How configuration works

Every product keeps its settings in .jsonc files in its configs folder, one file per area of the product. This page covers the rules every one of those files follows. What each setting does is on the product’s own Configuration pages, one page per file.

Before you start

The product is installed. See Install a product.
A text editor that shows syntax errors in JSON, such as Visual Studio Code. Most mistakes on this page are visible there before the server ever reads the file.

Steps

Open the file for the area you want to change

For example resources/[element]/element_3d_pausemenu/configs/menu.jsonc. The product’s configuration overview lists every file and what it controls.

Change the value under values

Keep the key names and the nesting exactly as they are. Change only the value.

Restart the resource

restart element_3d_pausemenu

Settings are read when the resource starts and at no other time. A full server restart works too. A product page says so when one of its settings applies without a restart.

Check that it worked

The console shows no Config file for "…" missing or invalid line for that file.
What you changed is different in game.

Both checks matter. A misspelled key produces a clean console and no change.

What a file looks like

{
  "namespace": "menu",
  "configVersion": 1,
  "scope": "client",
  "values": {
    // The key that opens the menu for a player who has not chosen their own.
    "open": { "key": "ESCAPE" },
    "startTab": "map",
    "blur": { "enabled": true, "fadeMs": 250 }
  }
}

Field	What it is	Edit it
`values`	The settings.	Yes. This is the only part you change.
`namespace`	The file’s name without `.jsonc`.	No. The file is found by its name; changing this field changes nothing and prints a warning.
`configVersion`	Which layout of the file this is. The product uses it to convert a file from an older release.	No.
`scope`	Who receives these settings. See Settings players can read.	No. The release decides it; changing this field changes nothing and prints a warning.

Comments are allowed, both // a line and /* a block */.

Keep only the keys you change

Any key you leave out keeps the value the release shipped. That holds at every level, so a file can be as short as this:

{
  "namespace": "menu",
  "configVersion": 1,
  "scope": "client",
  "values": {
    "blur": { "enabled": false }
  }
}

Every other menu setting, including blur.fadeMs, keeps its shipped value. A short file is also easier to carry across an update, because it only holds your decisions. Two exceptions:

A list replaces the shipped list. A value in square brackets is not merged with the shipped one: the whole list is yours. To add one entry, copy the shipped list and add to it.
null means “use the shipped value”. To turn a feature off, set it to false, not null.

Mistakes that fail without a message

Mistake	What happens
A misspelled key, or one in the wrong place in the nesting	Ignored. The shipped value stays in effect.
A key that a newer release renamed	Ignored, the same way. The patch notes list every rename under Action required.
A value of the wrong type, such as `"50"` where `50` belongs	Passed to the product as written. Values are not checked, so the result is wrong behaviour later, not an error. Use the accepted values on the product’s page.
A setting placed in a different file	Ignored. Each file holds only the settings of its own area.

Mistakes the console reports

A syntax error makes the whole file unreadable. Not a part of it: every setting in that file goes back to its shipped value, and the console says so once at start:

[WARN ] [    Config] Config file for "menu" missing or invalid.

The usual causes are a comma after the last value, a missing bracket or quote, or a missing comma between two values. This file is broken by the comma after "map":

{
  "values": {
    "open": { "key": "ESCAPE" },
    "startTab": "map",
  }
}

Every message about configuration files, and what to do about each, is in Console messages.

Settings players can read

scope tells you who receives the settings in a file:

`scope`	Meaning
`client`	Sent to every player who connects, and used in their game.
`shared`	Used on the server and sent to every player.
`server`	Stays on the server. Never sent to players.

Put nothing private, such as a webhook address or a password, in a client or shared file. Every player who connects receives it.

Updates replace your files

An update replaces the whole product folder, configs included. Keep a copy of every file you edit and follow Update a product. When a release changes the layout of a file, your older copy is converted automatically when the product starts, and the console says so.

Recover from a broken file

Put back the file from the release, restart and confirm the warning is gone. Then add your changes back one at a time, restarting after each. The first one that brings the warning back is the problem.

Get started

Configure

Compatibility

Troubleshooting

Policies

For scripters

Changelog

How configuration works

Before you start

Steps

Check that it worked

What a file looks like

Keep only the keys you change

Mistakes that fail without a message

Mistakes the console reports

Settings players can read

Updates replace your files

Recover from a broken file

Get started

Configure

Compatibility

Troubleshooting

Policies

For scripters

Changelog

​Before you start

​Steps

​Check that it worked

​What a file looks like

​Keep only the keys you change

​Mistakes that fail without a message

​Mistakes the console reports

​Settings players can read

​Updates replace your files

​Recover from a broken file

Before you start

Steps

Check that it worked

What a file looks like

Keep only the keys you change

Mistakes that fail without a message

Mistakes the console reports

Settings players can read

Updates replace your files

Recover from a broken file