Wondering which Starfield mods are truly essential? For many PC gamers, especially fans of role-playing games, modding is key to a game’s longevity and enjoyment. Just look at Skyrim – its enduring popularity owes much to its fantastic modding community, not just Bethesda’s frequent re-releases.
Bethesda officially launched the Starfield Creation Kit in June 2024, empowering creators to push the boundaries of the game even further. While some mods might be tricky to install if you’re playing the Game Pass version, opting for the Steam version will generally ensure smoother compatibility.
Here’s our curated list of the top Starfield mods you absolutely need to try:
- Weather Overhaul
- Project Warfare
- Visible Companion Affinity
- Ship to Ship Transporter
- Lazarus Awakened
- Nix
- Trees Rescaled
- NASA Lunar Rover
- Polyamory
- Improved Follower Behavior
- Personalized Player Nameplates
- Crew and Companion Overhaul
- Call Your Ship
- StarUI
- FOV Changer
- Skip Launch Video
- Dualsense PS5 Icons
- Achievement Enabler
- 120fps Smooth UI
- Less Spongy Enemies
- Enhanced Player Health Bar
- Responsive Grabbing
- Ship Builder Tolerance Tweaks
- Visible Skill Descriptions
- Dark Mode for Terminals
- Photo Mode Tweaks
- Ship Skip – Instant Station Docking
- Realistic Water
- Icon Sorting Tags
- Richer Merchants
- All The Materials
- Easy Digipick (Lockpick)
- Easy Speech
- Instant Scan
- Lazy Cheats (Credits, Digipicks, XP)
- Real Flashlight
- Burden Me Not – Clutter Begone
- Undelayed Menus
- Ultra-Anim – Faster Interaction Animations
- Cleanfield
- Craftable Ammo and Utilities
- The Eyes of Beauty
- Increase Ship Transfer Distance
- EXE – Effect Textures Enhanced
- New Atlantis – Billboard Map
- Compact Mission UI
- High-Res Hair and Beards
- Scanner Encumbrance Display With Time
- Turn Quick Saves into Normal Saves
- Perk Up – Better Experience
- Slow Motion During Ship Power Management
- Better Visible Magazines
- Less NPC Headtracking
- Improved 4K Blood
- Height Randomizer
- Bottles Labels Overhaul
- Easy Read Dark UI
- Zero Weight
- Immersive New Atlantis City Map
- Star Trek Starfleet uniforms
- Fast Planet Trait Discovery
- Boston Dynamics robots
- Ultimate Booster
- The Book of Boba Fett Armor
Complete Weather Overhaul
Considering the vast number of planets in Starfield, the native weather conditions can feel a bit repetitive. The Complete Weather Overhaul mod by EloiMods transforms the visual effects for sandstorms, snow, and rain, introducing far greater diversity. Expect unique weather phenomena across major cities, making each new destination feel more atmospheric and distinct.
Project Warfare
Expand your arsenal significantly with 510deshawn’s Project Warfare mod, introducing over 15 highly customizable new firearms. While many can be found at gun dispensers in locations like Akila City and Neon Core, some are rare spawns, offering a compelling incentive to seek out and eliminate enemies with your powerful new gear.
Visible Companion Affinity
It can be tough to gauge your standing with companions, whether you’re building friendships or aiming for romance. CDante’s Visible Companion Affinity mod clarifies these social dynamics with clear indicators. You can now directly ask companions about your relationship status in conversation, and review your recent activity log to understand how your actions impact their affinity, making those relationships much easier to navigate.
Ship to Ship Transporter
For a touch of Star Trek in your Starfield experience, the Ship to Ship Transporter mod is a fantastic addition. This mod allows you to install a transporter on your ship, enabling instant beaming onto any nearby vessel once its shields are down. This streamlines boarding, eliminating enemy crews, and looting their valuable contents with unprecedented speed.
Lazarus Awakened
Fans of the Vanguard faction questline, rejoice! The Lazarus Awakened mod from MinionSquisher picks up where one of Starfield’s most intriguing quests left off, sending you on a journey to uncover the fate of Dr. Reginald Orlase. This multi-hour quest answers lingering questions from the original game, offering legendary loot, rich lore, and a dungeon teeming with deadly Terrormorphs.
