and a bad interaction is far easier to shrug off if you can load an older save. This takes a few minutes and saves hours of frustration later.

The in-game Creations menu

Starfield has a built-in Creations menu accessible from the main menu. It lists mods and add-ons that have been submitted and approved for that system, and you can browse, download and enable them without leaving the game. This is the simplest route for anyone who wants mods with no extra setup, since everything is installed and managed inside the game itself.

The trade-off is that the Creations menu only shows what has been submitted through that channel. Many mods made by the wider community are not listed there and live elsewhere instead.

Nexus Mods

Nexus Mods is a separate website where modders upload their own work directly. It carries a much larger and more varied library than the Creations menu, including mods that change gameplay systems, visuals, interface elements and more. Always download from the mod author’s own page on Nexus Mods rather than a random mirror or forum link, so you know you are getting the file as the author intended, with their own description and install notes.

Read each mod’s page before installing. Authors usually list what their mod needs, what it changes, and whether it conflicts with anything else. That page is also where you will find the author’s own instructions if the mod needs something beyond a simple drag-and-drop install.

Mod managers

Mods from Nexus Mods are easier to handle with a mod manager. A mod manager keeps track of which files belong to which mod, lets you switch mods on and off without hunting through folders, and makes it much simpler to remove a mod cleanly if it causes a problem. It will not pick mods for you or guarantee they work together, but it takes the manual file-copying out of the process and reduces the chance of leaving stray files behind.

SFSE, the Starfield Script Extender

Some of the more advanced mods on Nexus Mods need SFSE, the Starfield Script Extender. SFSE adds extra functionality that the base game does not expose on its own, which certain mods rely on to work at all. If a mod’s page says it needs SFSE, treat that as a requirement, not a suggestion.

Once SFSE is installed, you start the game through SFSE rather than through the game’s normal shortcut. This is the step people miss most often: launching the regular shortcut out of habit means SFSE never loads, so any mod depending on it will not function, even though it is installed correctly.

Getting set up, step by step

Back up your save files before installing anything.
Decide whether you want mods from the Creations menu, Nexus Mods, or both.
For Creations, browse and enable mods directly from the in-game menu.
For Nexus Mods, download mods from each author’s own page and consider using a mod manager to organise them.
Check each mod’s page for whether it requires SFSE.
If SFSE is required, install it and then launch the game through SFSE instead of the normal shortcut.

Mixing mods and online play

If Starfield has any online or shared features, be cautious about running mods that alter core game files while using them, since some systems treat modified files as a problem. When in doubt, check the mod author’s notes on this before enabling anything alongside online features.

If something goes wrong

If the game fails to launch, crashes on startup, or a mod clearly is not working, start by disabling mods one at a time to find the cause rather than removing everything at once. If you used a mod manager, disable the mod there and relaunch to confirm the fix. If a mod was installed manually, remove its files according to the author’s instructions. If problems persist, load your backed-up save and go back to a known working setup before trying again.

A sensible habit is to add one mod at a time and play a short session before adding the next. It is slower, but it means that when something breaks, you already know exactly where to look.