This article is about the Mods. For the the process of creating Mods, see Modding
Introduction[]
Natural Selection 2 is meant to be heavily modifiable. Mods can be found in the Steam Workshop of Natural Selection 2.
Depending on the modification the Mod can be run as a player or has to be be run on a Server.
Mod IDs[]
For some use cases you require the mod ID of a mod. This is a decimal number which is easy to acquire for every mod, as it can simply be copied from the mod's URL. The mod ID is simply the number after "/?id=" in the URL.
Example: The NSL Badges mod (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2899635443) has the mod ID 2899635443.
If you have searched for a mod, the URL gets extended by your search text. In that case, the mod ID is the number between "/?id=" and "&searchtext=".
Example: If you search for "shine" and find the Shine Administration mod (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=117887554&searchtext=shine), you can see it has the mod ID 117887554.
Old Hex IDs[]
Prior to the introduction of UGC mods, mod IDs used to be in a hexadecimal format. These hex IDs can still be used, but it is not recommended to do it. To convert decimal and hexadecimal IDs one only needs a converter, as the two IDs are only the respective equivalent of each other. In most cases, hex IDs require " " to work, for example in map cycle files.
Example: Converting the Shine Administration hex ID "706d242" to decimal results in 117887554.
Example: Converting the NSL Badges decimal ID 2899635443 to hexadecimal results in "acd4ecf3".
Whitelisting[]
Servers need to only have Whitelisted Mods in order to stay Ranked.
As a Modder you need to ask an official NS2 Developer if you want to whitelist your Mod. You can do so in the #mod-whitelist-request channel on Discord.
Client Mods[]
Mods that usually pass the consistency check of normal Servers can be used to modify certain things to your playstyle:
Examples:
- Alien Vision ( Steam Workshop Link )
- Crosshairs ( Steam Workshop Link )
- Hitsounds ( Steam Workshop Link )
CompMod[]
For Competitive Play a special Mod called CompMod is used to adjust balance differently from the base game.
Activating Client Mods[]
- In the Steam Workshop you can subscribe to Natural Selection 2 Mods.
- In the Main Menu -> Mods you can activate or deactivate the Mods. (Subscribed Mods are on top, after a new Patch has been released, usually the Mods will be reset.)
- When joining a Server check the console in case a mod creates errors or is deactivated due to a failed consistency check