Getting Started

Requirements#

• Stardew Valley 1.6 or later.
• SMAPI 4.0 or later.
• NPC Helper 2 installed in the game's Mods folder.

Install SMAPI using its official installation guide, then download NPC Helper 2 from Nexus Mods. Extract the mod into Stardew Valley/Mods/ and start the game through SMAPI. The SMAPI console should show that NPC Helper 2 loaded.

Create a content pack#

A content pack is a folder installed beside NPC Helper 2 in Mods/. It contains a SMAPI manifest and an NPCs/ folder. This small example defines one character:

Mods/
├── NPC Helper 2/
└── MyFirstNPC/
    ├── manifest.json
    └── NPCs/
        └── Rei/
            └── Rei.toml

Create manifest.json with the content pack's own unique ID and the NPC Helper 2 dependency:

{
  "Name": "My First NPC",
  "Author": "Your Name",
  "Version": "1.0.0",
  "UniqueID": "YourName.MyFirstNPC",
  "Description": "Adds a custom NPC.",
  "ContentPackFor": {
    "UniqueID": "Framework.Mod.NpcHelper",
    "MinimumVersion": "2.1.0"
  }
}

Create NPCs/Rei/Rei.toml:

Name = "Rei"
DisplayName = "Rei the Baker"

[Personality]
Gender = "Female"
Age = "Adult"

[Birthday]
Season = "Spring"
Day = 14

[Home]
Map = "Town"
X = 10
Y = 12
Facing = 2

[Dialogue]
Introduction = "Hi! I'm Rei."
Mon = "A new week begins."

[Schedule]
Weekday = ["600 Town 10 12 2", "1200 Town 20 20 3"]

The files Dialogue.toml and Schedule.toml are optional; small NPCs can put those tables in the main <Name>.toml file as above. Add artwork under sprites/ and portraits/ when ready. See Content Pack Structure for the complete layout.

Try it in game#

1. Keep the pack folder directly inside the game's Mods/ folder.
2. Launch Stardew Valley through SMAPI.
3. Check the SMAPI console or log for NPC Helper 2 messages if the character is not loaded.
4. Visit the map and time specified in the NPC's home and schedule data.

For larger packs, the optional npchelper command-line tool can create a starter pack and check its files before you launch the game. See Tools & API.

Next steps#

• Configure all character fields in NPC Definition.
• Write game-compatible dialogue and routines in Dialogue & Schedules.
• Add artwork variants with Sprites & Portraits.