UE4SS Setup Guide for Subnautica 2

UE4SS (Unreal Engine 4/5 Script System) is a powerful scripting framework that lets you write Lua mods and inject blueprint mods into Unreal Engine games. For Subnautica 2 it's the go-to loader for lightweight scripting and blueprint content.

What UE4SS Enables

• Lua mods — scripts that hook into game events, modify properties, spawn objects
• Blueprint mods — visual scripting content dropped in as .pak files
• Live viewing — built-in object inspector lets you explore live game objects
• Console unlocking — expose the UE5 developer console in-game

Step 1 — Download UE4SS

Get the latest stable release from GitHub:

github.com/UE4SS-RE/RE-UE4SS/releases

Download UE4SS_v*.zip (not the source code zip).

Step 2 — Find the Binaries Folder

For Subnautica 2, UE4SS goes inside the game's Win64 binaries folder, not the root:

Subnautica2\
└── Subnautica2\          ← inner game folder
    └── Binaries\
        └── Win64\        ← extract UE4SS here

To find it: Steam → Right-click game → Browse local files → navigate into Subnautica2\Binaries\Win64\.

Step 3 — Extract UE4SS

Extract the zip so the files land directly in Win64\:

Win64\
├── dwmapi.dll         ← the injection hook
├── UE4SS.dll
├── UE4SS-settings.ini
├── Mods\              ← your Lua mods go here
└── ue4ss\             ← UE4SS runtime files

Step 4 — First Launch

1. Launch Subnautica 2 normally via Steam.
2. An UE4SS console window should appear alongside the game (if GuiConsoleEnabled = 1 in settings).
3. The in-game UE5 dev console is also unlocked — press ~ (tilde) or F10 to open it.

Step 5 — Installing a Lua Mod

Each Lua mod lives in its own folder under Mods\:

Mods\
└── MyMod\
    ├── Scripts\
    │   └── main.lua     ← mod entry point
    └── enabled.txt      ← create this to enable the mod

To enable a mod, make sure enabled.txt exists in its folder (it can be blank). Delete or rename it to disable without uninstalling.

Step 6 — Using the Object Dumper (for mod devs)

Press F11 in-game to open the UE4SS GUI. From there you can:

• Browse all live UObjects in memory
• Inspect component hierarchies
• Find class names for use in your Lua scripts

Common UE4SS Lua API Examples

-- Print to the UE4SS console
print("Hello from my mod!")

-- Hook a function on BeginPlay
RegisterHook("/Script/Engine.Actor:ReceiveBeginPlay", function(self)
    print("Actor spawned: " .. self:GetName())
end)

-- Find an object by class
local player = FindFirstOf("SubnauticaPlayerCharacter_C")
if player then
    print("Found player: " .. player:GetName())
end

Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
UE4SS console doesn't open	Check dwmapi.dll is in Win64\, not game root
Mod not running	Confirm enabled.txt exists in the mod folder
Game crashes	Check UE4SS log at Win64\UE4SS\Logs\
Wrong class names	Use the Object Dumper (F11) to find the real names

Video References

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