Plugin Files And You (ESM/ESL/ESP)

Beginning with Patch 1.5.3 of Skyrim Special Edition, the game supports a new type of mod file known as a "light plugin" with the .esl extension. Elminster has spent a considerable amount of time studying how this works and has had a number of community members aid in verifying this information. Since questions about new plugin types come up all the time, I felt it was best to make sure our source here is accurate. Flag Types Plugins can have 3 different flag types: ESP, ESM, and ESL.

By Arthmoor, October 6, 2017
123 replies

Spotted a section on UESP about the form ID structure for ESL files. For anyone who wondered about the 4096 form limitation their explanation of how the IDs get mapped should prove interesting. https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Form_ID#Creation_Club For those who prefer the short version though, only the last 3 digits get used for a unique ID, and FFF = 4095 which is where the limitation comes from.