The best RDR2 mods are the Rampage Trainer and the mods for endless bounty hunting, stagecoach and bank robberies, New Austin rebuilt for 1907, real seasons, survival needs, better horses and overhauled gunfights, and nearly all of them need two free tools first: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader. RDR2 mods work only in Story Mode on the PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2, not on PlayStation or Xbox, and all 100 below are free downloads from their creators’ pages, grouped by what they change, with none of them touching Red Dead Online. Most live in the Red Dead Redemption 2 section of Nexus Mods; the two core tools that don’t are hosted on their creators’ own sites.
Almost every mod here needs a script hook (Alexander Blade’s Script Hook RDR2, or the ScriptHookRDR2 V2 alternative), and many also need Lenny’s Mod Loader, which puts modded files in an “lml” folder instead of overwriting the game’s own. Rockstar’s mod guidelines permit non-commercial single-player PC mods and forbid online mods, the same rules that cover the Rockstar games in our GTA guides, and Script Hook RDR2 itself shuts the game down if you try to enter Red Dead Online, per its page. For the game itself, our Red Dead Redemption 2 hub collects every guide we have.
Essential RDR2 Mods: Script Hooks, Loaders and Trainers
1. Script Hook RDR2
Alexander Blade’s Script Hook is the foundation almost every script mod on this list is built on, and most mod pages link straight to it as their first requirement. It lets .asi plugins run inside the game, and its page states that it only works in single player: if you head into Red Dead Online, the hook closes the game. The current release, v1.0.1491.17, is listed for patch 1491.17 and above, and its download includes an ASI loader (dinput8.dll) and a sample Native Trainer. Install it first, then add mods one at a time. Creator: Alexander Blade. Download: Script Hook RDR2 on dev-c.com.
2. ScriptHookRDR2 V2
ScriptHookRDR2 V2 is a drop-in alternative to Alexander Blade’s hook that keeps the same API, so mods written for the original still load. Its author says it fixes a bug where the game’s pools reset in crowded cities, and it adds an in-game interface for managing mods without restarting. Use one hook or the other, not both. AMJM Transport’s page, for one, recommends the original hook if V2 causes crashes. Creator: kepmehz. Download: ScriptHookRDR2 V2 on Nexus Mods.
3. Lenny’s Mod Loader
Lenny’s Mod Loader (LML) lets mods replace any game file, from models and textures to data and font files, by reading them from an “lml” folder rather than editing the game’s archives. It ships with a Mod Manager for turning mods on and off and setting load priority, and it can merge data files so overlapping mods coexist. Its last release is from March 2023 and it remains the standard every LML mod here expects. Creator: LMS. Download: Lenny’s Mod Loader on RDR2Mods.com.
4. Online Content Unlocker
Online Content Unlocker is a native framework that lets Story Mode load Red Dead Online assets: outfits, animations, props and weapons that mods then use. Its author says it does this without breaking story missions or ambient encounters, which was the known problem with the older version.dll method. Several mods on this list, including Bounty Hunting and Jobs, require it or version.dll. Its August 2026 file is a work-in-progress beta rewrite that fixes most animation and audio issues at the cost of fewer online assets, while the full version 3.0 stays the main download. Creator: LeDana. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader, a script hook and the dinput8.dll ASI loader, per its requirements and install steps. Download: Online Content Unlocker on Nexus Mods.
5. LITE: Multiplayer Asset Enabler
LITE is a slimmed-down alternative to Online Content Unlocker. It unlocks the Red Dead Online clothing, weapons, horse coats and animals that other mods call for while leaving out assets no mod uses, and its page says it also fixes bugs found in other unlockers. It comes in four versions, from the full one with online weapons down to a bare-bones build for script and animation mods, and you install only one. If you run Project New Austin 1907 (number 22), skip it: LITE is already built into that mod, per both pages. Updated March 2025. Creator: ChunkLeChuck. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: LITE: Multiplayer Asset Enabler on Nexus Mods.
6. Rampage Trainer
Rampage is the most endorsed Red Dead Redemption 2 mod on Nexus Mods by a wide margin, with roughly twice the endorsements of the next mod. It is a Story Mode trainer, a single in-game menu packed with player, world and utility options, and its page recommends Lenny’s Mod Loader for loading custom assets. It opens with keyboard, numpad or controller (RB and A on Xbox pads, R1 and X on PlayStation), and its page says it expects the latest game build plus either script hook. Updated October 2026. Creator: RampageDev. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 or ScriptHookRDR2 V2, plus an ASI loader such as dinput8.dll. Download: Rampage Trainer on Nexus Mods.
7. Red Dead Redemption 2 Mod Manager
Bilago’s Mod Manager, a port of the GTA V Mod Manager, keeps each mod in its own subfolder so you can tick mods on or off instead of dragging files in and out of the game directory. Once your list is set, you press Single Player to launch with it, per its instructions. It is one of the most endorsed tools for the game on Nexus Mods. Its page carries one warning worth repeating: a mod installed into the wrong folder structure can delete vanilla game files and force a re-download, so follow its layout exactly. Updated April 2024. Creator: Bilago. Download: Red Dead Redemption 2 Mod Manager on Nexus Mods.
8. Syyyke’s RDR2 Spawns Fix
Heavily modded games can run into NPCs, animals and props that fail to spawn and the dreaded “Unknown error FFFFFFFF” crash, per this mod’s page. Syyyke’s fix raises the game’s memory pools and streaming limits to push both back, and its page says it also fixes crashes with Bounty Hunting and Jobs: Expanded and Enhanced, two of the biggest mods on this list. Its author adds denser ped and animal spawns around you and CPU priority changes aimed at stutter. Updated January 2025. Creator: Syyyke. Needs: ScriptHookRDR2 V2 (its page says the fix will not work on other hooks, because they reset the pools) and Lenny’s Mod Loader; its page also recommends the Vulkan renderer. Download: Syyyke’s RDR2 Spawns Fix on Nexus Mods.
9. Intro and Main Menu Screens Skip
This small LML mod skips the legal screens and the main menu and drops you straight into Story Mode. Expect a few seconds of black screen after loading while Social Club signs you in. The Rockstar Launcher may warn about modified files; the author notes that the mod blocks access to online mode, so there is no online session to worry about. Updated January 2025. Creator: WesternSpace. Needs: ScriptHookRDR2 V2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Intro and Main Menu Screens Skip on Nexus Mods.
Missions, Jobs and Things to Do
10. Bounty Hunting: Expanded and Enhanced
Shtivi’s remake turns bounty hunting into an endless activity. New poster blips appear on the map; you collect the poster, track the target, capture them and deliver them to the town’s lawmen for the reward. Rival bounty hunters and other random events interrupt the job, and the enemy AI was rebuilt from scratch, per its page. One known quirk: on keyboard, close a poster with F rather than Esc. Creator: Shtivi. Needs: Script Hook RDR2, plus Online Content Unlocker or version.dll. Download: Bounty Hunting: Expanded and Enhanced on Nexus Mods.
