• increase immersion and realism,
• improve vanilla gameplay and mechanisms,
• maintain game stability and avoid bugs.
  

The goal is to create an improved version of this wonderful game by using mods that works well together, focusing on improving game mechanics, upgrade vanilla graphics and add new features to the game. This is a community project that will improve over time with your help.

Please report in the BUGS section any issues you may encounter with this list. You can also submit new mods that you would like to see included in the dedicated section of the FORUM.

RDR2 is easy & safe to mod as long as you carefully follow each step. To begin with, it is important to distinguish between the two different types of mods available for the game:

• Mods in green are script mods (in .asi file format). They need Script Hook RDR2 to work. These .asi (joined sometimes with an .ini and/or a .dat file) must always be put at the root of your game folder where the RDR2.exe is located.
• Mods in purple are vanilla files replacement mods. They need Lenny's Mod Loader to work. You have to put the files provided by these mods inside the LML folder located in the game's root folder.
• Mods in orange are hybrids. They need both Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny's Mod Loader to work.
  

Here is some important information. Please read them carefully:

• This list is necessarily subjective but I'm always open to changes and additions.
• Some mods have a # that indicates installation option to choose and/or special instructions.
• When we talk about the game's root folder, this is where the RDR2.exe file is located.
  For example for Steam it is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Red Dead Redemption 2
• You can install the following mods in any order you want.
• This mod list is intended for use with the Vulkan API. Some of the edited textures may not load in DX12.
• If you continue a game after installing this list of mods, you must remove all weapons you have for the 1899 Firearms mod to work properly. You can do this using a trainer.
• Always check the mod's readme in order to install them correctly.
• I will not be able make support if you install mods that are not in this list.
• Check the Changelogs section of this page regularly so you can easily see the latest changes I've made to the list.
• Remember to track any mods you install and check your Nexus Tracking Center regularly to see if your installed mods have received any updates. Unless otherwise specified, make sure all your mods are up to date.
• And of course endorse any mod you install. The authors have done a great job improving the game and they deserve your support!
  

Script Hook RDR2
The library that allows to use RDR 2 script native functions in custom .asi plugins.
# Copy/paste dinput8.dll & ScriptHookRDR2.dll inside the game's root folder.

Lenny's Mod Loader
It allows you to replace any file in the game, whether they are streaming files such as models or data files, font files etc.
# Copy/paste the content of the ModLoader folder inside the game's root folder.

Main and Legal Menu Skip
This mod skips the legal menu and main menu and puts you directly into story mode.
# Copy/paste x64 folder inside the game's root folder.

Online Content Unlocker
A native mod framework that allows other mods to use Red Dead Online's resources without breaking the story mode.

Unlock Special Edition Bonus
This mod will unlock a lot of content from the special version and the war horse from the pre-order version.
# Only install RDR2.asi

Corn Sack Fix
Fixes the broken physics when carrying around corn sacks.

Fixed Bandolier (No More Hovering)
This mod fixes the hovering bandolier.

Irregular Lawmen Fix
Makes temporary lawmen more consistent with actual lawmen.

Motherhood Cutscene Blur Fix
Fix the blurriness in the Motherhood cutscene for John Marston's suit up which was made extremely blurry after v1.0.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Gun Belt Fix
Changes the gun belt physics from the current patch version to the 1.0 version.

Timer 'Message' Bug Fix
Fixes the Timer "Message" Bug R* caused during the last Blood Money DLC.

1899 Firearms
Extensive firearms changes and new realistic ammo.
# 1899Firearms_V3.9.1

Anatomical Damage
Tweaks the critical chance and adds new injury areas (organs, arteries).
# Anatomical Damage 1899 Firearms Edition

Gun Diversity
An assortment of weapons for each faction and NPC.
# GunDiversity + GunDiversity-ADDON-FIXED - Delete combatbehaviour.meta

Health Stamina
Health is based on weight. Stamina and dead-eye changes.

Herbalist
Gathering herbs, plants, berries and mushrooms gives almost as much as you see growing.

Huntsman
Skilled hunter can gather more loot from the prey.
# Delete damagecleanlinessdata.meta

LAW
Extensive changes of law behaviour.
# LAW + Hotfix

NITRO
Tweaks explosions damages/visual effects.
# NITRO 1.1 - FOR 1899FIREARMS

No more grindy challenges
Reduces the requirements of some challenges so you don't waste too much time on them.


6th Star RDR2
The Saint Denis Police Department will now use wagons during intensive pursuits.
# Only install the GatlingWagons.asi

Banking The Old American Art
It gives ingame banks a purpose. Now you can deposit your money to not lose it when you die.

Basic Needs Final Cut
This mod adds thirst, hunger, urination, exhaustion and equipment weight mechanics along with loads of new features!
# Delete rpg_textures.ytd

Cores Regen Over Time
Core affecting items now have their effects applied over time, specifically 1 point every second.

