Are mods for skyrim completely safe?

[Brandon]

I'd like to download some mods for skyrim, but im worried about the potential of getting a virus. it seems sketchy to me to download things from unofficial sources. I was leaning towards SkyrimNexus (or whatever its called, i know it has Nexus in the name) but im still not sure. Can anyone tell me just how safe mods are, and have you ever heard of mods containing malicious things?

[★Kelvy★]

Not to my knowledge and if you have anti virus protection install eg. McAfee or like should not be a problem. (In my case never have)

[Zefram Cochrane]

Theres always a risk...

its pretty small though. There has been at least one instance on Nexus of someone uploading fake files containing malware but I think the moderators were onto it pretty fast.

Avoid any archive that contains an .exe as a general rule, although SKSE has one and ENB's too.

[Ilja]

Something being "unofficial" does not mean that it is unofficial for the web. If you do a bit more research, you will notice that Nexus has managed mods for several games. If the site would act as a bridge between viruses and users, then we would know.

You must remember that those servers are not without their own protective software. Tha is a considerable marking area now days.

However - as said above -, there is always a small risk. Very small. No file that you download from the internet is guarenteed to be 100 % safe.

If you are in doubt, then see the date for the last update that mod had and comments after that. If virus paranoid peoples (like me) are screaming and flaming the commentes area, then you are in luck: you have witnessed mod existing online for that few secons it takes for moderators to pull it down. Nexus has moderators as well.

Some would say, that their number might be even a bit too high these days...

[tehnoob514]

I think you shouldn't worry about anything you get directly from the Steam workshop, and Nexus is generally pretty safe, too. If the mod you're looking at is popular and has a lot of positive feedback then it's generally trustworthy.

I'd only be a little more careful if you download something outside Nexus or Steam (SKSE would be an exception, it's perfectly fine), but you should be fine.

[Trigger]

Heck, Skyrim isn't completely safe, so how can mods be.

[TL Gamer]

Nope they will breeak your game, look at every topic you can find on the net anywhere on any forum you pick, all anyone does is post MY GAME is broken and they liist mods, 3rd party tools, and all sorts of things, but then actually say Mods are fine and literally post reply after reply I dont' know what I'm talking about and all this crap even though what i say is all over every forum in detail.

Skyrim forums are filled with nothing but people who use circular logic to complain, then actually argue saying that's not true.

[Jim713]

Some are and some are not. Read what mod maker writes before use and make sure mods wont conflict.

[Jim713]

Im using about 7 mods with out any issues or bugs.

[TL Gamer]

Origineel geplaatst door Jim713:

Some are and some are not. Read what mod maker writes before use and make sure mods wont conflict.

WRONG NO MOD IS, again all forums all over the internet no matter where you go PROVE this..not sure why people actually try to argue against this and try to counter this when it's all over the place..

Every topic/reply on any forum you can find, list thousands of problems with their game and every single problem anyone lists always aways involve mods, 3rd party tools and console commands. EVERY ONE of them.

And yet despite all that evidence and facts people still try to say NOT ALL MODS...

NO ALL MODS WILL BREAK YOUR GAME...if you want to ignore what is all over every forum no matter where you go then you have problems and get exactly what you deserve

it's crap like this that I'm talking about:

Origineel geplaatst door Jim713:

Im using about 7 mods with out any issues or bugs.

The forums prove that wrong...and yet here is someone trying to counter argue that...

[chibilibi]

Origineel geplaatst door tx3000:

Origineel geplaatst door Jim713:

Some are and some are not. Read what mod maker writes before use and make sure mods wont conflict.

WRONG NO MOD IS, again all forums all over the internet no matter where you go PROVE this..not sure why people actually try to argue against this and try to counter this when it's all over the place..

Every topic/reply on any forum you can find, list thousands of problems with their game and every single problem anyone lists always aways involve mods, 3rd party tools and console commands. EVERY ONE of them.

And yet despite all that evidence and facts people still try to say NOT ALL MODS...

NO ALL MODS WILL BREAK YOUR GAME...if you want to ignore what is all over every forum no matter where you go then you have problems and get exactly what you deserve

it's crap like this that I'm talking about:

Origineel geplaatst door Jim713:

Im using about 7 mods with out any issues or bugs.

The forums prove that wrong...and yet here is someone trying to counter argue that...

Running with 152 mods loaded. Not a single crash after about 18 hours of playtime (on my current save). Not a single problem whatsoever.

Mods "breaking your game" is caused by user error for not reading and following the mod instructions carefully, using other mods that conflict with it, or screwing up their load order.

[chibilibi]

As to answer the OP's question, Skyrim Nexus is completely safe. So is Steam Workshop, though I recommend Nexus more. It's easier to handle your mods with Nexus Mod Manager, but I'm no Steam Workshop hater.

[Braden]

They are pretty safe if someone does upload a virus to nexus I'm sure it would get taken down pretty fast. Workshop will never have viruses, etc on it because the way you upload the file.

Someone could just upload a mod that destorys the game though..

[Solomon Hawk]

In a nutshell word: no.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many problems associated with mods posted here asking for help.

[mpd1958]

Brandon, for the most part both Nexus and Steam screen everything that is sent them making if fairly safe to download mods. Plus if you are using anti virus/malware software then you have another layer of protection.

No system, no matter how complex or fortified is completely safe. Sooner or later someone will do that dispicable deed and find a way to rune your day. So far that has not happened here.

Go ahead and mod your game, but remember what these fine people are telling you. Read the description and instalation instruction carefully. If you have question ask here or google search them to find the answers.

There are a great bunch of people here in the forum that are willing to help you if you should need it.

Have fun playing Skyrim. Be the Dragonborn.

[Incunabulum]

Origineel geplaatst door tx3000:

Nope they will breeak your game, look at every topic you can find on the net anywhere on any forum you pick, all anyone does is post MY GAME is broken and they liist mods . . .

Obviously this guy didn't read the OP - who is worried about *viruses* and malware, not whether or not a mod conflict will gack up a savegame. Those are two completely seperate concerns.

The chance of picking up a virus from Steam of the Nexus is vanishingly small - I can't speak for mods hosted on other sites, but I've been using Nexus since it came into existence and have never had a problem with malware from them.

That's not to say that you can't ♥♥♥♥ up your savegame (or even your game install) by adding and removing mods all higgeldy-piggeldy. Spend some time reading up on how to install mods, why they go in the order they need to go and get the basic tools to manage your load order (Nexus Mod Manager and BOSS or LOOT). *Read* what the mod does and the author's install instructions and don't mess around with save's that you've removed mods from if you don't know what you're doing.

I reccommend that, if you have the disk space, make a copy of a clean game directory and move it somewhere else. That way if you bork your install (and it can happen) its easy to clear out the borked directory and copy a clean one back over (rather than spending the time to re-download.