11. Contracts Remastered
Contracts Remastered makes you a frontier hitman. NPCs in the major towns hand out infinite, randomly generated assassination contracts with different scenarios and settings, and a cash reward at the end. The standout system is the facial composite: each contract gives you a sketched card of the target, and you have to recognize them yourself with as little help as possible. Creator: Shtivi. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Contracts Remastered on Nexus Mods.
12. Stagecoach Robberies
If the handful of story stagecoach jobs left you wanting more, this mod adds infinite, randomly generated stagecoach robberies across the whole map. You buy a tip at a new map blip, reach the location before the coach passes, then either crack its lockbox or take the whole coach and deliver it. Settings live in an ini file. Last updated in 2022, and its page carries no broken-version warning. Creator: Shtivi. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Stagecoach Robberies on Nexus Mods.
13. SgtJoe Bank Robberies
In the base game, pointing a gun at a bank teller does nothing. With this mod you can force the teller to open the vault, then crack the safes quietly or blow them open for money and gold. Valentine, Rhodes, Saint Denis and Blackwater work out of the box; the Armadillo bank needs a separate map mod, per the page. Last updated in 2022. Creator: SergeantJoe. Needs: Script Hook RDR2, Lenny’s Mod Loader and an ASI loader. Download: SgtJoe Bank Robberies on Nexus Mods.
14. Jobs: Expanded and Enhanced
This is a four-month collaboration between two of the scene’s best-known modders, a full remake of Bolmin’s original Jobs mod. Every major town gets a job poster board marked on the map, and you pick honest work from it for honest pay, which is a nice counterweight to all the robbery mods. Its page warns it relies heavily on multiplayer assets and will not work without an unlocker. Creator: Bolmin and Shtivi. Needs: Script Hook RDR2, plus Online Content Unlocker or version.dll. Download: Jobs: Expanded and Enhanced on Nexus Mods.
15. AMJM Transport
AMJM Transport lets you buy and customize your own wagon, stagecoach or boat (a hot air balloon is on the list too) and run a transport business. Jobs from general stores, hotels and saloons send you hauling goods or passengers to every town and 46 smaller locations, while bandits attack on the road and hideouts hold stolen cargo to recover. The author recommends Alexander Blade’s hook if V2 crashes. Creator: crossed99. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: AMJM Transport on Nexus Mods.
16. Buyable Properties
Buyable Properties finally gives you something to spend the epilogue’s money on. You can buy hotel rooms in Valentine, Saint Denis, Rhodes and Strawberry, or cabins near Strawberry, Rhodes and in the Heartlands, then customize them inside and out. Every room gets a working bed and a weapon locker. The houses only appear on the epilogue map, so an ini switch enables an experimental Arthur mode. Creator: Bolmin and Dick Hertz. Needs: Script Hook RDR2, plus version.dll (its requirements say it has been needed since the game’s 1436 update). Download: Buyable Properties on Nexus Mods.
17. Gunsmith Business
Gunsmith Business lets you buy one gunsmith (Valentine, Annesburg, Saint Denis, Rhodes or Tumbleweed) and run it. You drive supply wagons back to the shop, fight off bandits on the road, set prices and staff pay, and watch your reputation, which affects how fast stock sells. Or leave it alone and come back to collect the revenue. The author’s own advice is to try it first with some trainer money. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2, plus version.dll (needed since the game’s 1436 update, per its requirements). Download: Gunsmith Business on Nexus Mods.
18. Moonshiner Role
Moonshiner Role brings Red Dead Online’s moonshine business into Story Mode. It opens with a new mission near the Valentine jail, where you break a moonshine cook named Clint out of prison (you need at least $100 for the camp setup), then choose where your guarded moonshine camp goes. From there you pick a mash and a flavor recipe, gather the ingredients for the still, and take on export deliveries and sabotage missions, per its page. It is a joint project from Shtivi and Bolmin, two of the most prolific modders on this list. Last updated in 2022. Creator: Shtivi and Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2, Online Content Unlocker and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Moonshiner Role on Nexus Mods.
19. Custom Gang Mod
Tired of taking orders from Dutch? Custom Gang Mod makes you the boss. You start it by visiting the Strange Man in Bayou Nwa, marked with a skull icon, and then run your own gang from your own camp, with four camp managers and new custom heists that earn money. It has its own Discord for bug reports. Last updated in 2022. Creator: SergeantJoe. Needs: ScriptHookRDR2 V2. Download: Custom Gang Mod on Nexus Mods.
20. Hunting Grounds
Hunting Grounds makes hunting less uniform. Animals of the same species now come in different sizes, so the world stops looking copy-pasted, and new hunting competitions, started by talking to a hunter NPC, let you review the requirements, place a bet and hunt under fair-play rules: on foot only, with a penalty for Dead Eye kills. Last updated in 2022. Creator: Shtivi. Download: Hunting Grounds on Nexus Mods.
21. Bar Brawls
Bar Brawls lets you start a fistfight in any saloon in the game, including the Strawberry, Annesburg and Emerald Ranch saloons that other mods restore. Its script version pulls everyone in the room into the fight, keeps it to fists and sends the bartender running, and an optional setting adds Red Dead Online’s environmental finishers, so you can slam someone on the Valentine bar counter or throw them over the saloon’s rails. It comes from the author of Enhanced Brawling (number 60), and its July 2026 update stopped it from conflicting with a bare-knuckle fight club mod. Creator: 14N001st. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader for its lml folder and a script hook with an ASI loader for its .asi file, per its install steps. Download: Bar Brawls on Nexus Mods.
New Lands and Adventures
22. Project New Austin 1907
Project New Austin 1907 rebuilds New Austin as a believable 1907 version of the map. It brings back classic Red Dead Redemption locations at RDR2’s level of detail, restores the first game’s gritty New Austin color scheme, and fills each place with unique NPCs on daily schedules, new interiors and secrets to find, per its page. Armadillo is cleaned up and thriving again, with a working law system, a theater and a newspaper vendor, the Morningstar ferry gets a new interior with a working saloon and gambling minigames, and a train system with fast travel points runs through the region. It also opens New Austin to Arthur, though the law still hunts him there. Updated September 2025. Creator: The Dream Team (RichardHertz, KristianD3, TuffyTown and others). Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader; the LITE unlocker is built in. Download: Project New Austin 1907 on Nexus Mods.
23. Undead Nightmare II: Origins
Undead Nightmare II brings the spirit of the original Red Dead Redemption’s zombie expansion to New Austin. The dead have risen, towns have been set on fire or boarded up, and settlements are either holding out or overrun, under a blood-red moon with fog and a hand-picked soundtrack, per its page. A later addition lets you play as Undead John Marston, with RDR1-accurate animations, textures and sound effects. It is built on Project New Austin 1907 (number 22), which must be installed first, and its page asks you to uninstall that mod’s Classic Color Scheme file while Undead Nightmare II is active. Last updated in 2021, and its page carries no broken-version warning. Creator: Dick Hertz and Eki. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader and Project New Austin 1907, both at their latest versions. Download: Undead Nightmare II: Origins on Nexus Mods.