Nix
Remember Kay’s adorable companion, Nix, from Star Wars Outlaws? Intrepid modders have faithfully recreated this best friend for Starfield with the Nix mod. Once you acquire Nix, they’ll accompany you on your adventures without occupying a valuable crew slot – a true win-win!
Trees Rescaled
Ever noticed how some forests in Starfield feel a little underwhelming compared to Earth’s lush landscapes? VolaticWolf’s Trees Rescaled mod revamps every tree in the universe, significantly enhancing their scale. Now, you can truly immerse yourself in vast savannas and tropical forests across Starfield’s diverse planets.
NASA Lunar Rover
The REV-8 is a decent vehicle for traversing space, but for classic style, nothing beats the NASA Lunar Rover. While not necessarily superior in durability or speed, it excels where it counts: aesthetics. Check out Bub200’s NASA Lunar Rover mod to give your REV-8 a timeless, yet completely fresh, appearance.
Polyamory
They say there are plenty of fish in the sea, but why should your relationship on Akila conflict with your romance on Mars? Why let one love prevent another? Modder TheRealCooper’s Polyamory mod removes the single romance limit, allowing you to pursue multiple relationships simultaneously. If you start with Sarah, there’s nothing to stop you from also wooing Andreja!
Improved Follower Behavior
One common flaw in Bethesda games is often companion behavior, with followers frequently getting stuck or struggling to keep up. Deebz96’s Improved Follower Behavior mod introduces crucial changes that dramatically enhance how your companions interact with you and the environment. For instance, they won’t initiate combat until you do, and they’ll stick closer, eliminating the frustrating 15-meter lag. This mod is a game-changer for anyone tired of awkwardly waiting for their crew.
Personalized Player Nameplates
Declare your presence across the galaxy by etching your name onto your space armor! While not a drastically game-altering mod, Personalized Player Nameplates adds a wonderful touch of immersion and customization. With this mod, simply visit a Spacesuit Workbench and add any text you desire to your suit – whether it’s your name or something more whimsical like “chubby doggo.”
Crew and Companion Overhaul
Starfield’s native crew system never quite reached its full potential, but Senter Pat’s Crew and Companion Overhaul mod introduces vital fixes. It increases the number of crew members you can have on each ship and allows for unprecedented upgrades to your existing crew. This reduces the reliance on elite crew members, as you can now foster relationships and empower any normal companion to become equally formidable over time.
Call Your Ship
Tired of trekking back to your landing zone after every planetary exploration or quest completion? The Call Your Ship mod is designed for the discerning, yet lazy, spaceman. Simply open the console, command your ship to your current location, and watch as it gracefully lands right in front of you. Your virtual feet will thank you!
StarUI
If you could only install one mod from this entire list, it should be m8r98a4f2’s StarUI. Let’s be honest, Starfield’s menu system has significant shortcomings: wasted space, unintuitive design, and time-consuming animations. StarUI condenses your lists, showing more information at a glance, and allows seamless keyboard navigation. It also prominently displays which inventory categories are contributing most to your encumbrance, making it easy to offload unwanted items to a vendor without diving through multiple menus.
FOV Changer
A major complaint about Starfield’s PC port was the absence of field-of-view (FOV) settings, locking players to default values. Hellstorm102’s Starfield FOV mod for Nexus Mods allows you to customize the FOV for both first and third-person perspectives. We recommend increasing it to 120 for a wider, more comfortable first-person view, as the default can feel too restrictive.
Skip Launch Video
An old but gold mod! Bethesda loves to feature their studio’s logo every time you boot up one of their games. If you’re eager to jump straight into the action, Aetherpoint’s Skip Launch Video mod is for you. It bypasses the five-second intro after just one black frame, saving you countless seconds over the course of your Starfield journey.
Dualsense PS5 Icons
Even though Starfield is an Xbox exclusive, PC players can still enjoy it with their favorite PS5 controller. EASKATER’s Dualsense icons mod replaces the standard Xbox button prompts with Dualsense icons, ensuring a seamless and familiar experience for PlayStation enthusiasts.
