Bethesda games are a sandbox for modders, and the tradition carries over to Starfield. With the developers confirming the game has mod support, many modders have started flocking and building new features for Starfield. Be it simple FOV tweaks, ReShader presets, or even the much-hyped DLSS mod, the floodgates are slowly opening. So, we decided to check out the currently available mods and list down the best Starfield mods that you should install right away.
Not only do some of these mods fix a few important quirks in-game, but they also enhance the overall experience. Before you proceed any further, we suggest you check out our dedicated guide on how to install mods in Starfield.
1. Starfield Upscaler
When Bethesda announced that Starfield was partnering with AMD for their PC release, users expected Starfield to not support Nvidia’s DLSS and Intel’s XeSS at launch. And those worries became a reality, as the early-access launch does not have both. However, a modder called PureDark did what Bethesda couldn’t by adding support for DLSS and XeSS support to Starfield on Day 1.
Starfield Upscaler is a mod that adds Nvidia’s DLSS and Intel’s XeSS upscaling tech to the game. You simply need to follow the steps on the official Nexus project page and replace FSR 2. Furthermore, you gain support from their respective hardware for rendering the game at 4K resolutions while retaining visuals and performance.
Download Starfield Upscaler
2. Achievement Enabler
Starfield has access to the famous console commands that every Bethesda game has. If you hit the tilde key (~) on your keyboard, you can use console commands to alter things in-game. Sometimes, players do this to gain an advantage in-game, such as receiving additional skill points and money, which is fine. After all, this is your game, and since it doesn’t harm anyone, why worry?
However, Bethesda has ensured that players don’t cheat in unlocking the achievements through the console commands. Hence, the game disables achievements for console command usage and modding. But modder Priqrade circumvents this with the “Achievement Enabler” mod for Starfield. It does exactly what it says, as in enabling the achievements in-game.
Download Achievement Enabler
3. Enhanced Player Healthbar
Is the simple white health bar in Starfield not intuitive enough? Do you feel there should have been more visual prompts? You’re not the only one who thinks that. Modder SilverEzredes understands your pain and has introduced a mod called Enhanced Player Health Bar for Starfield.
This mod replaces the bland white bar in-game with a new health bar. If your health is over 75%, it stays white. But when your health dips below 75% but above 50%, it turns into a lighter shade of brown (more like mustard). When the health is between 25% & 50%, it turns orange. Finally, the bar becomes red when your health falls below 25%. These color prompts help you keep a watch on your health from the peripheral vision.
Download Enhanced Player Healthbar
4. StarUI Inventory
Listen, I have mixed feelings about Starfield’s inventory. While I love the clean and uniform UI, I don’t like how large the UI looks at times. Bethesda could have made the inventory UI a little more compact, but thankfully, modder m9r98a4f2 took cues from Skyrim’s SkyUI mod and created one for Starfield.
The StarUI mod reduces the overall size of the inventory UI on your PC. It makes it compact, detailing more items in sortable columns. Items even receive category icons through this mod. Now, you don’t have to scroll down and find the category. Instead, everything becomes compact and shows up on a single page. That includes the inventory item list.
Download StarUI Inventory
5. Cleanfield
Want a clean UI experience without the logos of Bethesda, Starfield, or the “Message of the Day” on the main menu? Cleanfield, a mod by Gametism, helps with that and removes all the clutter. It modifies and removes every mention of the game, the studio, and even the large “Message of the Day” window from the main menu. What is left is a clean main menu.
Download Cleanfield
6. Neutral LUTs
Starfield features this unique filter, where everything has this green-hue shade. While it does not look ugly, it sometimes makes it difficult for players to look at things. Unfortunately, there is no option to turn off this LUT in-game for people who don’t want it.
Fortunately, the modder fading signal has solved this issue with the Neutral LUTs mod. The function of this mod is simple – it removes the greenish filter from the game and makes the lighting and blacks look better on an OLED display.
Download Neutral LUTs
7. Starfield Performance Optimizations
Starfield is a performance-heavy game even by Bethesda’s standards. That means even if you have a beefy PC, the title’s performance dips at times. If you visit one of the major planets in the game, like New Atlantis, you will see your frames dipping down to 50 FPS even on my 4070 Ti and Ryzen 5600-backed PC.
The Starfield Performance Optimizations mod by E3roKK tries fixing and optimizing the game so you don’t lose out on performance. The mod is also in active development, so we can expect the mod to improve the game’s performance in the future. If you are struggling to run the game, consider downloading this mod.
Download Starfield Performance Optimizations
8. BetterHUD
Do you hate the game throwing XP gains right in the middle of your screen? Do you hate the game showing the location name in the middle of the screen? BetterHUD Mod by KhaoMaat fixes these minor UI issues. It repositions your XP and new location notifications to better positions in the game, making them non-intrusive. BetterHUD also removes the enemy hit markers completely, which is appreciated. Thus, if you want a cleaner Starfield UI experience, BetterHud is the best mod.