24. Nuevo Paraiso Mexico Mod
Red Dead Redemption 2 never lets you ride into Nuevo Paraiso, the Mexican region of the first game. This mod remakes part of it, with redone towns and NPCs to populate them, and it is one of the most downloaded map mods for the game. Its page is clear that this is an early-access, unfinished build, so expect rough edges, and it suggests starting from a clean game with only the requirements installed. Released October 2023. Creator: the Mexico Team (uploaded by LeBakou). Needs: Script Hook RDR2, Lenny’s Mod Loader (its page names version 11), Rampage Trainer and an ASI loader, per its requirements list. Download: Nuevo Paraiso Mexico Mod on Nexus Mods.
Companions and a Living World
25. Dog Companion
A cowboy should have a dog. Pat any dog you like and a new “Bond” prompt adopts it. Your dog follows you, sits and waits on command, stays outside when you go indoors, and comes back when you whistle (within range). If it gets lost, you can call it back through your horse’s prompts. It is one of the most endorsed companion mods for the game. Creator: Shtivi. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Dog Companion on Nexus Mods.
26. Companion System
Companion System lets you recruit a Van der Linde gang member (Javier, John, Bill, Hosea, Kieran, Sean, Charles, Lenny, Micah, Uncle or Sadie) to ride with you. Your companion fights beside you, shares your horse, hangs out at your camps and fishes with you, and you can talk to them. A command menu handles basic follower settings, and on-screen icons show their ammo and stamina. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Companion System on Nexus Mods.
27. Bandit Hideouts
Bandit Hideouts fills the wilderness with trouble: 143 new hideouts and 50 ambush points everywhere outside towns, plus roaming gangs, hired guns and a posse on horseback that hunts you down. It started as a feature of AMJM Transport and has been fully standalone since version 1.43. Stealth matters too: crouching, cover and darkness make you harder to spot. Version 1.47 arrived on September 22, 2026. Creator: crossed99, Gunter Severloh and LittleBigSmoak. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Bandit Hideouts on Nexus Mods.
28. Ambient Gang: RDR Gang Addon
Ambient Gang gives the map’s gangs real territories and makes them fight each other when they cross paths. Lemoyne Raiders hold Scarlett Meadows, the O’Driscolls ride through Big Valley and the Heartlands, Del Lobos roam New Austin, and the U.S. Army patrols Cumberland Forest and the Grizzlies. The Skinner Brothers hold Tall Trees and the Murfree Brood keeps Roanoke Ridge, and an optional file adds a new gang hideout. Creator: Blackjack Colver Voltaire. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Ambient Gang: RDR Gang Addon on Nexus Mods.
29. Cowgirls Revisioned
Cowgirls Revisioned adds tough, armed women to a frontier that has very few of them, per its author. Armed cowgirls appear in all the major towns, along with female riders, wilderness campers and wagon drivers. The default version gives female riders a 20 percent spawn chance, and a low-spawn version cuts that to 5 percent, thins them out in towns and drops the wagon drivers. An optional file makes it work with Ambient Gang (number 28). Last updated in 2023. Creator: MaybelleElizabethColter. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader, plus Online Content Unlocker or version.dll for its Red Dead Online assets. Download: Cowgirls Revisioned on Nexus Mods.
30. Realistic Loadouts
Tired of every enemy carrying a Carbine Repeater? Realistic Loadouts gives NPCs more varied, historically grounded weapons by faction: hunters, rural lawmen and some bandits carry Springfield rifles, the Saint Denis and Blackwater police get their own sidearms and longarms, U.S. Army soldiers carry bolt-action rifles and double-action revolvers, and marshals and Pinkertons bring pump and lever shotguns, per its page. A dual-wield version lets O’Driscolls, Lemoyne Raiders and Del Lobos fight with two guns, and a patch covers Ambient Gang. Its author recommends installing it after you finish Chapter 1. Updated May 2026. Creator: muhoblud. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader and Script Hook RDR2. Download: Realistic Loadouts on Nexus Mods.
31. Crime and Law Rebalance and Enhancement
Its page calls it “the original law fix mod.” Lawmen now ignore minor crimes, the wilderness becomes truly lawless, and a train robbery no longer means an instant wanted level. In exchange, lawmen are far more competent, only one witness can run at a time, and serious bounties bring U.S. Marshals and then Pinkerton agents hunting you (our guide to getting rid of a bounty covers the vanilla rules it changes). A final version, last updated in 2021. Creator: Blackjack Colver Voltaire, Natsu, SgtJoe, Modifiver and Gameroll. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Crime and Law Rebalance and Enhancement on Nexus Mods.
32. Dynamic Seasons
Dynamic Seasons adds spring, summer, autumn and winter to a game that never had them. Each season gets its own color palette, temperatures, sunrise and sunset times and weather, and winter brings snow cover similar to Red Dead Online’s winter event. A widget on the expanded HUD shows the current season. The author recommends pairing it with the Snow and Autumn Vegetation mods. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Dynamic Seasons on Nexus Mods.
33. Snow: The Definitive Singleplayer Snow Mod
Its page describes it as “a fully fleshed out Singleplayer Winter experience” for Story Mode, built by a team of modders led by Dick Hertz. It is one of the two mods Dynamic Seasons officially recommends for its winter months, which is the best way to run it. Updated July 2025. Read the page’s installation section before combining it with other visual mods. Creator: Dick Hertz and Friends. Download: Snow: The Definitive Singleplayer Snow Mod on Nexus Mods.
34. More Persistent Weather
In the base game you can sleep through a hurricane and wake to sunshine and birdsong every time. More Persistent Weather makes each weather type last longer and lets bad weather carry over while you sleep. It does not make rain or snow more common, only longer. Everything is adjustable in the ini, and a log file helps diagnose problems. Last updated in 2021. Creator: crossed99. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: More Persistent Weather on Nexus Mods.
35. Longer Days
Longer Days lets you set how many real seconds each in-game minute lasts, separately for day and night, so the world stops racing from sunrise to sunset. Its safety feature is smart: the mod switches itself off during missions, so time-sensitive story missions are not broken. Updated March 2026, which makes it one of the longest-maintained mods for the game. Creator: ItsLimaBean. Needs: ScriptHookRDR2 V2. Download: Longer Days on Nexus Mods.
36. Open All Interiors
Open All Interiors unlocks doors that stay locked in free roam. You can walk into places normally only seen during story missions, such as Angelo Bronte’s mansion and the Braithwaite manor. It is configurable through an optional ini file, and loading the extra Red Dead Online interiors needs version.dll. Last updated in 2023. Creator: konstantinos96b. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and version.dll. Download: Open All Interiors on Nexus Mods.
37. Automatic Greet Replies
When an NPC says hello, this small mod has your character greet them back automatically and in context, even in moments where a manual greeting is impossible, such as while hitching a horse. You still earn the usual honor bonus for being friendly. It only runs while you are playing honorably and switches off while you are targeting someone, per its page. Last updated in 2021, and its page carries no broken-version warning. Creator: Juliet G. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Automatic Greet Replies on Nexus Mods.