Dog Companion
Allow to adopt any dog you met and help you to hunt.

Humidity and Temperature Overhaul Final Cut
The mod adds a new core that represents your weather resistance, so that rain/snow/water/cold are an actual threat and not a minor inconvenience!

Hunting Grounds
Brings hunting to the next level.

Injuries Overhaul
Adds an extra layer to the risk of being damaged in combat! The mod adds 4 new injury types, which affect the gameplay in many different ways!

Less Money - Economy Reworked
Reduces the amount of money you get throughout the game. Greatly reduces the amount you get from high paying missions.
# LessMoneyLite

Personal Boat
A mod that adds an option to own a personal boat ingame, with customization options and more!

Selling Guns
Lets you sell guns you don't use.

Take NPC's Hostage
Take NPC's hostage like you can take that one prison guard hostage when rescuing John from prison.

2k Van Der Linde Gang
This makes the gang members facial textures 2k instead of their regular 1024x1024 (1k).
# 2k Van Der Linde Gang

2k Villains
Upscale the antagonists to higher resolutions, face textures are 2k while clothing within the face files are various resolutions higher than normal.

Arthur Morgan Upscale Project
Upscales all Arthur Textures to 4k (Eyes to 1k) and also uses 2k versions of the materials and normal maps.
# Arthur Morgan Texture Upscale 4.5 + The Baldy Update

Black Knife Sheath
Black Knife Sheath for Arthur and John
# Arthur - Black Sheath + John - Black Sheath

Black Satchels
# Arthur's Satchel - Black

Complete Horse Overhaul
This mod changes all horses and mules in-game to make them more realistic, adding new stats, breeds, names, coats, textures and compendium descriptions.
# Main -Complete Horse Overhaul

Firearm Cosmetics - Carvings and Grips
# FirearmCosmetics - 1899 Firearms Edition

Gun Metal Rework
All gun metals reworked to look as good and realistic a possible.
# Gun Metal Rework

Higher Resolution Vegetation
Uses unused higher resolution textures for some of the game's vegetation.

James Langton NPC Replacement
This mod replaces the story mode variant with the multiplayer variant of James Langton.

Realistic Cartridges
Adds a more realistic cartridge texture.

Restored HD Textures
Restores unused HD textures for particle effects.

Strapped
Retexture of rifle strap.

Vanilla John Marston Enhanced
This upscales John's Vanilla textures for his Cowboy outfit (as well as western coat and gunslinger gear).

GunFX
Increased muzzle smoke and flash and gun decals persist.
# GunFX - 1899 Firearms Only

Corpse Spawn Distance
Increased spawn distance of the corpses so you will not see them drop in front of you.

No Bullet Trail Mod
Very simple mod that remove the bullet trail when firing weapons.

No Glowing Objects or Pickups
This mod simply disables the hideous glow effect on pickups and lootable objects.

NoPostFX
Removes screen post-FX from eagle eye/dead eye and others.
# NoPostFX

Remove Screen Effects
Removes all screen effects that occur with dead eye, eagle eye, tonic consumption, drunk character...
# Remove Camera shake and Cutscene black bars 1.1 (Do not install if playing on ultrawide screen) + Remove Screen Effects-Keep Critical Areas 1.4

The Perfect TAA
Keeping the game free from aliasing and at the same time without that horrible blur.

Visual Redemption
Various tweaks made in order to enhance the overall atmosphere and provide a more realistic experience.
# Install Main Files + 1. No Vignetting in optional addons

A.E.M (Authentic Euphoria Motions)
This mod makes euphoria motions feel authentic.
# A.E.M (Instant Fall On Headshots) + Heavier Bodies

Dismember Everyone
This mod enables dismemberment for the 290 peds in the vanilla game that can't be dismembered.
# Install the cleaned version from the FILES section

Emotes on Command
This mod allows you to play a specific emote on command.

Flo
Slower reactions and ground animations.

Gun Tricks
This mod aims to bring the gun spinning tricks from Red Dead Online to story mode.

Holstering animation
Replaces holster/unholster animations for the right holster and the knife sheath when sitting on a horse or when standing in cover.

John Marston Facial Animation Overhaul
RDR1 accurate facial expressions for John Marston.

Scenario On Command
This mod adds a toggle key which allows you to use a specific scenario or the nearest scenario on your own command using a hotkey.

AI Upscaled Videos
4K Upscaled Videos of the Main Menu and various.
# MenuVideos + SkyVideos + ChapterVideos

Beautiful Dark minimap
Just a simple mod that makes your minimap dark and cute.

Calorie Descriptions
The mod adds the calorie value of every food altering weight into its description, according to the values from the game files.

