How to Install Sandustry Mods: Workshop and Beta Branch

Sandustry mods in the Early Access version are distributed through the official Steam Workshop, and to actually load the mods you subscribe to, you must switch your Steam installation to the separate Mods beta branch. In the Update #2 notes published on August 19, 2026 (game version v0.5.5), the developer reminded players that this branch is unstable and not up to date yet, and that you should not use it if you only want to play vanilla. The free 2025 demo used a completely different loader called FluxLoader, so demo tutorials and demo mods do not apply to the paid Early Access build.

Demo mods are not Early Access mods

This is the single most important thing to understand before you touch modding, because most of the modding videos on YouTube were recorded against the 2025 demo. Two different systems are in play:

• Early Access (paid, since August 13, 2026): Steam Workshop distribution, loaded through the Mods beta branch in Steam.
• Demo (free, 2025): FluxLoader, a community loader you download separately, plus a mods folder it generates on your disk.

The official Sandustry FAQ on Steam states it directly: modding is available in two places depending on which version you are playing, and FluxLoader is only for the demo, while Steam Workshop support is available for the Early Access version. Old tutorials that tell you to drop a modloader.exe file into a folder named SandustryDemo are describing the historical demo method. If you own the Early Access game and follow those steps, you are modding the wrong installation.

The split also affects saves. The official FAQ confirms that demo saves and Early Access saves are not compatible, so there is no reason to keep the demo folder around once you own the full game. Uninstall the demo, then start your Workshop setup from a clean Early Access install.

Step 1: Switch to the Mods beta branch

Subscribing to a Workshop item is not enough on its own. The official FAQ gives the exact procedure for enabling mod loading in Early Access:

1. Right-click Sandustry in your Steam Library.
2. Select Properties.
3. Open the Game Versions & Betas section.
4. Choose the Mods branch from the list.
5. If you switch branches and the Workshop tab does not appear, restart Steam.

Steam will then download the Mods branch build, which replaces your default install for that game. Treat this build the way you would treat any beta: expect crashes, and do not trust it with your main save file. The developer's August 19, 2026 note says the branch exists so players can help test the modding framework, which is a different goal from relaxed vanilla play. When you want to return to the stable game, switch back to the default branch in the same menu.

Keep in mind that the developer noted modders have built all of the current Workshop content without proper API documentation having been published yet. That means the framework itself, not just individual mods, is a moving target during these first Early Access weeks.

Step 2: Subscribe on the Steam Workshop

The paid Early Access build uses Steam Workshop and a separate Mods beta branch, not the old demo FluxLoader.

Once you are on the Mods branch, browse the Sandustry Workshop page and subscribe to items the same way you would for any Steam game. Subscribed mods load when the game starts, and each Workshop page lists the author, a description, and user ratings you can use to judge quality before subscribing.

Add mods one at a time rather than subscribing to twenty at once. If the game fails to start or a save misbehaves after adding a mod, a single recent addition is much easier to isolate than a batch. Check each mod's description for a stated supported game version, and prefer items updated after the most recent game patch.

Back up your saves before you install anything. Sandustry is in Early Access, and neither the game nor the modding framework is frozen, so a combination that works today can break with the next update. A save backup plus a short list of which mods you enabled is the cheapest insurance available.

What the Workshop already offers

The Workshop filled up quickly after launch. Browsing the most popular items of the first week shows the range of what modders have built without official API docs:

• New buildings and logistics: Distributor, Vertical Conveyor Portal, Drilling Expanded, and Cloning Expanded add machinery the vanilla game does not have.
• Gameplay overhauls: Atomic Age and Void Gun Overhaul change progression and combat behavior, while Common Sense Patches applies smaller quality-of-life tweaks.
• Convenience and visuals: Quickbars, Unlimited Sprint, Universal Vacuum, Gold Safe, and a Screenshot and GIF recorder adjust interfaces and utility behavior.
• Cheats and sandbox tools: Trim's Creative Mode, Infinite Fluxite (Cheat), and Cheat Faster Rocket Reload are explicitly labeled as cheats for experimentation.
• Multiplayer: SandTogether — Co-op Multiplayer extends a single-player game with cooperative play.
• Maps and fixes: Enable Custom Maps unlocks hand-crafted maps, and Stuck Mouse Button Fix macOS patches a platform-specific input issue.

That list is a snapshot of one week in August 2026, not a permanent catalog. Items will be updated, abandoned, or replaced as the Early Access patches continue, so check the Workshop itself for the current state before building a load order around anything mentioned here.

A game built for modding

Modding is not an afterthought in Sandustry. The official Steam store page describes the game as built with modding in mind, letting players explore everything from visual tweaks and hand-crafted maps to entirely new buildings and processes that integrate into production chains. The store text goes further, saying dedicated modding tools make it easy to customize your experience, share ideas, and even overhaul the whole game.

The demo proved the appetite for this. In an April 2025 thank-you post, the developer credited the demo community with a modding scene of more than 50 mods and custom maps, alongside nearly 100,000 demo players. That scene is the ancestor of today's Workshop: many of the same community tools and map makers moved over to Early Access once Workshop support existed.

If you are new to the game itself, it pays to finish a vanilla loop first. Mods are easiest to appreciate — and easiest to troubleshoot — when you know what the base game's sand, water, and gold chain is supposed to look like. Our getting started guide covers the first gold loop, and the beginner guide goes deeper into early factory layout.

FluxLoader and the 2025 demo scene

FluxLoader still exists as a maintained open-source project on GitHub, with releases for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Running it generates a log file, a fluxloader-config.json configuration, and a mods folder beside the loader. If the loader cannot find the game, you point its gamePath setting at the game executable.

Per the official FAQ, that toolchain belongs to the demo. Where it fits in the Early Access picture is less settled: at least one third-party guide describes current FluxLoader releases as the way to mod the modern game, while the official Steam FAQ says FluxLoader is demo-only and Early Access modding goes through the Workshop. The official position is the safer one to follow, and the conflict is worth knowing about when you see conflicting tutorials. For sharing vanilla builds between players, the built-in blueprint import and export described in our blueprints guide works without any loader at all.

For modding discussion, the official Sandustry Discord server has a mod section where authors post releases and answer compatibility questions, which is also where the community tracks which mods survived each patch.

Sources and version notes

This article reflects the Early Access period of August 2026, current through game version v0.5.5 (Update #2, August 19, 2026). The Mods branch instability warning, the branch-switching instructions, the FluxLoader-is-demo-only statement, and the save incompatibility between demo and Early Access all come from the official Sandustry FAQ and developer update posts on Steam. The store description of modding support comes from the official Steam store page.

The Workshop item list is a snapshot of the most popular items during one post-launch week and will age quickly. The claim that FluxLoader works with the current paid version appears in a third-party guide and is a player report, not independently verified. Demo-era details — the 50-plus demo mods figure, the SandustryDemo folder method, and the Discord custom map loader — are historical context from 2025 and should not be used as instructions for the Early Access build.