@DanDoesDev
Morrowind

TES3MP Quickstart

A step-by-step guide to setting up TES3MP from scratch with recommended mods.

Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. TES3MP Setup
  3. Recommended Mods
  4. Mod Installation
  5. Final Tweaks
  6. Server Admin
  7. Play!

Introduction

  • This is intended as a very quick guide for experienced users. For a more detailed guide, see my TES3MP Guide and OpenMW Mod Management guide.
  • It is heavily based on the I Heart Vanilla mod list.
  • At time of writing, TES3MP uses OpenMW 0.47, so some newer features are not yet available (e.g. animation blending, built-in TrueType fonts).

TES3MP Setup

  1. Install Morrowind and expansions, and run the game once.
  2. Download and extract TES3MP.
  3. Run openmw-wizard.exe and point it at your Morrowind directory.

Recommended Mods

Essential Fixes & Official Plugins

  1. Patch for Purists
  2. Unofficial Morrowind Official Plugins Patched - just the UMOPP Merged optional file
  3. Jammings Off - simple version (only Xnif files)

Performance

  1. Morrowind Optimization Patch
  2. Project Atlas

Vanilla-Friendly Graphical Upgrades

  1. Enhanced Textures - main file, interface and main menu, and MET 6 Atlas textures
  2. OpenMW Upscaled Inventory Icons
  3. Familiar Faces
  4. Big Icons
  5. Vanilla Style HD Icons for Attributes and Skills - 256x256 version
  6. Loading Screens Diversified
  7. TrueType fonts for OpenMW - main file, HD texture buttons and Tweaked Pelagiad font
  8. Pete's Journal and Scroll - the optional file with journal

Nice to Have Graphical Mods

  1. Cantons on the Global Map
  2. Chocolate UI
  3. Small Skyrim Crosshair
  4. Magic Icons (Sig Edit)
  5. Glow in the Dahrk
  6. Nords shut your windows
  7. OpenMW Containers Animated
  8. Weapon Sheathing
  9. Weapon Sheathing Additions
  10. Potions and Scroll Icons & Potion Sorter

Gameplay

  1. Graphic Herbalism
  2. Expansion Delay
  3. All Boat Ports
  4. All Silt Strider Ports
  5. All Gondola Ports

Music

  1. The Epic Soundtrack
  2. Resdayn Suite (€5)
  3. Northern Dreams (€3)

Mod Installation

Fonts

  1. Place the new TrueType fonts in %USERPROFILE%/Documents/My Games/OpenMW/Fonts.
  2. The Tweaked Pelagiad font files should overwrite the files from the main download.

Mod Organizer 2

  1. Download and extract Mod Organizer 2.
  2. Create a new profile, with Automatic Archive Invalidation disabled.

  3. Install all other downloaded mods using Mod Organiser 2.

    • Installing a mod will bring up a menu with additional options.
    • Some mods have multiple options but often it's just personal preference.
    • Sometimes MO2 doesn't understand the structure of a mod archive, but it will give you the option to rearrange it. Normally it's just a case of dragging folders to the top level (under <data files>).
    • Project Atlas: Be sure to choose "Morrowind Enhanced Textures" and enable the "Glow in the Dahrk" and "Graphic Herbalism" patches.
    • Familiar Faces: Click "Manual" and drag the contents of the optional folder to the top level.
    • Chocolate UI: If you want to keep the vanilla map markers, find and delete door_icon.dds.dds after installing.
    • Potions and Scroll Icons: After installing, find PotionsandScrollsandPotionSorter.omwaddon and rename to PotionsandScrollsandPotionSorter.esp.

The final list should look something like this:

Mod List in MO2

Run External Tools

At this point, ideally you should run some external tools to clean and sort mods, and merge objects and levelled lists, as described here. However, if you are lucky then your friendly server host will provide you with the correct load order and Merged Objects plugin ;)

Exporting to OpenMW

  1. Download ModOrganizer-to-OpenMW and put OpenMWExport.py and openmw.ico in your Mod Organizer plugins directory.

  2. Export mod configuration to OpenMW via the plugin:

    Exporting to OpenMW

Final Tweaks

Recommended Settings

Add these lines to your %USERPROFILE%/Documents/My Games/OpenMW/settings.cfg file:

[Shaders]
antialias alpha test = true

[GUI]
color topic enable = true
stretch menu background = true

[General]
anisotropy = 16
texture mipmap = linear

[Game]
only appropriate ammunition bypasses resistance = true
shield sheathing = true
show melee info = true
show projectile damage = true
use additional anim sources = true
weapon sheathing = true

Launcher Options

Run openmw-launcher.exe and tweak the settings there according to your preferences.

Server Admin

  1. Use Tes3MpPluginHelper to populate server/data/requiredDataFiles.json.
  2. After CharGen, edit server/data/player/PlayerName.json and change staffRank to 2.
  3. Type /runstartup in the chat window (F2).
  4. Type /setconsole <pid> on in the chat window to enable the console for a player (/list to see players).
  5. Be ready to encounter a few issues during gameplay!

Play!

Connect to Server

  1. Edit tes3mp-client-default.json in the TES3MP directory to specify the server address, port and password (if needed).
  2. Run tes3mp.exe to launch the game!
  3. Press F2 to show/hide the chat, and press Y to enter chat messages.

Tweak In-Game Settings

  1. From the in-game video settings, enable the Water Shader (and optionally Refraction).
  2. You may also want to adjust the Gamma and Minimum Interior Brightness.

Enjoy multiplayer Morrowind!

Published 2026/04/23

Last updated 2026/04/24