Download BetterHUD Mod
9. Icon Sorting Tags
It’s tough to differentiate between the quality of items before picking them up in Starfield. Be it a weapon or a random item pickup, the game excludes proper classification tags in the inventory. However, Modder mcguffin is to the rescue with a mod called IconSortingTags. A version of his popular Fallout 76 mod, this mod adds new glyphs to the game, determining what you are picking and its quality. It helps you loot only the essentials in-game.
Download Icon Sorting Tags
10. Tactical Crosshair
Starfield has this absurd thing where the crosshair is plastered on your screen, even outside combat encounters. Unfortunately, you cannot turn it off, and it becomes distracting. To fix this issue, user choppa0 has released the Tactical Crosshair mod. Using this mod, the crosshair only appears on-screen if you ADS in first-person or third-person or during a combat encounter. The mod completely removes the hip-fire crosshair to make the game more immersive.
Download Tactical Crosshair
11. Dualsense PS5 Icons
Starfield is exclusive to Windows PC and Xbox, meaning it will not come to PS4 and PS5. If you plug a PS controller into your PC, you will see the Xbox buttons. While this sounds like a non-issue, players might prefer using a DualShock/DualSense controller to play the game, having different button prompt logos. This can make them confused about what to press.
Modder EASKATER acknowledges the pain, releasing a simple mod for Starfield. It replaces the Xbox button prompt icons with PS button icons. Do install this mod if you use a PlayStation controller to play Starfield on your PC.
Download Dualsense – PS5 Icons
12. In-Game FOV Changer
UPDATE: The latest patch for Starfield added an in-game FOV Slider. However, if that still does not help you out, use this mod.
Starfield arrives with default FOV values for the first- and third-person modes. The settings also don’t include an FOV slider to change the field of view. To fix this issue, we have already shared a workaround to change FOV in Starfield with ease. That method, however, requires you to leave the game and re-enter the game frequently to find the perfect FOV.
The In-game FOV Changer mod by NexusGuy999, on the other hand, helps with that. It allows you to change the FOV of the game through console commands inside Starfield. So, you can experiment and check if your desired FOV works as intended in-game itself.
Download the In-game FOV Changer
13. Easy Digipick
Are you tired of lockpicking in Starfield (use our guide if you’re stuck) and want to get past the mini-games quicker? Then Easy Digipick is the mod you should install right away. It simplifies the mini-game, making it easier to unlock locks. You still require the necessary perks to perform lockpicking, though.
Download Easy Digipick
14. Responsive Grabbing & Undelayed Menus
These two mods reduce the delay in the in-game menus and looting mechanics. It reduces the frustrating one-second delay when grabbing objects, making it 300 milliseconds. This creates a responsive and enjoyable game. Undelayed Menus significantly improves the experience by enhancing the responsiveness of in-game menus. Now, menu navigation runs at 60FPS instead of 30FPS.
Download Responsive Grabbing
Download Undelayed Menus
15. Steam Deck Essentials
After the latest update, Starfield runs on the handheld PC without problems. However, it runs the title in low settings with FSR. The performance fluctuates, giving you somewhere between 23 to 29 frames. The Steam Deck FPS and QOL mod for Starfield improves the performance on handhelds, offering up to a 38% performance boost.
Download Steam Deck Essentials
16. Unlimited Sprint
Sprinting in Starfield exerts oxygen, and running with increased CO2 reduces your health. With the game having no ground vehicle for exploration, which is absurd, running can become tedious. The Unlimited Sprint mod is here to allow you to keep running for as long as possible without losing oxygen. The mod author does recommend making a rollback savefile before using this mod.
Download Unlimited Sprint
17. Vanilla Flashlight Improved
Flashlight is an important commodity in Starfield. However, while the standard flashlight is good enough, it can be improved with increased brightness. The Vanilla Flashlight Improved mod by Iitbeep does that, increasing the intensity of the flashlight. It is still the vanilla flashlight, only brighter.
Download Vanilla Flashlight Improved
18. Value To Weight Ratio Sort Option
Chances are, you will pick a ton of things in Starfield. And with that, you will increase the chances of encumbering yourself. Unfortunately, if you want to find the weight of each item in your inventory, you can’t. Starfield doesn’t allow you to sort your inventory items based on their weight. But fear not, as modder tomlikesguitar adds a sort option in-game by value/weight ratio. This allows you to rearrange your inventory by item weight.
Download Value To Weight Ratio Sort Option
19. The Eyes of Beauty
While the character models in Starfield are a step above previous Creation Engine titles, with slightly better textures, one thing that stays consistent is the eyes. Sure, they look pretty, but they sometimes feel deadpan and unnatural.
That is where modder LogRaam comes to your help with his well-known Eyes of Beauty mod for Starfield. This mode replaces the existing textures for your character, replacing them with a newer, natural one. So, if you ever wanted pretty eyes for your character, this is the mod to download.
