Installing Mods on Your Factorio Server: A Step by Step Walkthrough

Factorio is one of those games where the vanilla experience already devours weekends, yet the modding scene keeps the conveyor belts moving long after that. New tech trees, overhauled graphics, fresh enemies, quality of life tweaks: pretty much anything you can imagine has a mod for it. Better still, the base game ships with native mod support, so you can browse, install, and update from inside Factorio itself.

Once you have the mods on your client or pulled directly from the official portal, the only step left is uploading them to your HolyHosting server. This guide covers both download methods, how to extract the mod files, and how to push them to the server so your friends can join without lifting a finger.

Grabbing Mods From the Factorio Mod Portal

The Mod Portal is the official directory of mods and lives in the top navigation of the Factorio website.

1. Open the Mod Portal and sign in with a Factorio.com account. If you do not have one yet, registration is free on the Sign Up page.
2. Pick the Factorio version you intend to use so the listings match. Your HolyHosting server runs the latest release by default.
3. Click the green Download button at the bottom right of the mod card to save it.

Optional but recommended: drop the downloaded files into a fresh folder on your desktop. That way you have everything in one place when it is time to upload.

If the portal is your only source, you can skip ahead to the server install section.

Browsing Mods Inside the Game

Prefer the built in browser? Factorio has its own catalog with previews and one click installs.

1. Launch Factorio.
2. Open the Mods menu, then switch to the Install tab.
3. Click any mod to read its description and reviews.
4. Hit Install on the bottom right to add it to your local game.

When you have queued up everything you want, press Confirm. Factorio will restart automatically to load the new mods. After it relaunches you can either jump into single player or move on to copying the files over to the server.

Players joining your server do not need to manually grab anything. Synchronization is handled in the connection screen.

Pulling the Mod Files From Single Player

After installing mods in the client, the files live inside your local Factorio folder. You will need that folder ready before touching the server.

1. Open Windows Explorer, type `%appdata%` in the address bar, and press Enter.

1. Step into the Factorio directory.
2. Locate the `mods` folder and copy it.

1. Paste the copy somewhere obvious like your desktop so you can find it during the upload step.

Uploading the Mods to the Server

Now the fun part. Time to push everything to your HolyHosting server.

1. Log in to your HolyHosting control panel.
2. Stop the server before you change any files. Modifying mods on a running instance is a great way to corrupt a save.
3. Connect to the server with an FTP client like FileZilla.
4. Open the default folder, or your custom Factorio profile if you set one up.
5. Enter the `mods` folder and use the Upload button on the left side of the file manager.
6. Drag and drop the mod files from your local copy into the upload queue.

When the transfer finishes, return to the main control panel page.

Optional: scroll down and use the Change World button, then follow the prompts to spin up a fresh world for your modded run.

Restart the server and you are ready to play.

Every player joining a modded server needs the exact same mod list installed. The good news is that Factorio handles the heavy lifting: when someone tries to connect, the game prompts them to click Synchronize, which downloads the missing mods automatically.

Common Issues and Fixes

Factorio says my active mods do not match the server. This usually means the mods uploaded from your local folder were never enabled in single player. Two ways to fix it: remove the unused mods from the server, or click Synchronize in game so Factorio enables the matching set for you.

FileZilla or WinSCP refuses to connect. Double check the credentials on the FTP Login page of your control panel. The FTP username is different from your panel username, but the password is the same one you use to log in to your account. If you have never used FTP with the panel before, follow the dedicated FTP setup guide.

Mods are uploaded but not working in game. The mod is likely incompatible with the Factorio version on your server, or it is missing a dependency. The safest workflow is to test mods locally first, then copy the working set over. You can also filter the Mod Portal by version. If a mod still misbehaves after a clean install, dependency issues and broken updates are usually flagged in the comments section. Installing through single player first is the easiest fix because Factorio resolves dependency chains for you automatically.