SteamCMD and Workshop Browser

SteamCMD is a tool released by Valve that RimSort optionally integrates with in order to download Steam Workshop mods without Steam and or a copy of RimWorld on steam. RimSort’s built in Workshop Browser allows you to navigate the Steam Workshop directly and select mods to download via SteamCMD.

RimSort supports updating of mods installed via SteamCMD, meaning that you can have finer control over whenever or not you wish to update Steam Workshop mods versus directly using Steam.

Table of Contents

  1. SteamCMD and Workshop Browser
    1. Table of Contents
    2. Setting up SteamCMD
    3. Using the Workshop Browser
    4. Updating SteamCMD Mods
    5. Troubleshooting SteamCMD

Setting up SteamCMD

On Linux, RimSort keeps SteamCMD’s user configuration in a dedicated home directory inside the configured SteamCMD prefix. This prevents SteamCMD from changing the desktop Steam client’s library configuration.

Using the Workshop Browser

The Steam Workshop Browser is an embedded web view of the Steam Community that lets you browse the RimWorld workshop and queue mods for download without leaving RimSort. A sidebar (“Mod Downloader”) holds the list of mods you have selected.

To add a mod:

  1. Navigate to a mod or collection page in the browser. When the active page is a mod detail or collection page, an Add to list button appears in the navigation bar.
  2. Click Add to list to append it to your download list. You can also click Add Mods by Workshop ID to paste one or more Steam published file IDs directly.

Each entry in the download list shows a badge indicating its status:

  • Default — the mod is on your list but not yet downloaded. The list shows an Add to list control for this state.
  • Added — the mod has been selected and is queued. A - badge marks this state.
  • Installed — the mod is already present in your active mod set. A ✓ badge marks this state.

Right-click an entry to remove it individually, double-click an entry to open its Workshop page, or click Clear List to empty the queue.

Once your list is ready, choose how to fetch the mods:

  • Download mod(s) (SteamCMD) — downloads via SteamCMD. This does not require the Steam client or a copy of RimWorld on Steam, and is the preferred route for offline / SteamCMD-based instances.
  • Download mod(s) (Steam app) — subscribes via the Steam client (Steamworks API). This requires the Steam client to be running and authenticated, and that you own RimWorld on Steam. Use this when you want the mods to also be managed by your Steam library.

RimSort hides the native Steam “Subscribe” buttons while browsing so that all downloads go through the two options above.

Updating SteamCMD Mods

RimSort tracks mods you have downloaded via SteamCMD using the appworkshop_294100.acf file inside your SteamCMD prefix. To check for updates use Download > Update Workshop Mods, or enable Check for mod updates on refresh under Settings → Advanced to run the check automatically whenever your mod list is refreshed.

When checking, RimSort compares the update timestamps recorded for your installed SteamCMD mods (the timeupdated value in the .acf file and the mod folder’s modification time) against the latest timestamps reported by the Steam WebAPI. Outdated mods appear in the Workshop Mod Updater panel, where you can re-download them either via SteamCMD or by subscribing again through the Steam client (Steamworks API).

If you would rather replace a mod with a clean copy on every update, enable Delete before update under Settings → Internal Tools → SteamCMD. This removes the existing mod folder before re-downloading. Note that, because RimSort relies on the .acf file for update detection, clearing the .acf file may interfere with update checks — see Troubleshooting SteamCMD below.

Troubleshooting SteamCMD

SteamCMD being an external tool, has a different set of logs. You can find them at your SteamCMD install location which may depend on your personal RimSort instance setup.

You can find your current SteamCMD install location in the settings panel under SteamCMD > SteamCMD installation location. The logs are located in the subfolder logs of SteamCMD.

Occassionally, SteamCMD may have unwanted behavior such as download failures, reinstallation of deleted mods, etc. Assuming that your issue is not a connection issue where your computer is unable to communicate with Valve’s servers, consider the following steps.

  • Clear your SteamCMD depotcache
  • Clear your .acf file

Both of these steps can be done manually, or via RimSort in the settings panel under Internal Tools > SteamCMD.

RimSort currently relies on the data in the .acf file when checking for mod updates for SteamCMD mods. Deleting and or clearing the .acf file may cause potential issues with updating SteamCMD mods.