How to prevent the 1.6 update from installing (Steam/GOG/Xbox)

[Pickysaurus]

Stardew Valley's 1.6 update is a massive step forward in terms of modding, but if you're already mid-game in 1.5 you might want to avoid the update until all the mods you play with have been updated or just stay on your current version until you're finished with your current save. Here are some tips and tricks to stop the update from automatically applying to your game.

Stardew Valley 1.6 releases for PC on March 19 2024. 

 

How to stop Steam from updating Stardew Valley

These instructions assume you are using Steam on Windows. The process may differ slightly for MacOS or Linux.

1. Find your Stardew Valley install folder (defaults to C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Stardew Valley).
2. In the steamapps sub-folder two levels above, locate the file appmanifest_413150.acf - this is the app manifest for Stardew Valley. You can verify it's the correct one by opening it in Notepad and checking that Stardew Valley is written inside the file. 
3. Open this link in your browser https://steamdb.info/app/413150/depots/?branch=public. 
4. Open appmanifest_413150.acf in Notepad and look for the "InstalledDepots" section. This should contain something similar to this:  

   	"InstalledDepots"
   	{
   		"413151"
   		{
   			"manifest"		"1611888188872054784"
   			"size"		"654509123"
   		}
   	}

5. On the SteamDB page, under "Depots" find the row that matches your installed Depot.
6. Copy the ManifestID from SteamDB and replace the one shown in your file.
7. Save and close the ACF file. 
8. Right-click on the appmanifest_413150.acf  file and select "Properties".
9. In the properties window check the "Read only" box and click "Apply". This prevents Steam from correcting the manifest details itself.
10. Your Steam client should now believe Stardew Valley is updated and not attempt to update it automatically. 

To undo this change, simply remove the "Read only" flag on the appmanifest_413150.acf  file and verify your game files via Steam. 

 

How to stop GOG Galaxy from updating Stardew Valley

GOG Galaxy provides a much easier way to stop your game from updating and allows you to roll back to older versions. 

 

1. Open GOG Galaxy and find Stardew Valley in your "Installed" section.
2. Click the More button at the top of the panel (near the Play button).
3. Choose "Manage Installation" -> "Configure…"
4. Under "Auto-updates" uncheck the "Automatically update to the newest version" box.
5. You can also use this feature to roll back to 1.5 if you've updated by mistake. Simply click on the version of the game you'd like to use (e.g. 1.5.6.1988831614).

 

 

How to stop Xbox Game Pass (PC) from updating Stardew Valley

Stopping updates via Xbox Game Pass for PC can be done in the Settings menu, but this (like with Steam) doesn't always fully stick and occasionally the game will update anyway. 

Disable Updates in Settings

1. Open the Xbox app and sign in if you haven't done so yet.
2. Click your profile icon in the top-left and select "Settings".
3. Under "Install Options", uncheck the "Enable Automatic Updates" checkbox. 
4. Close the Xbox app and restart your PC.

 

 

Disable Updates in Services.msc (Advanced)

If the method above has not worked, you can make changes to the background Windows services that control game updates. This is for advanced users only and you should make a note of this change somewhere in case you want to undo it. 

1. Open a Command Prompt with Windows Key + R.
2. Type "services.msc" into the input box and press enter.
3. Locate the "Delivery Optimisation" entry and double-click it.
4. Click the "Stop" button, then change the "Startup type" to "Disabled" to prevent this service from restarting with your PC boots up.
5. Click "Apply", and then "OK" to confirm the changes.
6. Restart your PC. 

Disabling a service in this way may have unintended side effects when the Xbox app needs to download content, so consider making this change a "last resort" action. 

 

How to backup your game folder

The final recommendation is to back up your entire Stardew Valley folder somewhere safe so that if all else fails, you always have a copy of the original files to refer back to. 

1. Open your Stardew Valley install folder.
2. Select all files (Ctrl + A on the keyboard).
3. Right-click and select "Send To" -> "Compressed (zipped) folder".
4. Once your PC has done processing a new file will have been created it may be called something like "xTile.zip" and should be approximately 500MB-1GB in size depending on how many mods you have installed. 
5. Rename this file "Stardew Valley 1.5 Backup.zip" and copy it somewhere safe on your PC.
6. If your game every updates accidentally, you can extract the contents of this file into your game folder to restore the original content.