Turn Your RimWorld Loading Nightmare Into a 2-Minute Coffee Break
📑 Table of Contents
⏳ Why Modded RimWorld Takes So Long to Load
Heavily modded RimWorld games often suffer from long startup times – it's not uncommon to wait 5, 10, or even 20+ minutes before reaching the main menu. If you're new to RimWorld and wondering whether mods are worth the wait, check out our complete beginner's guide to understand the basics first. This happens because:
- RimWorld loads all mods, assets, and harmony patches in a mostly single-threaded process
- The game actually uses more memory during startup (for patching and asset compilation) than during gameplay
- If your PC runs low on RAM, it may start swapping to disk – causing massive slowdowns
- Every additional mod adds content (textures, defs, sounds) and code patches that the engine must integrate at launch
⚠️ Pro Tip
While your game is loading, avoid clicking the window or Alt+Tabbing back and forth. Some players find that interacting with RimWorld during the load can cause crashes or "not responding" issues. It's safest to just start the game and leave it alone until you reach the menu.
Loading mods 247/328...
With 200+ mods, the number of XML definitions and C# patches grows huge, so vanilla loading routines struggle.
🖥️ Hardware and OS Optimizations
Use an SSD for RimWorld
If you still run RimWorld or your Steam Workshop mods from an HDD, moving them to an SSD can hugely improve load speeds. The game patches/builds mods much faster on SSD. This is especially important for new players who want to get into the game quickly.
Performance comparison showing dramatic loading time differences between HDD, SSD, and M.2 drives
Recommendation: NVMe SSD is ideal for game files and mod folders.
Ensure Enough RAM
RimWorld can consume several GB of RAM during startup. If your physical memory is limited, Windows will use a pagefile (disk swap), which devastates performance.
Recommendation: 16GB RAM minimum, 32GB recommended for heavy mod lists.
Set a Large Static Pagefile
A dynamic pagefile isn't enough for heavily modded RimWorld. Set a large static pagefile as insurance against memory issues that cause black screens or freezes.
Recommendation: Set pagefile to 20-32GB fixed size.
Adjust Antivirus Settings
Real-time antivirus can slow down file access. Consider adding your RimWorld folder and Steam Workshop folder to your antivirus exclusion list.
Recommendation: Add exclusions for game files and mod folders.
Platform-Specific Tips
Windows
Disabling Steam Cloud sync for RimWorld can save a few seconds on startup. Normal Steam launch is fine.
Linux
Use RimWorld's native build instead of Proton for best performance and compatibility with performance mods.
Steam Deck
Store mod folders on the internal SSD; the slower SD card can bottleneck load speeds.
🧩 Optimizing Mod Load Order and Dependencies
Proper Mod Order Matters
Proper mod load order can indirectly improve load times by preventing errors or redundant loading passes. If mods are out of order, the game might spend extra time resolving errors or even reload certain parts. This is especially important for multiplayer sessions, where mod mismatches can cause frequent desyncs.
Recommended Tools:
- RimPy - Comprehensive mod manager with sorting, database, and texture optimization
- RimSort - Alternative mod manager with similar features
- Prepare Carefully - For customizing your starting colonists without affecting load times
RimPy Mod Manager interface showing organized mod lists and optimization settings
⚠️ Avoid Problematic Mods
Some mods are known to cause extreme load lag. Especially watch for:
- Mods that add hundreds of factions or world pawns
- Mods with extremely large textures
- Mods with complex Harmony patch cascades
- Mods that conflict with each other (can cause multiplayer desyncs too)
Sample Optimal Load Order
- Prepatcher
- Harmony
- Core
- Royalty (DLC)
- Ideology (DLC)
- Biotech (DLC)
- HugsLib
- Graphics Settings+
- Core Framework Mods
- ... Main Content Mods ...
- Vanilla Expanded Framework
- Vanilla Expanded Modules
- ... Patches and Compatibility ...
- Performance Fish
- Performance Optimizer
- RocketMan
Using External Mod Managers
Benefits of external mod managers:
- Can launch RimWorld directly, potentially skipping the Steam wrapper
- Allows saving mod preset lists for different playthroughs
- Can sort mods automatically based on dependencies
- Offers texture conversion tools (more on this in the next section)
RimPy Mod Manager Interface Placeholder
🖼️ Converting Textures to DDS Format
DDS conversion can cut 30-40% off loading times for asset-heavy mod lists!
Why Convert to DDS?
Normally, RimWorld mods use PNG textures which the game must load and compress to DXT format at runtime. Converting them to DDS (which are already compressed) means the game can simply load them directly into memory, saving processing time. This optimization is particularly valuable for heavily modded setups, though beginners should focus on learning the base game first.
