# BepInEx

> Plugin and patching framework for Unity Mono, Unity IL2CPP and .NET Framework games such as XNA, FNA and MonoGame titles, which loads mods and analysis plugins into a locally installed game. Plugins patch methods at runtime with the bundled HarmonyX and MonoMod.RuntimeDetour, while preloader patchers rewrite managed assemblies with Mono.Cecil before the game loads them; on IL2CPP games it runs Cpp2IL and Il2CppInterop to generate interop assemblies from the game binary and global-metadata.dat. Its guides also cover configuration, logging, and debugging plugins and game assemblies with dnSpy.

- Type: Tool
- Targets: Game
- Category: Game analysis tools
- Relationship: Foundation tool
- Sources reviewed: 2026-10-19
- Added to the catalog: 2026-10-19
- Original resource: <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx/blob/6cea286d204eb3754d3b8363a5a1fd6640164a49/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/bepinex/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/bepinex/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/bepinex/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- Latest stable release at review: v5.4.23.5, published 2026-02-08 from the v5-lts branch, with Windows x86/x64, Linux x86/x64, macOS universal and patcher archives; the README says only Unity Mono has stable releases. The reviewed master commit (2026-10-16) declares the unreleased 6.0.0 and is 75 commits after the latest 6.x prerelease, v6.0.0-pre.2 from 2024-08-27, which ships Unity Mono, Unity IL2CPP and .NET builds; newer bleeding-edge builds are published separately. The guides note that the preloader-patcher contract changed between v5 and v6.
- The README's compatibility chart lists Unity Mono on Windows, macOS and Linux, Unity IL2CPP on Windows and Linux but not macOS or ARM, and .NET/XNA games on Windows or through Mono on macOS and Linux. The master installation guide lists Windows 7–10, Linux distributions with GCC 10+, macOS 10.13+ and Unity 3 or newer. Source builds use the bundled Cake script and need .NET 6.0 or newer.
- BepInEx installs into the user's own game directory: the guide identifies Unity Mono games by a Managed folder and IL2CPP games by il2cpp_data. IL2CPP interop generation reads the game's binary and global-metadata.dat and, by default, downloads managed Unity base libraries for the game's Unity version from unity.bepinex.dev; a configuration option points it to a locally placed archive instead. Some games need the documented troubleshooting steps.
- LGPL-2.1 (LGPL-2.1-only in the package metadata); the libraries it uses, including UnityDoorstop, HarmonyX, MonoMod, Mono.Cecil, Cpp2IL and Il2CppInterop, keep their own licenses. Game license terms are separate from the framework's license.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx/blob/6cea286d204eb3754d3b8363a5a1fd6640164a49/README.md>
2. <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx/blob/6cea286d204eb3754d3b8363a5a1fd6640164a49/LICENSE>
3. <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx/blob/6cea286d204eb3754d3b8363a5a1fd6640164a49/Directory.Build.props>
4. <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx/blob/6cea286d204eb3754d3b8363a5a1fd6640164a49/docs/BUILDING.md>
5. <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx/blob/6cea286d204eb3754d3b8363a5a1fd6640164a49/Runtimes/Unity/BepInEx.Unity.IL2CPP/Il2CppInteropManager.cs#L48-L110>
6. <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx/blob/6cea286d204eb3754d3b8363a5a1fd6640164a49/BepInEx.Preloader.Core/Patching/AssemblyPatcher.cs>
7. <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx/releases/tag/v5.4.23.5>
8. <https://github.com/BepInEx/BepInEx/releases/tag/v6.0.0-pre.2>
9. <https://docs.bepinex.dev/master/articles/user_guide/installation/index.html>
10. <https://docs.bepinex.dev/master/articles/dev_guide/runtime_patching.html>
11. <https://docs.bepinex.dev/master/articles/dev_guide/preloader_patchers.html>

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## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.