Submit a Mod

How it works

Mods in the official ADO catalog download and install from inside the game. Every one is reviewed by a person first, and the game only ever downloads mods that carry the catalog's signature. This page is how you send yours in: no GitHub account and no file hosting needed.

1. Sign your package with your own key: aoe3mod keygen my.key once, then aoe3mod pack my_mod/ my_mod.aoe3mod --key my.key. Keep the key safe: every later version of your mod must be signed with it. The layout and mod.toml are in the package format.
2. Sign in below with a code we email you (the same account as online play), and upload the package.
3. The server checks it at once. A reviewer then looks at the exact file you sent and approves it, asks for changes, or rejects it, with a note you see here.
4. Approved mods are signed offline by the project and published to the catalog. You see it marked published here.

The rules

• Your own work only. No files from the game or from Microsoft, and nobody else's work without their permission. The licence must allow us to redistribute the package.
• At most 32 MiB per package (256 MiB unpacked). Up to 5 uploads a day and 3 waiting for review at a time.
• Signed packages only. The server refuses an unsigned package, one whose files don't match its signature, and one that already carries an approval.
• Native code means a compiled library under native/ (a .dylib or .dll) that runs inside the game with full access to your computer. It needs public source code, linked in your note, and every hook it declares must be explained. Native mods take longer to review. Mods that only change data, patches or scripts are reviewed faster.
• Honest descriptions. The name, description and thumbnail must say what the mod does, must not be offensive, and must not pretend to be the project or another author. A mod that changes gameplay must say so (affects_sync), so online lobbies can mark modded games.
• Nothing hidden. No network access, no files outside the game's, nothing obfuscated.

Submitting does not publish anything. Reviewers can take down a submission, and a published mod can be revoked from every player's game if it breaks these rules.

Your account

Upload a package

My submissions

Report a published mod

Something wrong with a mod in the catalog: game files, malware, a crash, a stolen mod? Tell the reviewers.

Privacy and retention

We keep your submissions under your account id, with your gamertag, the file and its hashes. Files are deleted when you withdraw, 30 days after a rejection, 90 days after a request for changes, and 30 days after a mod is published (the catalog keeps the published copy). Records without files are deleted after a year, except for approved mods. No IP address is stored. The site sets no cookies; if you choose to stay signed in, your session is kept in this browser's local storage until you sign out. The full design.