The manifest: a mod without code

Where

A file named <anything>.nightcoop, in any of the mod folders of the game, up to three levels deep:

NightCoop reads them once, when the game starts (at most 64 manifests, 64 KiB each). The log says what it took: sdk: [author.my_car] by its manifest archive/pc/mod/MyCar/mycar.nightcoop — …. The switch sdk_manifests (on) turns the reading off in switches.txt.

Format

Lines key = value, # starts a comment, UTF-8.

# My Car — a TweakXL vehicle
id = author.my_car              # required: [a-z0-9._-], 3..64 bytes, stable
name = My Car
version = 1.2
protocol = 1                    # your data version; for a mod without code leave it 1
flags = needed_by_all, adds_items, changes_quests

# quest facts that are each player's own (not mirrored from the host; kept at the entry into the host's world)
fact = mycar_owned
facts = mycar_tuning_a, mycar_tuning_b

# script systems of the mod (for a mod with redscript but no NightCoop code): the world's or each player's own
world_system = MyCar.GarageSystem
character_system = MyCar.TuningSystem

# a record of the mod a partner without the mod does not have — they get a record of the game instead
fallback = Vehicle.v_mycar_player -> Vehicle.v_standard2_archer_quartz_player
fallback = Items.MyCar_Jacket -> Items.Jacket_01_basic_01

The rights are those of a passport: what the flags do not declare is refused (one log line). A manifest cannot do anything the mod's own code could not. List only the facts your mod itself writes: a fact of the main story must stay the world's.

A mod that has code too

If the mod's own code registers the same id (a plugin or scripts), the code takes over the manifest's entry: the same handle, the facts, scopes and fallbacks of the manifest stay, the passport becomes the code's. A manifest of a mod whose code registered first is not needed and is skipped with a log line.