Achievement Enabler
Bethesda often disables achievements when mods are in use, but brunph’s Achievement Enabler mod lets you have your cake and eat it too! By simply dragging a few files into your Starfield folders, you can regain the ability to unlock achievements on Steam or the Microsoft Store. Note: if you’ve already used cheats, you’ll need to replay to unlock missed achievements. Also, keep an eye on the mod page for compatibility updates after game patches.
120fps Smooth UI
Many players invested in powerful new PCs to maximize Starfield’s performance. If you’ve noticed that certain menus in Starfield don’t run as smoothly as the rest of the game – such as your ship’s aiming reticle moving at a lower frame rate – alexbull_uk’s 120fps Smooth UI mod is the solution. This mod removes the 30fps cap from menus, making every interaction feel incredibly fluid. It will disable achievements, but the Achievement Enabler mod can address that.
Less Spongy Enemies
Tired of foes with seemingly endless health bars? Zzyxzz’s Less Spongy Enemies mod rebalances the combat by significantly reducing enemy health bonuses. Zzyxzz offers various versions of the mod, allowing you to choose exactly how much extra health enemies are allowed to have, making fights feel more impactful and less like a bullet sponge marathon.
Enhanced Player Health Bar
Starfield’s minimalist UI, while aesthetically pleasing during exploration, can be a headache in intense combat. A single depleting white bar isn’t ideal when multiple targets are draining your health. SilverEzredes’s Enhanced Player Health Bar mod rectifies this by color-coding your health bar. Now, a quick glance tells you exactly how much health you have, letting you know when it’s time to reach for that med kit.
Responsive Grabbing
In Bethesda games, the classic “bucket trick” (placing an item over an NPC’s head to steal unseen) is a fan favorite. However, Starfield introduced a slight delay when grabbing items that wasn’t present in Fallout or Elder Scrolls. Seb263’s Responsive Grabbing mod eliminates this issue by reducing the delay from one second to 0.3 seconds for interactive objects and 0.15 seconds for basic items, making your larceny much swifter.
Ship Builder Tolerance Tweaks
Customizing your Starfield ship is a highly anticipated feature, but often comes with frustrating restrictions. Nexus Mods user keanuWheeze’s Ship Builder Tolerance Tweaks mod addresses many of these limitations, making it easier to construct the starship of your dreams without unnecessary roadblocks.
Visible Skill Descriptions
It’s always satisfying to plan out your character’s progression by reviewing a comprehensive skill tree. However, Starfield awkwardly forces players to spend points before revealing each skill’s description. Mod creator TheLastPioneer’s Visible Skill Descriptions removes this strange limitation, allowing you to fully plan your perfect build without guesswork.
Dark Mode for Terminals
In the expansive universe of Starfield, it seems the dark mode memo didn’t reach every corner. The bright terminals can be harsh on your eyes, especially during night gameplay. Animandan’s Dark Mode for Terminals solves this widespread issue, making in-game computers a pleasure to use, even while playing on your real-life computer in the dark.
Photo Mode Tweaks
Starfield’s photo mode is already excellent, but johnson, a well-known Cyberpunk 2077 modder, elevates it further with their Photo Mode Tweaks mod. This mod grants greater control over camera field of view, quadruples the camera range, and prevents characters from disappearing when you get too close. It’s an indispensable mod for capturing stunning screenshots.
Ship Skip – Instant Station Docking
The first time you watch your ship land is epic, but by the hundredth time, it loses its charm. Bub’s Ship Skip mod streamlines your journeys by entirely removing these repetitive ship cutscenes, saving you precious minutes.
Realistic Water
The talented team behind realistic water mods for Skyrim and Fallout 4 has brought their expertise to Starfield. Despite current modding tool limitations, TechAngel85 and their team created Realistic Water, which significantly improves water textures with lifelike wave patterns, enhancing the visual fidelity of planetary oceans and lakes.
Icon Sorting Tags
Unless you’ve logged hundreds of hours, it can be tricky to identify items until you examine them in your inventory. Thankfully, McGuffin, a popular Fallout 76 modder, has introduced their iconic Icon Sorting Tags to Starfield, making the item filtering and organization process much more intuitive and efficient.
