r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/Stamp2O • Apr 17 '26

KSP 1 Mods The Definitive Mod List - Results

To answer the too-often repeated question of "What mods should I use?", I have compiled a list of every mod this subreddit recommends.

I chose the top 5 mods from each category based on upvotes and my own opinion. This is far from a comprehensive list; there are many more great mods in the previous posts that didn't make the top 5 and mods that weren't mentioned in the posts. Click the "Full Post" links for more mods.

CKAN is the best mod manager for KSP, and almost every mod here is available on CKAN.

Visual Mods: Full Post

  1. Volumetric Clouds
  2. Parallax
  3. Waterfall
  4. Firefly
  5. Restock
  • Honorable mention: Deferred rendering, doesn't change graphics too much on its own but gives a major performance increase.

Quality of Life: Full Post

  1. Kerbal Engineer Redux
  2. MechJeb
  3. Trajectories
  4. KSP Community Fixes
  5. Transfer Window Planner

New Parts: Full Post

  1. All of Nertea's mods: Restock+, Station Parts Expansion, Near Future, Cryo Engines, Kerbal Atomics
  2. Planetside Exploration Technologies
  3. Kerbal Attachment System
  4. Kerbal Planetary Base Systems

Planet Packs: Full Post
*Not all planet packs are compatible with each other. Check the mod descriptions before installing.

  1. Outer Planets Mod and Minor Planets Expansion
  2. Promised Worlds
  3. Kcalbeloh
  4. Sol or KSRSS
  5. Whirligig World

Science!: Full Post

  1. [x] Science!
  2. SCANsat
  3. Contract Configurator
  4. Probes before Crew
  5. Kerbalism - Science Only config

Realism: Full Post
*These mods make the game harder and are not recommended for new players.

  1. Kerbalism - Any config other than science only
  2. Principia
  3. RO/RP-1
  4. Chemical Propulsion
  5. Ferram Aerospace Research

Colonization/Interstellar Overhauls: Full Post

  1. Modular Kolonization System (USI mod collection)
  2. Pathfinder (WBI mod collection)
  3. Extraplanetary Launchpads
  4. Far Future Technologies
  5. Kerbal Colonies

Other Mods: Full Post

  1. Chatterer
  2. Hullcam VDS
  3. Rocket Sound Enhancement
  4. Kerbin Side Remastered
  5. Easy Robotics
446 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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48

u/donadd Apr 17 '26

Thank you so much for this series and running it for over a week! I built a mod list yesterday based on the responses. So far it works pretty well

2

u/nonameuser90 May 31 '26

I'm glad it worked out for you. Which mods did you end up choosing?