Different Camera Angle (DCA)
This mod moves the camera angle a bit down so it feels a little bit like GTA 4 with the camera being next to the gun's height.

Higher Res Ui
Unused Higher res textures for UI and upscaled versions for icons without unused higher res ones.
# Delete ammo_types.ytd + honor_display.ytd + rpg_core_deadeye.ytd + rpg_core_health.ytd + rpg_core_horse_health.ytd + rpg_core_horse_stamina.ytd + rpg_core_stamina.ytd + rpg_meter_track.ytd + rpg_meter.ytd + rpg_textures.ytd

Ingame world sounds only
Removed sounds for improved immersion. That includes sounds like dead eye, menu, notification...
# Ingame sounds only

LOS Enemy Blips
Only get enemy blips when you have line of sight.

New and improved minimal HUD
New and (subjectively) improved minimal hud for Arthur and John.
# Delete ammo_types.ytd + hud_textures.ytd

No Hitmarkers
No more hitmarkers while keeping the crosshair/reticle.
# 2- No Hitmarkers - No Red Reticle

No Time Slow In Weapon Wheel
Removes the time slow in the weapon wheel and satchel.

No More Medals in Notifications
Replaces the bronze, silver and gold medal icons in the notifications after missions and inside the progress window with a black version.

Snappy UI (QoL)
Say no to console features. Navigation, enter & exit are now faster.

Dump That Cargo
Tired of that cumbersome load slowing your horse down? Just dump it off the back!

Early Game Fishing
This mod simply gives you access to fishing right away.

Fishing Rod Grip Toggle
This mod lets you toggle gripping the fishing rod, instead of having to hold the mouse button/LT the whole time.
# FishingRodGripToggle_NoCameraShake_1.0

Guiding Wind
This mod brings a guiding wind mechanism that helping you keeping focused on the actual game rather on the minimap.

Remove Horse Speed Limit
Removes horse speed limit in towns and on bridges. Does not change horse speed in camp.

Silent Vendors
This mod mutes annoying vendors.

So You Lost Your Hat (Hat Map Markers)
Your dropped hat will now be marked on the map with an icon / blip.

Stash That Lantern
With Stash That Lantern you will now have complete control over your lantern!



Controller Movement Fix
This mod makes your movement speed depend on how much you press the left stick (like most other games). Sprint by holding the sprint button.

PlayStation Icons Replacement
A simple mod that force replaces the Xbox button prompts in-game with PlayStation prompts.
# Only install if you play with a Dualsense or Dualshock controller.

Proper Horse Sprint on Controller
Press sprint button on your pad a few times and hold it — a horse will keep sprinting as long as you hold the button.

Ammo Belt Enabler
A small mod that enables John's ammunition belt on all outfits.

Arthur Grave Equipment
Just adds Arthur's Equipment (gunbelt, Satchel, Hat) and puts it on his grave in the epilogue.

Combat Experience
Camera can now be zoomed in while aiming in third person, heavy melee weapons will now cut off specific bodyparts upon hit, the camera slightly shakes upon shot.

Cut Dialogue Restoration and Enhancement
This mod aims to restore a lot of the cut dialogue from the protagonist seamlessly as though it was never cut at all!

Disable Out Of Bounds Snipers
Permanently disables the invisible snipers in New Austin and Guarma.

Horse Holster
Adds a holster to your saddle, so that the rifle and bow aren't magically floating by your saddle.

Horse Lantern
This mod adds the horse lantern from online into story mode.

Restored Cut Content - Quiver
Dynamically show a quiver when the character equip the bow.

Kill Children
Allows you to kill children.

Locomotive Power
Train top speed, acceleration/deacceleration adjusted to real life.

Mounted Gun Improvements
Allows you to rotate cannons, and NPCs will now use Maxim guns outside of scripted scenarios.

Non-Sticky Hats
Your hat is no longer sticky and will fall off when you take a spill!

Portable Dynamite Plunger
Remote detonate your dynamite!

Playable Guitar
It adds the ability to play the guitar in the main camps of the game.

Playable Piano
It adds the feature of playing the piano on various locations. The piano is no longer exclusive to the NPCs.

Seats
This mod allows you to enjoy a little bit more the world by adding the ability to use all kinds of seats.


Mod XYZ tells me it needs a version.dll file to work. How can I get it?
This file is provided by RDR 2 Asi Loader and is used to load the Red Dead Online exclusive content in the single player campaign. The counterpart is that it adds some bugs to the game like breaking encounters, missions and other important features. The prefered method for loading online content is now provided by Online Content Unlocker.

I have installed many mods and would like to clean up my RDR2 install folder and put it back to default without having to reinstall everything. How can I do that?
Here is a screenshot of vanilla folder as it would be after a clean install. You should have 40 files & folders: