M.C - Comments

It's currently being updated less frequently / manually owing to the recent issues. The pause at the moment is whilst issues with some non-playing staff and contracts get bottomed out (there are no issues in the file available; but more testing needs to be done before we resume 20-minute, automated updates).

As a standard position - and for the vast majority of time since we moved to ‘updates every 20 minutes’ it has been getting updated every 20 minutes. So the answer to your question from a general standpoint is ‘every 20 minutes’, but not at the moment owing to some data integration bugs. An ‘every 20 minutes’ schedule will resume once the final/ongoing issues are tackled.

Yes, this is normal - the file named ‘sortitoutsi.net FM26 Data Update - Contracts.fmf’ contains all of the core changes; including transfers, changes to contract lengths and newly-created players.

I'm coming in ‘fresh’ to this issue, but happy to try and help troubleshoot.

As a starting point, can you confirm whether any of the newly-added players, in your game, are displaying corresponding photos (from the facepack) correctly? Or is the situation that all newly-created players are showing those game-generated images?

I am trying to establish whether there is an issue with specific players (e.g. the two that have been mentioned by yourself and the previous user), or something that is impacting the display of photos for all newly-created players.

Just to confirm: you are not doing anything wrong and you are not going mad - I am able to replicate the experience you have had, with the latest/current version of the FM24 Data Update.

Apologies for the confusion/inconvenience - we are in the process of troubleshooting and resolving a range of challenges with the FM24 Data Update. It was, in fact, paused from late October through until now owing to some of those issues. The Site Admin and a group of us are actively working on tackling things and the current version has some issues, still. It's a priority to get them sorted.

In terms of the actual file size of the download/contents - the ~50Mb is the right size. This is, in fact, the total size that the Data Update should be. The issue is in the logical construction of the main file, which handles things like player and non-player transfers, as well as the addition of new youth players. In simple terms, we need to keep working to tackle the issues before it's ready and stable for use. I can't put an exact timeline on it, but we're working continuously to sort it out. Many/all of the complications stem from the fact that we're producing two updates (FM24 and FM26) from, effectively/as much as possible, a single data set and there are some intricacies that need to be worked out.

It is available from the same ‘main’ page that you would get the FM26 Data Update from: https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update

Noting that you subscribe to the Enhanced Data Update, you should see the following section of the page when you go to the above link:
 

The two blue buttons correspond to the Data Updates for FM26 and FM24 respectively.

Please note: there are some issues we are tackling with the content of the FM24 Data Update - but in terms of being able to download the latest/current version, it should always be available to you via that main page.

Just to respond to this - and I know others have: it's a constantly-moving target in terms of specific players that any of us are working on. I can only speak for myself: I try my best to moderate newly-created player submissions on a daily basis. This keeps the general flow moving.

For obvious reasons, it would be very time-consuming to publish what we're moderating as we do it. That would involve creating posts where we are copy-pasting names into threads to confirm we're approving/rejecting submissions.

As Joe has referred to, as we now have a situation where the concept of newly-created players need to account for their existence across two databases (FM24 and FM26), there is an extra step we need to do. That's a step we're proactively taking and we do have an initial ‘catch-up’ that we need to complete before we're then just doing that task on newly-moderated submissions.

Realistically, the advice for now is that you should expect a short delay between a newly-created player submission being approved and that player appearing in the Data Update. That delay will be variable - it could be an hour, it could be a day or it could be a (small) number of days. I think cataloguing and publishing what we are doing would probably result in the end-to-end process slowing down - so I'm hesitant to do that. Better to get the moderation done quicker and less itemised confirmation along the way than slowing the moderation down but telling everyone each moderation step we're doing.

It should also be noted that since the launch of FM26, how we go about handling the co-existence and all of the details is a work-in-progress. We're discovering new situations that we need to make adjustments to handle continuously. I do often think we could communicate what we're doing more but, as mentioned, I also think we'd then be doing less each day and I think the majority of people who consume our data update just want the data to be as up-to-date as possible, as quickly as possible. All that being said, we're extremely grateful for the regular contributors because without those submissions in the first place, the data update isn't the comprehensive offering it would be.

There's no place hosting the config.xml file in isolation. However, the quickest way to grab the latest one is to get the most recent ‘update pack’ (2026.01) from here: https://sortitoutsi.net/graphics/1/download. It's only ~500Mb and contains the full config.xml file. Significantly quicker than re-downloading the whole megapack, of course.

There are two different paid products that can be purchased through the site. One is the Premium Membership (which is what you have already subscribed to/have an active subscription to) and the other is the Enhanced Data Update.

