🧑‍🌾 Stardew World Workshop • Episode 1 of 12 • See All Episodes
🌱 Episode 1 · Beginner · Set Up Your Tools

Build Your Own Stardew World
Episode 1: Get Set Up

Before you can shape a farm, an island or a whole new town, you need your workshop ready. Install the free mod tools, point them at the game, and prove your first mod loads. Then the fun starts.

👶 Ages 10+ ⏱️ ~45 Minutes 🌱 Stardew Valley ✓ Free workshop
🧩 Mods folder 🔧 SMAPI 📦 Content Patcher 🗺️ Tiled 🪵 Console log ✅ Healthy load
🌱 Let's Set Up! Start Step 1 ← All Episodes 🖨️ Print Guide
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0 XP
Level 1
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Your Progress 0 / 6 steps
🛡️
Before you start: this series needs the paid Stardew Valley game plus a free mod loader install. It is a home-computer workshop, and it works best with a grown-up helping. You cannot install it on a locked-down school computer.
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Setup pack: grab the ready-to-copy starter files for the whole series: ⬇ stardew-world-starter.zip. You will use these from Episode 3 onwards.
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Ember says: setting up is the boring bit, so let's make it quick and make it stick. By the end of this episode you will see your own mod listed in the game's load log. That little win means everything after it will work.
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Try it in the browser: build a manifest and content file with the file builders in the Stardew Mod Studio.
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You Need the Game
What modding needs, and what it costs
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Goal for this step

Understand exactly what you need before you touch anything.

  • 1Stardew Valley is a paid game for PC, Mac and Linux. You need to own it before you can play or mod it.
  • 2The mods and tools are free: the mod loader (SMAPI), Content Patcher and Tiled cost nothing.
  • 3Every change you make lives inside one folder: Stardew Valley / Mods. That is the whole idea.
  • 4Modding never touches your save file, so you can always undo it by removing a folder.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
Mods and tools are free, but you must the game to play it. Everything you add lives inside the folder.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Where do Stardew mods live?
AIn the game's Mods folder
BOn the developer's website
CInside your save file
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Install SMAPI
The free mod loader that runs your mods
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Goal for this step

Install the mod loader that lets Stardew read the Mods folder.

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Grown-up note: download SMAPI only from the official site, smapi.io. The installer will look for Stardew Valley on its own. If it cannot find it, it asks you to point at the game folder.
  • 1Open a browser and go to smapi.io.
  • 2Download the installer for your system (Windows, Mac or Linux) and run it.
  • 3Follow the prompts. When it finishes, Stardew gains a new launcher called StardewModdingAPI.
  • 4From now on, always start the game with that launcher so your mods load.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The free tool that loads mods into Stardew is called . You get it from smapi.io and run its once.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What does SMAPI do?
AIt draws the game's graphics
BIt loads your mods into Stardew
CIt edits your maps for you
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Install Content Patcher
The mod that lets your pack change maps
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Goal for this step

Add Content Patcher so your own content pack can change the world.

  • 1Content Patcher is a free mod. It lets a content pack change maps, images and data without editing the game itself.
  • 2Download it from Nexus Mods (or CurseForge) and unzip it.
  • 3Move the unzipped folder into Stardew Valley / Mods. The folder must be named ContentPatcher and hold a manifest.json at the top.
  • 4Watch out: do not unzip a folder inside a folder. If you see ContentPatcher/ContentPatcher, move the inner one up.
Mods folder
Stardew Valley/
└── Mods/
    └── ContentPatcher/
        ├── manifest.json   ← every mod needs this
        └── ContentPatcher.dll
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
Content Patcher is what lets a pack change maps and data. A mod tells SMAPI how to load it through its .json file.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Which file must every mod have so SMAPI can load it?
Amap.json
Bmanifest.json
Ccontent.json
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Install Tiled
The free map editor you will build in
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Goal for this step

Install the free editor you will use to shape your world.

  • 1Stardew maps are tile maps: a grid of little images. The free editor for them is called Tiled.
  • 2Download and install Tiled from mapeditor.org.
  • 3You will use Tiled to open a map, change tiles and layers, then save it back as a .tmx file.
  • 4No account, no paid version, nothing to sign up for.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The free map we use to edit Stardew worlds is called . It saves maps as .tmx files.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What kind of files hold Stardew maps?
A.txt files
B.tmx tile maps
C.exe programs
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Find the Mods Folder & Launch
Point at the right folder, then start through SMAPI
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Goal for this step

Locate the Mods folder and run Stardew through SMAPI once.

  • 1Find your Mods folder using the paths below. It sits inside your Stardew Valley folder.
  • 2Inside, you should see the ContentPatcher folder you added in Step 3.
  • 3Now launch the game with StardewModdingAPI. A black console window opens with the load log.
  • 4You are not building a world yet. You are proving mods load at all.
Where the Mods folder lives
Windows:  C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Stardew Valley\Mods
Mac:      ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/Stardew Valley/Mods
Linux:    ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Stardew Valley/Mods
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
On Windows the mods live in Stardew Valley/. Launch the game through SMAPI to see the log in the window.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
How do you launch Stardew so your mods load?
AThe normal game icon on the desktop
BThrough the SMAPI launcher
CBy double-clicking a map file
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Read the SMAPI Console
Spot a healthy load versus an error
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Goal for this step

Learn to read the log, so every future fix is quick.

  • 1The console lists every mod it loaded. Normal lines are white or green. That is a healthy load.
  • 2A red line or the word Error means a mod failed. Nine times out of ten the folder is nested or named wrong.
  • 3Look for the line that says how many mods loaded and names them.
  • 4If you see ContentPatcher in that list, your setup is ready. That is the whole goal of Episode 1.
What a healthy log looks like
[SMAPI] Loading mod manifest for ContentPatcher 2.9.x
[SMAPI] Loaded 1 mod:
[SMAPI]    Content Patcher 2.9.x by Pathoschild
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
A healthy launch lists every mod it loaded. A line means a mod failed to load.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Content Patcher does not appear in the SMAPI list. Most likely fix?
ABuy the game again
BCheck the folder is directly inside Mods, not nested twice
CDelete Tiled
🎉🌱🧑‍🌾✨🎉
Your Workshop Is Ready!
SMAPI, Content Patcher and Tiled are installed, and you can read a healthy load. Episode 2 takes a tour of the Mods folder and shows how SMAPI loads a mod, so you truly understand what you are about to build.
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Setup Order
+20 XP
Drag these setup steps into the correct order, from a fresh computer to a healthy mod load.
Launch Stardew through SMAPI
Install SMAPI (the mod loader)
Check the console for a healthy load
Install Content Patcher into Mods
Install Tiled (the map editor)