Sheep Mode Files
Sheep mode is a shared name for several unrelated game modes and mods — most concretely, a CrossFire spin-off where collected sheep follow you and pay out points.
Ask three players what sheep mode is and you may get three different answers, all correct. The name is not owned by any single game: it has been attached to an official shooter mode, at least two community mods, and even a piece of mindset writing.
The most concrete meaning comes from CrossFire. The game's community wiki describes Sheep Mode as a spin-off of Free For All in which sheep follow whichever soldier collected them and give that soldier a few points. It is the only use of the name that is an actual built-in game mode.
The second meaning lives in modding communities. Hearts of Iron IV players refer to a sheep mod — documented by a subreddit thread from a player who found it locked to older updates — and Noita's Steam Workshop hosts a challenge-run mod that polymorphs the player into a sheep after a single wand shot.
The third meaning has nothing to do with games. A 2016 essay used sheep mode for a passive, fear-driven state of mind, the opposite of hunter mode. Search results mix this usage with the gaming ones, which is why disambiguation matters.
The quickest way to identify which sheep mode you are looking at is context: a shooter's mode list means CrossFire, a strategy forum means the HoI4 mod, a Workshop page means Noita, and a self-development blog means the metaphor.
Further reading