Running with Elevated Privileges
This application requires elevated privileges to work correctly.
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This application requires elevated privileges to work correctly.
Last updated
Was this helpful?
Stardew Valley Mod Manager may present you with a UAC Prompt window when you launch the application. This window will inform the user that the application requires elevated privileges to work correctly. It is styled similarly to the native Windows UAC prompt, so that it feels familiar and non threatening to the user.
This window only appears if the user has Stardew Valley installed at what is defined as a "protected location". Certain Windows folders are not designed to be edited by the user or applications that the user installed, such as the Stardew Valley Mod Manager.
The Stardew Valley Mod Manager moves files and folders around when you perform basic tasks. For example, when you disable a mod - the application actually moves the mod folder and all of the mod files to an "Inactive Mods" folder. When you enable them, the application moves the folder and it's files back tot he "Mods" folder. Similarly, when you install a mod or modpack, the application is actually just unzipping the mod and moving it into the correct place!
If you have Stardew Valley installed under C:\Program Files - even if it's installed through Steam, the Mod Manager may fail to enable, disable, uninstall or add new mods unless it has the administrator's permission.
We understand that you may have reservations about allowing a relatively obscure application access to your administrator privileges, which is why with version 240501 - we're not forcing you to anymore. We previously introduced forced-admin mode in 2023, with version 230401. It was easier for us to implement a full administrator requirement, rather than adjusting the code of the application.
Option 1: Launch Normally With version 240501, which comes with this new window prompt, you have the option to launch the application normally. To do this, simply click "Launch Normally" when you receive this window. The application will start and you can access the mod manager as you normally would. It may be the case that you have no issues at all, but please know that you may experience problems with mod management that can only be solved by launching with elevated privileges.
Option 2: Move Stardew Valley If you're having issues with the mod manager when launching it as a regular user and you still don't want to grant administrator privileges, you may want to consider moving your Stardew Valley installation. If you're tech savvy, you may be able to do this manually - however, we'd recommend backing up your mods and then uninstalling and re-installing Stardew Valley via Steam - choosing a location on another hard drive if possible. You will have to re-install SMAPI, and also re-configure your Stardew Valley directory in the Mod Manager settings, if you choose this route.
Option 3: Ask the Admin If you don't have access to the admin account, ask your administrator to log in for you when you need to do mod management. This may not be ideal if you enable, disable, install and uninstall mods frequently - but if you only do these things every couple of weeks or months, it may be worth asking the administrator to help.
Or... Just allow the program to run with elevated privileges. As long as you're downloading the Mod Manager directly from RWE Labs, via the GitHub at this link () then you are download a safe and secure version of the mod manager. The code for Stardew Valley Mod Manager is all open source and available for review. There is nothing nefarious going on, except for the occasional lazily written or badly optimised code. These are the consequences of the developer building this application for friends, and not originally for the public.
