How to use Lenny's Mod Loader and Script Hook for Red Dead Redemption 2 mods

Nearly every Red Dead Redemption 2 mod on PC depends on one or both of two community tools: Script Hook RDR2 and Lenny's Mod Loader (LML). They solve different problems, and knowing which is which makes the rest of RDR2 modding straightforward. Console versions can't be modded.

Keep mods out of Red Dead Online

Story mode is safe to mod. Red Dead Online is not: Rockstar bans players who use modified game files online.

Script Hook RDR2 helps here. It forcibly closes the game if you try to launch Online while it's installed, which prevents the most common accident. Don't rely on that alone, though. It only protects you while Script Hook itself is installed and working. The safest habit is to remove or rename your mod files before you play Online. The other option, if you have the disk space, is to keep a separate modded copy of the game folder.

For comparison: when Rockstar added BattlEye anti-cheat to GTA Online in 2024, reports at the time said it didn't cover Red Dead Online. That doesn't make Online modding any safer. Rockstar's own detection still applies.

What the two tools do

Tool	What it does	Needed for
Script Hook RDR2	Lets .asi plugins call the game's internal script functions	Trainers, gameplay scripts, most mods that add features
Lenny's Mod Loader	Swaps in replacement game files at runtime, without editing the originals	Textures, models, weapon and horse tweaks, most file-based mods

Many popular mods need both, so installing both is the normal starting point.

Installing Script Hook RDR2

Download Script Hook RDR2 from Alexander Blade's site, the same author as Script Hook V for GTA. From the bin folder in the download, copy these files into your RDR2 game folder, next to RDR2.exe:

• ScriptHookRDR2.dll
• dinput8.dll, the ASI loader that loads .asi plugins at startup
• NativeTrainer.asi, a basic trainer that's handy for confirming everything works

Launch story mode. If the native trainer opens, Script Hook is working.

dinput8.dll also matters for LML: its vfs.asi is itself an ASI plugin, so it needs this loader to run.

Installing Lenny's Mod Loader

LML's home is rdr2mods.com. The download contains two folders, and they go to different places.

ModLoader goes into the game. Copy everything in it into your RDR2 game folder:

• vfs.asi
• lml.ini
• the lml folder

When you're done, vfs.asi must be in the same folder as RDR2.exe. That's the step people most often get wrong. A vfs.asi one folder too deep is simply never loaded.

ModManager can live anywhere. Run ModManager.UI.exe, click the ... button next to Game Folder, and point it at your RDR2 folder.

Installing mods with the LML Mod Manager

Modern LML mods include an install.xml file that tells LML which files to load and how. For those mods:

• On rdr2mods.com, supported mods show a Download with LML button. Clicking it hands the mod to the Mod Manager, which downloads and installs it. If the button is greyed out and says "Unsupported", install that mod by hand.
• In the Mod Manager, you can see and toggle the mods it has installed.

The Mod Manager only lists mods that use install.xml. Older mods without it still work, but you manage them by hand inside the lml folder, and they won't appear in the Mod Manager.

For manual installs, the lml folder has two subfolders:

• stream loads streaming files directly. Many older map and trainer add-ons expect this folder.
• replace replaces game files by path. It's more powerful, and it's easier to get wrong.

Follow the mod's instructions for which one to use.

Script mods

Script mods usually come as .asi files. They go in the game folder next to RDR2.exe, alongside Script Hook's files. Some mods are written for Script Hook RDR2 .NET instead, a separate community project that loads C# scripts from a scripts folder. Those mods say so on their pages and link the version they need.

Trainers are a common first install. Lenny's Simple Trainer, from the same author as LML, is a popular one.

After a game update

Script Hook is tied to specific game versions. After Rockstar patches RDR2, the game may refuse to start with Script Hook installed until Alexander Blade releases a matching build.

1. Check the Script Hook RDR2 page for a version that supports the new update.
2. Until then, rename dinput8.dll to play unmodded. This stops every ASI plugin, including LML's vfs.asi.
3. Once the update is out, replace ScriptHookRDR2.dll and dinput8.dll, and test with only the native trainer before re-enabling other mods.

Going back to vanilla

Remove dinput8.dll, ScriptHookRDR2.dll, vfs.asi, lml.ini and any .asi mods from the game folder. Then use your launcher's verify or repair option to restore any files a mod replaced directly. Moving the lml folder somewhere else keeps your LML mods safe for later.

Before your first big install, copy the entire game folder somewhere else. It's large, but it's the one backup that makes any mistake reversible.