How to mod Jedi: Fallen Order with Vortex and pak files

STAR WARS Jedi: Fallen Order is one of the friendliest Unreal games to start modding: single-player, no anti-cheat, and mods that are almost always a single file. This guide covers the manual pak install and the Vortex route for anyone who would rather manage mods and load order in a tool.

What a Fallen Order mod looks like

Unlike its sequel, Fallen Order predates Unreal's IoStore packaging, so a mod is usually one .pak file rather than a set of three. That makes manual installation genuinely simple, and it is why the Vortex extension for this game supports PAK files specifically.

Install a mod manually

This is all most mods need.

1. Download the mod from Nexus Mods and extract the archive.
2. Find the .pak file inside.
3. Copy it into SwGame\Content\Paks in your install. On a default Steam install that is steamapps\common\Jedi Fallen Order\SwGame\Content\Paks.
4. Launch the game. The mod is live.

To uninstall, delete the .pak you added. Nothing else changes.

Manage mods with Vortex instead

If you run several mods, Vortex keeps them organised and handles load order for you.

1. Install Vortex and add its Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order extension.
2. Point Vortex at your game install if it does not detect it automatically.
3. Install mods through Vortex as normal. It places pak files in a numbered ~mods folder rather than directly in Paks.
4. Use the load-order page to sequence mods. The numbering decides which mod wins when two touch the same content, and you can view the order ascending or descending.

Vortex's extension handles PAK files. It is not a loader for script-based mods, so treat it as a pak manager with load-order control rather than a UE4SS-style framework.

Get load order right

Load order only matters when mods overlap. Two reskins of the same outfit, or two edits to the same gameplay value, will fight, and the one that loads later wins.

• In Vortex, drag the conflicting mods on the load-order page until the one you want is applied last.
• Installing manually, control order by the file naming the mod author recommends, since the game reads paks in a defined order.
• When in doubt, enable mods one at a time and test, so a conflict is obvious the moment it appears.

Steam or EA App, the steps are the same

Fallen Order sells on both Steam and the EA App, and the mod folder layout is identical on each. The only thing that changes is the path up to the game's SwGame folder. On Steam it sits under steamapps\common\Jedi Fallen Order; on the EA App it lives wherever you set the EA library. Once you are inside SwGame\Content\Paks, every instruction written for the other store applies without change. If a guide mentions a path you do not have, only the prefix is different, not the part that matters.

Common gotchas

• The mod is not showing up. Confirm the .pak landed in SwGame\Content\Paks (manual) or that Vortex deployed it to ~mods.
• Two mods conflict. They probably edit the same asset. Use Vortex load order or rename files so the intended mod loads last.
• A game patch broke a mod. Updates can invalidate older paks. Check the mod page for an updated version after a patch.
• Vortex did not detect the game. Set the install path manually in the extension; non-Steam or moved installs often need this.

Where to go next

For the wider context on Fallen Order's scene and what OpenMods catalogues, see the Jedi: Fallen Order overview. The sequel's more advanced toolchain, including IoStore mods and UE4SS, is covered in the Jedi: Survivor modding guide.