Download The Eyes of Beauty
20. Starfield Optimized Textures
Yes, we know Starfield optimization on PC is currently a little wonky. Several modders are trying to fix the lag and stuttering issues using mods. With the first mod adding DLSS and XeSS support to the game, this mod aims to improve optimization by fine-tuning the in-game textures.
Starfield Optimized Textures does what it says. It optimizes the texture, minimizing the visual degradation while ensuring you gain a huge performance boost and less stutter. So, if you are experiencing stutters and low FPS issues, this is a good mod to try.
Download Starfield Optimized Texture
21. Effects Texture Enhanced
Most items in the world of Starfield have effects. Be it your gun emitting muzzle flash, enemies getting set on fire, and more. While the current texture of these effects is serviceable, it can certainly be better. Effects Texture Enhanced by weijiesen makes them better, redoing most effects in-game to look closer to real life. Fires will look fiery, bolts of lightning will look like bolts of lightning, and more. For people who get annoyed by minute inconsistencies in their vanilla Starfield, this is a perfect mod. Additionally, none of the textures are AI upscaled, which means most of them are made by the modder itself.
Download Effects Texture Enhanced
22. Shipyard Unlocked
Shipbuilding is a brand-new addition to Starfield, where you can build your dream spaceship complete with features. However, you cannot access every shipbuilding part at once. Furthermore, Stardock, which are large space stations, have better parts locked behind progression. Shipyard Unlocked circumvents this instruction, unlocking every single shipbuilding part at Staryards and ship vendors at outposts.
Download Shipyard Unlocked
23. Responsive Grabbing
Starfield has this one-second delay for every action in-game. Be it navigating the menus, and closing them, you’ll find a jarring delay that annoys me to no end. While we fixed the main-menu delays through a mod previously mentioned in this list, we’ll fix the delay of grabbing items through this mod. Responsive Grabbing lives up to its name, cutting down the one-second delay of grabbing items to just 300 milliseconds. This results in a snappier response, making it fun to handle things.
Download Responsive Grabbing
24. Faster Airlock and Hatch Animation
Starfield likes to flaunt the airlock and hatch animations they’ve perfected from Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. However, while looking at every cog rotating and moving is fun, it gets annoying after seeing it for the first twenty times. Faster Airlock and Hatch Animation is a mod for people who want to enter and exit a structure quickly.
Download Faster Airlock and Hatch
25. Combat and Stealth Overhaul
Starfield has possibly one of the most mediocre stealth and combat systems, and I don’t want to sugarcoat that. While you can still enjoy the amazing guns in Starfield, the NPCs are pretty dumb. Not to mention that stealth as a whole feels lackluster. The “Combat and Stealth Overhaul mod” tackles both of these problems, where players get an option to make over 100 changes to the combat and stealth systems in-game.
Download Combat and Stealth Overhaul
26. Trainwreck: A Crash Logger
While Starfield is one of the most stable launches for Bethesda, it goes without saying that the game comes with its fair share of problems. Sometimes, these come in the form of crashes. And given the game’s nature, it’s hard to pinpoint the reason for the crash. The Trainwreck mod does the heavy lifting for you, adding a crash logger that shows you the possible reason for the game to stop working. This is made by the person who created the Fallout 4 and Skyrim crash logger, and it works exactly like the previous two mods.
Download Trainwreck
27. Instant Romance
Yes, you can romance companions in Starfield. However, the process of impressing them is a long and winding process. Something many players might be reluctant to do. Instant Romance helps with that, skipping the steps for romancing the NPCs and bringing you to the end game. However, I recommend not trying the mod first, as you will miss out on many personal quests. Try it out after you reach NG+ mode in the game.
Download Instant Romance
28. Enhanced Subtitle
Are you tired of looking at the same, unified rectangle dialogue boxes in Starfield? Do you want to add some variation to the subtitles and the dialogue boxes? The Enhanced Subtitle mod does that. It allows players to modify the subtitles and dialogues in various ways possible, changing their looks altogether. There are numerous options available, so tweak and find your desired design.
Download Enhanecd Subtitles
29. Stellar Glass
Do you like shiny glasses for no exact reason in your video games? Do you wish for better glass textures in Starfield? Then, Stellar Glass is the perfect mod for you. It removes the wavy and dirty glasses seen in the game with some pristine, beautiful glasses. These are handmade custom texture and gives your game a needed facelift.
Download Stellar Glasses
30. Immersive Planet Density
Starfield features a lot of NPCs on major planets in the universe. Well, in some cases, it might feel unrealistic. For example, seeing several people on a planet that should be low in population just breaks the immersion. Immersive Planet Density mod does what it says. It makes the population density on planets realistic. This means you will only see the appropriate number of inhabitants on each planet.
Download Immersive Planet Density
