Mod load order in ATS is set in the Mod Manager, and there’s just one rule: whatever is higher in the list of active mods takes priority. If two mods change the same file, the one on top wins. In practice, from top to bottom: patches and add-ons the author wants «at the very top,» UI and economy, general sounds, rain, graphics and weather, lights, physics, traffic, trucks and trailers with their add-ons and, at the bottom, the maps, with Reforma Mega Resources last. It’s the same method we explain in ETS2 mod load order; here we apply it to American Truck Simulator 1.61 mods, using what their own authors say.
How priority works in ATS
- One order per profile. Each profile stores its own list of active mods and their order. If you switch profiles, check the list. Steam Workshop mods show up on their own when you subscribe; manual ones go in
Documents\American Truck Simulator\mod(on Linux,~/.local/share/American Truck Simulator/mod). If you haven’t installed any yet, start with the guide to installing mods in ATS. - The one on top rules. Two mods that change the same thing don’t stack: one overrides the other. That’s why a patch or add-on always goes above the mod it modifies.
- The author has the final say. If a mod’s page specifies a particular position, follow it even if it contradicts the general rule.
- The Mod Manager blocks what it can’t load. According to SCS’s documentation, a mod that declares compatible versions can’t be enabled on another game version, and one that declares required DLCs is blocked if you’re missing any of them.
Several authors ask for their mod to go «at the very top»: Grimes with his seasons, Generic Police Removal, Better Raindrops… That’s not a serious contradiction: what matters is that each one sits above the mods it shares files with. If two of them touch the same thing (for example, two rain mods with their own sound), decide which one you want to win and move it up.
The recommended order, layer by layer
Here’s the list from top to bottom, with the ATS mods on Holymod and the position their authors ask for.
- Police, economy and UI patches. Generic Police Removal goes above the other traffic mods; its author recommends this order: GPR, Extra City Police Vehicles, Local Police Traffic, the rest of your mods and, last, Sound Fixes Pack. For economy, Realistic Economy by Slayin Egos asks for other economy, fuel, fines or traffic mods to sit below it, and the author of Long Drive Short Rest usually puts it at the very top. Background maps, like [8k] US Color Map, go above other map or UI mods.
- General sounds. Sound Fixes Pack has to go above maps, traffic mods and other rain mods. The exception is the police mods from the previous point: their authors want it below theirs, and the GPR author even puts it at the end of the list. If you follow the Sound Fixes Pack author, it’s enough for it to sit below the police mods and above everything else listed here.
- Rain. Denis’s series has a fixed order: YARM: Particles Addon, Pure Rain Addon, Yet Another Rain Mod, other rain mods and, below, graphics, weather and lighting. Glass Bounds Corrections goes above rain and snow mods, and Realistic Rain above any weather or graphics mod.
- Graphics and weather: just one. Pick a base: New Summer or another Grimes season, Frosty Winter, Realistic Brutal Graphics And Weather, Realistic Weather System or Allan’s All-In-One. Grimes asks you to disable other weather, graphics or HDR mods, and Frosty’s add-ons go above Frosty. Allan’s All-In-One goes below UI mods and background maps and above map packs. Realistic Day & Night Duration goes above graphics mods.
- Lights. Better Headlights For ATS goes above graphics and weather mods. Realistic Vehicle Lights changes the same files as other light mods: only the one highest up applies.
- Physics. Air Ride must go above any other physics mod, and Improved Suspension Behavior asks for a high position. With ATS Trucks Physics by MK, whichever is higher wins if you use two physics mods. Realistic Cargo Weight 2x goes above other mods that change weights.
- Traffic density and behavior. Real Traffic Density goes above map mods and any other density mod, and its patch for Jazzycat/TrafficMan goes right below it. The RealRoads presets are mutually exclusive: only one active, with SignalFlow Plus above the preset. Real life traffic density is incompatible with other density mods. Real World Plates goes above density mods.
- Traffic packs and AI trailers. Bus Traffic Pack by Jazzycat and Jazzycat’s other packs go together; Mr Larrington’s Traffic and Trailer Pack follows the order in its instructions file; Traffic Trailer Mega Pack adds about 500 trailers. Clean Traffic No Default SCS Trailers goes below your trailer packs. If you use trains, Very Long Freight Trains goes above Long Freight Trains.
- Trucks, trailers and their add-ons. Here the rule is «the add-on above its truck.» Smarty’s Wheel Pack goes above the trucks and trailers it provides wheels for; the GTM Fixes patch above the GTM Kenworth T800; the SiSL pack or other accessories above Project 3XX; Peterbilt 389 Rework above other 389 mods; and Volvo Drivetrain Revision above Volvo mods. Slav Jerry’s engine sounds, like Cummins ISX Stock Sound, go above trucks and other sound mods. For cargo, Military Cargo Pack goes above other trailer packs.
- Maps, at the bottom. Within the map block: patches and connectors on top, expansions above their base and resources last (details in the next section).
To avoid getting lost in a long list, Mod Marker adds empty mods that show up as colored headers in the Mod Manager: you put one at the start of each layer with its mods below it. They don’t change anything in the game.