Law, Honor and Money
38. No Honor Loss When Masked
Cover your face with a bandana or a large mask and this mod stops your honor from changing at all, in either direction, so a masked robbery no longer stains your reputation. It is a single small script and one of the most endorsed law and honor mods for the game. Its page notes one limit: it only works with Story Mode masks, not Red Dead Online or NPC ones. Last updated in 2023. Creator: SergeantJoe. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: No Honor Loss When Masked on Nexus Mods.
39. No Bounty When Masked
Shtivi’s No Bounty When Masked handles the law side. Cover your face before you become wanted and you collect no bounty for as long as the mask stays on; take it off mid-chase and bounty starts building again until you lose your wanted level, even if you put it back on, per its page. It works with bandanas and large masks, and together with No Honor Loss When Masked it makes the masked outlaw life pay off. Last updated in 2023. Creator: Shtivi. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: No Bounty When Masked on Nexus Mods.
40. Banking: The Old American Art
Its page puts the premise simply: when you die, you lose the money in your pockets, so put it in the bank. The mod gives the banks in Valentine, Saint Denis, Rhodes and Blackwater working clerks for deposits and withdrawals, with your balance shown on screen, and its later updates added a credit system. A money cap in the ini file limits how much you can carry unless you equip a money bag at camp or rent one at the bank. Updated January 2023. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and version.dll (its page says it has been required since the 1436 update). Download: Banking: The Old American Art on Nexus Mods.
41. Selling Guns
Selling Guns finally gives spare weapons a buyer. It adds four weapon dealers to the map, near the Saint Denis fence, in Emerald Ranch, in Rhodes and in Van Horn: draw the gun you want to sell, walk up to the marker and use the prompt. Regular guns sell for about 40 percent of their price and unique weapons for 200 percent, per its page, and version 2.0 added the Red Dead Offline weapons. Last updated in 2022. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Selling Guns on Nexus Mods.
Horses and Hunting
42. Hunting Wagon
Hunting Wagon gives your camp a wagon you can load with pelts and hunted animals. Hold the Stow prompt at the back of the wagon while carrying a pelt or carcass, and a menu at the wagon or any campfire lets you call it to a nearby road, send it back to camp, change its style or repair it. Its page warns that anything still stored is lost when you send the wagon back to camp. Last updated in 2020, and its page carries no broken-version warning. Creator: Three-Socks. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Hunting Wagon on Nexus Mods.
43. Perfect Pelts
Perfect Pelts takes the frustration out of pelt quality. Its main file guarantees a pristine pelt and a perfect carcass whatever condition the animal was in and whatever weapon you used, fish included. Two optional files are gentler: one makes every animal spawn at three stars and leaves weapon choice to you, and the other lets any weapon keep a pelt perfect as long as you find a three-star animal. Its author calls it more quality of life than a cheat, and if you would rather earn them, our guide to getting perfect pelts covers the vanilla way. Last updated in 2021. Creator: MaVeRicK. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Perfect Pelts on Nexus Mods.
44. Improved Wildlife
Improved Wildlife makes the wilderness busier: more animals on land, in the water and in the air, bigger flocks and herds, scavenging birds that are quicker to feed, and bait that draws animals from farther away for longer, per its changelog. A Minimal Edition file lowers the spawns for players who find the main version too crowded. Its author still labels it an alpha (version 0.7.1). Updated September 2024. Creator: INNX. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Improved Wildlife on Nexus Mods.
45. Better Horses
Better Horses lets the game’s elite breeds and unique horses reach the top of every stat. At maximum bond, with the right gear and the race buff, horses such as the Arabians, Missouri Fox Trotters, Turkomans, Buell and Rachel reach 10 out of 10 in speed, acceleration, health and stamina, and multi-class horses get Elite handling, per its page. Optional files apply the boost to every horse in the game, up to a Max Elite version, and a 2023 hybrid gives unique horses the speed while every horse gets more health and stamina. The new stats apply to horses you already own. Updated August 2023. Creator: MaVeRicK. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Better Horses on Nexus Mods.
46. New Horse Coats
New Horse Coats adds new breeds and real-life coat patterns, such as the Pintaloosa, Quarab, Gypsy Vanner, Connemara Pony and a new Ardennes model, most with a choice of blue or brown eyes. Its author added packs over several years, the latest in June 2024, and an “All Main Files in One Click” download grabs everything at once. It is one of the most downloaded horse mods for the game, with more than 260,000 downloads on Nexus Mods as of October 21, 2026. Creator: fouronenine14. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader, Script Hook RDR2, and an ASI loader or Online Content Unlocker. Download: New Horse Coats on Nexus Mods.
47. Horse’s Needs
Horse’s Needs gives your horse three new cores: hunger, thirst and horseshoe condition. Hunger drains over time and refills when you feed your horse or it grazes, it drinks on its own when it stands in water while you are dismounted, and galloping wears the horseshoes down fastest, per its page. Every core can be switched off in the ini file, and it turns horse care into a routine alongside the basics in our guide to brushing your horse. Its version number is 0.8 and it was last updated in 2020; its page carries no broken-version warning. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Horse’s Needs on Nexus Mods.
48. No AUTO Horse Holstering
Mount up with a rifle or shotgun on your back and the game stows it on the horse after 10 to 15 seconds, per this mod’s page. No AUTO Horse Holstering stops that automatic holstering but leaves the manual system alone, so the holster key or the weapon wheel still puts a gun on the horse like vanilla. Its last update fixed quick draw and quick aim on horseback, and its author says it is light enough to work with any weapon mod. Updated January 2023. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: No AUTO Horse Holstering on Nexus Mods.
Survival and Roleplay
49. Basic Needs Final Cut
Basic Needs adds five cores (hunger, thirst, urination, equipment weight and exhaustion), every one of which can be turned off or tuned. A survival menu, opened by holding aim, handles filling and drinking from your canteen and the other new actions. Hot weather drains thirst faster unless you wear a hat. The “Final Cut” is the mod’s biggest and last major update. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader (version.dll for the main drinking animation). Download: Basic Needs Final Cut on Nexus Mods.
50. Humidity and Temperature Overhaul Final Cut
Weather barely touches Arthur in the base game. This mod adds a “weather resistance” core so rain, snow, deep water and cold become real threats, and it shows the actual temperature. It was built as a companion to Basic Needs Final Cut, and the two together make a proper survival game out of the frontier. Last updated in 2022. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2, plus version.dll (needed since the game’s 1436 update, per its requirements). Download: Humidity and Temperature Overhaul Final Cut on Nexus Mods.
51. Injuries Overhaul
Injuries Overhaul makes getting hurt leave a mark. It adds four injury types, each with four levels shown by an icon’s color: hand injuries that cost health while you aim and eventually stop you holding guns, leg injuries that make you limp and hurt to run, head injuries that knock you out of Dead Eye, and stacking chest wounds that drain health. Injuries heal slowly on their own and faster with an unopened health cure, a bath or sleep, and a doctor will clear everything for a heavy price, per its page. Almost everything is adjustable in the ini file. Last updated in 2021, and its page carries no broken-version warning. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and version.dll. Download: Injuries Overhaul on Nexus Mods.
