Install Steam Workshop mods on a Squad server

A Squad server loads a mod from a folder named after the mod’s Workshop ID, inside SquadGame/Plugins/Mods. The Loafhosts Squad server has no mod setting on its Startup page, so you put the folder there yourself in Files, then restart.

A server with mods is listed under Custom in the server browser, not on the main tab.

What you need

Squad installed on your PC, with the mod subscribed on the Steam Workshop. Steam downloads it for you.
The mod’s ID. It is the number at the end of the mod’s Workshop page address.

In the ArthOS panel

On your PC, open Steam’s Workshop folder for Squad. On a default Windows install it is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\393380. 393380 is Squad’s Steam number.
Find the folder named with the mod’s ID. Do not rename it. The folder name is how the server finds the mod.
Open your server, then Files.
Open SquadGame. If there is no Plugins folder, make one. Inside Plugins, make a folder called Mods if it is not there.
Open Mods and choose Upload Directory. Pick the mod’s folder from your PC.
Restart the server.

When the server starts, it prints the Squad maps it added, and then the modded maps. Open the Console page to read it, or SquadGame/Saved/Logs/SquadGame.log in Files.

Update or remove a mod

To update a mod, subscribe on your PC so Steam updates it. Delete the old numbered folder in Mods on the server, upload the new one, and restart. Delete the old one first, so no old files are left behind.

To remove a mod, delete its numbered folder and restart.

Optional: ModsConfig.cfg

The stock file SquadGame/ServerConfig/ModsConfig.cfg controls which mods get their extended features and in what order. Its own header reads: “Server configuration file to control which mods to enable and what order. The mods should be mentioned by their IDs, separated by commas. Mod’s ID could be found in the *.mi file in the mod folder. Mods that are not mentioned here, won’t have their extended features enabled, but still will be loaded and their content will be available.” The line to fill in is ModLoadOrder=.

No mod has been installed on a Loafhosts Squad server to test this, so what the line changes in practice is Not checked as of 13 October 2026.

What players see

In the Custom server browser, a server with mods has a wrench symbol. Clicking it lists the mods. A player who joins without a mod is told which mods are missing or out of sync and can choose DOWNLOAD ALL.

A mod that adds maps gives you layer names. Take them from the mod’s Workshop page and add them on the Layers page with Add by ID. See the Squad layer list.

If it does not work

The mod does not load. Check the folder name is only the ID, and that it sits directly in Mods, not inside another folder. Offworld’s advice for a mod that will not load is to remove it, delete the download and download it again.
The server stops starting after you add a mod. Delete the new folder and restart. If it starts, the mod is the cause. The mod may not be built for the current game version. See Squad crashes after an update.
Nobody can find the server. Mods or no licence put a server on the Custom tab. See Squad server not in the list.

Offworld’s rules say a Workshop mod must work on both Linux and Windows without extra tools. If a mod does not run on the server, ask its author.

More about the game: Squad servers.

Sources: squad.fandom.com: Uploading a mod to a dedicated server, squad.fandom.com: Playing a Mod, squad.fandom.com: Server browser, squad.fandom.com: Unable to load a Layer, joinsquad.com: Server licensing and administration policies

Squad servers All Squad guides