The best Payday 3 mods have gradually emerged since the game’s launch. Despite the game’s many issues with the online servers and matchmaking in general, the modding community has been hard at work trying to make the game as playable as possible. Many of the mods have improved the gameplay, the HUD elements, and even boosted the FPS for the game. We’ll more or less focus on these mods in this list, though there are other mods that, say, turn loot bags into the shape of Among Us characters. That’s neat but also entirely cosmetic. Here’s a list of the best mods for Payday 3 that we have found so far.
Best Payday 3 mods list
Below are the best mods for Payday 3 that we’ve been able to find on modworkshop.net. These mods are for PC of course, but the installation instructions will be slightly different if you own the game through Xbox Game Pass. You can find these instructions on various sites.
- Simple Armor and Health HUD – This simple mod has a health bar appear above any enemies that you face in the game. It will also indicate the enemy’s current armor, which depletes first as you damage them. The author has also created a general Simple Health MUD instead in case you don’t want to know about the armor and has recently improved the mod with better performance and a more pleasing font.
- Damage Pop-up HUD – As the name suggests, this mod allows you to see how much damage you are inflicting on enemies with every hit. The mod actually uses the health bar mod from Simple Armor and Health MUD that was mentioned earlier. You can change the damage font as you like. The author recently fixed issues with the mod when players go into custody.
- PD2 Assault Indicator UI – As a throwback to fans of Payday 2, this adds the signature yellow bar with scrolling crawl text whenever an assault starts in the game. The yellow HUD element will appear in the upper-righthand corner of the screen and will show skulls and the phrase “Police Assault in Progress” for additional clarity. The author has recently updated the mod to support final charges as well as FBI assaults, and changed the number of skulls that appear to indicate the assault’s difficulty.
- DebugMenuMod – Given that Payday 3 is still an online-only game, this mod fortunately grants you access to an offline mode. Otherwise known as the solo mod, this gives you the option for solo play without matchmaking, though you sadly won’t get any XP or progression for doing so. That might be a dealbreaker for you, but for those who are still getting server errors, this gives them the opportunity to practice and actually play the game at least.
- Solo Game Utils – As a follow-up to the DebugMenuMod, this mod has additional features for solo play. Most importantly, it provides different versions of the mod so that you toggle a pause button or have the game pause automatically when you open the menu.
- Skills Colored – This simple mod changes the color of various skills icons. This highlights Edge skills in red, Grit skills in blue, Rush skills in green, and those that provide multiple bonuses in yellow. This will make it easier to find the skills you need in the menu without having to look at a wall of white icons.
- Engine.ini for FPS Boost – This optimization mod allows Payday 3 to be played on many low-end computers. The author is very quick with replies, so in case this mod doesn’t work perfectly with your particular specs, the author can suggest adjustments to the engine.ini file that might help you.
Many of these mods will require that you use the Moolan Mod Loader for them to work properly. You’ll want to use it anyway so that you can order how each mod is loaded into your game. These mods will only impact on your side (that is, the client side), so other players will not be impacted by them.
Payday 3 mods FAQ
A: The best mods for Payday 3 primarily focus on enhancing gameplay, HUD elements, and the game’s FPS. Some mods also introduce cosmetic changes, such as turning loot bags into shapes of Among Us characters, while others aim to make the game more playable, especially for those encountering server issues, by providing options for solo play and optimizing the game for low-end computers.
A: Yes, there are mods like DebugMenuMod and Solo Game Utils that allow for solo play in Payday 3. However, it’s important to note that using these mods for solo play won’t earn you any XP or progression.
A: To ensure that the mods work properly and are loaded in the correct order, you should use the Moolan Mod Loader. Keep in mind that the mods will only impact your client side, so other players in the game will not be affected by them.
