Tool
MelonLoader
Mod loader for Unity games on both the Mono and IL2CPP runtimes, which loads plugins and mods from folders in a locally installed game; on Windows a proxy DLL, version.dll by default, starts it with the game. For IL2CPP games its assembly generator runs Cpp2IL and Il2CppInterop to produce managed interop assemblies, and HarmonyX and MonoMod are bundled for runtime patching. Its logs can capture Unity player output and Harmony messages, and debug options provide a Mono debug server for Mono games and a wait-for-debugger option for IL2CPP games.
- Targets
- Game
- Category
- Game analysis tools
- Relationship
- Foundation tool
- Sources reviewed
Requirements & limits
- Latest release at review: v0.7.3, published 2026-05-14, with Windows x64/x86, Linux x64 and macOS x64 archives plus Windows, Linux and macOS installers; the README also links nightly builds. The reviewed master commit (2026-10-01) declares the unreleased 0.7.4, 69 commits after v0.7.3, and its pending release notes add macOS arm64 support. The README links Linux instructions for Wine, Proton and native games, and marks Android and Oculus Quest support as work in progress.
- The README lists the .NET 6.0 Desktop Runtime as a requirement for IL2CPP games, installed automatically on Windows. The installer or a manual install places MelonLoader and its proxy DLL in the user's own game folder, where the Plugins, Mods, logs and UserData/Loader.cfg configuration are created; some games need one of the alternative proxy file names. Source builds use the dotnet SDK, and the projects target Mono, Mono bleeding-edge and .NET frameworks.
- On IL2CPP games the assembly generator queries MelonLoader's remote API by game name for settings such as a Cpp2IL version, obfuscation regex or deobfuscation mapping, and the README lists Cpp2IL, Unity runtime libraries and the .NET runtime as downloaded at run time. Configuration and launch options can force offline generation, a dumper version or regeneration.
- Apache-2.0; bundled libraries such as Dobby, plthook, HarmonyX, MonoMod, Mono.Cecil, AsmResolver and Il2CppInterop (LGPL-3.0) keep their own licenses, and the README says the downloaded Unity runtime libraries are subject to Unity's terms of service. Game license terms are separate.
About this entry
The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Primary sources
- README.md GitHub · LavaGang/MelonLoader · Revision 5aff4d9
- LICENSE.md GitHub · LavaGang/MelonLoader · Revision 5aff4d9
- Directory.Build.props GitHub · LavaGang/MelonLoader · Revision 5aff4d9
- RELEASE-NOTES.md GitHub · LavaGang/MelonLoader · Revision 5aff4d9
- Dependencies/Il2CppAssemblyGenerator/RemoteAPI.cs GitHub · LavaGang/MelonLoader · Revision 5aff4d9
- Dependencies/Il2CppAssemblyGenerator/Packages/Cpp2IL.cs GitHub · LavaGang/MelonLoader · Revision 5aff4d9
- https://github.com/LavaGang/MelonLoader/releases/tag/v0.7.3
- https://github.com/LavaGang/MelonLoader/compare/v0.7.3...5aff4d9d7c16ae153aad2f1035114dbc2713bf99
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