52. Smoking Complete
Its author bills it as “the most advanced smoking system in gaming.” You can keep a cigarette or cigar in your mouth while you walk, ride, fight, play poker or chop wood, even during cutscenes, with a quick menu for other scenarios. Cigarettes default to N and cigars to the comma key. It is built from scratch, not restored content. Updated May 2026. Creator: Riyusso. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 or ScriptHookRDR2 V2 with dinput8.dll, plus Lenny’s Mod Loader and LITE Multiplayer Asset Enabler (version.dll or Online Content Unlocker can stand in for those two). Download: Smoking Complete on Nexus Mods.
53. Seats
Rockstar filled the world with benches and chairs you can’t use. Seats makes common seating interactable, has your character start random scenarios while sitting (drinking a beer, smoking a cigar), and slowly restores your cores while you rest. It is small and simple, and players who like slowing down and taking in the scenery rely on it. Creator: Shtivi. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Seats on Nexus Mods.
54. Zen
Zen is a refined overhaul of the author’s earlier Immersive Scenarios mod, with fewer prompts and a focus on resting. You can sit on chairs, stairs and ledges, lean on fences and walls, sleep on beds or the ground, play instruments and the piano, and wash from water buckets. While sitting, one key brings up other scenarios to switch to on the fly. Creator: MaybelleElizabethColter. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Zen on Nexus Mods.
55. Serenity
Serenity, from the author of Zen, puts a few quiet actions on one hotkey (X by default, or right on the D-pad): rest, relax and smoke. Near water, new prompts let you clean up, drink and let your horse drink, and cleaning up removes dirt, mud, blood and even the bullet holes in your hat. Drinking restores your stamina core, and drinking with a full core gives you a gold core for a few minutes, per its page. Last updated in 2023. Creator: MaybelleElizabethColter. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader and Script Hook RDR2. Download: Serenity on Nexus Mods.
56. Playable Piano
Playable Piano lets you sit at the piano in every saloon (Valentine, Armadillo, Blackwater, Tumbleweed, Rhodes, Van Horn and Saint Denis) and at John’s ranch. Press E, or Y/Triangle on a controller, to start and stop. With Open All Interiors installed, the pianos in Bronte’s mansion and the Braithwaite manor work too. Last updated in 2021. Creator: konstantinos96b. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Playable Piano on Nexus Mods.
57. Playable Guitar
From the author of Playable Piano, this mod lets you play the guitar at the story’s main camps. Walk around the campfire until the “Play guitar” prompt appears, then hold the key or button to start strumming. Its page says it works at two of the story’s camps and that other guitars around the map are not playable. Last updated in 2022. Creator: konstantinos96b. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Playable Guitar on Nexus Mods.
58. Camp Anywhere
Camp Anywhere lets you pitch camp wherever you like, and its advanced mode lets you build a permanent custom camp you can save and return to. Snow and grass clear away from your campfire and tent, and followers’ visible wounds heal while you rest. The author calls advanced mode beta, so back up your saves. Last updated in 2021. Creator: crossed99. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Camp Anywhere on Nexus Mods.
Combat and Gun Mods
59. Ped Damage Overhaul Reloaded
Mature content. PDO Reloaded continues the legendary Ped Damage Overhaul with the original author’s permission. Leg shots make NPCs stumble, hand shots disarm them, and fatally wounded enemies cycle through dying stages and bleed out. Reloaded adds bug fixes, an F10 settings menu and melee dismemberment. Remove the original PDO completely first, and note that headshots no longer count toward medals or achievements. Updated July 2026, when a work-in-progress 1.39 build was posted as an optional file. Creator: HJ, fitfondue and MikeStarkweather. Needs: ScriptHookRDR2 V2 (its main file warns that other hooks can break the script), Lenny’s Mod Loader and an ASI loader. Download: Ped Damage Overhaul Reloaded on Nexus Mods.
60. Enhanced Brawling
Enhanced Brawling gathers its author’s melee work into one file: restored animations and mechanics, grapple sequences, eight brawling styles, knife charges, shoves, kicks, more environmental finishers and the ability to take hostages with any weapon. It is still in active development, with the most recent update on September 3, 2026. Change logs live in the page’s posts section. Creator: 14N001st. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Enhanced Brawling on Nexus Mods.
61. Drag NPCs
Remember dragging Cleet around in the mission “American Venom”? Drag NPCs lets you do it to anyone. Double-tap G, or the right stick on a controller, next to an NPC to shove them to the ground in an intimidated state, then pick what to do from the prompts that appear, dragging included. Its author rewrote the whole mod from scratch in June 2025 for better behavior and fewer bugs. Creator: TuffyTown. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Drag NPCs on Nexus Mods.
62. Take NPCs Hostage
Inspired by the guard Arthur grabs while rescuing John, this mod lets you take almost anyone hostage. With a pistol or revolver drawn, double-tap T, or the right stick on a controller, next to an NPC, and the people around you hold their fire until you let the hostage go, per its page. Its author notes you cannot aim while holding a hostage and does not expect to add it. Rewritten from scratch in June 2025. Creator: TuffyTown. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Take NPCs Hostage on Nexus Mods.
63. Gun Tricks
Gun Tricks brings Red Dead Online’s revolver spinning and flourishes to Story Mode, on keyboard and controller. Arthur and John get the full show-off routine that online players have had for years. It is one of the most endorsed script mods for the game, and its August 2026 file ships the animation files the tricks need, for players who don’t run an unlocker. Creator: RampageDev. Needs: Script Hook RDR2, plus Online Content Unlocker, version.dll or LITE Multiplayer Asset Enabler, or the August file instead of an unlocker. Download: Gun Tricks on Nexus Mods.
64. QuickDraw
QuickDraw makes your firearms come out of the holster already cocked and ready to shoot. Its author pitches it as an edge in gunfights that does not change the game’s original feel or balance, since you can fire the moment the gun clears leather. A separate file limits the effect to revolvers only. Released January 2024. Creator: Visolarity. Needs: ScriptHookRDR2 V2. Download: QuickDraw on Nexus Mods.
65. A.E.M. (Authentic Euphoria Motions)
Mature content. A.E.M. retunes the game’s euphoria physics so falls, rolls, bail-outs and above all gunshot reactions feel more authentic. NPCs stumble, react painfully to hits in the stomach, legs and spine, and take slow steps before collapsing after a headshot. The author made it as a more brutal experiment next to their better-known W.E.R.O. ragdoll mod. Creator: VolaticWolf. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: A.E.M. (Authentic Euphoria Motions) on Nexus Mods.
66. R.W.A.O. (Realistic Weapon Audio Overhaul)
R.W.A.O. replaces the audio for every weapon in the game, from the Cattleman, Schofield and LeMat revolvers to the pistols, repeaters and rifles, with a heavier, more realistic sound. It is now on its twelfth major version, and a showcase video on the page plays every replaced sound so you can hear it before downloading. Creator: Oakous. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: R.W.A.O. (Realistic Weapon Audio Overhaul) on Nexus Mods.