Just to clarify the content/distinction:

The Premium Membership gives access to faster downloads from our servers rather than having to use free mirrors.

The Enhanced Data Update is a version of the Data Update that includes everything the free version does, plus updated CA/PA values for many players, as well as providing an updated file every 20 minutes (i.e. near-real-time) which includes some dynamism between instances to keep things fresh in-game. By comparison, the free version releases once a day.

You will be able to see the status of your subscriptions via https://sortitoutsi.net/shop, on which page the distinction between the two products is also presented.

Therefore, I would expect you to get prompted for payment when attempting to access the Enhanced Data Update (in reality, when you go to the main https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update page, it'll present options for payment, but you can scroll past those and select the free one). You should not be getting prompted for payment when downloading graphics megapacks and similar - these should automatically be downloaded via the direct, faster servers.

If this latter situation is prompting you, please do let us know by replying and confirming exactly which content is prompting this - as that would be a bug. However it is correct that you are presented an option to pay when going to the Data Update page - as you currently do not have an active Data Update subscription (it expired on 1st November 2025).

Just to confirm: each product independently has a cost of £10 for a year, which is charged as a single payment and then provides access for a full 12-month period. It will renew unless set to cancelled. Appreciate it can be a bit confusing especially as they both have the same cost.

There are two different paid products that can be purchased through the site. One is the Premium Membership and the other is the Enhanced Data Update (which is what you have already subscribed to).

Just to clarify the content/distinction:

The Premium Membership gives access to faster downloads from our servers rather than having to use free mirrors.

The Enhanced Data Update is a version of the Data Update that includes everything the free version does, plus updated CA/PA values for many players, as well as providing an updated file every 20 minutes (i.e. near-real-time) which includes some dynamism between instances to keep things fresh in-game. By comparison, the free version releases once a day.

You will be able to see the status of your subscriptions via https://sortitoutsi.net/shop, on which page the distinction between the two products is also presented.

I have now removed the duplicate of Duje Matic from Hajduk Split. Should reflect in the next instance of the Data Update.

Noted regarding the duplicate: this is an error, in the sense that this player exists in the FM24 database. His UID is 2000334928.

I will take care of removing the community-created instance ASAP. Right at this moment in time, we are experiencing some errors in being able to administer certain created players - so I can't do it this second. But it's on the list to be dealt with as soon as the error is tackled.

I can't say that I am invested in the overall concept of the FM26 refresh rates, but I know enough about technology in general to be able to advise you that if you have a 60HZ display, you are only going to be able to see 60FPS through that display.

As such, there will be no method for you - through that display - to experience more than 60FPS. You could connect your laptop to an external display capable of higher refresh rates, but whether that is something that is an option you want to pursue is up to you.

The FM26 files won't work with FM24.

However, players who have had their CA/PA adjusted by the Data Update should be adjusted in the same way in both the FM24 and FM26 Data Updates, respectively. My understanding is that the logic that goes into the creation of the Player Attributes file is identical.

There is only one ‘instance’ of each player that can have updates submitted by the community. In theory, therefore, the amended CA/PA should be the same (well, very similar, as there is a bit of dynamic randomness applied to each instance) for any player who has had their CA/PA adjusted by the update.

One thing to remember is that the update only adjusts CA/PA; it doesn't adjust specific attributes. So if your belief is that FM26 has more realistic individual attributes (which is what you'd ‘see’ in-game when looking at a player's profile) - that is because they are coming from SI's database; not this site's update.

There was some bad data in the FM24 Data Update for a few days - this was resolved yesterday morning. The solution for you will be to grab the latest version of the FM24 Data Update and reinstall it over the top. The key file is the ‘Player Attributes’ one. Apologies for the inconvenience.

There is a fuller explanation here: https://sortitoutsi.net/comments/get/853548.

I believe there is a current issue with changes processing correctly and so this file being iterated has been paused temporarily whilst that is taken care of. Staff are working to solve the issue and re-enable the updates.

In the interim, the community should submit changes via the Contribute function as normal - once we can safely restart processing, all of those changes will be integrated.

You should be able to submit this via the integrated submission system. For your profile, I believe it would be via here: https://sortitoutsi.net/graphics/browse/1/1159562/timeline

From that page, if you click Upload, you can then choose whether you are submitting a Source image (i.e. something that someone needs to cut-out to finalise) or a game-ready cut-out and then upload the image file.

Can you please confirm what, specifically, you are trying to download? I can see that your account correctly reflects the Premium Membership - so you should have access to faster, direct downloads of graphics megapacks and so on.

