Penumbra is the modern way to run mods in Final Fantasy XIV. Unlike the older approach of patching .dat files on disk, Penumbra intercepts file requests while the game is running and hands back your replacement instead. Nothing in your game folder is modified, so a patch day never wipes your setup and verifying files never breaks your mods.
Before you start
You need three things in place:
- A Dalamud-capable launcher. XIVLauncher is the standard choice.
- Roughly 10 GB free on the drive where you plan to keep your mod folder.
- Your mods on a fast drive. Penumbra reads from this folder constantly; an SSD makes a visible difference in load times.
Mods are client-side only. Nobody else sees them unless they run the same mod themselves.
Adding the repository
Penumbra is not in the default Dalamud plugin list, so you add its repository first.
- Launch the game through XIVLauncher and open the Dalamud settings with
/xlsettings. - Go to the Experimental tab.
- Under Custom Plugin Repositories, paste the Penumbra repository URL and press the + button.
- Click Save and Close. Dalamud will refresh its plugin list.
If the list does not refresh, close the window and reopen it — Dalamud only re-fetches on open.
Installing the plugin
Open /xlplugins, search for Penumbra, and install it. When it finishes, type /penumbra to open the main window.
The first launch asks for a mod directory. Pick something short and outside your game folder:
D:\FFXIVMods
Avoid paths inside OneDrive, Documents, or anything with cloud sync. Sync clients lock files while Penumbra is reading them, which produces load stutters that are miserable to diagnose later.
Your first mod
Most mods ship as a .pmp, .ttmp or .ttmp2 file.
- In Penumbra, open the Mods tab.
- Drag the mod file onto the window, or use Install Mod and browse to it.
- The mod appears in the list on the left, greyed out.
- Tick the checkbox to enable it, then set the priority if it conflicts with something else.
Redraw yourself with /penumbra redraw self to see the change without a zone transition.
Collections, briefly
A collection is a named set of enabled mods. The Base collection applies to everything by default. You can assign a different collection to yourself, to specific NPCs, or to other players — which is how people run one body mod on their own character and a different one on everyone else.
For now, leave everything on Base. Once you have more than a dozen mods, come back to collections.
When something does not appear
Work down this list in order:
- Is the mod enabled (checkbox ticked) and is the collection it lives in actually assigned to your character?
- Did you redraw? Some changes only apply on redraw.
- Is another mod overwriting it? The Conflicts tab shows overlapping file paths and which mod currently wins.
- Does the mod target your race and gender? A body mod for Au Ra female does nothing on a Hyur male.
If the Conflicts tab is empty and the paths look right, the mod is probably built for an older game version and its file paths have since moved.