67. Realistic Weapons Sounds
From the creator of a weapon sound mod for GTA V, Realistic Weapons Sounds replaces the game’s gunfire with louder, heavier audio built on recordings of period firearms, per its page. It has separate first-person, third-person and distant sounds, echoes off canyons and forests, distinct reverb indoors, and new sounds for dynamite, fire bottles and mounted guns. It is an alternative to R.W.A.O. (number 66), so pick one. Its page warns it is much louder than vanilla and suggests starting with the in-game sound effects volume at 50 to 60 percent. Updated July 2024. Creator: MvcGyver. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Realistic Weapons Sounds on Nexus Mods.
68. Smoking Barrels
Smoking Barrels is the newer script version of WickedHorseMan’s popular GunFX mod, which now points players to it. It adds unused muzzle flashes, smoke that hangs in the air longer and a barrel heat effect, with the size of each effect set by the gun and ammo type. It works with vanilla guns and the author’s 1899 Firearms, conflicts with GunFX, and the author warns it costs some performance. Creator: WickedHorseMan. Download: Smoking Barrels on Nexus Mods.
69. Ped Accuracy Fix
Enemies in the base game can land shots from absurd distances. Ped Accuracy Fix, based on the accuracy mods from GTA V, lowers NPC aim so long-range hits stop happening while enemies stay dangerous up close. The author says it was checked against every enemy and law NPC type and is fully compatible with Ped Damage Overhaul. Last updated in 2022. Creator: Micha2500. Needs: the latest Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Ped Accuracy Fix on Nexus Mods.
70. Maverick Weapons and Catalog
Maverick Weapons rebalances the arsenal so guns hit harder and handle cleaner. Special ammo is equalized to the best stats of each type, the Cattleman and Double-Action revolvers hit as hard as the Schofield, rifles and slugs can drop any enemy in one shot, and it removes weapon sway, damage falloff on special ammo and the forced scope on sniper rifles, per its page. A companion Maverick Catalog file comes with it, and its page says not to use that file with Red Dead Offline or another catalog mod. One warning from the author: the optional no-degradation feature breaks the mission “Paying a Social Call,” so add it only after you finish that mission. Updated December 2024. Creator: MaVeRicK. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader and Script Hook RDR2, plus version.dll for its Red Dead Online content. Download: Maverick Weapons and Catalog on Nexus Mods.
71. 1899 Firearms
1899 Firearms is WickedHorseMan’s deep overhaul of the game’s guns and ammunition. It adds revolvers such as the Colt Walker and the Smith and Wesson Model 10 with new cartridges, new grip materials, accuracy based on each cartridge’s power and each gun’s weight, more sway on heavier guns, and a one-longarm limit, so you carry a single rifle, repeater or shotgun plus your bow. Version 3.9.2 reorganized its gunsmith menus. It is a big install with a long requirements list, so read the page before you start. Last updated in 2023. Creator: WickedHorseMan. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader, Online Content Unlocker, Firearm Cosmetics (number 72) and Smoking Barrels (number 68) with its patch, per its requirements list. Download: 1899 Firearms on Nexus Mods.
72. Firearm Cosmetics: Carvings and Grips
Firearm Cosmetics cleans up and remakes the game’s gun textures from their real-world counterparts, with factory markings on revolvers and pistols and new wood and pearl finishes for grips and stocks. The vanilla edition stands on its own, and the 1899 Firearms edition adds 12 grip carvings, 8 stock carvings and 20 detailed unique grips for the Colt Single Action Army, Colt Double Action and Smith and Wesson Model 3. Released November 2022. Creator: WickedHorseMan. Needs: nothing extra for the vanilla edition and 1899 Firearms for the other, per its file notes. Download: Firearm Cosmetics: Carvings and Grips on Nexus Mods.
73. Gun Metal Rework
Gun Metal Rework is one of the ten most endorsed mods for the game on Nexus Mods. Its author found the vanilla gun metals dull, so they reworked the material properties and color tones of every gun metal, engravings included, for a more realistic finish. An Ivory Edition swaps the pearl material for ivory, and an extra file retextures grips and stocks. Because it is a .ymt mod, its page asks for the latest Lenny’s Mod Loader. Last updated in 2021. Creator: TheLastGunslinger9. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Gun Metal Rework on Nexus Mods.
Visuals, Outfits and Customization
74. VESTIGIA 2.0
VESTIGIA 2.0 rebuilds the game’s visual environment: a complete remake of the timecycle system with new lighting, more realistic clouds and visibility, five extra timecycles modeled on real U.S. conditions, slower weather transitions and reworked rain, snow and hail. Community-made variants let you fine-tune it. Its page notes that 2.0 drops Dynamic Seasons compatibility for stability, so choose one. Creator: no12. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: VESTIGIA 2.0 on Nexus Mods.
75. Terrain Textures Overhaul (TTO)
TTO remakes the terrain textures across most of the map at higher quality, aiming to stay as close to the original art style as possible. Version 3.0 adds train track gravel, muddy roads and the area around Sisika Penitentiary, and reduces TAA blur. It is a large download, the author expects some streaming stutter, and DirectX 12 is not supported, so run Vulkan. Updated February 2026. Creator: nopoPak. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Terrain Textures Overhaul on Nexus Mods.
76. RDR2 Photorealistic ReShade
With more than 11,000 endorsements, this ReShade preset is among the most endorsed mods for the game on Nexus Mods, and its pitch is restraint: it enhances colors, shadows, tone mapping and sharpness without an overkill look. Install ReShade into the folder that holds RDR2.exe, drop the preset’s .ini file next to it, and select it in game with the Home key, per its steps. The page also carries the author’s own mod list, last refreshed in November 2024. Creator: DigitalDreams. Needs: ReShade. Download: RDR2 Photorealistic ReShade on Nexus Mods.
77. WhyEm’s Visuals
From the maker of WhyEm’s DLC, Visuals reworks the game’s look to its author’s taste rather than chasing strict realism, per its page. It adds dynamic weather variants (heavy clouds, extra sunny and Red Dead Online’s misty, foggy and showery swamp weather), removes the glow from dropped guns and hats, and comes in Standard, Cinematic (with depth of field and optional black bars) and No Vignette editions, of which you install one. Like VESTIGIA and Collyrium, it is a full visual overhaul, so run one of them at a time. Last updated in 2023. Creator: WhyEm and Friends. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader and Script Hook RDR2. Download: WhyEm’s Visuals on Nexus Mods.
78. Collyrium: Visual and Weather Overhaul
Collyrium overhauls weather and lighting together: new cloud shapes with upscaled cloud noise, reworked lighting for every time of day and weather, tweaked interiors, better water reflections, and vignette and bloom removed. It also lets you pick the ambient occlusion type in the graphics menu. Its page lists two minor bugs, a cloud reset when thunder or showers clear and cutscenes in cloudy weather that can look off. Updated April 2025. Creator: wocky727. Needs: Graphics.ytd Crash Fix (its page says the game crashes without it), Lenny’s Mod Loader and ScriptHookRDR2 V2. Download: Collyrium on Nexus Mods.
