FAQ
Tip
All file paths mentioned in this FAQ are relative to your game folder, i.e. BepInEx/LogOutput.log = [game folder]/BepInEx/LogOutput.log, where [game folder] is the path to the folder containing the game's executable (e.g. SubnauticaZero.exe).
Steam users can find this folder by right-clicking the game in their Steam library and selecting Manage -> Browse local files.
BepInEx is a general purpose framework for Unity modding. This is a BepInEx pack for Subnautica: Below Zero, preconfigured and ready to use.
Yes! Please see the Compatibility with QModManager page for more information.
No.
You can find some under the Requirements section of the Description tab on the Nexus Mods mod page, under the heading Mods requiring this file.
This pack doesn't make any noticeable changes in-game by itself. This pack simply loads BepInEx plugins and patchers, and it is up to them to make changes to your game!
So, if you haven't yet actually installed any mods, BepInEx is probably working fine. You can verify this by checking the LogOutput.log file which should have been generated in your BepInEx folder. If you don't have this file, you probably didn't install it correctly, so try again, reading the installation instructions carefully.
If you're still having problems, see the below sections as appropriate:
- I've installed this with Vortex and it doesn't work!
- BepInEx loads, but none of my mods are working!
- Some of my BepInEx plugins aren't working!
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Ensure that Vortex is up-to-date.
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Ensure that you have the Subnautica Below Zero Support Vortex extension installed and that it is fully up-to-date.
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Restart Vortex.
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Reinstall the BepInEx pack and all enabled Subnautica: Below Zero mods with Vortex:
- Go to the Vortex
Modstab for Subnautica: Below Zero. - At the top left select
EnabledunderStatusto only display mods which are enabled in the list. - Press
Ctrl+Ato select all mods in the list. - Click the button labelled
Reinstallin the bar which appears at the bottom of the list. - Click
Deploy Modsat the top to ensure the mods have been deployed.
- Go to the Vortex
Make sure to also check any notifications in the 🔔 icon at the top right of Vortex. If any of them are telling you to do something, you should probably do what they say.
First things first, make sure you actually installed the mods to the right place. Refer to the Installing mods section of the README for details.
If you are sure you have everything installed correctly:
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Windows users: Make sure you launch the game from Steam, Epic or whatever platform you own it with. Launching via the .exe directly or from a desktop shortcut will not work, unless the shortcut was created by Steam/Epic etc.
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If you're not on Windows, or you own the game on Steam and don't get mods loading in-game when launching via Steam, check the log file found at
BepInEx/LogOutput.logfor the following lines:[Warning: Unity Log] Missing Steam DRM [Warning: Unity Log] Couldn't initialize SteamworksIf you see these lines, the TL;DR fix is to restart Steam and/or your computer until the problem goes away. This issue is caused by a glitch between Steam and the game, and is out of our control.
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Otherwise, refer to the below section: Some of my BepInEx plugins aren't working!
Issues with BepInEx plugins are usually going to be either an installation issue caused by a mod manager, some manner of PEBCAK issue, or a bug with the plugin itself.
At the moment, the best you can do is reach out to the wider modding community for help. I recommend the Subnautica Modding Community discord server. Head to the #help-and-support channel, describe the problem you need help with, and upload your full log file (found at BepInEx/LogOutput.log) for the people there to have a look over. Make sure to be patient and polite, as these people are volunteering their free time to help you!
Old versions of the pack shipped with the console enabled by default, as an easy way for Windows users to determine whether BepInEx has been installed correctly.
However, the console can cause stuttering and freezing issues in-game when messages are printed frequently, whether by mods or by the game itself.
As such, new versions of the pack will ship with the console disabled by default, and it is recommended that users upgrade to the latest version at their earliest convenience.
If you close the console window it will also close the game, so we advise against it.
If you would like to disable the console window entirely, you should update to the latest version of the pack, which has the console disabled by default.
If for whatever reason you can't update the pack, you can disable the console with Configuration Manager. In-game, press F5. then enable Advanced settings. Click the heading BepInEx, and then under the heading Logging.Console simply uncheck the Enabled setting. You will need to restart Subnautica for this change to take effect.
Alternatively, you can edit the BepInEx configuration file directly if you prefer. To do so, open the file BepInEx/config/BepInEx.cfg in a text editor, find the heading [Logging.Console] and change the setting Enabled to false, then save the file. You will need to restart Subnautica for this change to take effect.
With the console window disabled, you can still access the log output from the file BepInEx/LogOutput.log.
Some users have reported inconsistent ability to access the in-game Steam overlay while the BepInEx console window is enabled. If you are having this issue, try disabling the console window following the instructions above.
QModManager ships with an old version of BepInEx, so installing QModManager on top of it will downgrade your BepInEx version, but some BepInEx plugins require the latest BepInEx version to function. Simply reinstall BepInEx to fix this issue.
Tough luck. We won't be helping you with that. If you have problems running mods on a pirated copy of a game... the pirated copy is the problem, not the mods.
Mods operate under the assumption that the game is in a specific state, has specific code which does specific things that they can rely on. If these assumptions are proven false, then their mod is not going to be able to function correctly. Pirated copies of games frequently break these assumptions, and therefore frequently break mods. If you're getting bugs when running a pirated copy of a game, the most likely solution is to run a legitimate copy of the game. No developer is going to help you until you try that first, because otherwise you're just wasting their time.
Feel free to post a comment on the Posts tab on Nexus Mods describing your issue, and I'll try to help you out. But if you're just going to ask a question that could have been answered by reading the instructions or this FAQ, there's a good chance you'll get a snarky response.
Alternatively, you could reach out to the wider modding community. I recommend the Subnautica Modding Community discord server. Head to the #help-and-support channel, describe the problem you need help with, and upload your full log file (found at BepInEx/LogOutput.log) for the people there to have a look over. Make sure to be patient and polite, as these people are volunteering their free time to help you!