Application directory

Overview

Depending on your installation method and OS, you will have one or two directories that contain Factorio assets, and one that contains user data, such as saves and mods.

User data directory

The user data directory is where personal files are stored:

• Save files ./saves
• Mods ./mods
• Script-output, e.g. from /screenshot ./script-output
• Local scenarios ./scenarios
• Local settings ./config/config.ini
• log files factorio-*.log
• Crash dump files factorio-dump-*.dmp

Locations

Search your computer for the directory location, or type the path into your file manager address bar.

Windows:

%appdata%\Factorio

The %appdata% shorthand translates to your local version of C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming

MacOSX:

~/Library/Application Support/factorio

Linux distributions:

~/.factorio

When using the Flatpak version of steam, all paths start from ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/ instead.

When using Steam on Windows, the config.ini, achievements.dat, modded-achievements.dat and player-data.json can also be found in

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\[user number]\427520\remote

Application directory

The application directory stores three things:

• Factorio executables ./bin
• Data for vanilla Factorio ./data
• API documentation ./doc-html

Locations

Windows:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Factorio
C:\Program Files\Factorio

MacOSX:

~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/common/Factorio/factorio.app/Contents
/Applications/factorio.app/Contents

Linux:

~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Factorio
~/.factorio

Changing the user data directory

You can create a file config-path.cfg to configure Factorio to any directory.

In order to change the user data directory, user must edit the location of the "write-data" entry in the file (Game install directory)/config/config.ini. This affects the location of mods, scenario and temp.

macOS

There are two ways to change the user data location on macOS. One is to change the contents of factorio.app in your Applications folder. It is simpler, but macOS will prevent the modified app from running in some cases. The other is to surround factorio.app with special configuration files, and then to run Factorio in a special way. It is more complex, but won't provoke macOS to cause you problems.

As background, know that factorio.app, although it looks like a single file, is in fact a "package", also known as an "app bundle". This is a special kind of directory. Using the right Finder command, you can open the package, and change the files and directories within. However, macOS has a security system called Gatekeeper. In certain situations, Gatekeeper will check that the app bundle is completely identical to its original contents. Gatekeeper will notice any modifications you make within the app bundle. It will cause macOS to refuse to run the app. When and how often Gatekeeper checks differs by macOS version. It is very likely to check when you first run an application. In newer versions of macOS, like macOS Sequoia 15, it will check more often, even after your first run.

If you are willing to modify the Factorio app bundle, then create factorio.app/config-path.cfg with the following contents:

config-path=__PATH__executable__/../config
use-system-read-write-data-directories=false

Update factorio.app/Contents/config/config.ini

[path]
read-data=__PATH__executable__/../data
write-data=__PATH__executable__/.. 

If you do not wish to modify the Factorio app bundle, follow the instructions in this forum discussion.

Linux

Update __Game_Install_directory/config-path.cfg

use-system-read-write-data-directories=true

Update __Game_Install_directory/config/config.ini

[path]
read-data=__PATH__executable__/../../data
write-data=.local/share/factorio

You could set the write-data value to .factorio if you prefer.

Once you have done this, you can remove write permissions to the entire game installation directory except for config/config.ini, which must be writable by all people who wish to play the game.

Note that if someone changes any options, in-game, those option changes will apply to everyone who plays on the same computer.

Installation from Zip File

The unzipped Factorio directory.

A list of all things found here:

• Save games (as zip files)
• User-installed/created Mods.
• User-installed/created scenarios.
• User configuration and settings storage
• Log file (factorio-*.log)
• Player data (player-data.json)

Note: Deleting the configuration file will result in a default replacement being generated upon the next Factorio launch.

It is recommended to create backups from this directory (of saves, config, etc) before installing a new version.

See also

• Install guide
• Installing Mods
• Linux Version - Save games in $HOME somewhere