79. Xtreme Grass
Xtreme Grass drastically raises the density of grass and small plants for what its page calls a truly next-gen look, and it is a simple drop-in for the lml folder. Its author recommends setting grass shadows to Medium, and a second version doubles the draw distance of the new grass at a much higher performance cost. Released November 2024. Creator: Dick Hertz. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Xtreme Grass on Nexus Mods.
80. Autumn Vegetation 2.0
Autumn Vegetation 2.0 turns the map’s trees to fall colors for a complete single-player autumn. It is one of the two mods Dynamic Seasons (number 32) recommends, and it ships a Dynamic Seasons Edition that slots into that mod’s setup (it needs the latest Dynamic Seasons update) alongside a regular version. Released July 2025. Creator: the Autumn Team. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader and Graphics.ytd Crash Fix, which its page says you need to avoid crashes. Download: Autumn Vegetation 2.0 on Nexus Mods.
81. WhyEm’s DLC
WhyEm’s DLC adds more than 2,500 new items sold in the game’s own shops: clothes at the trapper, new hairstyles and beards at the barber, saddles at the stable, and carvings, grips and tints at the gunsmith. It also fixes a couple of outfit clipping issues. The author warns it is not a first mod: install it with a clean setup and follow the install video on its page. Creator: WhyEm. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: WhyEm’s DLC on Nexus Mods.
82. Eastern’s Epic Extras
Eastern’s Epic Extras adds more than 200 new items sold in the game’s own shops: gunbelts, belts, bandoliers, satchels, shirts, coats, spurs, chaps, boots, masks, hats, jewelry and beards, with clothes at the trapper, saddles and gear at the stable and beards and hair at the barber. Its quality-of-life features unlock the trapper’s items, reinforced equipment and the camp and satchel upgrades for cash, no materials needed. You pick the Base, 1899 Firearms or Red Dead Offline edition, and its page says the Nexus versions do not work alongside WhyEm’s DLC. Last updated in 2022. Creator: Eastern. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader; the Red Dead Offline edition also needs Online Content Unlocker and Red Dead Offline. Download: Eastern’s Epic Extras on Nexus Mods.
83. Arthur Morgan Outfit Overhaul
KristianD3 found Arthur’s starting outfits dull, so this mod retextures his coats, loadouts, shirts and hats into darker, more interesting designs drawn from concept art, leaked beta screenshots and the author’s own taste. Version 1.3 added gunslinger jackets, coats, suits, hats and loadouts, and you can install only the pieces you like. Last updated in 2022. Creator: KristianD3. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader (its author offers no help with other install methods). Download: Arthur Morgan Outfit Overhaul on Nexus Mods.
84. Catalogue Improvements
Catalogue Improvements reduces clipping on a long list of clothing items, makes clothes react more naturally, and adds variety to the wardrobe, with new items to buy from the catalogue. For John, it restores most of his beta assets, adds his Chapter 1 to 6 outfits to the wardrobe and fixes or reworks some Epilogue cutscenes, per its page. It also restores stolen hats that were unintentionally cut, animates hat brims that used to be static, and puts the Navy Revolver on sale at every gunsmith. Updated July 2026. Creator: iAbokai and suika1885. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader, Script Hook RDR2 and an ASI loader. Download: Catalogue Improvements on Nexus Mods.
Quality of Life
85. Stash That Lantern
Stash That Lantern lets you hang your lantern on your satchel whenever you like, so you no longer need the old “lantern on belt” glitch. Since version 2.0 it also moves the lantern onto your saddle when you mount, and back to you when you dismount. The controls are contextual. Last updated in 2021. Creator: Juliet G. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Stash That Lantern on Nexus Mods.
86. Horse Holster
Stow a rifle on your horse in the base game and it floats beside the saddle. Horse Holster adds a proper saddle holster for rifles and repeaters, with a slot for the bow, inspired by pre-release screenshots of the game. If it fails to appear, pressing 0 adds it manually. Last updated in 2021. Creator: Bolmin. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Horse Holster on Nexus Mods.
87. Unlimited Horse Whistling Distance
This removes the range limit on calling your horse, so it answers your whistle wherever you are, a feature brought back from the original Red Dead Redemption (one of our best PS3 games of all time). The one catch, per its page: don’t ride another horse if you want to call yours from far away. Last updated in 2021. Creator: konstantinos96b. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Unlimited Horse Whistling Distance on Nexus Mods.
88. Remove Speed Limits
The game forces a slow walk in camp, in towns, indoors and on bridges. Remove Speed Limits removes the horse and player speed caps in those places and near certain characters and mission points, so you are not crawling through camp for the hundredth time. Version 1.1 turned it into a single .asi file, and version 1.2 added a key to switch between slow and fast walking. Creator: alfabravozapa. Needs: a script hook (its file notes say Script Hook RDR2; its requirements list names ScriptHookRDR2 V2). Download: Remove Speed Limits on Nexus Mods.
89. Disable Out Of Bounds Snipers
The game kills you with a bullet from nowhere in three situations: entering New Austin as Arthur, leaving the riverbed area in Guarma free roam, and entering the caves beneath Aguasdulces. This standalone script disables all three permanently, so you don’t have to toggle the option in a trainer every time you launch. Creator: SergeantJoe. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Disable Out Of Bounds Snipers on Nexus Mods.
90. Instant Travel
Instant Travel is fast travel that keeps the game’s realism: ride toward a destination and a cinematic camera takes you there, with no long cutscene. In-game time advances based on the distance and a fifth of your horse’s speed, and your cores drain to match, so camping, eating and horse care still matter, per its page. It only works when you are mounted, not wanted and not in a fight, and a newer feature lets you lead your horse and travel on foot. For the built-in options, see our guide to fast travel in RDR2. Last updated in 2021, and its page carries no broken-version warning. Creator: opariffazman. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 with its dinput8.dll. Download: Instant Travel on Nexus Mods.
91. Revealed Map
Revealed Map does one thing: it uncovers the whole map from the start, so you can see the roads to a destination before you have explored them. Its page sums up the reasoning: “What’s the point of having a map, if you can’t even see the way to your destination until you get there.” Drop one .asi file into the game folder and it works. Last updated in 2022, and its page carries no broken-version warning. Creator: Josefig. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Revealed Map on Nexus Mods.
92. Plants Finder
Plants never spawn exactly where you saw them last, as this mod’s page points out, which makes gathering slow. Plants Finder marks collectible plants on the map once you get near them, so tracking down exotics gets much easier. Its page warns it can cost some frame rate; if it does, the ShortDist version shows plants at a shorter range. Last updated in 2021. Creator: SergeantJoe. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Plants Finder on Nexus Mods.
