How to install MODS [PAYDAY 3]

Quick guide for STEAM // EPIC // XBOX - How to setup and install mods for PAYDAY 3 in a few simple steps. Highly recommended as it's very easy to mod this game.

Intro

I'm normally adding mods to singleplayer games. But Payday 2 and now 3 has a huge community of modders. Who are making some amazing addons to the Payday 3 experience, which make huge improvements. So I recommend everyone give modding the game a try as it's relatively straight forward.

If you're interested in the best mods to get for Payday 3 today, I've created a sister guide, which highlights 20+ 'Vanilla plus' mods you should consider. Improvements or tweaks inline with the original game, making for a much better experience. ⬇️

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3048045009

Sections Explained

1. 💡Payday 3 Mod Policy (Answers 'Will I get Banned?')
   
2. 🧪Where do mods go? (Brief explanation of how modding works)
   
3. 💿Advanced Setup (A must for HDD users, also recommended for more technical users)
   
4. 🔷Steam,⬛Epic,🟢Xbox Setups (The main guides for each platform)

> Thanks to the modders, for creating all the awesome addons. 700+ Mods in the first month!




(If you are a mod author, and would like to use this guide, please read this post.[modworkshop.net])

💡Payday 3 Mod Policy

Q: Will I get banned for using mods?

No, you will not get banned for using mods. There isn't any sort of punishment system in Payday 3. Their official line (when asked on their developer streams), is they know modders are going to mod PD3. And PD2 has had a long standing community of modders. So in the future, they will release an official policy on modding, but as of today it’s a non issue.

🧪Where do mods go?

Current mods for Payday 3 are distributed in .pak files. As the name suggests, all parts of a mods (like textures, sounds and code) are packaged within this file single file.

Mods are placed within your ~mods folder (which you will need to create). Follow the setup and installation instructions for your platform below.

💿Advanced Setup (HDD Fix + UE4SS)

If you're a more advanced user with an SSD, I recommend you follow this optional part of the guide first. But warning, these steps are slightly more complex, and this method may require more future maintenance. Especially if you need to disable mods with future game updates or the mod policy changes.

If you've installed Payday 3 to a mechanical hard disk drive, instead of an SSD. Then you must follow these steps regardless. As using the default method to enable mods (setting launch options to include -fileopenlog), won't work when PD3 is located on a HDD.

1. Installing PD3 UE4SS

Using -fileopenlog, even on an SSD, users have reported performance, audio and loading issues. To fix this, we have to enable the use of mods in a different way. So for this we will use a tool called 'PD3 UE4SS'. (Note, if you've already tried to run the game with -fileopenlog, remove this first)

1. Download the tool here[modworkshop.net]
   
2. Extract the contents of the zip file into these locations...
   
   • Steam/Epic:
     📂'{GamePath}/PAYDAY3\PAYDAY3\Binaries\Win64'
     
   • Xbox Game Pass:
     📂'{GamePath}/PAYDAY3\PAYDAY3\Binaries\WinGDK'
3. Continue to your platform guide below, you can skip the 'Launch options to enable mods' step as we don't want to add -fileopenlog when using PD3 UE4SS

2. UE4SS Notes

• To find Payday 3's game directory, follow the per platform guides below on 'Creating a ~mods folder'.
  
• Again, if you've already tried to run the game with -fileopenlog, remove this first.

🔷Steam Setup

For heisters playing on Steam.

1. 🚀Launch options to enable mods

1. Open your Steam library
   
2. Right click on 'Payday 3', select 'Properties...'
   
3. In the 'LAUNCH OPTIONS' field, add '-fileopenlog'
   
   

2. 📁Creating a ~mods folder

1. Open your Steam library
   
2. Right click on 'Payday 3', select 'Properties...'
   
3. Under 'Installed Files', select 'Browse...'
   
4. Go to folder 'PAYDAY3\PAYDAY3\Content\Paks'
   
5. Create a mods folder named '~mods'
   
6. Place your .pak mods inside the ~mods folder
   
   

🔎 Steam Troubleshooting

• When using dx12 add a space between '-dx12 -fileopenlog'.
  
• If you’re experiencing game crashes after adding mods, remove mods and try again. If you’re still crashing, verify the integrity of game files in the steam properties.
  
