Stardew Valley Gameplay Free

Better Ranching for Stardew Valley

Stops you from milking or shearing in vain and shows bubbles over animals you can pet, milk or shear. Version 2.0.5 for 1.6, with a Spanish translation.

Author: Urbanyeti Version: 2.0.5 Compatible: Stardew Valley 1.6.0 or later with SMAPI 4.0.0 or later Updated: 3 May 2024 Reviewed: 24 Oct 2026
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What this mod does

Better Ranching makes day-to-day life with your farm animals easier. In the base game, if you use the milk pail or shears on an animal that isn’t ready yet, you waste energy and the animation for nothing. This mod prevents those failed attempts and shows a bubble over each animal with what it needs.

What it does

  • Indicators that show which animals and pets you can pet today, and which can be milked or sheared.
  • Since 2.0.4, it also shows custom produce from other mods over the animal.
  • Options to show or hide hearts on animals and pets, and to hide them once friendship is maxed out; you configure it with Generic Mod Config Menu.

Compatibility

Version 2.0.5 (May 3, 2024) works with Stardew Valley 1.6.0 or later and SMAPI 4.0.0 or later, on Windows, macOS and Linux, and it’s tagged as compatible with Android. It includes Chinese, French, German and Ukrainian, and there’s a Spain Spanish translation by Gonzy42 on Nexus.

Known issues

If the UI scale isn’t at 100 % but zoom is, the bubbles end up misplaced: the author recommends setting zoom to 95 % or 105 %. With UI Info Suite 2 you may see duplicate icons; turn them off in one of the two.

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Highlights and things to keep in mind

Highlights
  • Stops you wasting energy on failed attempts
  • Clear bubbles over each animal
  • Very lightweight (24 KB)
  • Spanish translation on Nexus
Keep in mind
  • Misplaced bubbles with certain scale and zoom combinations
  • Duplicates UI Info Suite 2 alerts if you use both
  • No info on multiplayer

Requirements

  • Stardew Valley 1.6.0 or later (PC; tagged as compatible with Android)
  • SMAPI 4.0.0 or later
  • Optional: Generic Mod Config Menu

How to install it

  1. Install SMAPI first (see its mod page) and launch the game once with it to make sure it works.
  2. Open the Better Ranching page on Nexus Mods, go to the Files tab and click Manual download on the main file (BetterRanching 2.0.5). You need a free Nexus account to download.
  3. Extract the .zip outside the game folder and move the resulting folder into the Mods folder, inside the game folder.
  4. Optional: for Spanish, download 'Better Ranching - Spanish' by Gonzy42 on Nexus and follow its instructions.
  5. Launch the game with SMAPI and go into a barn or coop: you'll see bubbles over the animals you can pet, milk or shear.

Version history

  1. 2.0.53 May 2024Current

    Fixes not being able to pick up items while holding a tool

  2. 2.0.430 Apr 2024

    Shows custom produce over animals; fixes the option to hide hearts on pets

Common problems

Why are the bubbles misplaced?

It happens when the UI scale isn't at 100 % but zoom is. Set zoom to 95 % or 105 %.

Does it clash with UI Info Suite 2?

There's no conflict, but both mark unpetted animals and you'll see repeated icons. Turn that option off in one of them.

Is it available in Spanish?

Yes, with Gonzy42's translation published on Nexus.

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