Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Modding Documentation
Official guides from TaleWorlds for creating Bannerlord mods: modules, assets, scenes, editor tools, audio, multiplayer and naval content. For code reference, see the API documentation.
Getting Started
New to Bannerlord modding? Follow these steps in order:
- Creating a Module - Quick Guide: create and register your first module.
- Adding & Overriding Assets: add new assets or replace existing ones.
- Merging Module XML Files with Native: change game data without copying whole files.
- Uploading/Updating a Mod: publish your mod on the Steam Workshop.
- Frequently Asked Questions: answers to common problems.
I Want To…
Build scenes & terrain
Make mission scenes
Add items & weapons
Add sounds & music
Create ships & naval content
Make multiplayer content
Change UI, fonts & banners
All Sections
Asset Management
Create modules and add or override assets: meshes, materials, textures, animations, prefabs and more.
Bannerlord Missions
What each mission scene needs, plus the script components and callbacks behind gameplay.
Editor
Use the Scene Editor and resource editors for terrain, navmeshes, materials, skeletons and cloth.
Audio Modding
Add sounds and music with FMOD Studio, from event setup to scene audio and optimization.
War Sails
Create ships, seaborne raid scenes and world map content for the War Sails expansion.
Multiplayer
Host a server, create custom game modes and build multiplayer scenes.
Best Practices
Recommended approaches for XML merging, XSLT, code extension and scene performance.
Steam Workshop
Upload and update your mod on the Steam Workshop.
Community & Resources
- API Documentation: reference for the Bannerlord code base.
- Mount & Blade Modding Discord: ask questions and talk with other modders.
- Developer Workshop – Map Editor: an official TaleWorlds stream showing how to work with the campaign map editor.
- TaleWorlds Forums – The Smithy: the official mod development forum.
- Contribute on GitHub: suggest fixes or new pages for this documentation.
Community-Made Resources
These resources are made and maintained by the community, not by TaleWorlds. Some were made for older game versions, so details may differ in the current version.
Documentation & Guides
- Bannerlord Documentation: community-written guides, including Gauntlet UI and packaging mods for Vortex.
- BannerlordModding.LT: a community wiki of modding processes, techniques and tips.
- Unofficial Bannerlord API Docs (BUTR): API reference for each game version, generated from the game files.
- BUTR Documentation: how-tos for Harmony debugging, crash reports and publishing mods with GitHub Actions.
- Documentation & Tutorials forum: tutorials shared by the community on the TaleWorlds Forums.
Community Guides (Google Docs)
- 3D Asset Workflow: preparing 3D assets for Bannerlord.
- Asset Import Workflow: step-by-step workflow for importing assets.
- Importing Assets into BL Editor: getting your assets into the Bannerlord editor.
- Importing Material Maps in Editor: importing textures and material maps.
- Basic World Mapping: an introduction to building your own campaign map.
- Adding Custom Scenes to Custom Battle: testing your own scenes in Custom Battle.
- Adding Flora to flora_kinds: registering new flora in flora_kinds.
- Bannerlord Layer Buttons, Options, and Settings (partly finished): what the editor’s layer buttons, options and settings do.
Video Tutorials
- Lesser Scholar – Artisan Workshop Mod: a 19-part C# course covering setup, campaign behaviors, dialogs, Gauntlet UI, Harmony and publishing.
- A_Jannik: C# entry points, debugging and Harmony patching.
- Danqna & Gispry: a 6-part C# series covering Visual Studio setup, dialogue, saving and MCM menus.
- Macbeth of Gondor: a 19-part Scene Editor series covering terrain, flora, navmesh, seasons, prefabs and barriers.
- Banner Lab: XML modding without code: troops, items, cultures, kingdoms, heroes and settlements.
- Lykon Development: XML troops, weapons and kingdoms, loading screens and weight painting in Blender.
- Adam Dotlačil: custom bows, crossbows and quivers, and hand animations for custom meshes.
- BabyLettuce – Skeletons & Races: a full tutorial on custom skeletons and races.
Tools
- Bannerlord Scene Toolkit by FiefEvictionNotice: tools that run inside the Scene Editor for material swaps and recolors, prefab creation, distribution and mirroring, scene analysis and backups. See the tutorial video.
- XBannerlord by cookgreen: a Windows XML editor that shows Bannerlord XML files as a tree and lets you edit the selected node by chatting with an AI model. English and Chinese interface. Source on GitHub.
- Bannerlord Crafting Tool by haterade22: a Windows tool that previews weapon crafting pieces in 2D and 3D, so you can tune their offsets and check weapon length without launching the game.
Starter Packs
- Campaign Map Prefab Starter Pack by Lemmy1916: a ready-to-use campaign map with pre-built settlements and scripts, to start a new world map.
- War Sails Campaign Map Prefab Starter Pack by Lemmy1916: the same starter map set up for War Sails.