Benefits:
- Significantly reduces loading times (30-40% improvement)
- Lowers RAM usage during loading
- Can boost in-game performance slightly
- Particularly helpful for texture-heavy mods like Vanilla Expanded series
How to Convert to DDS Format
- Open RimPy after setting up your mod folders
- Click the "Convert tex" button on the side
- Uncheck "Convert new textures only" to reconvert all existing textures
- Choose the BC7 Texconv (GPU, high quality) compressor for best results
- Select all mods (exclude any retexture mods to avoid conflicts)
- Start the conversion and let it run uninterrupted
- Install the Graphics Settings+ mod for RimWorld to load DDS files
- Place Graphics Settings+ immediately after Core/HugsLib in your load order
Note: Your first launch after converting may still take a bit longer as the game caches the new assets, but subsequent loads will be much faster.
Visual Comparison: PNG vs DDS Loading
PNG Loading
10:25 minutes
DDS Loading
6:15 minutes
Example: 300+ mods with Vanilla Expanded series before and after DDS conversion
Converted textures load directly into GPU memory
🧰 Essential Mods for Faster Loading
The RimWorld community and modders have created specialized performance mods aimed at speeding up game loading. In the last year and a half, several of these have matured and become must-haves for players with lots of mods. If you're just starting out with RimWorld, you might want to read our beginner's guide before diving into heavy modding:
Additional Save Loading Optimization
No More Lazy Pawns / Mothballed Pawns
These mods force RimWorld to mothball (freeze) inactive world pawns more aggressively. By keeping the population of active pawns small, your save files load faster because the engine isn't waking up hundreds of irrelevant pawns on game load.
Particularly useful for:
- Very long campaigns (years of in-game time)
- Saves with many faction mods (which add lots of characters)
- Preventing save bloat over time
UI Performance Considerations
Certain HUD/inspection mods can cause momentary freezes when loading a save as they build their interfaces. If you notice the game "hangs" at 100% when loading a save, check if any UI mods are causing the delay.
Examples to watch for:
- Complex colony management UIs
- Mods that add detailed inspection panels
- UI replacers that process many game elements
📊 Results: What to Expect
By combining the strategies outlined above, players have achieved dramatic improvements in RimWorld load times. Here are some real-world examples:
Case Study: 300 Mods
Before Optimization
- Default texture loading
- Basic mod sorting
- No performance mods
After Optimization
- DDS texture conversion
- Prepatcher + RocketMan
- RimPy sort & optimization
Case Study: 100 Mods
Before Optimization
- Random mod order
- No texture optimization
- Limited RAM/pagefile
After Optimization
- Full optimization suite
- SSD + proper memory config
- All performance mods
Managing Expectations
Even with all optimizations, loading hundreds of mods will still take time. There is a practical lower limit due to the sheer amount of content. If you're new to RimWorld, consider starting with our beginner's guide and vanilla gameplay before adding mods:
- Vanilla RimWorld typically loads in 15–30 seconds on an SSD
- ~100 mods can achieve ~2 minute load times with all optimizations
- 300+ mods will likely still take 5-10 minutes even with perfect optimization
- 500+ mods may still need 10-15 minutes, but that's better than 20-30 minutes without optimizations
"10 minutes can already be quite good for 300 mods... going lower becomes more and more complicated beyond that."
— Experienced RimWorld modder
"Practice responsible modding, kids!"
— Reddit user advice on moderation
✅ Conclusion: Actionable Tips
Your RimWorld Loading Optimization Checklist
Upgrade your hardware where possible
Use an SSD, have plenty of RAM (16GB+), and set a large static pagefile (20-32GB). This prevents I/O bottlenecks and memory swapping.
Optimize your mod list
Sort your mods with RimPy to prevent slowdowns from bad load order. Trim or replace mods known to be performance hogs.
Convert textures to DDS
Use RimPy or RimSort + Graphics Settings+ to convert all mod textures, reducing asset load time by ~30-40%. This is one of the biggest gains you can get.
Leverage performance mods
Install RocketMan, Prepatcher, Performance Fish, Performance Optimizer, and other recommended fixes. These will address the code-side inefficiencies.
Avoid unnecessary bloat
Keep only the mods you need for a playthrough. Consider creating separate mod profiles for different playthroughs so you're not always loading everything at once.
Keep the game and mods updated
Occasionally, Ludeon releases optimizations or fixes. Mod authors like Taranchuk and Brrainz also update their performance mods – staying current ensures you have the latest optimizations.
By following these tips – a mix of hardware tweaks, clever tools, and community mods – you can drastically cut down RimWorld's loading times in 2025.
That means less waiting and more playing! May your colonies thrive, and your load screens be brief.
📚 Related RimWorld Guides
🌱 New to RimWorld?
Start with the basics before diving into heavy modding.
Complete Beginner's Guide to RimWorld →🎮 Multiplayer Issues?
Fix desyncs and mod conflicts in co-op games.
RimWorld Multiplayer Desync Guide →⚙️ Customize Your Start
Skip the colonist lottery and create your perfect team.
Prepare Carefully Mod Guide →