93. Auto Looting
Auto Looting sends everything from the people you kill straight into your inventory, so you no longer kneel over every body after a shootout. Everything else stays as it was, including the honor loss for looting, per its page, and its last update fixed looting money from stagecoach robberies and gold nuggets in Gaptooth Breach. Updated April 2024. Creator: JerryYOJ. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 (its page notes pirated copies are not supported). Download: Auto Looting on Nexus Mods.
94. Snappy UI
Snappy UI speeds up navigating, entering and leaving the game’s menus. Its author says notes the developers left behind point to the console versions as the reason the menus are so slow, and the mod speeds up those menu animations on PC. Last updated in 2021. Creator: WickedHorseMan. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Snappy UI on Nexus Mods.
95. Remove Screen Effects
Remove Screen Effects strips the full-screen filters from Dead Eye, Eagle Eye, tonics and drunkenness. Optional files keep the ones you like, such as the Eagle Eye or Dead Eye filter or the critical-area highlight, and a second main file removes camera shake (under fire, running, riding and explosions) along with the cutscene black bars. Last updated in 2023. Creator: alfabravozapa. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Remove Screen Effects on Nexus Mods.
96. Restored Cut Content: Quiver
Pre-release screenshots showed an arrow quiver that never made it into the final game, and this mod restores it. The quiver equips automatically when you select the bow, shows your remaining arrows in real time, and unequips when it is not needed, so your character no longer pulls arrows out of the air, as its author puts it. Last updated in 2021, and its page carries no broken-version warning. Creator: Juliet G. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Restored Cut Content: Quiver on Nexus Mods.
97. Lasso on Belt Restored
Another piece of cut content comes back here: the lasso hanging from your belt, with full physics and animations, and its page says it works as originally intended. Its author recommends Hide Lasso on Horseback alongside it, and merge files cover a few popular holster mods. Because it edits weapons.ymt, it conflicts with any other mod that changes that file unless a merge exists (Maverick Weapons ships one). Last updated in 2022. Creator: LeDana. Needs: Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Lasso on Belt Restored on Nexus Mods.
98. Enable Swimming (John Can Swim)
Its page puts it simply: John Marston can swim now, and Arthur no longer becomes paralyzed while swimming, so either one can swim as long as you like. It has close to 75,000 downloads on Nexus Mods. Its page now says it is no longer being updated and suggests Script Hook RDR2 versions released before July 2022 if you run into problems, so as of October 21, 2026, it may not work on the current game version until someone updates it. Creator: srgamerio. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Enable Swimming (John Can Swim) on Nexus Mods.
99. Extended Player Animations
Formerly Extended John Marston Animations, this mod started by giving John a moveset distinct from Arthur’s and has grown to fix and improve animations for both protagonists and for NPCs, including new combat and first-person animations for machetes and swords. Updated July 2025. Its author also makes the Catalogue Improvements clothing fix mod. Creator: iAbokai. Needs: Script Hook RDR2 with an ASI loader, and Lenny’s Mod Loader. Download: Extended Player Animations on Nexus Mods.
100. Cut Dialogue Restoration and Enhancement
Red Dead Redemption 2 shipped with a lot of cut dialogue. This mod restores the protagonist’s cut combat taunts, the kind of chatter Rockstar leads have in GTA IV and V (see our ranking of the best GTA games), plus more aggressive lines when you whip draft horses. It activates automatically. Last updated in 2020, and it remains one of the most endorsed audio mods for the game. Creator: Juliet G. Needs: Script Hook RDR2. Download: Cut Dialogue Restoration and Enhancement on Nexus Mods.
How We Chose These RDR2 Mods
We started from the most endorsed and downloaded Red Dead Redemption 2 mods on Nexus Mods, plus the two core tools hosted on their creators’ own sites, and kept only Story Mode mods that are still downloadable. We cut anything that touches Red Dead Online, mods Nexus Mods flags as adult content, save editors and cheat saves, mods whose authors point players to a replacement, older versions that have been replaced by a newer page (like VESTIGIA’s legacy release), and near-duplicates, such as a second bank robbery mod that does what SgtJoe Bank Robberies does. A loved mod that has fallen behind the current game version still makes the cut, because creators update mods all the time: its entry says what its page supports. Where a mod hasn’t been updated in years, we say so in its entry. It is the same approach we used for our best GTA 5 mods, best Sims 4 mods and best Valheim mods.
Download only from the creator pages linked above. Re-upload sites and “mod pack” mirrors often host outdated or tampered files, and with .asi and .dll mods that run code on your PC, a bad file is a real security risk. Crime and Law’s page puts it bluntly: any upload of that mod outside rdr2mods.com and nexusmods.com “is STOLEN and may contain viruses.” Always back up your saves before installing a large mod.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you get banned for using Red Dead Redemption 2 mods? Rockstar’s mod guidelines allow non-commercial single-player mods and forbid online ones. Script Hook RDR2 closes the game if you try to enter Red Dead Online, but it’s still safest to remove your mods, or use a separate install, before playing online.
Which RDR2 mods should you install first? Install Script Hook RDR2 (or ScriptHookRDR2 V2) with an ASI loader, then Lenny’s Mod Loader, then Online Content Unlocker (or the lighter LITE) if any mod you want needs Red Dead Online assets. After that, add mods one at a time so you can tell which one caused a problem.
Can you install all 100 of these mods at once? No. Several do the same job and conflict: VESTIGIA, Collyrium and WhyEm’s Visuals are all full visual overhauls, R.W.A.O. and Realistic Weapons Sounds both replace the gun audio, and weapon mods such as Maverick Weapons, 1899 Firearms and Lasso on Belt Restored all edit the same weapons.ymt file unless a merge exists. Pick one mod per job, read each page’s compatibility notes, and consider Syyyke’s RDR2 Spawns Fix, which its page says targets the crashes and missing spawns of heavily modded games.
How do you install RDR2 mods on PC? Most Red Dead Redemption 2 mods install one of two ways. Script mods (.asi files) go in the game’s main folder, where RDR2.exe is, next to ScriptHookRDR2.dll and an ASI loader such as dinput8.dll. File-replacement mods go into the “lml” folder in that same game folder, which Lenny’s Mod Loader reads; VESTIGIA’s page warns to place mods directly in it, not in a subfolder. Every mod page has its own steps, so read them before copying anything.
Where do you download Red Dead Redemption 2 mods? From each creator’s own page. Nexus Mods’ Red Dead Redemption 2 section hosts 98 of the 100 mods here, Script Hook RDR2 is on Alexander Blade’s dev-c.com, and Lenny’s Mod Loader is on RDR2Mods.com. Skip mirror sites and bundled packs.
Do Red Dead Redemption 2 mods work on PS5, PS4 or Xbox? No. Mods are a PC-only feature for Red Dead Redemption 2. Console versions can’t load them.
Will a game update break my mods? It can. Script mods depend on the script hook matching the game’s build, so after any Rockstar patch, update the hook, Lenny’s Mod Loader and your trainer before launching. Several mod pages, Rampage Trainer’s included, ask you to run the latest game build.
Are these mods free? Yes. Every mod on this list is free to download from the linked creator page. Some authors accept optional donations or run a Patreon, but none of these mods are paywalled.