Find mods
- Search all published mods, filter by category, and see what each one needs.
- Add to profile is all you need. Downloads happen by themselves.
- On the website, buttons can open a mod or a whole mod list straight in the app.
Mods for Secret Flasher Manaka,
without the hassle.
F3M is a free mod manager. Pick the mods you like, press one button, and play. No copying files by hand, and removing a mod is just as easy.
Free and open source. All download options
How it works
Three steps, and the app remembers everything for next time.
1
Install F3M Desktop
Download it above and start it. It finds your game by itself.
2
Choose your mods
Browse the mods in the app or on the website and press Add to profile. Mods a mod needs are added for you.
3
Press Play
F3M puts the mods into the game and starts it. Changed your mind? Remove a mod, and it's gone the next time you press Play.
What F3M does for you
The screenshots show F3M Desktop with example mods. Click one to see it full size.
Keep track of what's installed
- The Library shows every mod in your setup and whether it's installed.
- Deploy makes the game match your list. If anything goes wrong, the game folder is put back as it was.
- Edit a mod's settings in the app with Config; no text editor needed.
- Like a version? Pin it, and updates leave it alone.
Switch between setups
- A profile is a list of mods. Keep one for every playstyle.
- Switching shows what changes first, then swaps the mods in seconds. Nothing is downloaded twice.
- Share a profile as a link. Friends open it and press Use this setup.
Stays up to date
- F3M tells you when your mods have new versions. Download updates fetches them; Deploy installs them when you're ready.
- The app updates itself too: press the update button at the top right, and it restarts into the new version.
- Auto-detect finds the game for you, in Steam or wherever you put it.
Getting started step by step
Everything you need for the first start. It takes about two minutes.
Windows
- Download the installer (
F3M.Desktop-win-Setup.exe) and run it. No admin rights are needed. - If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", choose More info, then Run anyway. The app is not signed with a paid certificate.
- F3M starts on its own and adds a shortcut to the Start menu.
Linux
- Download the AppImage into a folder you own, for example
~/Applications. - Make it executable: right-click, Properties, Allow executing, or run
chmod +x F3M.Desktop-*.AppImage. - Start it. If nothing happens, install
libfuse2(most distributions have it).
First start
- Open Settings and press Auto-detect. Pick your game if it finds more than one copy, then Save settings.
- For mods that change game code, install BepInEx into the game folder once. F3M warns you if it's missing.
- Press Register f3m:// links in Settings, so buttons on the website can open the app.
Everyday use
- Browse: find mods and add them to your profile.
- Library: see, configure, pin or remove the mods of your profile.
- Deploy: put your changes into the game. With Deploy before playing on, Play does it for you.
- Downloads: follow running downloads and see how much space they use.
Questions
The details, for when you want to know exactly what happens.
Is my game folder safe?
Yes. Before F3M changes a file in the game folder, it writes down what it will do and keeps a copy of anything it replaces. If a deploy fails, is cancelled, or the computer crashes in the middle, the game folder is put back exactly as it was, at the latest on the next start.
F3M also asks before it replaces a file it didn't put there, and it keeps your own changes to a mod's settings files.
What does "Deploy" mean?
Your profile is the list of mods you want. Deploy makes the game folder match that list: it installs new and updated mods and removes the ones you took out. Until you deploy, nothing in the game changes. The top bar always shows what a deploy would change.
How do updates work?
- Mods: F3M looks for new versions regularly (you choose how often in Settings). Download updates only downloads them; the game changes when you press Deploy. Pinned mods keep their version.
- The app: the update button at the top right checks for a new F3M Desktop, and on click downloads it and restarts. Untick Check on startup if you'd rather check by hand.
What are profiles and pins?
A profile is a named list of mods, such as "My setup" or "Screenshots". Only one profile is in the game at a time; switching shows a summary first. A pin keeps one mod at its current version in that profile, even when a newer one comes out. Pins stay on your computer and are not part of shared links.
Mods created files while I played. Can I clean them up?
Mods can declare files they create while the game runs, such as caches and logs. Clear generated in the Library lists them and removes them after you confirm. When you remove a mod, F3M offers to remove its generated files too. Save data a mod marks as yours is never touched.
Where does F3M keep its data, and how do I remove it?
- Windows:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\F3M. Linux:~/.local/share/f3m. Settings shows the folder as a link. - It holds your settings, profiles, downloaded mods and logs. Downloads stay until you press Clear unused cache.
- Factory reset in Settings removes everything the app created and shows each folder and its size first. The game folder and the mods in it are not touched.
- To uninstall on Windows, use Apps & features. On Linux, delete the AppImage.
Do I need an account?
Not for the desktop app: browsing, downloading and installing mods work without one. An account on the website is for people who publish mods. You can sign in with your F95zone profile.
Something doesn't work. What now?
In Settings, press Copy diagnostics and paste the result into a GitHub issue, or ask in the SFM modding Discord.
All downloads
Files of the newest release. Older versions are on the releases page.
F3M Desktop
Windows installer Recommended
Installs for your user, adds a Start menu shortcut and updates itself.
Windows portable
No installation: unzip anywhere, even on a USB stick, and start
F3M.Desktop.exe.
Linux AppImage
One file for most distributions (x86-64). Make it executable and start it; it updates itself.
F3M website server for running your own F3M site
You don't need these to use F3M. Self-contained builds include .NET; the others need the ASP.NET Core 10 runtime installed. Docker is the easiest way, see the README.
The release also holds files the desktop app uses for its own updates
(*.nupkg, RELEASES, releases.win.json, assets.win.json).
There's no need to download those.
Under the hood
F3M has two parts. The website (ASP.NET Core and Blazor) hosts the mods and lets authors upload versions, dependencies and install paths. F3M Desktop (.NET and Avalonia) installs them on your computer.
The website publishes a mod catalog that is signed with an ECDSA key. The app checks every catalog document against that key and every downloaded file against its SHA-256 hash before anything reaches the game folder. Install paths are checked so a mod can never write outside the game folder.
Mods are kept in a local cache and copied into the game folder on deploy. Every change is journalled with a backup, so it can be rolled back. Links from the website use the f3m:// scheme, and the app asks before acting on one.
Everything is open source under the license in the repository. You can run your own server with Docker; see the README.