How to Install V Rising Mods

This guide covers installing mods on your V Rising server. For first boot and connecting, see Getting started with your V Rising server.

V Rising has no official mod support, so everything here is community tooling. The current stack is BepInEx as the loader plus VampireCommandFramework (VCF) as the command framework that nearly every server mod builds on. The hub is Thunderstore: thunderstore.io/c/v-rising/.

Wetstone and Bloodstone are not the current stack

Older guides — including our own earlier version of this page — point at Wetstone or Bloodstone. Install neither. Wetstone's last release is 1.2.0 from September 2022, it still targets the 1.0.0 BepInEx pack, and no mod updated since 2023 depends on it. Bloodstone is flagged deprecated on its own Thunderstore page. VampireCommandFramework is what replaced them.

The Current Stack

Both are pinned on Thunderstore, which is the site's own marker for the packages the community treats as canonical. At the time of writing the BepInEx pack is 1.733.2 and VCF is 0.11.0, and the maintained V Rising mods declare those as their dependencies — a mod whose page lists a much older BepInEx pack has not been touched in a long time, which is a useful thing to notice before you install it.

Step 1: Install BepInEx

Check the Startup tab before installing by hand

If your managed V Rising server exposes a modding variable, set it to bepinex in Startup and let the panel place the loader for you.

Otherwise, install manually:

1. Download BepInExPack V Rising from thunderstore.io/c/v-rising/p/BepInEx/BepInExPack_V_Rising/.

2. Extract the archive somewhere outside the server folder.

3. Move the contents of the BepInExPack_V_Rising folder — not the folder itself — into the server root, the folder that holds VRisingServer.exe.

4. You should now see BepInEx/, dotnet/, winhttp.dll, doorstop_config.ini and .doorstop_version sitting beside the executable.

5. Restart the server.

BepInEx writes BepInEx/LogOutput.log the first time it loads. If that file never appears, the loader is not running and no plugin will load either. The first boot after installing also takes noticeably longer than usual while BepInEx generates its interop assemblies — that is expected, not a hang.

Step 2: Install VampireCommandFramework

Download deca/VampireCommandFramework and put its .dll into BepInEx/plugins/. The package's own note to server operators is to install it there and keep it up to date: mods built against a newer VCF do not register their commands on an older one, and that is the most common reason a freshly installed mod appears to do nothing at all.

VCF commands are typed in the chat box with a . prefix, not in the ~ developer console — .help lists everything currently registered. The vanilla console command set is separate, and is covered in V Rising Admin Commands.

Step 3: Install Mods

1. Download the mod from Thunderstore.

2. Install every dependency listed on its page first. Most server mods need the BepInEx pack and VCF; some need a third library as well.

3. Put the mod's .dll files in BepInEx/plugins/.

4. Restart. Most mods write a config file into BepInEx/config/ on their first run, so stop the server, edit the file, and start it again.

Some mods ship extra files or expect a folder of their own. The mod's Thunderstore page is the authority on that, so read it rather than assuming every mod is a single DLL.

Server-Side or Client-Side?

Every Thunderstore package carries category tags, and the tags tell you where the mod belongs.

ServerLaunchFix is not a dedicated-server mod

Despite the name, ServerLaunchFix exists so that server mods can run on your own machine in single-player or Host & Play. A dedicated server does not need it, and it has not been updated since 2023.

Popular Mods

Every path below is thunderstore.io/c/v-rising/p/<path>/.

Two of those have a companion piece worth knowing about. Bloodcraft's in-game interface is a separate client mod, zfolmt/Eclipse, which your players install and you do not; BloodyBoss will not load at all unless BloodyCore is on the server first.

Some mods need a client-side install as well

Check the tags on each mod's Thunderstore page before you announce it. A mod tagged both Server and Client has to be installed by everyone who connects, and telling players that only after they have failed to join makes for a poor first impression.

Keeping Mods Working

V Rising patches break mods. The pattern is always the same, so plan for it:

• Snapshot before you patch. The panel Backups tab covers your saves; also keep a copy of BepInEx/plugins/ and BepInEx/config/ so you can put a known-good set back.
• Read the log first. BepInEx/LogOutput.log names the plugin that failed and why. A missing dependency, a version mismatch and a mod that is simply too old for the current game build all look identical from inside the game.
• Update the whole set, not one mod. VCF and the mods that depend on it move together. Updating one mod and leaving the framework behind is what produces a mod that loads but whose commands do not exist.
• Remove cleanly. Deleting a plugin DLL leaves its config behind in BepInEx/config/, which is usually harmless but occasionally not.
• Test with an empty plugins folder when something is badly broken. Move everything out, confirm a vanilla boot, then add mods back a few at a time.

What to Read Next

• Getting started with your V Rising server for first boot and the basics
• V Rising Configuration
• V Rising Admin Setup

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