Maps: what’s different from ETS2
In ETS2, almost everything revolves around ProMods. In ATS there are several big projects with their own patches, and each gives different instructions. Here’s what their authors say:
- Reforma needs the Reforma Mega Resources pack of the same version and lots of state DLCs. Its files are numbered in the Mod Manager; follow the order in Team Reforma’s official tutorial. Mega Resources always goes at the end of the list.
- Reforma Other Maps Patch is the official patch for playing Reforma together with Coast to Coast, ProMods Canada, ATS Expansion or CanaMania. It goes at the very top, above any other map.
- Reforma Sierra Nevada goes above Mega Resources and, if you use Reforma, above the Reforma map file. Real MX Graphics goes above the Mexico maps whose textures it changes.
- Project Better Arizona: from top to bottom, the connection patch, Better Arizona, Reforma (or PaZzMod) and Mega Resources.
- Coast to Coast is split into several files that you enable in the order given in the first post of its thread. Compatibility patches with other maps go above it, and so does CanaMania, which requires it.
- Alaska Expansion goes right above Western Canada Expansion, by the same author. Western Canada’s connectors to other maps go above the map.
- ProMods Canada: its files, in the order ProMods gives. If you combine it with Reforma and ProMods sits above, Team Reforma offers a patch for the world map.
- ATS Expansion takes its Cargo Add-on right above it if you use mod trailers, and it doesn’t combine with Coast to Coast.
- Small pieces. Trucksmap USA goes above maps that edit California, Nevada, Oregon or Utah, and Washington Lake Cabin above those that touch northern Washington. Service at Companies is the exception: it goes below your maps.
- Standalone maps. Reforma Esterlon (above Mega Resources), Mapkalo (its seven files in the exact order from its website) and Dalton and Elliot Hwy Extreme don’t mix with the US map: use them on their own profile.
To choose which maps to combine, check the guide to the best ATS maps and, if you’re mainly interested in Mexico, the one on American Truck Simulator in Mexico.
A complete example for 1.61
A profile for the western US and Mexico with Reforma, using mods that list 1.61 compatibility, would look like this in the Mod Manager, from top to bottom:
- Sound Fixes Pack
- Realistic Rain
- New Summer
- Better Headlights For ATS
- Improved Suspension Behavior
- Real Traffic Density
- Traffic Trailer Mega Pack
- Bus Traffic Pack by Jazzycat
- Clean Traffic No Default SCS Trailers
- Smarty’s Wheel Pack
- International HX520 2022
- Real MX Graphics
- Reforma Sierra Nevada
- Reforma (its files, in the order from Team Reforma’s tutorial)
- Reforma Mega Resources
Two warnings: enabling Clean Traffic resets the economy and cancels your current job, so finish the delivery first; and Real Traffic Density requires g_traffic set to 1. To see which other mods fit in each layer, check out the best ATS mods.
Common errors and how to fix them
The game crashes when loading the map
Usually a map DLC or a file from the pack is missing, or the order isn’t the one specified. With Reforma or Better Arizona, check that Mega Resources is enabled, at the end of the list and on the same version as the map.
Dead-end roads at the border
It’s almost always the wrong order or mismatched versions between the maps and their connection patch. The patch goes on top, and all files must be for the same game version.
I still see generic police
Check the order the Generic Police Removal author asks for: GPR, Extra Police Vehicles, Local Police Traffic, the rest of your mods and Sound Fixes Pack last.
The new cargo or trailers don’t show up
Another cargo pack may be overriding them. Move the pack you want to see (for example, Military Cargo Pack) up, and keep Clean Traffic No Default SCS Trailers below your trailer packs.
The traffic doesn’t change
You probably have two density mods at once. Real life traffic density is incompatible with others, and only one RealRoads preset can be active. Stick with one.
A cab screen shows strange values
Several dashboard mods share data. A fixed value like 75 km/h on Job Screen points to a conflict, and the Volvo VNL 2025 dashboard is fixed by moving VNL 2025 Improved Dashboard above other VNL mods. Change the order until it displays correctly.
If none of this works, close the game and check the end of game.log.txt, in Documents\American Truck Simulator: the error lines name the file that’s failing. If you still can’t find it, disable half your mods and repeat until you isolate the culprit. Before changing a lot, back up your profiles folder, and for Convoy mode remember that the host and guests must use the same mods in the same order.
Keep going with our guides to ATS truck mods and realistic ATS mods (traffic, graphics, physics and sound).
Frequently asked questions
What goes higher in ATS, maps or traffic?
Traffic. Maps go at the bottom of the list and traffic mods above them: Real Traffic Density, for example, asks to go above map mods.
Where does Reforma Mega Resources go?
At the end of the list, below Reforma and any map that needs it, such as Better Arizona, Sierra Nevada or Esterlon.
Where do I put Sound Fixes Pack?
Above maps, traffic mods and other rain mods. If you use Generic Police Removal and its police mods, keep it below them, as their authors ask.
Can I use two traffic density mods?
It’s not a good idea: they change the same files and only the one on top applies. Some, like Real life traffic density, are flat-out incompatible with others.
Does the ETS2 load order work for ATS?
The rule is the same, because both games use the same Mod Manager. What changes are the maps (Reforma, Coast to Coast and their patches) and some ATS-specific mods, like the police ones, which ask for specific positions.