Richer Merchants
Ever run out of credits while trying to sell your hard-earned loot to a merchant? There’s nothing worse than hauling heavy items only to find your favorite vendor is broke. JustAnOrdinaryGuy’s Richer Merchants mod drastically increases the amount of credits each merchant possesses. After activating the mod, simply sleep for two in-game days, and vendors will refresh their stock with a much larger credit pool.
All The Materials
It’s time to finish those research lab projects, but you’re missing a myriad of materials. With over 1,000 planets, finding everything you need can take hundreds of hours. This is where v2461’s All The Materials mod shines. Activate the mod, type ‘bat mats’ into the console, and you’ll instantly receive every Starfield material required for all research lab projects, plus every weapon and suit modification. Just remember to prepare ample storage for the excess!
Easy Digipick (Lockpick)
Nothing breaks immersion faster than a complex lockpicking mini-game in the middle of a high-octane fight. If you’re over the repetitive Starfield lockpicking minigame, Ixion XVII’s Easy Digipick (Lockpick) mod lets you bypass it entirely. You’ll still need to unlock the appropriate digipicking skills for harder locks, but the mini-game itself will vanish.
Easy Speech
You’re meant to be a master persuader, yet Starfield’s persuasion system can sometimes fail through no fault of your own. Ixion XVII’s Easy Speech mod ensures that when you press an NPC for the truth, they won’t be able to escape your questioning. This mod guarantees a 100% chance to pass all speech checks, though you’ll still need the relevant speech perks for particularly difficult NPCs.
Instant Scan
In a future with spaceships and advanced technology, why does scanning an item take over a second? This mod from JustAnOrdinaryGuy feels like it should have been an in-game scanner upgrade. The Instant Scan mod significantly speeds up the surveying process, saving you valuable time as you meticulously explore planets.
Lazy Cheats (Credits, Digipicks, XP)
While console commands can grant you credits, digipicks, and experience points, the manual input can be tedious. RockJB’s Lazy Cheats mod simplifies this by shortening key console commands. Need to buy an expensive ship? Type ‘money100’ for 100,000,000 credits. Need a digipick? Enter ‘digi100’ for 1,000 digipicks. Getting what you want has never been easier.
Real Flashlight
Starfield’s flashlight illuminates dark environments effectively, but its cone of light isn’t quite realistic. Real flashlights illuminate an entire circle, not just the middle. DoubleYou’s Real Flashlight mod corrects this, removing the banding artifacts and making your spacesuit’s flashlight appear more natural and immersive in-game.
Burden Me Not – Clutter Begone
If you’re still playing Starfield with weight limits, you’ve likely grown to despise the abundant clutter. The Burden Me Not mod offers two solutions: it can highlight clutter in a distinct color, or, if you prefer, remove all clutter from the game entirely, freeing you from the constant worry of overfilling your inventory with junk.
Undelayed Menus
Starfield’s menus can be frustratingly slow. The Undelayed Menus mod drastically improves responsiveness and efficiency by removing lengthy, slow-fading effects when opening and closing menus, making the process much swifter. It also ensures in-game menus run at a smooth 60 FPS (doubling the default) and accelerates all press-to-exit buttons and animations, speeding up your menu navigation considerably.
Ultra-Anim – Faster Interaction Animations
Many ship-related animations consume a surprising amount of time. The Ultra-Anim mod allows you to instantly adjust the speed of these animations. Whether it’s airlocks, workbenches, ladders, or settling into your pilot seat, you can significantly reduce the time spent waiting for animations to play out.
Cleanfield
Similar to Undelayed Menus, Cleanfield aims to refine the user experience, ensuring your journey through space is as seamless as possible. This mod removes the epilepsy/seizure warning, the Bethesda logo video, and the logo itself. Optional removals include the message of the day and the Starfield logo. As a bonus, it supports 30, 60, and 120fps.
Craftable Ammo and Utilities
In a vast universe brimming with weapons, utilities, and ammo, you’ll inevitably find yourself needing a specific item you don’t possess. Whether it’s rare ammo for a legendary weapon or a digipick for a locked safe, it’s a shame you can’t just craft what you need. The Craftable Ammo and Utilities mod solves this by adding new craftable items, giving your crafting skills an extra layer of depth.
