How to Install Mods on a Dragonwilds Dedicated Server

Two kinds of Dragonwilds mod, and only one runs on a server

The reason is the server itself. The dedicated server is a Linux build, and UE4SS works by attaching to the Windows executable, so there is nothing on a server for it to attach to. If a mod's instructions mention UE4SS, a Mods.txt file, dwmapi.dll or the Binaries/Win64 folder, it is that kind, and it belongs in the game on each player's PC.

Pak mods are the other kind: they change the game's own data, such as how many slots a chest has or what a teleport costs. Those are loaded by the server when it starts.

A pak mod is three files, and it needs all three

This is the detail that catches people. Dragonwilds stores its content in containers, so a mod is not one file but a set of three with the same name:

• ModName.pak
• ModName.utoc
• ModName.ucas

We tested this on the current server build. With all three files in place the server loads the mod and the world comes up. With the .pak alone, the server finds the file, looks for the .utoc beside it, logs that the container was not found, and loads nothing from the mod. There is no error on screen and the server starts normally, which is why a mod installed this way looks installed and does nothing.

Where mods go on a dedicated server

In a folder called ~mods inside the game's Paks folder. The tilde is part of the name:

• On the server: RSDragonwilds/Content/Paks/~mods
• In a player's own game: the same Content\Paks\~mods path inside the game's install folder

The folder does not exist on a fresh install. Create it, put the three files of each mod in it, and restart the server. Mods are read once, when the server starts, so nothing changes in a world that is already running.

The game knows, and says so

Dragonwilds checks for mods every time a dedicated server starts. When it finds the ~mods folder it writes a warning in the server log, "Found the following unexpected files, which suggests mod use", and marks the server's session as modded.

Two things follow from how that check works, both measured on our test server:

• An empty ~mods folder is enough. The check reacts to the folder, not to what is inside it.
• To go back to an unmodded server, the folder has to be removed, not just emptied.

Jagex does not make mod tools for Dragonwilds, and publishes Community Modding Guidelines that allow community mods within limits: no paid mods, no mods that overwrite core game files or damage saves, and no cheating in shared play. Mods are made by players, and neither Jagex nor a host can promise that one keeps working after a game update.

On a server hosted with us: the Mods tab

Servers hosted here have a Mods tab in the dashboard, currently in beta, that handles the three rules above for you.

1. Download the mod from its site, as a .zip.
2. In your server dashboard, open the Mods tab and choose the .zip, or the three files if you unpacked it.
3. The mod appears in the list, switched off. Turn it on.
4. Ask your group to leave the world, then use Restart now on the same tab.

What the tab does that a file upload does not:

• It checks the set. A mod with a file missing is refused with the name of the missing file, instead of being installed as a mod that does nothing.
• It recognises a UE4SS mod and tells you it belongs in the game, not on the server.
• A mod that is off is kept outside the game's folder, and when the last mod is switched off or removed the folder is removed too. So a server with every mod off starts as an unmodded server.
• Uploading a mod that is already installed replaces it and keeps it on or off as it was, which is how you update one.

If you host the server yourself

1. Stop the server.
2. Create RSDragonwilds/Content/Paks/~mods if it is not there.
3. Copy the .pak, .utoc and .ucas of each mod into it.
4. Start the server and read the log: a mod that loaded is reported as a mounted container with the mod's name.

If your server updates itself from Steam at each start, the mods stay where they are: the update checks the game's own files and leaves the ~mods folder alone.

Where to find mods

• CurseForge has a Pak Mods category for Dragonwilds, which is the kind of mod a server loads.
• Nexus Mods is the larger site, with both kinds. Read the install instructions of each mod to see which it is.

Mod pages also say whether the players need the mod too. A mod that changes what things look like generally has to be in each player's game; ask the author's page, not us, because it differs from mod to mod.

After a game update

A mod is built against one version of the game. When Jagex ships a patch, a mod made for the older version can stop working, and in the worst case the world does not load. If your server stops coming up after an update, switch every mod off, restart, and turn them back on one at a time once their authors have updated them.