Dark Souls III mod loaders explained: Mod Engine, Mod Engine 2 and me3

Most Dark Souls III modding problems come from one of two mix-ups. The mod expects a different loader from the one you installed, or a modded save found its way online. This guide covers both before it gets to installing anything.

The rule that matters more than any install step

Dark Souls III has no client-side anti-cheat. Nothing on your PC stops the game from connecting to FromSoftware's servers with mods loaded, and that is exactly the danger. The servers check your character and save data, and a save carrying modified data gets soft-banned: you're only ever matched with other flagged players, and the flag follows that save.

So the goal is simple. A modded save should never connect to the official servers. Everything below is built around that.

Which loader does your mod expect?

Three loaders are still in use. DS3 mods have been released for over ten years, and each was written against whichever loader was current at the time.

Loader	How to recognise it	Status
Mod Engine (the original, by Katalash)	Ships dinput8.dll and modengine.ini to drop into the game folder	Old, but many classic mods still bundle it
Mod Engine 2	Ships config_darksouls3.toml and launchmod_darksouls3.bat	Last release 2.1.0 (2023), repository archived in July 2024
me3	Uses .me3 profile files and a Start-menu launcher	The actively developed successor; DS3 support since v0.8.0

If a mod's instructions name a specific loader and ship its files, follow those instructions. Big overhauls often tune their loader setup, and swapping it out is the fastest way to a broken install. For everything else, and for combining several small mods, use me3.

Setting up me3 for Dark Souls III

Download me3_installer.exe from the me3 releases page and run it. Only take it from github.com/garyttierney/me3; some antivirus tools flag the launcher, and the official source is how you know an exception is safe to add.

The installer creates a ready-made profile called darksouls3-default and an empty folder for it at:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\garyttierney\me3\config\profiles\darksouls3-mods

Asset mods (replacement .dcx files, parts, msg or map folders) go into that folder, keeping the folder structure the mod ships with. Launch through the Launch DARK SOULS III shortcut the installer adds, or from a terminal:

me3 launch -p darksouls3-default

Writing your own profile

Once you have more than one mod, a profile of your own is easier to maintain. A .me3 file is plain TOML and can live anywhere except a network drive. Paths inside it are relative to the file itself:

profileVersion = "v1"
savefile = "DS3Modded.sl2"

[[supports]]
game = "darksouls3"

[[packages]]
path = 'mods/texture-pack/'

[[packages]]
path = 'mods/weapon-rebalance/'

[[natives]]
path = 'mods/SomeTweak.dll'

Two lines in that file do the safety work:

• savefile points the game at a separate save. If the file doesn't exist yet, me3 copies your existing save and renames it, so your vanilla character is left untouched.
• start_online isn't listed, and that's deliberate. me3 blocks the official matchmaking servers by default. Only set start_online = true for a private-server mod that needs it, such as DS3OS.

Separate [[packages]] blocks per mod let you disable one by deleting three lines instead of hunting through merged folders. DLL mods go under [[natives]], not [[packages]].

Double-click the .me3 file to launch it.

When a mod brings its own loader: Cinders

Cinders is the best-known DS3 overhaul and a good example of a mod you should install its own way. Current versions ship a Mod Engine 2 setup plus HoodiePatcher.dll, and the Cinders wiki keeps the install steps current. Follow those rather than adapting them to me3.

Older Cinders builds used the original Mod Engine, which quietly switches the game to a DS30000.sl3 save while dinput8.dll is in the game folder. Remove the DLL and the game goes back to DS30000.sl2. That's handy isolation, but it's also why people "lose" their modded character after cleaning up the game folder. It's still there, just unused.

Don't remove Cinders from a character that has been playing with it. Its items and changes are baked into the save.

Where your saves live

%APPDATA%\DarkSoulsIII\<your Steam ID folder>\

DS30000.sl2 is the vanilla save. Anything with a different name was created by a loader profile. Back the whole folder up before trying a new overhaul; it's small, and it's the only thing a bad install can't give back.

Playing modded with friends

Official co-op is off the table with a modded save, but two routes are built for it:

• Seamless Co-op by LukeYui (released February 2025) matches players over Steam directly. Everyone needs the same mod and game version, and the session password lives in ds3sc_settings.ini. It does not need start_online.
• DS3OS runs private servers, which is the case start_online = true exists for.

Getting back to vanilla

With me3, just launch the game from Steam as normal. Nothing in the game folder was touched. With the original Mod Engine, remove dinput8.dll and modengine.ini from the Game folder first, or the game will keep loading mods and the alternate save.

If you've modded Elden Ring before, the loaders are the same family and most of this carries over. The Elden Ring guide covers the differences that come with Elden Ring's Easy Anti-Cheat.