Mods & Workshop
Quick answer: Sandustry mods live on Steam Workshop ("Mods and maps for Sandustry"), and modding is an official pillar of the game — but as of v0.5.5, loading subscribed mods requires switching to the unstable "mods" beta branch. Here is the state of the ecosystem.
Modding Is Official
The store page dedicates a whole section to it — "MADE FOR MODDING": "Built with modding in mind, Sandustry lets you explore everything from visual tweaks and hand-crafted maps to entirely new buildings and processes that you can integrate into your production chains. Dedicated modding tools make it easy to customize your experience, share your ideas with the world, and even overhaul the whole game!"
The developer participates directly: the Workshop hub includes a "Drill Test" item posted by lantto, the game's developer account.
The Catch: The "mods" Beta Branch
From the official v0.5.5 announcement (August 19, 2026): "For anyone wanting to try mods and help test the modding framework, remember that you need to be on the 'mods' branch in order to load subscribed mods. NOTE: This branch is unstable and not up to date yet, so do not use it if you only want to play vanilla."
The same announcement thanks modders for building "all these cool things without me even publishing a proper API documentation yet" — the official modding API docs are not out yet.
Notable Workshop Mods (Snapshot: August 19, 2026)
A sample of what the first week of the Workshop produced — this list changes constantly, so treat it as a dated snapshot, not a ranking:
| Mod | Author | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| SandTogether — Co-op Multiplayer | Iron | Community co-op multiplayer |
| Trim's Infinite Factory | TrimBarktree | Factory expansion |
| Laser Overcharge | Steejo | Laser tweak |
| Vertical Conveyor Portal | Kingcub | Logistics addition |
| Quickbars | Twistyatom | UI / hotbar QoL |
| Debug Toggle | uolkx | Enables the hidden debug mode |
| Drill Test | lantto (developer) | Developer-posted test item |
Around 20 items appeared in the hub's first-week module at capture; browse the live Workshop for current ratings and new arrivals.
Where Mod-Related Requests Go
- Feature requests and suggestions: the developer directs them to sandustry.nolt.io so the community can upvote.
- Custom maps are a special mod type — see our Custom Maps guide for the CustomMapLoader workflow.
- The official wiki recruits contributors via the Discord #wiki channel.
Vanilla players: stay off the mods branch
The developer's wording is unambiguous — the mods branch is "unstable and not up to date yet." Subscribe to Workshop items now if you like, but only switch branches when you actually want to test mods.