What is a mod?

A mod is a small script made by another player (or by you) that adds something to your own screen: a line of text on the HUD, a pop-up message, or a cosmetic badge. Mods never change the game for anyone else, and they can't touch your account, credits, chat sending, or your rover's controls.

Step 1: Open the Mods page

Go to Mission Control and press the 🧩 MODS button in the top right. Opening the page loads the list of mods that come with the game from this site only, and nothing is turned on or run by that. Mods you added by URL are contacted only when you press SCAN.

Step 2: Find mods

• Find Hello, Mark, a small example mod that comes with the game, in the list. Press SCAN to look again and to check mods you added by URL.
• To use a mod from somewhere else, paste the link to its manifest.json into the box and press ADD BY URL. The link must start with https://.

Scan, Add by URL and Review & enable contact the mod's host, so that host can see your IP address and the time. The mods that come with the game are loaded from this site.

Step 3: Read a mod card

Each mod gets a card showing:

• Its name, and made by with the author's name, @handle and version. Authors fill these in themselves, so nobody has verified them.
• A short description, where the mod comes from, and the permissions it wants.
• A status badge: OFF, STARTING, RUNNING, CHANGED - RE-APPROVE (the author updated it, so it needs your OK again) or MISSING (it's no longer in this version of the game).

Step 4: Review & enable

Press REVIEW & ENABLE on a card. A trust prompt shows who made the mod, where it comes from, a code fingerprint, and exactly what it asks to do:

• frame: see your callsign, vehicle, location and position about 20 times a second.
• chat: read incoming chat messages. Mods can never send chat.
• hud: show short lines of text on your HUD and the occasional pop-up.
• cosmetic: offer badges you can wear.
• storage: keep a tiny amount of its own data in your browser.

If you're happy with it, press I TRUST THIS MOD, RUN IT. Otherwise press CANCEL and nothing runs. If the author changes the mod later, you'll be asked again before the new version runs.

Step 5: See it in game

Head back out to drive or fly. Lines from your mods show up on the HUD, each tagged with the author's @handle so you always know which mod put it there. Pop-ups from mods start with [mod: name], so a mod can't pretend to be the game. Mods you've enabled start again by themselves next time you play.

Step 6: Wear a cosmetic

If a running mod offers a badge, it appears under Cosmetics from mods at the bottom of the Mods page. Tap it to wear it on your HUD, and tap it again to take it off. For now, only you can see it.

Step 7: Turn mods off or remove them

• TURN OFF on a card stops that mod.
• STOP ALL stops every running mod at once.
• REMOVE forgets a mod you added by URL (or one marked MISSING), along with its saved settings.

The game also stops a mod by itself if it misbehaves, for example if it freezes, floods the game with messages, or keeps hitting errors. The reason appears in the status line under the buttons.

Make your own

Want to leave your own mark? You can build a mod with nothing but a text editor and a free web page to host two small files. Open the "Make a mod" tab for a copy-and-paste starter and a step-by-step guide.

You can make a mod without installing anything and without the game's source code. All you need is a text editor (Notepad is fine) and a free place on the web to put two small files. Your mod is a tiny script that adds things to the screen of whoever chooses to run it.

What a mod can and can't do

A mod runs on the screen of the player who chose to run it, and nowhere else.

Step 1: Make two files

Make a new folder on your computer and put two plain-text files in it. Give them exactly these names: manifest.json (the name tag: who you are and what the mod needs) and mod.js (the code). Copy each block below into the matching file, then change the name, author and handle to yours.

This starter greets you by callsign, shows a trip meter on the HUD, pops up one message, offers one badge, and counts how many times it has started. It works as is.

Manifest cheat sheet

Limits: manifest up to 8 KB, script up to 64 KB, 3 HUD lines, 4 badges, and 16 saved values of up to 512 characters each. Only ask for the permissions you really use: players see the list before they say yes.

Code cheat sheet

Your code gets one helper called LL. A call that needs a permission you didn't list does nothing.

• There is no window, document or fetch in a mod. That is on purpose.
• Each hook takes one handler. Setting it again replaces the old one.
• If a hook throws errors too often, the game stops your mod.
• A mod can't slow the game down, because it runs in its own sandbox. But a mod that freezes or floods the game gets stopped.

Step 2: Put it online

To load a mod, the game fetches your two files from a web address. That address needs three things:

• It starts with https://. (While testing on your own computer, http://localhost also works.)
• manifest.json and mod.js sit in the same folder at that address.
• The host allows other websites to read the files. Technically that means it sends the header Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *. Most "raw file" hosts do.

Easiest: a GitHub Gist

1. Make a free GitHub account, then go to gist.github.com.
2. Add two files named exactly manifest.json and mod.js and paste in your code.
3. Press Create public gist.
4. Your manifest link looks like this, with your own user name and gist id: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/<user>/<gist-id>/raw/manifest.json. Leaving out the long revision code after raw/ means the link always serves your newest version. You can also open the file on the Gist page and press Raw to see the link.

Also fine

• A public GitHub repository: put both files in a folder and use the raw.githubusercontent.com address of manifest.json.
• GitHub Pages, or any other free static host, as long as it sends the cross-origin header above.

Raw hosts can keep an old copy for a few minutes, so a fresh edit may take a little while to show up.

Step 3: Try it yourself

1. Open the 🧩 MODS page (Mission Control, top right).
2. Paste your manifest.json link into the box and press ADD BY URL.
3. Press REVIEW & ENABLE. Check that the trust prompt shows your name, your @handle and the permissions you asked for.
4. Go out and drive. Your HUD lines should appear, tagged with your @handle.

Changed a file? Press SCAN to read it again. Every edit makes the card say CHANGED - RE-APPROVE, even for you as the author. That is normal: approval is tied to the exact code, so you approve each new version.

Step 4: Share it

• Post your manifest.json link anywhere: chat, Discord, a forum.
• Players paste it into ADD BY URL. They see the trust prompt every time and choose for themselves. A player can add up to 12 mod links and run up to 8 mods at once.
• To update, edit your files. Players will see CHANGED - RE-APPROVE and must approve the new version before it runs.
• Your name and handle are self-declared and nobody verifies them. Be honest and don't pretend to be someone else. If you remix someone else's mod, give the original author credit in your description.
• Mods you share get no server powers, and a badge is only visible to the player wearing it, for now.

Something not working?

• "Mod URLs must be https": use a link that starts with https://. A file:// link or a file on your own computer won't work.
• "Failed to fetch" or a cross-origin (CORS) error: the host doesn't allow other sites to read the files. Use a Gist or raw.githubusercontent.com link, or a host that sends Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *.
• "HTTP 404": the link or a file name is wrong. Check that the entry in your manifest matches the code file's name and that both files are in the same folder.
• Manifest problems (for example "id must be 3-40 chars"): the message says which field to fix. Make sure the JSON is valid, with quotes and commas in the right places.
• "File larger than 64KB limit" (or 8 KB for the manifest): make the file smaller.
• Nothing on screen: check that the mod is RUNNING and that you listed the permission each call needs, for example hud for HUD lines.
• Your mod got stopped: the game stops mods that freeze, flood it with messages or keep throwing errors. The reason appears in the status line under the buttons on the Mods page.
• "Mods need a secure context": open the game over https:// or localhost.