A great mod is like a love letter to a video game, and Final Fantasy XIV has received lots of love letters since its 2010 debut. Mods are typically created by dedicated players who want to correct a certain issue through retexturing, recoloring, or organizing an unruly element. If you're looking for the best ones to use for FFXIV, we've got you covered.
Best FFXIV mods of all time
1. Moogle Maps
While most of the mods in this list are designed purely for aesthetic purposes, Moogle Maps is a genuinely useful add-on. This mod replaces the original map texture with a new overlay that puts treasure locations and daily hunt monsters directly on your radar, making the overall act of participating in these hunts much more convenient.
2. Fr4nsson’s FFXIV Config
If you’re new to MMORPGs, then FFXIV’s UI is probably not the easiest to get used to (even veterans complain about it from time to time). Fr4nsson created this custom FFXIV configuration complete with a clean informational HUD layout where jobs have all spells assigned to hotbars. It’s not for everyone, especially those who already have hotkeys they’re used to, but it’s a great mod if the game’s HUD overwhelms you.
3. The Newness
The Newness makes the world of FFXIV more vibrant through lighting and shadow enhancements. Colors are more vivid, and it's easier to appreciate small details you might otherwise not have noticed. The best part? The Newness doesn't put any strain on your frame rate, so you get all the benefits of improved graphics with none of the potential downsides that come with installing weightier mods.
4. HD Hrothgar Faces
If you play as a Hrothgar and constantly find yourself disappointed by the low-res rendering, you're not alone. HD Hrothgar Faces retexturizes the base Hrothgar faces so that your animalistic warrior pops the way they deserve to.
5. Viera Refined
If you're on the other side of the Shadowbringers race additions and want to show your Viera a little love, download Viera Refined. This mod adds new textures for skin quality, lips, and eyes, so your bunny girl (and upcoming with the Endwalker expansion, bunny boy) looks picture-perfect in every cutscene.
Related: Best Jobs in Final Fantasy XIV
6. Touch of Real (Male and Female)
The Touch of Real Male and Female mods make for some of the best available facial retexture packs. True to its name, Touch of Real replaces the original face bases with startlingly realistic textures to make you feel even more connected to your FFXIV alter ego. Just note that, at this time, the only races that can obtain these textures are Hyur, Miqo'te, and Elezen.
7. NPC Defined
The NPC Defined mod ensures that your own character isn't the only lovely creature wandering Eorzea—various NPCs throughout the game also get a texture upgrade. The original texture design of these characters has not been altered or even smoothed out, upgraded to enhance facial details four times over. This is the ideal mod for the kind of people who kick Animal Crossing villagers out because they're "too ugly."
8. Owl's Eyes of Eorzea
Owl's Eyes of Eorzea not only retexturizes eyes to make them brighter and more lifelike, but this mod also takes into account each race and subrace's specific customizations, so no one texture overhaul is completely alike—and there are hundreds to choose from.
9. HD Summons
If you're a scholar or summoner, you might be interested in this HD Summons mod. Your beloved pets have never looked better than in high definition, with vibrant colors and defined details making your summons feel exciting again. Maybe the beauty upgrade will inspire them to fight harder in battle? We can hope.
10. Alive Gshade Preset
This immersive mod enhances color settings and makes subtle environmental corrections. Alive Gshade Preset offers various color schemes that you can choose between and an atmospheric fog that you can adjust according to your preferences. All of Eorzea will look crisp and beautiful with this installed! Just make sure your device can run a mod of this size, otherwise, you may run into issues with gameplay.
11. Hair Defined
A favorite among the FFXIV modding community, Hair Defined replaces the original hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, and beard textures for every race and gender in the game. That's a lot. Over 1,000 textures, in fact. Hair is notoriously difficult to render in video games, but if that fact bothers you, this mod is sure to improve your gameplay experience.
Related: The Final Fantasy XIV Fender Stratocaster is now on sale
12. Face Defined
A companion mod to Hair Defined, Face Defined enhances the facial features of every face in FFXIV. For example, the mod upscales eye textures, skin texture, and more. The great thing about it is that it barely affects in-game performance, so you can enter high-population areas like Limsa Lominsa’s main square without too much trouble.
13. Eyeliner Pack
Despite the plethora of options, FFXIV’s character maker can still feel a bit lacking. Something like… eyeliners. The Eyeliner Pack is a mod that offers four different eyeliner styles (bold n’ brash, octotako, low flyer, and double wing liner) to give your hero a bit more cheek. It does wonders on Au Ras!
14. Hrothgar and Viera Hats
One of the downsides of playing as the races with large ears or heads is the lack of access to headgear. Thanks to the Hrothgar and Viera Hats mod, players can gain adorn their demi-human characters in the finest hats and helmets. This is an excellent alternative to swapping your character race via Fantasia or going without your favorite headwear.
15. Material 4K UI for Endwalker
Those looking for an improved UI experience will enjoy the Material 4K UI for Endwalker. The model integrates a higher-quality interface for more straightforward navigation. Sharp image quality will ensure you're not struggling with readability commands or seeing more minor prompts. This mod does replace FFXIV's original theme, so give your UI one last look before applying this mod to your game.
16. Super Shiny Latex Everything
Super Shiny Latex Everything is a colorset mod that can make any gear look like latex. It won’t change the colorset of all your items, don’t worry! You’ll need to pick out the gear items you want in latex and manually replace its colorset. It’s easier than it sounds, and there’s a community to help you when you’re stuck.
17. Upscaled Armors Equipment Texture
No matter how impressive the armor may be in Final Fantasy XIV, there are instances where textures just don't match the splendor of the gear. The Final Fantasy Upscled Armors Equipment Texture mod adds visual improvements to armor and gear, ensuring that your favorite armor set is as beautiful as possible. You'll look excellent in the screenshots you send to your friends.
18. The Tails Remover
The Tails Remover mod on Final Fantasy XIV allows users to hide the tails of certain races in the game. If you're not a fan of how your playable class looks with a tail and don't want to see other players' tails on-screen, fiddle with the settings with this mod to make your MMO experience tail-free if you choose.
19. Simple and Clean - GShade Gameplay Preset
While Final Fantasy XIV's visuals can be stunning, the Simple and Clean GShade Gameplay Preset improves the visuals, adding new lighting features and the option to alternate between lite, high, and ultra presets to tailor your mod experience. Bask in the rays of the sun or the flames in a campfire while the rays illuminate your character!
20. Chat Grey Box Remover
As its name implies, this mod removes the grey boxes behind the chat tabs to make displays look less busy. We even found that it makes the screen feel a little bigger—but that’s just us!
How OK is it to use mods in FFXIV?
The general rule about using mods in most MMOs is that, so long as the mod only appears on your end, it's mildly tolerated—just don't discuss mods in-game. However, Square Enix is much more strict with their policies.
In FFXIV's terms of service, it is officially stated that "You may not create or use any unauthorized cheats, bots, automation software, hacks, mods or any other unauthorized software or hardware designed to modify the Game and gameplay." In short, use these mods are your own risk!
Looking for more FFXIV content? Check out how to get the Best Mounts in Final Fantasy XIV or read about How to Unlock the Aesthetician for the ability to customize your character later in the game here at Pro Game Guides.
Bianca has over three years of experience in gaming journalism, specializing in anything remotely turn-based and strategic, like Pokémon, Final Fantasy, and Honkai: Star Rail. She's a huge fan of Square Enix, RPGs, party games, and visual novels, but will play anything with a banger OST. She's a proud early bird.