Modding

Space Engineers games can be modded (modified) by players to change game mechanics and rules or to add custom resources such as textures, sounds, images. Advanced modders can add whole new blocks (decorational or functional), planets, NPCs, animations, and much more!

Are you looking for existing recommended mods and how to install or update them? See Mods!

Modding SBC files (which is done by editing XML files in NotePad++) is not the same as Scripting (which is done in-game in Programmable Blocks using the C# programming language), or as 3D modelling of blocks (which is done in Blender). At the same time, advanced modders often combine all three skills.

SBC file modding is done by editing text files written in XML language; XML is human-readable and easy to learn. If you don't have minimal experience with XML yet, read this XML tutorial first: https://www.w3schools.com/xml/

The Mods folder

Assuming your Steam Library is on drive C:, your current mods are stored in

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\244850\

The Mods folder contains all downloaded (subscribed) or self-created mods.

• To find the right folder of a subscribed mod:
  1. Open the mod in Steam in a web browser, and look at the URL. Example:
     https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=514062285&searchtext=
  2. Copy the number after id= up to the ampercent. In this example, you copy 514062285.
  3. On your hard drive, the same mod is here:
     C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\244850\514062285

Outdated SBM Files?

You may find an outdated Mods directory in the Space Engineers directory under

%APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\ 

which expand to

C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineers\Mods\

This directory is either empty or only contains outdated files with names like "some_number.sbm" in zip file format.

This folder is no longer in use and can be deleted.

Learn How to Mod

To create a new mod, first go to the directory

%APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\ 

and create a new folder structure for your mod:

• %APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\YOUR_MOD_NAME\
• %APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\YOUR_MOD_NAME\Data\

What does modding mean? Simplified, in the SE game directory under SpaceEngineers\Content\Data\, there are files with SBC suffix that define game rules.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\SpaceEngineers\Content\Data\ If you copy SBC files from there to your Mods\SOME_NAME\Data\ directory and edit them, your modded files overwrite the rules in the respective \Content\Data\ files in the base game.

The general procedure is:

1. Under SpaceEngineers\Content\Data, find the SBC files that define the rules or textures etc. that you want to edit.
2. Copy(!) these files to your %APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\YOUR_MOD_NAME\Data folder.
3. Edit the human-readable values in the copied SBC using any text editor, as needed.
4. In addition to the Data folder, you can also add other resources to your mod:
   • (required) %APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\YOUR_MOD_NAME\Data
   • (optional) %APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\YOUR_MOD_NAME\Audio\
   • (optional) %APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\YOUR_MOD_NAME\Models\
   • (optional) %APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Mods\YOUR_MOD_NAME\Textures\

You will have questions like, how do I know which SBC contains which game rules, which lines should edit, which values are valid, ...? A text editor such as NotePad++ lets you do a full text search on a directory, so you could search for item or block names. The best way is to ask in modding channel in the Keen Discord.

This introductory summary is quite abbreviated. You will find all important details in the following guides.

Modding Tools and Tutorials

The classic official modding guide can still be found on the Steam Workshop, Digi published an updated guide on his GitHub, and Enenra on his Wiki:

• Keen's official Modding Guides covers advanced 3D models, weather, ship speed.
• The old official Modding Guide on steam
• Digi’s new Modding Guide
• Enenra’s latest Block Modding tutorials teach you the basics and then continue to advanced recipes to learn how to add block materials, collision shapes, and interaction highlights.
• How to create planets by Simon5
• ModAdjuster by Ash Like Snow is a framework to allow editing of definitions from other mods (e.g. for balancing) without reuploading.
• Beginner Example: How to make a custom LCD Image mod

Mod Debugging Tips

• To help you test mods, load order, and mod combinations, press the (F11 key) to open the built-in mod tool.
• To see the physics effects of mods in game Press (ALT+SHIFT+F12 key) to enable the built-in Modding View.

SEUT

Block Modders should install Enenra’s SEUT (Space Engineers Utilities), a Blender addon that helps you create and export models in the Space Engineers MWM file-format.

Chipstix213’s Space Engineers Modding Guide:

SE Toolbox

SE Toolbox is an advanced SE world editor created by community members. Use it to import 3D models, edit planets and asteroids, edit grids (copy, delete, move, mirror), repair worlds, bulk-clean-up debris, and more!

• SEToolbox world editor 2022 -- by Remaarn
• SEToolbox world editor 2019 -- by Mid-Space Productions <-- works only for very old save files
• SEToolbox world editor: https://setoolbox.codeplex.com/ <-- outdated, offline