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YAML
These settings matter during generation and will dictate your progression, so it's important to get these right!
The recommended way of setting up your YAML is to start from one of the presets. These are tailored specifically for different purposes, and cover a good range of playthrough lengths. If using Options Creator, the settings for these presets can be found below.
The time estimates given are assuming few interruptions and progression items being received at a quick pace. The more games there are in the multiworld, the longer these will take.
This is the same as the default YAML.
Made as a quicker alternative to the 6 heist mode, this skips the small heists and puts you straight into the bigger ones.
Goal: Original
Run Length & Safe House Tiers: 4
Score Checks: 68
A shorter version with half the safehouse tiers and 30 less score checks.
Goal: Original
Run Length: 4
Safe House Tiers: 2
Score Checks: 54
The original experience. All heist tiers are playable, and some level of score grinding is required to reach and finish the later heists.
Goal: Original
Run Length & Safe House Tiers: 6
Score Checks: 72
A shorter version with half the safehouse tiers and 30 less score checks.
Goal: Original
Run Length: 6
Safe House Tiers: 3
Score Checks: 66
Make sure to pick a campaign, or it'll default to Classics.
Play through a fixed set of heists with minimal unlocks. Some campaigns are harder than others and as such play time may differ slightly on a per-campaign basis.
Goal: Campaign
Safe House Tiers: 1
Score Checks: 77
Short, simple mode with full heist randomisation. Completions aren't required, so you can just play the game.
Goal: Score
Safe House Tiers: 2
Score Checks: 64
If you want to mess with the settings yourself, here's some info on what they do and how they work.
Original: Heists are randomly generated using a tiering system, where the heists get more complex/grander in scope as you progress. You win after successfully completing a run, where the last heist will always be White House or Crude Awakening.
Campaign: Heists are fixed, and you win after completing every heist in the campaign in a single run.
Score: Heists are fully random and forgo the tiering system, meaning you can get any heist at any time. You win after maxing out your score.
Only used if "Campaign" is selected as the goal.
All DLC in a campaign must be owned in order to play it - if you don't own it, the game won't let you play.
Note that some heists are flagged as licensed content - these heists are only accessible to players that purchased PAYDAY 2 prior to the 18th of August, 2024. If you bought the game after that date, any campaigns containing licensed content are sadly unplayable.
Classics: The six launch heists from PD:TH.
First World Bank, Heat Street, Panic Room, Green Bridge, Diamond Heist, Slaughterhouse.
You Guys No Fun: An assortment of free Vlad heists.
Four Stores, Mallcrasher, Nightclub, Aftershock, Meltdown.
Return Of The Rat: All heists related to Hector in chronological order.
Watchdogs, Firestarter day 1, Rats, Hoxton Breakout day 2, Hoxton Revenge.
Death Of Democracy: Elephant heists.
Framing Frame day 3, Election Day bank, Big Oil day 2.
Murky Day: Murkywater heists.
Shadow Raid, Meltdown, Beneath the Mountain, Henry's Rock.
I Need My Payday Too: All Dentist heists.
Big Bank, The Diamond, Hotline Miami, Hoxton Breakout day 1, Golden Grin Casino.
Greatest Heist Of All: The final story arc.
Reservoir Dogs (licensed content), Brooklyn Bank, Shacklethorne Auction, Breakin' Feds, Hell's Island, White House.
Silk Road: The Silk Road heists.
Border Crossing, San Martín Bank, Breakfast in Tijuana, Buluc's Mansion.
City Of Gold: The City Of Gold heists. Ukrainian Prisoner is excluded due to an issue with the "Vlad dies" timer.
Dragon Heist, Black Cat, Mountain Master.
Texas Heat: The Texas Heat heists. Lost In Transit is excluded due to an issue with the multiple point of no return timers.
Midland Ranch, Hostile Takeover, Crude Awakening.
Follow The Money: Every bank heist.
Bank Heist: Cash, GO Bank, Brooklyn Bank, San Martín Bank, First World Bank, Big Bank.
Gun Runners: Various heists containing lootable weapons.
Firestarter day 1, Aftershock, Brooklyn 10-10, Bomb: Dockyard, Midland Ranch, Border Crossing.
Night Of Frights: Every event heist. Spooky and painful!
Cursed Kill Room, Prison Nightmare, Lab Rats, Safehouse Nightmare.
Holiday Special: The Vlad Christmas heists, ending with a bang.
White Xmas, Santa's Workshop, Stealing Xmas.
Stealth Mission: Every stealth heist, organised to maximise your pain and suffering.
Breakin' Feds, Yacht Heist, Murky Station (licensed), Shadow Raid, Car Shop.
Only used if "Original" is selected as the goal.
How many heists you need to beat for a run to be considered successful. Run lengths below 6 skip the early heist tiers, jumping you straight into the bigger heists.
Recommended to use either 4 or 6. Going above 6 isn't feasible with the way the mod is currently designed.
The base number of score checks. This is modified during generation to account for safehouse tiers or not having enough locations, so I wouldn't worry too much about getting this right. The only major concern would be setting this too high, as the score required for each check is 1 higher than the previous check - this means it scales more the higher it gets.
How many times the safehouse can be upgraded. Each tier adds 8 score checks. Setting this too high can cause generation to consistently fail with the "Score" goal. When using other goals, the number of tiers is capped at run length.
This can affect how long a playthrough takes somewhat considerably, as each tier adds an additional 23 checks. On the flipside, setting it too low can cause the game to become bloated with score checks if there aren't enough available locations. There's a delicate balance of safehouse tiers to score checks that needs to be maintained, which is why starting with one of the presets is highly recommended.
The early game can be quite rough when playing solo. Without a way to self revive, your run is guaranteed to end as soon as you go down regardless of how many lives you have - this setting is here to alleviate that by guaranteeing a bot always generates within sphere 1, making the early game significantly more comfortable. If playing alone this is recommended to stay on - if you're planning on playing multiplayer, this doesn't matter nearly as much and you can turn it off.
Mod compatibility option. This requires the BigLobby mod to be installed and increases the number of extra bots from 3 to 19. This has not been thoroughly tested and may be unstable, but it is incredibly funny.