The best Factorio mods

Looking for a fun Factorio mod? Factorio is big enough and refined enough that it doesn’t really need mods, but that hasn’t stopped the community from creating a dazzling array of them. From tiny gameplay tweaks to complete overhauls, just about every mod you can imagine has been made for Factorio.

The downside of such abundance is it can make it difficult to decide which ones are worth your time. So I’ve done the hard work for you, collecting together the most useful, interesting, and entertaining Factorio mods for you to peruse, along with how to install them all.

How to install Factorio mods

Wube Software has supported mods since Factorio’s early development, which is why it has its own in-built mod installer. To find it, launch the game and select the 'Mods' button on the main menu. Here, you’ll find a large number of Factorio mods available to download.

The mod menu lets you browse through different categories and search for mods manually. Each mod also has a description that appears in the box on the right-hand-side, alongside a link to the mod’s page on the Factorio Mods website. To install a mod, click on it in the search results bar, then select 'Install' on the right-hand side.

All the mods featured in this article can be found via the Factorio mod browser.

The best Factorio mods

Alien Biomes

Factorio has few flaws, but perhaps its most significant one is that it looks a bit bland. Factorio’s planet largely comprises vast expanses of brown, barren extra-terrestrial scrubland, which doesn’t make for the most exciting setting. 

Alien Biomes fixes this by adding a bunch of new, colourful environments to the base game, ranging from sandy beaches to volcanic ash lands and verdant purple forests. The mod also adds 'Planet Controls', letting you customise the heat and moisture levels of your planet if you want a specific type of environment. 

A second version of the mod adds high-resolution terrain textures, just in case the vanilla look isn’t crisp enough for you.

Bob’s Mods

This is a collection of mods installed individually through the Factorio browser, but they were all created by a single modder and are designed to work together. Combined, Bob’s Mods expand just about every facet of the game, adding new ores, research tech, metals and materials, power options, weapons and defence options, mining equipment, electronics, and so on.

In short, Bob’s Mods add twice as much stuff to Factorio. This doesn’t necessarily mean the game is twice as good, however. Bob’s Mods are designed for veteran players to add further complexity to the base game. If you’re new to Factorio, you should probably familiarise yourself with what’s already there before venturing down Bob’s labyrinthine rabbit-hole.

It’s worth noting that Bob’s Mods are not the only mod pack designed to expand Factorio: Other mod collections like Angel and Krastorio offer similarly extensive overhauls. All are worth checking out, although it’s probably worth sticking to one mod pack per game, as compatibility can be an issue.

Bottleneck

Bottleneck is designed to help improve the efficiency of your factory. It does this by adding a traffic-light system to key production structures such as furnaces and assemblers. Red lights highlight a problem with input, while yellow lights highlight issues with output. In this way, Bottleneck gives you a clear indication of problem areas within your factory, thereby helping you solve them.

GDIW

If, like me, you’re the kind of Factorio player who always sets up oil refineries in the wrong way, this mod is for you. Short for 'Gah! Darn-it Water!' GDIW lets you manually alternate the input and output of individual pipes on oil refineries, chemical plants, and other liquid-based structures. It even has a hotkey to let you rotate through the various options. As well as just being handy, GDIW also helps you establish much tighter chemical production lines.

Mobile Factory

Does what it says on the tin. Mobile Factory adds a tank into your inventory that, when deployed, can be 'walked into' to open up a 30x30 construction grid. You can build on this as you would anywhere else on Factorio’s planet. This factory can then be driven around the world like any other vehicles. Handy if you want a regular supply of certain resources and items to hand.

Rampant

Factorio’s Biters can be extremely dangerous to you and your factory, but they’re also pretty stupid. This mod makes them smarter. A lot smarter. Rampant adds a host of new AI behaviours to the game’s hostile alien bugs, probing your defences for weak spots, make tactical withdrawals when getting pummelled by your turrets, reinforce nearby nests that you’re attacking, and more. Get this mod if you want to make Factorio more of a strategy game.

Solar Walls

Solar panels are a great source of energy, but take up lots of space. Walls, meanwhile, are crucial for protecting your factory against those nasty Biters, but don’t serve any other function. Solar Walls combines the two, creating a new version of regular walls that have solar panels on top, helping you save space when running your factory on clean energy. A small mod that makes a surprisingly big difference to your factory construction.

Squeak Through

Squeak Through is one of the most frequently recommended Factorio mods, and for good reason. It basically reduces the collision detection between objects, meaning your character can 'squeak through' smaller gaps than usual. This may sound like a minor change, but it makes navigating your factory much easier. One word of caution, however: Squeak Through also makes it easier for Biters to get through gaps. Walls will still stop them (and you) so make sure to build them nice and thick.

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