If you are trying to download the FM24/26 Data Update and you are specifically seeking the enhanced version of that update - please note this is a separate product, which is why you would be prompted for payment separately. Just to lay everything out for you clearly:

The Premium Membership and Enhanced Data Update are two separate products. I appreciate it can be a bit confusing/unclear.

Premium Membership is purely about providing faster, direct downloads. Whilst the Enhanced Data Update provides the version of the Data Update that includes updated CA/PA values for various players.

There is a single Enhanced Data Update product/subscription, which grants access to the enhanced version of the update for both FM26 and FM24.

You can see the status of your subscriptions/orders here: https://sortitoutsi.net/shop.

Of course, if you are attempting to download graphics and not being offered the direct/faster downloads, that would appear to be a bug so if that is the case please do advise.

The Premium Membership and Enhanced Data Update are two separate products. I appreciate it can be a bit confusing/unclear, but just to confirm:

Premium Membership is purely about providing faster, direct downloads. Whilst the Enhanced Data Update provides the version of the Data Update that includes updated CA/PA values for various players.

There is a single Enhanced Data Update product/subscription, which grants access to the enhanced version of the update for both FM26 and FM24, just to confirm on that front.

Alas, therefore, you will need to subscribe to the second product to get the Enhanced Data Update. Once you have, you will see it is automatically presented to you (and of course the prompts to make a payment will disappear from the download page).

You can see the status of your subscriptions/orders here: https://sortitoutsi.net/shop.

Please rest assured, the experience you are having is the correct one. Your friend, in fact, is playing with a bugged version of the Data Update; which was recently fixed.

More detail can be found here and in the posts that follow: https://sortitoutsi.net/comments/get/853297.

Just to confirm: what you have downloaded today is accurate and functioning correctly. No need for you to do anything. You should advise your friend to re-download before they start a new game.

The FM24 Data Update consists of a lot of files - but in reality, the vast majority of them contain the changes/alterations that enabled the update to be current beyond the original 2023/24 season that FM24 was released during.

Most of the files in the FM24 Data Update files are updates to individual nation league structures, including promotions/relegations. Fundamentally, these aren't required for FM26 because everything's up-to-date as the game has just released and the structures in the game reflect the situation in real-life. The other files (outside of the core Contracts/Player Attributes ones) are all related to ‘normalising’ things once the game has been out for a while - for example, the +2 years file offsets player ages and contracts by two years to reflect the passing of time in real-life since 2023/24.

Ultimately, at this time, the FM26 Data Update only needs to consist of people movement/player creation/attribute adjustment and these things are handled through the two core files.

The offering for the FM26 Data Update is like-for-like with the FM24 Data Update in terms of content - it's just that there's no need to account for a season (or two) having taken place to reflect the real-life footballing world at this time. As time passes from here, the FM26 Data Update will get fleshed out with promotions/relegations and so on, no doubt - but there just haven't been any yet.

This was an issue with recent versions of the FM24 Data Update, but was resolved earlier today. I tested at around 10:40am (UK-time) and by that version the fault was no longer occurring.

The nature of the fault and the resolution is discussed in here: https://sortitoutsi.net/comments/get/853548.

If you get the latest version of the Enhanced Data Update, the issue should be gone. Looking at your download history, the last version you downloaded was yesterday which would’ve been a version containing the bug.

Please do let us know if you try the latest version and you still experience this issue.

Apologies no-one got back to you in the interim.

This folder structure, from the screenshot, looks correct…the one from your previous screenshot didn't (double ‘editor data’ folder).

With your current installation, can you show me what you see when you go into FM24 and, at the step where you can choose your database version, when you click that dropdown what appears. You should see a list of ‘Editor Data Files’ that you can tick/untick and all of the ones from our Data Update should be ticked (this means the game will use them during setup).

The basic/fundamental thing we need to establish is whether the game is recognising the presence of the FMF files. As long as you have them in the right location, the game should.

Beyond that, the other thing to ensure is that you are playing in ‘Original’ Career mode. The ‘Real World’ modes are not properly compatible with the Data Update.

This would indicate you have the free version of the Data Update. An extra feature of the paid version are the updated CA/PA values, which are delivered via the ‘Player Attributes’ file.

That is the intention behind the name, yes - it includes any contract-related changes to players. Those could be club changes (i.e. transfers), but could also be contract extensions where players re-sign new terms at existing clubs. In practice, that ‘Contracts’ file also includes newly-added players.

