🌳 Terraria World Workshop • Episode 1 of 12 • See All Episodes
🌳 Episode 1 · Beginner · Set Up Your Tools

Build Your Own Terraria World
Episode 1: Get Set Up

Before you can carve tunnels, plant biomes or build a base, you need your workshop ready. Install the free tools, point them at your worlds, and prove a world loads. Then the fun starts.

👶 Ages 10+ ⏱️ ~45 Minutes 🌳 Terraria ✓ Free workshop
🧩 Worlds folder 🔧 tModLoader 🗺️ TEdit 💾 Backups 🪵 Load log ✅ Healthy load
🌳 Let's Set Up! Start Step 1 ← All Episodes 🖨️ Print Guide
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🛡️
Before you start: this series needs the paid Terraria game plus free mod tools. 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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Starter pack: grab the ready-to-use world plan and README for the whole series: ⬇ terraria-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 a world load with no red lines. That little win means everything after it will work.
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Try it right here: paint and test a world with no install. Pick a biome tile, paint the map, then press Start walk test to walk around it. This is the real Terraria World Studio, live in this page. Open it full size →
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You Need the Game
What world editing needs, and what it costs
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Goal for this step

Understand exactly what you need before you touch anything.

  • 1Terraria is a paid game for PC, Mac and Linux. You need to own it before you can play or edit worlds.
  • 2The tools are free: tModLoader (the mod loader) and TEdit (the world editor) cost nothing.
  • 3Every world you make lives inside one folder: Terraria / Worlds (or the tModLoader Worlds folder).
  • 4Editing never touches the original if you copy the world first. A backup means you can always undo.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The tools are free, but you must the game to play it. The free world editor is called .
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
Where do your Terraria worlds live?
AIn the Terraria Worlds folder
BOn the developer's website
CInside the game's menu only
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Install tModLoader
The free loader that runs your mods
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Goal for this step

Install the free loader that lets you add mods next to normal Terraria.

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Grown-up note: tModLoader is a free, official tool. Once installed, it appears in your Steam library (or as its own launcher), so you can start either normal Terraria or the modded one.
  • 1tModLoader is the free mod loader. It runs alongside your normal game and does not change it.
  • 2Install it from the official page or Steam, then let it update itself once.
  • 3When it opens, you get a mods menu and your own worlds list.
  • 4From now on, you can launch normal Terraria or tModLoader, whichever you like.
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
The free loader that runs mods next to Terraria is called . It does not change your normal game.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What does tModLoader do?
AIt draws the game's graphics
BIt runs your mods next to Terraria
CIt edits your worlds for you
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Install TEdit
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 a world.

  • 1Terraria worlds are grids of tiles. The free editor for them is called TEdit.
  • 2Download TEdit from its official page and unzip it. There is nothing to install; you run it straight away.
  • 3You will use TEdit to open a world, change tiles and walls, then save it back as a .wld file.
  • 4No account, no paid version, nothing to sign up for.
The tools
tModLoader   runs your mods (free)
TEdit        edits your world (free)
Terraria     the game (paid)
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Fill in the Blanks
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The free world we use is called . It saves worlds as .wld files.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What kind of files hold Terraria worlds?
A.txt files
B.wld world files
C.exe programs
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Find & Back Up a World
Locate your worlds, then copy one
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Goal for this step

Find the Worlds folder and copy a world before you touch it.

  • 1Find your Worlds folder using the paths below. It sits inside your Terraria (or tModLoader) documents folder.
  • 2Inside, you will see your worlds as .wld files, plus a matching .wld.bak backup.
  • 3Before editing, copy the world and give the copy a new name, like TestWorld.
  • 4Work only on the copy. If anything goes wrong, the original is safe.
Where the Worlds folder lives
Windows:  Documents\My Games\Terraria\Worlds
tModLoader: Documents\My Games\Terraria\tModLoader\Worlds
Mac:      ~/Library/Application Support/Terraria/Worlds
Linux:    ~/.local/share/Terraria/Worlds
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
On Windows, worlds live in Documents/My Games/Terraria/. Before editing, always make a copy.
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
What should you do before editing a world?
ADelete it
BCopy it as a backup first
CRename the game folder
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Launch Through tModLoader
Start the modded game and open a world
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Goal for this step

Start the modded game once and load a world.

  • 1Open tModLoader (not the normal game). It has its own menu.
  • 2Open the Mods menu and enable any mods you have added. For this series you do not need any yet.
  • 3Press Single Player and open your copied world.
  • 4You are not editing anything yet. You are proving that a world loads.
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Fill in the Blanks
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To play with mods, open the game through . Your worlds appear under .
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
How do you open your modded world?
ADouble-click the .wld file
BOpen tModLoader, then Single Player
COpen it in TEdit
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Read the Load Log
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.

  • 1When tModLoader starts, it logs what it loaded. Normal lines are grey or white. That is a healthy load.
  • 2A red line or the word Exception means something failed. Nine times out of ten it is a version mismatch or a nested folder.
  • 3Look for the line that names your world loading.
  • 4If the world loads with no red lines, your setup is ready. That is the whole goal of Episode 1.
What a healthy log looks like
[tModLoader] Loading world MyWorld.wld
[tModLoader] Loaded 0 mods
[tModLoader] World loaded, no errors
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Fill in the Blanks
+15 XP
A healthy launch loads the world with no lines. If a line says Exception, something failed to .
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Knowledge Check
+15 XP
The log shows a red Exception line. What does it mean?
AThe game is fine, ignore it
BSomething failed to load, check the message
CYou won the game
🎉🌳🪓✨🎉
Your Workshop Is Ready!
tModLoader and TEdit are set up, your world is backed up, and you can read a healthy load. Episode 2 takes a tour of a world file and shows what a .wld really holds, so you truly understand what you are about to build.
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This workshop was free and took many hours to build. If it helped you learn something new, consider supporting the project.

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Setup Order
+20 XP
Drag these setup steps into the correct order, from a fresh computer to a loaded world.
Load the world in tModLoader
Own Terraria and install the free tools
Check the log for a healthy load
Copy a world as a backup
Open the copy in TEdit