01Confirm the modded launch with Start modded
The first check when r2modman mods are not working is the button you pressed. The manager never patches the game permanently: launching through Steam gives the unmodded game by design, and only Start modded inside r2modman injects the loader. If you have been pressing Play in Steam, nothing you installed can possibly appear. Close that session, open the manager, select the profile that actually contains the mods, and use Start modded. Confirm the game process came from the manager before you touch any files, because this single step explains a large share of reports.
- Start modded inside r2modman is the only modded entry point.
- The Steam Play button always launches the unmodded game.
- Check you selected the profile that has the mods installed.
02Make the game directory match Steam
If the manager launches a vanilla game, its game directory setting is probably pointing somewhere harmless. Right-click the game in Steam, choose Manage and then Browse local files, and note the path. In r2modman, select a profile and open Settings, Directories, Change game directory, then select that exact folder. The dialog shows no files because it expects a folder, so an empty-looking window is normal rather than a failure. When the two paths match, start modded again and watch whether the loader appears. Paths go stale whenever a game is reinstalled, moved to another drive, or restored from a backup, so repeat this comparison after any of those events.
- Steam: right-click the game, Manage, Browse local files.
- r2modman: Settings, Directories, Change game directory.
- An empty folder-selection dialog is expected behaviour.
03Empty the game's Steam launch options box
A launch argument left in Steam can override or bypass the loader command the manager builds, which makes correctly installed mods look broken. Right-click the game in Steam, open Properties, and check the text box at the bottom of the General tab. It should be empty. Remove any tokens you do not recognise, close the window, and start modded again. This check matters most when a profile used to work and stopped after you followed advice from a forum post or another modding tool, since arguments written for a different loader can actively conflict with how r2modman starts the game.
- Right-click the game in Steam, open Properties.
- The launch options box at the bottom should be empty.
- Remove unknown arguments rather than adding more.
04Verify the loader initialised before blaming mods
Look at the loader, not the mod list. A modded launch should produce loader output: a console window, a log file inside the profile, or an in-game indicator the loader documents. In the Installed tab, confirm the community-required loader or core pack is enabled and not merely downloaded. Then read the first meaningful exception in the loader log rather than the final generic failure, because later lines usually describe the consequences of the first error. If the loader produced no output at all, the game never entered the modded runtime, and no plugin can load until that is corrected.
- Installed tab: the loader or core pack is enabled.
- A loader log or console exists for the most recent launch.
- Read the first exception, not the last one.
05Check dependencies and generated config
Most mods load only when their dependencies are present, and the manager resolves those dependencies during installation rather than at launch. Open Installed and confirm the required libraries appear next to the feature mod at versions its documentation expects. Some mods also write a configuration file the first time they run, so a settings file you expected to edit may not exist until the game has been launched as modded at least once. If a mod's options are missing from the editor, launch the game once, close it, and look again before concluding the install failed.
- Installed tab: dependency libraries are present and enabled.
- Config files are often created on the first modded launch.
- Reopen the Config Editor after one successful launch.
06Recover from a corrupted loader install
A damaged loader installation can leave the manager reporting success while the game loads nothing. The project documents a short test for this exact case. Switch the download cache to Disabled in Settings → Debugging → Mod cache, then open Settings → Profile → Export profile and press As a code. If the export produces no code, the loader installation is bad. Re-download the loader from the Online tab, create a fresh profile, press Import / Update on the profile selection screen, choose From code, and paste the code you exported. Then use Start modded on the new profile. That code also records exactly which packages the working profile contained. Once the new profile works, switch the download cache back to Enabled in Settings → Debugging → Mod cache.
- Settings → Debugging → Mod cache → Download cache: set it to Disabled first.
- Settings → Profile → Export profile → As a code.
- No export code means a bad loader install.
- Re-download the loader from the Online tab, then Import / Update → From code.
07Isolate with a loader-plus-one-mod profile
With many packages installed, guessing which one is responsible is slower than reducing the set. Create a new profile containing only the community-required loader and the single mod you are testing, then use Start modded. If the mod works there, the failure lives in another package, a version conflict, or a config, and you can add packages back in small batches with a launch between each one. If it fails in a clean profile, the problem is bounded to the loader, the game build, the mod itself, or your configuration, which is a far more useful report for the mod author.
- New profile, loader plus one mod, nothing else.
- Add packages back in small batches.
- A clean-profile failure is a bounded, reportable problem.
✦ Frequently asked questions
Common questions, answered directly.
Why do mods work through r2modman but not when I press Play in Steam?
Launching through Steam is designed to give the unmodded game. The loader is only injected when you press Start modded inside r2modman, which starts the game with the profile's files applied. Use Start modded from the manager every time you want mods, and keep the Steam Play button for vanilla comparisons.
The folder selection dialog shows no files. Is that a bug?
No. r2modman asks for a directory, so the picker does not list the files inside it. Open the folder that contains the game executable and confirm the selection. Compare the resulting path with the folder Steam opens through Browse local files rather than expecting to see files listed in the dialog.
Do I need to launch the game once before editing a mod's config?
Often yes. Several mods generate their configuration files on the first modded launch, so nothing exists to edit before that happens. Launch modded once, close the game, and reopen the Config Editor. If the settings still do not appear, the mod may use a file format the editor does not expose.
Mods load but my controller stops responding. What changed?
If the game opens a terminal window when launched as modded, that window is probably receiving the controller input instead of the game. For BepInEx, disable the console by editing the loader's core config and saving the change. If no configs exist yet, launch the game as modded at least once so they are generated.
Will reinstalling r2modman fix mods that do not load?
Rarely. The application is only one layer. The game path, loader files, active profile, and dependencies live outside it and survive a reinstall unchanged, so the same failure returns. Fix the specific layer, and keep a profile export so you can rebuild a known-good setup if you do reinstall.
Work the checks in order and stop at the first one that changes the symptom. That step is the cause; the checks after it only matter if the symptom survives.
Next: change one thing at a time, relaunch after each change from Start modded, and keep the copy of the working setup you made before you started.