‘Player Attributes’ then contains anything non-contractual - so changes to CA/PA, mainly.

Update on FM24 Data Update:

A change has now been applied to the ‘Player Attributes’ file and this new version is now included in the Data Update, available to download as normal via https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update.

As a quick resolution, the ‘Player Attributes’ file no longer adjusts player reputations. This has returned the approximate number of players loaded when setting up a new game to the expected numbers (e.g. a small, England-only database is around ~10,000 instead of 150,000+). It has also put wages and market values back into the expected ranges.

For anyone playing FM24 with our Data Update, I would strongly recommend downloading the latest version before starting your next new save game. This will ensure that:

• the size of the database is correct
• player reputations are appropriate
• player wages and market values are appropriate

There does continue to be a temporary pause on non-playing staff submissions being integrated into the FM24 Data Update. This is separate from the above bug (now tackled) and has been the situation for a short while and this step was taken in order to alleviate a separate bug. Staff team are actively working on tackling this remaining issue and everything will get straightened out soon. Community members should continue to submit changes via https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-data-update/contribute as normal.

This is normal/expected. Some time ago (maybe a month or two), the naming structure of some of the core files was changed. Amongst those was the change from ‘Changes’ to ‘Contracts’.

That ‘Contracts’ file contains all of the data ‘Changes’ used to. Coupled with ‘Player Attributes’, that is the whole FM26 Data Update at this time.

Just to confirm - we are aware that the FM24 Data Update has a couple of issues at the moment. I have acknowledged this via my posts in the following thread, earlier today: https://sortitoutsi.net/comments/get/853297.

In terms of the significant spike in the number of players - I am pretty confident of the cause of this; it'll need some data to be re-processed to fix it and I am reliant on other members of the staff team/the site admin to assist with this. I have raised it to them, though, and we'll get it tackled ASAP.

I suspect the same root-cause is the trigger for the wages issue - though I haven't been able to definitively prove/get to that yet. Again, I can acknowledge the issue and reassure you it is being worked on as quickly as possible. We'll get everything straightened out as soon as we are able.

One thing you can do - either in the interim, or just to assist with testing - is to try and start a game with the ‘Player Attributes’ file disabled. As a minimum, this should deal with the ‘spike in the number of players’. It may also tackle the wages issue. What disabling this file would do, also, is remove any altered CA/PA values from your version of the game - which I appreciate is the ‘primary’ differentiator from the free version…so there's no intention to leave this as the only workaround. Just something I can suggest for right now.

Unfortunately, this is not something that is possible at the moment. It is only possible to amend contractual status of existing staff, who exist in the FM24/26 database. It isn't possible to create new non-playing staff (and this includes those who appear on the site's data but don't actually exist in the database anymore).

I'm going to close this thread to comments - not because I have a view either way on the topic, but because there's absolutely nothing valuable/appropriate that can come from such a thread.

Respectfully, posting on a second forum about your experience on another forum, specifically to draw attention to the fact you were banned, seems fairly pointless/self-important (certainly, it's not really been framed in a way to make a sensible discussion possible). What is probably even more inappropriate is the fact that a lot of your post seems directed at an individual.

Again, closing this thread primarily on the basis of there being no useful conversation that can stem from this - it's inciting responses to topics that are not very appropriate. Everyone is entitled to feel how they like about a computer game - but don't use this forum as a vehicle for an agenda against an individual. Let's keep things constructive and mature.

A double-post from me, but just to acknowledge:

I can easily replicate the spiked player count. With a full installation of the FM24 Data Update and no other custom files, I'm seeing a ‘base’ player count of 149,780 even when there are zero leagues selected. Naturally, the number goes up the more leagues that are selected.

I haven't dug into the ‘Player Attributes' file contents, yet (that is my next step), but I suspect (and this is speculation at this point) this high database player count will be caused by the same issue that is seeing over-inflated wages/market values.

Essentially, this large number of players (circa 150,000) are ‘always loading’ because they will have a reputation/stature that meets the threshold that ensures they ‘always load’. I would expect that same bugged data results in those same players also having over-inflated wages/market values.

At this time, I do not know the exact cause of this data being present - it could be something to do with the upstream process of the file creation, or some mathematical calculation that has gone awry, or it could even be that in FM26 the Reputation value range is wider and we haven't accounted for those differences since the FM26 Data Update started to be built. Whilst I'm a member of the staff team, I only have so much access to the underlying data so this is still speculative/theoretical at this stage.

Just to reiterate: this is a bug and we'll tackle it and ensure the experience returns to what we would expect ASAP.