Mods in Mods folder not in Mod list on Game

[DextorPlays]

I have recently transferred files for my vintage Story Playthrough to a new computer.  The game starts with no error notices and the save game loads correctly.  However, the three mods I have in the mods folder do not show up in the mod list on the game to be enabled.

I have redownloaded the mods and overwritten the files in the mod folder without success.  I have also just updated to the newest version of VS 1.16.1 Stable.

Mods: ProspectorInfo, CarryCapacity, Stepup

I reinstalled 1.16.0 which has successfully run these mods before.  They still do not show in the mods list in game.  Opening the mods folder from the game does in fact open the folder where the mods are.  I have uninstalled Vintage Story and reinstalled VS 1.16.1 using the full install option.  I have also deleted the mods in the mod folder and re-downloaded all three.  Still no listing in the mods folder.  

 Previous runs on the old computer validated the mods do in fact run on VS 1.16.0 and I suspect would run on 1.16.1

SOLVED:  The "Open Mods Folder" button in game opens ..\Roaming\VintageStoryData\Mods  which turns out to be the wrong folder.  The correct folder is ...\Roaming\VintageStory\Mods.  When I moved the files to the correct folder and "Reload" the mods show up.  

 

Looks like someone altered the folder structure a tad.

 

Any thoughts?

Edited January 28, 2022 by DextorPlays

[Philtre]

Make sure the mods have been updated to be compatible with 1.16. If they haven't, they won't show up.

[Sparkle Kitti]

Check for additional locations VS might be installed. I installed it on my d drive and it ended up with a second vintage story folder inside the first, both with a mods folder. Then I realized there was another one in the apps/roaming that was the one the mods needed to be in.

[321BoltsOfLightning]

Since this post comes up when googling, I'll mention that `...\VintageStory\Mods` is not the intended spot to put mods, though it seems to work fine usually there. `...\VintageStoryData\Mods` is the right spot, but make sure your `\VintageStoryData\clientsettings.json` file has the `modPaths` variable set to that spot or you'll have this problem

(that's what just happened to me, I had copied the clientsettings.json from my windows installation to my linux one and didn't realize I needed to update that)

[Echo Weaver]

On 10/31/2025 at 12:40 AM, 321BoltsOfLightning said:

Since this post comes up when googling, I'll mention that `...\VintageStory\Mods` is not the intended spot to put mods, though it seems to work fine usually there. `...\VintageStoryData\Mods` is the right spot, but make sure your `\VintageStoryData\clientsettings.json` file has the `modPaths` variable set to that spot or you'll have this problem

(that's what just happened to me, I had copied the clientsettings.json from my windows installation to my linux one and didn't realize I needed to update that)

The intended way to install mods is to open the game, go to Mod Manager, and open the mods folder from there. Clientsettings.json is not intended to be edited directly. 

(That's hypocritical for me to say because I have edited it, but it's not something I'd recommend to someone else.)

[Diff]

1 hour ago, Echo Weaver said:

The intended way to install mods is to open the game, go to Mod Manager, and open the mods folder from there. Clientsettings.json is not intended to be edited directly. 

(That's hypocritical for me to say because I have edited it, but it's not something I'd recommend to someone else.)

If you transfer the clientsettings from a different computer, it's easy for wires to get crossed that way. That's how I shot myself in the foot. And worse, if you hit Open Folder from Mod Manager, it ignores what's in clientsettings.

[Daniel Z1234]

Then how is it fixed? I just recently redownloaded the same version of VS and tried to copy and paste my data file from the past version to the updated one,  but for some reason when I updated the Clientsettings JSON file, something causes it to redirects its path to the past version.