The Eyes of Beauty
While purely aesthetic, these mods are often the most enjoyable! The Eyes of Beauty mod introduces new, exquisite textures for character eyes, replacing the standard ones. Since its release, the creator has even added a unique texture featuring literal stars in your character’s eyes. Why not explore the Settled Systems with a celestial sparkle in your gaze?
Increase Ship Transfer Distance
If you’re reluctant to raise your character’s weight limit, the Increase Ship Transfer Distance mod is a close second-best solution. Normally, you can only send items to your ship’s cargo if you’re within 250m. This mod boosts that distance to an impressive 2500m, ensuring you can easily offload items to your ship whenever you find yourself over-encumbered.
EXE – Effect Textures Enhanced
The EXE mod has meticulously remade and improved every single visual effect in Starfield. This comprehensive overhaul includes (but is not limited to) explosions, weapon effects, gore, storms, fires, fog, dust, wisps, auras, and water visuals. Prepare for a visually richer and more detailed cosmic experience.
New Atlantis – Billboard Map
Given the immense size of New Atlantis, it’s surprising that no in-game maps were provided to help players navigate. However, a dedicated modder has created the Billboard Map mod, which adds mall-style guides throughout the city. Simply consult these maps, and you’ll never feel lost in the bustling metropolis again.
Compact Mission UI
This convenient Compact Mission UI mod optimizes your mission menu, allowing you to view 50% more missions at once. Additionally, it lowers the opacity of completed missions, making them more easily distinguishable from active ones. This mod is a subtle yet significant improvement for smoother space adventures.
High-Res Hair and Beards
To ensure your character looks their absolute best on every occasion, download the High-Res Hair and Beards mod. The default hair and beard textures in Starfield can sometimes feel lacking, but this mod provides high-resolution alternatives, giving your character the impeccable hairstyle they deserve.
Scanner Encumbrance Display With Time
Encumbrance is a notoriously controversial aspect of Starfield, often interrupting gameplay. While unlimited carrying capacity isn’t realistic for an astronaut, dealing with weight limits can be frustrating. The Scanner Encumbrance Display With Time mod adds your weight limit directly to your wrist display, providing a constant, convenient reminder to avoid picking up too much.
Turn Quick Saves into Normal Saves
The key difference between a quick save and a regular save is that quick saves eventually vanish, while regular saves persist. If you’re someone who loves to revisit cherished moments, download the Quick Full Saves mod. It converts all your quick saves into permanent normal saves, allowing you to fill your save menu with an endless number of memorable checkpoints.
Perk Up – Better Experience
Starfield is designed for hundreds of hours of gameplay, evident in its leveling system that demands both specific levels and completion of challenges for upgrades. If you lack the time for these hoops, download Perk Up – Better Experience to unlock the skills you desire without the extended grind.
Slow Motion During Ship Power Management
Being outnumbered by enemy ships in space is always a challenge, and fumbling with power management can make it worse. The Slow Motion During Ship Power Management mod slows down time whenever you adjust your ship’s power options, giving you a crucial breather to strategize effectively in intense dogfights.
Better Visible Magazines
The vast universe contains many stat-boosting magazines, which are easily overlooked. The Better Visible Magazines mod highlights every magazine with a distinct green outline, making these important collectible items much easier to spot during your journey.
Less NPC Headtracking
Tired of feeling constantly observed? NPCs in Starfield have a habit of staring intently, no matter where you are. The Less NPC Headtracking mod prevents NPCs from focusing on you so intensely unless you’re very close. We already know we’re the main character; we don’t need the entire universe to keep reminding us!
Improved 4K Blood
Bethesda games aren’t typically known for their extensive blood and gore. While the Improved 4K Blood mod won’t transform Starfield into a Doom-like experience, it does introduce more realistic blood effects. Adding a touch more visual impact to combat, this mod might even make you reconsider engaging in every fight to avoid the increased bloodshed.
Height Randomizer
Have you ever noticed how all human NPCs in Starfield seem to be the exact same height? The concept of short and tall people apparently doesn’t exist in this universe. The Height Randomizer mod rectifies this visual uniformity, introducing much-needed variation to the game’s NPC heights for a more diverse and realistic population.
