GTA V Update Guide

How to Restore Mods After Title Update

 

Updated 19/06/2023

 

 

Being relatively new to GTA modding, when that dreaded GTA V update arrived I always found it incredibly frustrating and complicated trying to recover my mods to their pre-update state. I was surprised to find very few tutorials online so decided to create one myself and hope that others find it useful. I now use it as a checklist to make updates as smooth as possible and have my game up and running again in no time. I am by no means a modding expert - I have merely created this guide based on my own experience to make the process as simple as possible and to share with the LSPDFR community.

 

This guide assumes that you have already installed a legal copy of Grand Theft Auto V with LSPDFR and RAGEPluginHook installed. If not, this is not an install tutorial and you can find those elsewhere on the forums. Ideally you will have already used OpenIV to install various mods and have a basic understanding of how to use it. Most importantly, you should already be using a mods folder.

 

For Steam users, I recommend turning off automatic updates. This can be done by right-clicking on Grand Theft Auto V in the Library section and clicking Properties. On the Updates tab, select ‘Only update this game when I launch it’ under Automatic Updates.

 

Only RAGEPluginHook is required for LSPDFR to work however many mods will rely on Script Hook V. It will generally take a few days before an update is available. If you do not wish to wait for Script Hook V to be updated, you can use ASI Support which can be found here. Please remember that these authors provide these files free of charge and are not obligated to update them.

 

 

DISCLAIMER

I will not be held responsible for any loss of data associated with using this guide

 

 

Step 1 - Backup

 

Modding comes with the risk of corrupt game files which may not be recoverable, so please back up your files. You can do this by making a copy of your entire GTA V folder, but make sure to name it something other than 'Grand Theft Auto V'. At the very least, you should backup your GTA5.exe. If you wish to play using an older version of GTA V, you will need a separate clean install.

 

If there is an LSPDFR update, back up your 'keys.ini' and 'lspdfr.ini' files. Failure to do so will result in losing your LSPDFR keys and settings, as the installation will overwrite these files.

 

Now is also a good time to backup files that will be overwritten by the update, such as your 'dlclist.xml' file. You can find this in mods/update/update.rpf/common/data. You should also update other files that you may have modified, such as 'visualsettings.dat'. If you are unsure which files have changed, check your downloaded mods and check the install guide to see which files have been edited and where they are located. It's a good idea to save these files to your PC after you change them so that they are already backed up for the next update.

 

The only mods that will be overwritten as a result of the update should be the ones located in mods/update/update.rpf. These will include graphics, weather and handling mods. Mods such as addon vehicles, sounds, uniform packs and plugins will not be affected as they are not located in update.rpf.

 

 

Step 2 – Update GTA V

 

For Steam users, the correct way to update the game is via Steam. Open Steam and select Library. Right-click on Grand Theft Auto V and select Properties. Click on Local Files and click ‘Verify integrity of game files...’.

 

For non-Steam users, I believe the update happens when you launch the game, therefore if you already know there is an update available, do not launch the game.

 

If you are unsure if your game has been updated or not, navigate to your Grand Theft Auto V folder, right-click on GTA5.exe and select Properties. Under the Details tab, you should see ‘File version’. As of 15 February 2021, this should be 1.0.2215.0. This may be referred to simply as 2215.

 

 

Step 3 – Update LSPDFR

 

Some GTA V updates require LSPDFR to be updated in order to function correctly, however this isn’t always the case. You can check the latest version here:

 

 

If an update does exist, download and install it as per the documentation. Once installed, you can restore your 'keys.ini' and 'lspdfr.ini' that you backed up earlier.

 

 

Step 4 – Update RAGEPluginHook and Script Hook V

 

LSPDFR updates will usually come with the latest version of RAGEPluginHook. The verison on the RPH is outdated and is not to be used.

 

Script Hook V will often take time to be updated after a GTA V update so check that an update has been released before downloading, as old versions will be incompatible.

 

http://www.dev-c.com/gtav/scripthookv/

 

 

Step 5 – Transfer new update.rpf using OpenIV

 

This step has not been required for recent updates but it is a good idea to check that it has worked correctly. To do so, launch OpenIV and open your mods folder. If there is NOT a green message at the top prompting you to copy the new update.rpf to your mods folder, skip to Step 6.

 

If the green message is displayed, click the button to transfer the new update.rpf. Note that this cannot be undone, so make sure that any changes you have made within mods/update/update.rpf have been backed up, particularly your 'visualsettings.dat' if you have not done so already.