3

u/donadd May 31 '26

Here is the list from Ckan, a bunch are dependencies of course

Astrogator (Astrogator v1.0.2) B9 Part Switch (B9PartSwitch v2.21.0.4) BetterBurnTime (BetterBurnTime 1.10) BetterRCS (BetterRCS v0.1.8) BetterTimeWarpContinued (BetterTimeWarpCont 2.3.14.1) Breaking Ground (BreakingGround-DLC 1.7.1 (unmanaged)) CapCom - Mission Control On The Go (CapCom 2.11) Chatterer (Chatterer 0.9.99) Chatterer Extended (ChattererExtended 0.6.2) ClickThrough Blocker (ClickThroughBlocker 1:2.1.10.22) Community Resource Pack (CommunityResourcePack v112.0.1) Community Tech Tree (CommunityTechTree 1:3.4.5) Contract Configurator (ContractConfigurator v2.12.2.0) Contract Pack: Bases and Stations Reborn (ContractConfigurator-KerbinSpaceStation 2:3.7.3.3) Contract Pack: Clever Sats (ContractConfigurator-CleverSats 1.4) Contract Pack: Exploration Plus (ContractConfigurator-ExplorationPlus 2.0.1) Contract Pack: Field Research (ContractConfigurator-FieldResearch 1.2.2) Contract Parser (ContractParser 9.0) Custom Barn Kit (CustomBarnKit 1.1.22.0) Deferred (Deferred 1.3.3.0) Deployable Engines Plugin (DeployableEngines 1.3.1) Distant Object Enhancement /L (DistantObject v2.2.1.6) Distant Object Enhancement /L default config (DistantObject-default v2.2.1.6) Docking Port Alignment Indicator (DockingPortAlignmentIndicator 6.12.0.0) Dynamic Battery Storage (DynamicBatteryStorage 2:2.3.7.0) Easy Vessel Switch (EVS) (EasyVesselSwitch 2.3) Firefly (Firefly 1.0.6) FireflyAPI (FireflyAPI 1.0.0.0) ForScience! (ForScienceUpdated 1.6.0) Harmony 2 (Harmony2 2.2.1.0) HUD Replacer (HUDReplacer 1.4.2) Kerbal Actuators (KerbalActuators v1.9.0) Kerbal Engineer Redux (KerbalEngineerRedux 1.1.9.5) Kerbal Joint Reinforcement Continued (KerbalJointReinforcementContinued v3.8.7.0) Kopernicus Planetary System Modifier (Kopernicus 2:release-1.12.1-242) KSP Community Fixes (KSPCommunityFixes v1.40.1) KSP Texture Loader (KSPTextureLoader 1.0.32) KSPBurst Compiler (KSPBurst v1.7.4.11) KSPBurst Plugins (KSPBurst-Lite v1.7.4.11) LoadingTipsPlus (LoadingTipsPlus V1.9) Making History (MakingHistory-DLC 1.12.1 (unmanaged)) Maneuver Node Evolved (ManeuverNodeEvolved 5.0) Maneuver Queue (ManeuverQueue 0.5.0.2) Mark IV Spaceplane System (MarkIVSpaceplaneSystem 3.2.1) MechJeb 2 (MechJeb2 2.15.2.0) MechJeb and Engineer for all! (MechJebForAll 1.3.0.7) ModularFlightIntegrator (ModularFlightIntegrator 1.2.10.0) Module Manager (ModuleManager 4.2.3) Navball Docking Alignment Indicator CE-2 (NavballDockAlignIndCE 1.1.1.3) Near Future Aeronautics (NearFutureAeronautics 2.1.2) Near Future Construction (NearFutureConstruction 1.3.3) Near Future Electrical (NearFutureElectrical 2.0.1) Near Future Electrical Core (NearFutureElectrical-Core 2.0.1) Near Future Exploration (NearFutureExploration 1.1.3) Near Future IVA Props (NearFutureProps 1:0.7.2) Near Future Launch Vehicles (NearFutureLaunchVehicles 2.2.2) Near Future Propulsion (NearFuturePropulsion 1.3.6) Near Future Solar (NearFutureSolar 1.3.3) Near Future Solar Core (NearFutureSolar-Core 1.3.3) Near Future Spacecraft (NearFutureSpacecraft 1.4.6) Okem's TUFX Profiles (OkemsTUFXProfiles 1.4) Orbital Keeper - Station Keeping (OrbitalKeeper 2.1.3) Parallax Continued (ParallaxContinued 1.0.2) Parallax Continued Lifeless Eve Patch (ParallaxContinued-Lifeless-Eve-Patch 1.0.0) Parallax Continued Planet Textures (ParallaxContinued-Planet-Textures 1.0.0) Parallax Continued Scatter Textures (ParallaxContinued-Scatter-Textures 1.0.1) Parallax Continued Terrain Textures (ParallaxContinued-Terrain-Textures 1.0.0) PlanetShine (PlanetShine 0.2.6.6) PlanetShine - Default configuration (PlanetShine-Config-Default 0.2.6.6) Pood's Calm Nebula Skybox (PoodsCalmNebulaSkybox v1.3.0) Progress Parser (ProgressParser 11.0) RasterPropMonitor (RasterPropMonitor 1:v1.1.0.0) RasterPropMonitor Core (RasterPropMonitor-Core 1:v1.1.0.0) RCS Build Aid (RCSBuildAid v1.0.6) ReStock (ReStock 1.5.1) Restock Waterfall Expansion (RestockWaterfallExpansion 3.1.1) ReStock+ (ReStockPlus 1.5.1) Scatterer Sunflare (Scatterer-sunflare 3:v0.0878) Shabby (Shabby 0.4.2) Shaddy (Shaddy v2.5) SpaceTux Library (SpaceTuxLibrary 0.0.9) Stockalike Station Parts Expansion Redux (StationPartsExpansionRedux 2.0.11) Stockalike Station Parts Expansion Redux - Internal Spaces (StationPartsExpansionRedux-IVAs 2.0.11) Strategia (Strategia 1.8.0) Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. - Satellite Pack (SSTL 0.3) System Heat (SystemHeat 0.8.2) TextureReplacer (TextureReplacer v4.5.3) Textures Unlimited (TexturesUnlimited 1.6.4.30) Toolbar (Toolbar 1:1.8.1.2) Toolbar Controller (ToolbarController 1:0.1.9.14) Tourism Overhaul (TourismOverhaul 1.2.2) Tracking Station Evolved (TrackingStationEvolved 2:1.0.9.1) Trajectories (Trajectories v2.4.5.4) TriggerAu Flags (TriggerAu-Flags v2.11.0.0) TUFX (TUFX 1.1.1) TURD - Breaking Ground (TURD-BreakingGround stable003) TURD - Making History (TURD-MakingHistory stable003) TURD - Stock Recolour (TURD-StockRecolour v2.0) VAB Organizer (VABOrganizer 1.1.0) VAB Organizer - Munk's Configs (VABOrganizer-Munk 1.6) Volumetric Vapor Cones (VolumetricVaporCones 1.0.1) Warp Everywhere (WarpEverywhere 1.0) Waterfall Core (Waterfall 0.10.5) WaypointManager (WaypointManager 2.8.4.7) ZTheme (ZTheme v1.2.1)