How to Install Mods for Fallout 76

Fallout 76 is great, but you can make your Fallout experience even greater, by using mods! Here's what you need to do.

Fallout 76, like previous Fallout titles, could really benefit from a mod here and there. Thing is, Fallout 76 is an online game, so installing mods has a few extra hurdles. If you'd like to tidy up your Fallout 76 experience with a few quality-of-life user mods, then read on.

Can I Play Fallout 76 Online With Mods?

Absolutely. Mods for Fallout 76 are almost entirely HUD or texture mods, meaning that they don't technically violate any of the terms of service, and you can connect to the servers without issue.

That being said, Bethesda has never confirmed a stance on mods one way or the other. They're not officially supported, so as well as potentially causing game instability, a ban is always a possibility.

With that in mind, there have been very little, if any, reports of users being banned for using mods. Still, proceed at your own risk!

How to Enable Modding in Fallout 76

Setting up Fallout 76 so that it will load mods is surprisingly simple. If you have any experience with modifying Bethesda games in the past, this first step will seem very familiar to you. (If you don't have experience modding previous Bethesda games like Skyrim, you're missing out.)

You will need to create a custom Fallout76Custom.ini file. To do this, navigate to your My Games folder (usually in Documents) and find Fallout 76. There's a good chance there will already be a file here called Fallout76Custom.ini.

If there isn't, create a new text file and rename it to Fallout76Custom.ini

If your Fallout 76 folder looks like the above, you can proceed with the next step.

Open up Fallout76Custom.ini and paste the following code on the next available line

[Archive]
                    

bInvalidateOlderFiles=1

sResourceArchive2List =

The file should look something like this.

If your file has additional code, don't worry about it. As long as the [Archive] code has its own line, you're good to go.

So that's all you need to do to have Fallout 76 accept mods. Now all you need to do is download the mod, place it in your game folder, add an additional line of code for each mod,…

Or, just use a Mod Manager.

Mod Managers

Unlike other Bethesda titles, Mod Managers are just about required for Fallout 76 modding, as there is no native plugin loader. To avoid having to type in every mod name into the document, a Mod Manager is highly recommended.

Mod Managers come in a few different flavors, with some favoring being lightweight, whereas others focus on features. We'll use a fairly popular one within the Fallout 76 community, the Fallout 76 Quick Configuration - Ini Editor and Mod Manager.

This is available on its GitHub page, with an optional portable version available on Nexus Mods.

Once installed, launch Fallout 76 Quick Configuration to see if you had done the previous step correctly. If not, the program will notify you.

Otherwise, you're free to use this Mod Manager as you would any other. The program is intuitive to use, offering a drag-and-drop installation feature, as well as one-click installation for Nexus Mods accounts.

Hit Mods to open up the plugin loader, or go into Settings, and then NexusMods to fill out your login information for one-click mod installation.

If you don't wish to use a Nexus Account, simply drag your downloaded mod file into the Mods window of the program.

Enabling mods within the Mod Managers will add lines of code to your Fallout76Custom.ini file, so you can check that file one last time to ensure your mods are enabled. Conversely, you can easily disable or remove all active mods by deleting the [Archive] line.

User Made Improvements

It's as easy as that. Though not entirely accessible, the Fallout 76 modding community is alive and well, bringing many high-quality improvements to the rather unstable Fallout 76.

So, if that HUD is cluttering up your display, or you'd really rather be able to see loot piles through all the garbage of the wastes, head on over to Nexus Mods or similar modding website to pick up some Fallout 76 mods.