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Install or update RuneSchema

This guide covers a normal RuneSchema installation and the safest way to update an existing setup. The same RuneSchema content format is used on Steam, Epic, and Game Pass. Use the package intended for your game and UE4SS installation.

New to the framework? Start with what RuneSchema is, what its files do, and how to make an add-on.

Before installation

You need:

  • a working Dragonwilds installation;
  • the supported UE4SS setup for your store version;
  • the RuneSchema release package;
  • a backup of any character used for testing.

Close the game before replacing RuneSchema, UE4SS, or any PAK files.

Download the current 0.8.0.0 package. There is one RuneSchema-<version>.zip per release, with the registry and networking bridges and Helpy included. No separate Core or Universal choice is needed. The e suffix identifies an experimental build; m identifies main.

RuneSchema folder location

RuneSchema belongs inside the UE4SS Mods folder:

ue4ss/
  Mods/
    RuneSchema/
      dlls/
      mods/
      scripts/
      settings/

The exact folders above ue4ss depend on the store installation. Do not move the contents of RuneSchema/mods into the game's ordinary PAK folder.

The package also has a RuneSchema/plugins folder. Its plugins.txt file controls the optional components shipped with RuneSchema:

RuneSchema.RegistryBridge : 1
RSNetworking : 1
RuneSchema.Helpy : 1

Use 0 to keep one optional plugin from loading. Do not delete only one file from a PAK triplet; disable the plugin or remove its whole folder instead.

Enable RuneSchema itself

The UE4SS Mods/mods.txt file controls whether RuneSchema starts. Its line must be enabled:

RuneSchema : 1

Use 0 only when you want RuneSchema itself to stay completely off.

If a mod uses the optional logicmods folder, RuneSchema's own Lua helper can start its cooked ModActor. The release settings enable this route without editing BPModLoaderMod. Keep your existing settings and mods folders when updating, and confirm luaActorLoader = true and patchScript = false in the [bpModLoader] section of settings.ini. Existing JSONC settings migrate automatically; see settings and migration. A mod's ue4ss/scripts/main.lua companion needs no separate UE4SS mods.txt line. See Blueprint and Lua companion folders for the two layouts.

Enable individual RuneSchema mods

RuneSchema has its own list at:

RuneSchema/mods/runeschema.txt

Each folder has one line:

MyWeaponPack : 1
MyStationPack : 1
OldTestMod : 0

1 enables the folder. 0 disables it. A disabled line always wins if the same name appears more than once, even with different letter case.

The line order is also the RuneSchema mod order. Keep required base mods above the patches that depend on them.

Choices are retained for temporarily missing folders, so restoring an update does not reactivate a disabled mod. Only 1 enables a folder; invalid values remain disabled. Save this file as UTF-8. If it changes while the load-order editor is open, reload from disk before saving; stale edits are not applied.

Helpy opens as a separate desktop window with F2. It has its own taskbar entry and normal keyboard/mouse focus. Press F2 again or close the window to return to the game. Switching to another application does not force it closed.

Check for updates in Helpy

Open Settings > Updates & runtime to compare your installed RuneSchema version with GitHub main and the latest published stable release. Automatic checks run in the background when Helpy opens, at most once a day. The same panel has a manual check and links to GitHub and the community Nexus listing. Disable automatic checks there if you prefer an offline setup.

Only public version metadata is requested. Helpy sends no character or world data, downloads no update files and never installs an update automatically. Results are cached under %LOCALAPPDATA%\RuneSchema\HELPY\updates.json. Network failures and rate limits appear as unavailable checks, not as proof that your installation is current. An alpha version newer than main is shown as ahead; different legacy build labels are not treated as ordered version numbers.

Nexus comparison opens its listing in your browser. Helpy does not bypass Nexus login or anti-bot protections; its automatic checks use GitHub.

UE4SS build identity and compatibility

Helpy shows the loaded UE4SS build in its runtime footer and Updates & runtime panel. The current startup banner supplies the declared version and Git commit; RuneSchema verifies the commit exists in the loaded DLL before reporting it. If that identity cannot be established, the build remains unknown rather than being guessed from a download filename or another installation's log.

RuneSchema has no runtime build-number ceiling or exact-version rejection rule. It detects available capabilities and uses fallbacks for optional APIs. Its compile SDK remains pinned for reproducible builds; that is not an installed-host version lock. Newer UE4SS hosts must retain RuneSchema's required exported C++ symbols and ABI. A future breaking ABI change can require a rebuilt RuneSchema, so compatibility with every future UE4SS binary cannot be guaranteed. RuneSchema updates do not replace or modify UE4SS.dll.

Update an existing installation

  1. Close Dragonwilds.
  2. Copy your current RuneSchema folder somewhere safe.
  3. Keep your own mod folders and runeschema.txt.
  4. Replace the RuneSchema program files with the new release.
  5. Do not mix program files from two RuneSchema versions.
  6. Start the game and wait at the main menu while the first setup finishes.
  7. Read UE4SS.log for the RuneSchema startup summary.
  8. Test world entry, menu return, and world re-entry.

If you previously installed RuneSchema, keep your preferred values from RuneSchema/plugins/plugins.txt when updating. See Optional bridges before disabling a bridge required by a content mod.

Confirm a successful start

The log should show that RuneSchema started and reached its content-loading steps. Some optional features may report that they are unavailable. That is not the same as a failed start.

If RuneSchema cannot start at all, the log should state the reason. Fix that first before judging whether an individual mod worked.

For this release, both RuneSchema and RSMK should report 0.8.0.0. If either shows an earlier version, check for an old DLL in the active UE4SS installation before troubleshooting the mod.

Remove RuneSchema temporarily

Set RuneSchema : 0 in the UE4SS Mods/mods.txt file and restart the game. RuneSchema should not load at all.

Disabling RuneSchema also disables its save cleanup. If a character contains references to removed mod content, restore that content or re-enable RuneSchema before trying to load the character.