Bottles Labels Overhaul
Dreaming of becoming a sommelier? The Bottles Labels Overhaul mod adds incredibly detailed labels to all your in-game bottles. It’s a simple but essential mod for anyone wanting to truly appreciate the subtle nuances of a robust nose or a fruity aftertaste from their digital beverages.
Easy Read Dark UI
Like the staff at PCGN, Batman, and the mole people of Jarvin VIII, you too can join the elite ranks of dark mode users! The Easy Read Dark UI mod transforms all Starfield terminals to dark mode, making them an absolute joy to read, especially during late-night gaming sessions.
Zero Weight
Hoarding every item you encounter has a significant downside: becoming immobile under the weight of your newfound riches. The Zero Weight mod is incredibly simple yet profoundly effective, setting your personal inventory weight and your ship’s cargo weight to zero. Now you can collect anything and everything without ever being slowed down by success.
Immersive New Atlantis City Map
Getting lost is frustrating, whether in real life or in a sprawling city like New Atlantis. Wandering aimlessly from vendor to vendor breaks immersion. The Immersive New Atlantis City Map mod strategically places helpful maps throughout the city, allowing you to easily navigate without ever feeling disoriented, all while maintaining the game’s atmosphere.
Star Trek Starfleet uniforms
Let’s be honest: Starfield and Star Trek share many parallels, from exploring strange new worlds to boldly going where no one has gone before. So, why not look the part? The Star Trek Starfleet uniforms mod retextures the three ECS uniforms (Captain/red, Officer/blue, Worker/yellow) and adds a lovely Starfleet badge to each, completing your interstellar cosplay.
Fast Planet Trait Discovery
Tired of painstakingly discovering every trait on a planet? The Fast Planet Trait Discovery mod simplifies this process. Simply install it, use the provided console command, and it will instantly scan all planets for flora and fauna data without you ever needing to leave your ship. It’s incredibly handy if you’re hunting for specific, dangerous alien lifeforms.
Boston Dynamics robots
This neat, straightforward Boston Dynamic Robot Dogs mod transforms the Model S robot dogs found across the universe into something resembling the real-life Boston Dynamics Spot robot. While not a one-for-one replica (the real version lacks mounted machine guns!), they move with a similar, uncanny grace.
Ultimate Booster
Are you tired of walking everywhere? So are we! Install the Ultimate Booster mod to traverse the landscape at incredible speeds and at any height you desire. This mod significantly eases the burden of long planetary commutes.
The Book of Boba Fett Armor
Elevate your Star Wars role-playing with radicalclownfriend’s mod, which adds Boba Fett’s iconic armor from The Book of Boba Fett TV series. This legendary armor replaces the Mantis armor and comes with a host of powerful effects. If you’re too impatient to visit the Mantis lair yourself, you can instantly acquire the armor by inputting “help fortniteboba 4 armo” (without quotations) into the console.
Starfield mod collections
Don’t forget, through NexusMods, you also have the option to download mod collections. Among the many Starfield mod collections is Constellation by v2, boasting over 80 mods and claiming to be the “largest and most comprehensive” list for Bethesda’s space game. Alongside collections like Starfield Enhanced and the Ultimate Modpack, these promise to thoroughly overhaul your entire Starfield experience.
How to mod Starfield
Every mod listed in this guide is compatible with the Steam version of the game. However, for the Microsoft Store version (including Game Pass), things can get more complex. For particularly large mods like StarUI, you might first need to download SFSE Asi Loader.
Regardless of your game version, we highly recommend downloading Vortex, a mod manager developed by Nexus Mods. This program simplifies mod installation and provides access to your mod load order, which is crucial for a game like Starfield, where running multiple mods can lead to compatibility issues if not managed carefully.
The Creations page is available on both Xbox and PC, though the mods offered there differ from those found on Nexus Mods. These in-game mods are built with Bethesda’s official tools, and some can be purchased with credits. While not a bad option if you have no other choice, for maximum modding capability, the Steam version of the game remains ideal.
That concludes our roundup of the best Starfield mods, with more undoubtedly on the horizon. If you’re seeking further insights into this expansive space game, we’ve also compiled guides on all the Starfield cities you can explore and the various Starfield factions you can join on your cosmic journey. For our full thoughts after 60 hours of gameplay, be sure to read our Starfield review.