 

 

Step 6 – Update gameconfig.xml and dlclist.xml

 

A modified 'gameconfig.xml' is required for addon vehicles after every update. Download it and copy it into mods/update/update.rpf/common/data.

 

https://www.gta5-mods.com/misc/gta-5-gameconfig-300-cars

 

Your 'dlclist.xml' may or may not have been changed during the update. To check, navigate to it in mods/update/update.rpf/common/data and scroll to the bottom. If it has remained unchanged by the update, it will still contain the lines for your addon DLC packs, for example:

 

<item>dlcpacks:\lspdpack\</item>
<item>dlcpacks:\sheriffpack\</item>

 

If they are missing, the update has changed the file and you will need to copy and paste the missing lines from your 'dlclist.xml' backup file.

 

 

Step 7 – Re-install graphics mods

 

This step is for those who use graphics mods, such as NaturalVision. If you are not using these mods or similar mods, skip to Step 8.

 

Install your graphics mods as though you are installing them for the first time using the relevant documentation.

 

 

Step 8 – Update mods

 

You’ll now need to re-install any other mods and files that were located in mods/update/update.rpf. As mentioned previously, there is no need to re-install vehicles and liveries, assuming that they were installed in the correct place.

 

Recently updated mods can be found on the Downloads section of the LSPDFR website:

 

https://www.lcpdfr.com/downloads/gta5mods/scripts/?sortby=file_updated&sortdirection=desc

 

 

Step 9 – Launch GTA V

 

Launch your game via RAGEPluginHook and unblock the updated files if prompted. Make sure your game runs as expected and that your mods load successfully. If your game crashes or something is not right, please repeat the steps to ensure that everything was followed correctly.

 

That's it! If anyone has any comments or suggestions, please leave them below.

 

Edited June 19, 20232 yr by MythicalMonkey
Various sections re-written

If you feel that this topic has been pinned in error, please report this post.

 

Great tutorial and writeup!

Thanks for the pin!

This is excellent! Thank you. 

Im gonna be snatching this for my Support Server. Well written! 🙂

Quote

You will also need to re-install Heap Adjuster and Packfile Limit Adjuster which can be found here.

 

Is not correct. 
Your added GTA V folder files will not be touched during an update. 

While the necessary depot of GTA V files will be changed and modified, your modded and added files will not.
There is no need to reinstall the heap, especially if users use a edited version of it. 

 

Please also note that the dlclist.xml can change the slashes. It happens from time to time.

So saying it's \ may not be correct in the future. It may be /.

Therefor it won't always read old entries like \MODDING\ if it's actually supposed to be /MODDING/. F.ex.
That only works if it's an extratitleupdate. 

Edited May 24, 20214 yr by A Stranger

4 minutes ago, A Stranger said:

While the necessary depot of GTA V files will be changed and modified, your modded and added files will not.
There is no need to reinstall the heap, especially if users use a edited version of it. 

To add on to what Stranger said, you also no longer need the Packfile Adjuster. Just the Heap one.

It's hard to publish a guide when most of it in it changes over the course of updates.
People will rely on old and outdated information.

 

Especially with the Gamebackups feature not working on any version except for Retail.

And even then Rockstar Games added the 7002.1 error to counter playing on older versions.

 

So, please, do not use the Backup feature RagePluginHook provided at the moment on other versions.

The only proper way to play with and older version is to have an entirely clean backup Grand Theft Auto V folder someplace.

 

Other than that, it's a nice tip for new players.

5 hours ago, A Stranger said:

 

Is not correct. 
Your added GTA V folder files will not be touched during an update. 

While the necessary depot of GTA V files will be changed and modified, your modded and added files will not.
There is no need to reinstall the heap, especially if users use a edited version of it. 

 

Please also note that the dlclist.xml can change the slashes. It happens from time to time.

So saying it's \ may not be correct in the future. It may be /.

Therefor it won't always read old entries like \MODDING\ if it's actually supposed to be /MODDING/. F.ex.
That only works if it's an extratitleupdate. 

 

That's a good point - I had to re-install them at one point (can't remember why) and have done it since. As for the slashes, I've never experienced that. That can be fixed by find and replace if needed.

 

Updated with the above points.

Edited May 24, 20214 yr by MythicalMonkey

thx for all the infos.

 

Did anyone found a way preventing gta v from updating, so that you can play with the old stuff until updates für RPH and SH are available? I use the normal rockstar launcher version of the game.