Organizing Leftover Pans: A Quick Cleanup Guide

The left pane of Mod Organizer 2 is used to prioritize loose textures and meshes that replace the same things. The order of the mods in the left pane only needs to be reflective of the right pane when dealing with multiple mods that edit the same NPC, such as NPC overhauls, to prevent conflicts and errors. The left pane can be customized with category folders, which are empty folders that serve as visual guides for organizing mods. It is important to note that the left pane can be rearranged by accident, and it is recommended to back up the txt files to restore the priority order if needed.

Reset left-pane priorities according to categories

Resetting left-pane priorities according to categories can be a tedious task, especially if you have a large number of mods installed. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you reset and reorganize your left-pane priorities in Mod Organizer:

• Understand the Left Pane: The left pane in Mod Organizer is primarily for prioritizing loose textures, meshes, and other game assets. The order of mods in the left pane matters when you have multiple mods that edit the same game elements, such as NPC overhauls. The bottom mod in the left pane takes precedence, overwriting the files of the mods above it.
• Create Custom Categories: If you haven't already, create custom categories that follow a logical load order. For example, you can have categories like "Extenders," "Fixes," and "Interface." This will make it easier to prioritize your mods.
• Reset Priorities: To reset the left-pane priorities, you can either manually edit the priority column for each mod or use the "Send To" option. Right-click on a single mod or a group of selected mods and choose "Send To" to move them to a specific priority, the top or bottom, or to a specific separator.
• Reorganize Mods: Start by prioritizing the mods in your "Extenders" category, followed by "Fixes," then "Interface," and so on. Move the mods within each category to the appropriate priority using the methods mentioned in the previous step.
• Handle Conflicts: Pay close attention to mods that edit the same NPCs or game records. Ensure that the mods and plugins for visual NPC overhauls are in the same order to prevent issues like black faces due to mismatched facegen data.
• Fine-Tune Priorities: Once you've organized your mods into categories and handled conflicts, fine-tune the priorities within each category. Consider the order of mods within each category and make adjustments as needed.

By following these steps, you can effectively reset and reorganize your left-pane priorities in Mod Organizer, ensuring that your mods work together harmoniously and that any conflicts are minimized. This process will help you maintain a stable and immersive gaming experience, even with a large number of mods installed.

Mod organizer left pane not showing up

If the left pane is not showing up in Mod Organizer, it is likely that you have accidentally dragged the separator to the right, thus hiding the left pane. To fix this, try moving your mouse to the left edge of the right panel. If you find a dragging point, move the panel back to the right, and the left panel should reappear. Alternatively, you can open the modorganizer.ini file and remove the relevant setting, which is usually "window_geometry" or "window_split". Deleting this line will reset some customizations, including the separator between the panes.

Mod organizer left pane keeps switching order

If you are encountering issues with the left pane of Mod Organizer switching the order of mods, there are several potential causes and solutions. Firstly, ensure that you are sorting the left pane by "Priority" with the highest priority mod at the bottom. You can also right-click on a group of selected mods and use the "Send to..." option to rearrange them. Alternatively, hold down the Ctrl key and use the up and down arrow keys to move a group of selected mods.

It is important to understand that the left and right panes serve different purposes. The left pane handles conflict resolution for files with the same name, while the right pane determines the load order of the game's plugins. In most cases, the order in the left pane does not need to match the right pane, and you can prioritize based on your preference. However, for certain types of mods, such as NPC overhauls or mods with BSA archives, it is safer to match the left pane to the load order in the right pane to minimize issues.

If you are using multiple profiles in Mod Organizer, switching between them may cause issues with the plugin load order. Unfortunately, the backup load order feature is not entirely reliable, and it can be challenging to manage mods across different profiles.

To prevent unintended changes to the left pane, avoid clicking the button provided by Mod Organizer to address warnings about mods not matching the load order. Instead, consider creating a text file with the list of mods and dropping it into the "Linked" section to remove the warning without altering the left pane.

Mod organizer left pane load order

The left pane in Mod Organizer is the install order. The mods at the bottom are overwriting the files of those above them. So, if two mods try to provide the same texture, the texture from the last mod listed will be used. The left pane handles conflict in files. If there are two files of the same name, the bottom one wins the conflict and will be seen by the game.

The right pane, on the other hand, is the load order, which determines which order the game applies the changes from each plugin. The order of mods in the left pane doesn't have to match the right pane exactly. The left pane is more for prioritizing loose textures and meshes that replace the same things.

The only time that the order of mods in the left pane needs to be reflective of the right pane is when you have multiple mods that edit the same NPC. That way, the facegen overwrites correctly and you prevent one possible cause of black face. The exact positions don't matter. Mod X and Mod Y don't have to be the 100th and 101st mod in the left pane, but you would just want to have Y after X.

• If Mod B has Mod A as a requirement, load Mod A first. Mod B might contain some modified meshes/textures/scripts from Mod A, and you don't want to overwrite them with the original ones.
• If you have multiple visual NPC overhauls, the mods and plugins have to be in the same order. If WICO.esp overwrites Bijin.esp NPC records, but Bijin mod files overwrite WICO mod files, you'll end up with black faces because of mismatched facegen data.
• Output folders of any modding tools (FNIS, Nemesis, Dyndolod, xLodgen, zEdit, relinker, Bodyslide, etc.) should always be towards the bottom.
• Make sure that the left pane is always sorted by Priority with the highest priority mod at the bottom.

Mod organizer left pane and right pane differences

The left pane of Mod Organizer 2 is relevant when mods have files with the same file name, as it controls which instance of a file overrides another. The right pane, on the other hand, controls the priority of content within mods in the load order, allowing users to prioritize one plugin over another in case they both contain changes to the same form or record.

The left pane orders "loose files", such as textures and meshes, while the right pane orders the plugins. In the left pane, each file contains different elements like plugins, textures, meshes, config files, and more. The sorting of this side does not matter unless there is a lightning symbol with a + or - sign, indicating a conflict where the lower file will overwrite the upper one. The right pane orders the plugins within those mods, and it is important to be able to sort this separately as a mod might contain more than one plugin that needs to be in different positions.

Some rules are forced in the right pane, and even if they are changed, the game will reorder them to fit these rules. For example, every .esm and .esl will load before every .esp, and a plugin that is dependent on other mods will always load after all of them.

It is beneficial to have some order on the left pane so that when adding a mod, users know where to place it without having to search. This makes solving conflicts much easier. The right pane, or load order, is what actually matters in mod "override resolution".

Frequently asked questions