MO2 Modlist Manager

Description

MO2 Modlist Manager sorts a Mod Organizer 2 list for you. Press its toolbar button and it builds a complete plan for the profile: which separators the list should have, which separator every mod belongs under, where inside it the mod goes, which plugins load and in what order. The whole plan is shown, with the reason for every move, and nothing on disk changes until you press Apply.

It is meant for lists of hundreds or thousands of mods, where sorting by hand takes days and a mod in the wrong place quietly loses a conflict it should win. The order it writes decides which mod's files and records the game uses, so this page sets out exactly what it does with your list.

Generative AI disclosure: this plugin's code, this page's text and its banners were produced with generative AI (Claude), directed and tested by the author. The page is tagged accordingly.

Main features

- No missing masters. Every mod sits below every mod whose plugin it needs, and every plugin loads after the masters it lists. A plugin whose master is in no enabled mod is not left active to crash the game: it is moved into its mod's Optional ESPs and listed in the plan, and it is moved back and activated when a later run finds its masters present.

- Conflicts won by the right mod. Where two mods ship the same file or edit the same record, the one lower in the pane wins, and the order is built so that the more specific, newer or dependent mod is the lower one: a patch below what it patches, a city pack below the world pack, a mod's addon below the mod, a complex-material version below the plain one. Pairs it cannot settle on its own are listed on the Review tab for you to decide, never guessed at silently.

- SKSE plugins that load. When two mods ship the same SKSE DLL, a "for Skyrim 1. 5" port wins over the AE build beside it, and a framework's own mod (PapyrusUtil SE, for one) wins over an old copy bundled inside another mod.

- Settings, fonts and generated files where they work. An MCM settings loader always sits below the mod it configures, or its settings would be overwritten. A font mod sits below the UI overhaul, so the overhaul's own font setup survives. Generated outputs (DynDOLOD, TexGen, Nemesis, BodySlide and the like) always come last, and DynDOLOD.esp and Occlusion.esp end the plugin order.

- Separators built for you. A full set of tiered separators, each mod under the one that fits it, a big mod's patches and addons kept together, and separators you no longer need retired to the backup.

- The plugin list follows the pane, written in MO2's own formats, with Bethesda Plugin Manager groups to match when that plugin is installed.

- Your rules on top. Before / after / first / last / pin rules for mods, and plugins you want kept off.

- Your switches. A Settings tab turns off what Apply would otherwise do on its own: moving plugins that cannot load into Optional ESPs (off, they stay in the right pane, unticked, and the game does not load them), bringing optional plugins back when their masters arrive, writing Bethesda Plugin Manager groups, and writing the verdicts file.

- Plan first, backup always, restore any time. Every change is shown with its reason before Apply, every Apply copies the lists to a dated backup first, and Restore backup... puts any of them back.

- MO2 categories to match. One button gives every mod that has no MO2 category the block it is placed by, so MO2's category filter follows the separators. Categories you set yourself are left alone.

- Fast and offline. No Nexus requests and no internet connection needed.

Where a mod is placed

A mod is placed by what it contains and changes, not by its Nexus category or where it sits in your list today:

- By what it replaces. A mod whose meshes and textures are Whiterun's buildings goes with the city overhauls, whatever it is called. A mod of grass textures goes to Grass, one of tree models to Trees.

- By what its plugins change. A plugin that adds spells or enchantments goes to Magic, even when the mod calls itself an armour mod; one that adds or edits armour and weapons goes to the equipment blocks. A plugin that edits one city's cells goes with that city.

- By what it is for. A patch built on other mods' plugins goes with patches; a plugin many mods depend on goes to Frameworks; an SKSE plugin goes by what it fixes or changes.

- By what it says about itself, when its files leave room for doubt: its name, its plugins' descriptions, its readme and its installer.

- By what its archives hold. A mod whose content is all inside BSA archives is placed by the files listed in them; "Uncategorised" is kept only for a mod with no