• Make sure to download any dependency mods like Moolah Mod Loader. (Mods will list out any dependencies in their descriptions)
  
• Make sure to unpack the .pak mods out of the .zip or .7z files you download from modworkshop.

⬛Epic Games Setup

For heisters playing on Epic Games Store.

1. 🚀Launch options to enable mods

1. Open your Epic library
   
2. Right click on 'Payday 3', select 'Manage'
   
3. In the 'Launch Options' box, enable the toggle.
   
4. Once enabled, add '-fileopenlog' to the new field
   
   

2. 📁Creating a ~mods folder

1. Open your Epic library
   
2. Right click on 'Payday 3', select 'Manage'
   
3. Under 'Installation', select the 'Open Install Location' folder icon
   
4. Go to folder 'PAYDAY3\Content\Paks'
   
5. Create a mods folder named '~mods'
   
6. Place your .pak mods inside the ~mods folder
   
   

🔎 Epic Troubleshooting

• When using dx12 add a space between '-dx12 -fileopenlog'.
  
• If you’re experiencing game crashes after adding mods, remove mods and try again. If you’re still crashing, verify files in the Epic management.
  
• Make sure to download any dependency mods like Moolah Mod Loader. (Mods will list out any dependencies in their descriptions)
  
• Make sure to unpack the .pak mods out of the .zip or .7z files you download from modworkshop.

🟢Xbox PC Setup

For heisters playing with the Xbox app and Game Pass PC.
(You can't mod the game on consoles).

1. 🚀Launch options to enable mods

1. Open the 'Xbox' app
   
2. Right click on 'Payday 3', select '⚙️Manage'
   
3. Under the 'FILES' tab, select 'BROWSE...'
   
4. Go to folder 'Payday 3\content'
   
5. Open 'UE4CommandLine.txt'
   
6. Find '../../../PAYDAY3/PAYDAY3.uproject', and add ' -fileopenlog' to the end
   (e.g. ../../../PAYDAY3/PAYDAY3.uproject -fileopenlog)

2. 📁Creating a ~mods folder

1. Open the 'Xbox' app
   
2. Right click on 'Payday 3', select '⚙️Manage'
   
3. Under the 'FILES' tab, select 'BROWSE...'
   
4. Go to folder 'Payday 3\content\payday3\content\paks'
   
5. Or alternatively 'Payday 3\Content\PAYDAY3\Binaries\WinGDK'
   
6. Create a mods folder named '~mods'
   
7. Place your .pak mods inside the ~mods folder
   
   

🔎 Xbox Troubleshooting

• You must navigate to the game through the Xbox app as described in the first three steps. Trying to get there via the file explorer won’t work as it’s a protected directory.
  
• Make sure to download any dependency mods like Moolah Mod Loader. (Mods will list out any dependencies in their descriptions)
  
• If you’re experiencing game crashes after adding mods, remove mods and try again. If you’re still crashing, repair the game in the Xbox app.
  
• Make sure to unpack the .pak mods out of the .zip or .7z files you download from modworkshop.

---

💙 Credit to,
• Musluk for an improved Xbox launch options.
  
• XLuma for guidance on hdd issues and UE4SS.

> Thanks to the modders, for creating all these awesome addons.
> Also thank you, the heister reading this guide, and everyone who's liked and favourited it.
👊😎

If you're interested in other guides I've created, take a look my latest one here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3057096910

Notice on re-uploading this content

I do not give permission for this content to be wholly or in part re-uploaded in other Steam guides, or on other websites, nor used by any type of generative AI.

[Eup3r]

mods dont work for me at all, im doing everything right

[Mr.Jack]

How to unistall game?

[SavageCore]

You should update the UE4SS link to https://modworkshop.net/mod/47771

[Loftower]

UE4SS It is crashing now?

[Sterben]

Installing the UE4ss made my game 2x slower lol

[𝙅𝙖𝙮]

Tip:
For Xbox Game Pass Users, the path is actually
Payday 3\Content\PAYDAY3\Binaries\WinGDK

You may want to update that.

[distonv]

Thank you for making this, I kept getting the UE4 crash log and it was annoying.

[SirHazza]

UPDATE. Post patch 1.0.1 mods didn't all suddenly break! Which is great news. So unless the game changes something directly related to the mods your're using. Or how modding works in general. Then it's safe to say most mods are unlikely to break with each game update.

[Mr Moss]

Very well made guide, thanks

[DonnieMouse]

Thanks!