Finding Game Files

Source 2 games keep almost all of their files in VPK packages. This guide shows which package to open and how to find a file in it.

How a Game Folder Is Laid Out

A game installs into steamapps/common/<game>/ in your Steam library, with its files in a game/ folder:

• game/<mod>/pak01_dir.vpk, such as game/csgo/pak01_dir.vpk, is the main package, with the models, materials, sounds and almost everything else.
• game/<mod>/maps/ has one package per map, such as game/csgo/maps/de_dust2.vpk.
• Folders ending in _addons hold addons, such as those made with the Workshop Tools.

Workshop items are in steamapps/workshop/content/<appid>/<item id>/, and the Explorer lists those that have a VPK. SteamVR Home is in SteamVR/tools/steamvr_environments/game/steamtours/.

Game	App ID	Install folder	Game folder
Counter-Strike 2	730	Counter-Strike Global Offensive	csgo
Dota 2	570	dota 2 beta	dota
Deadlock	1422450	Deadlock	citadel
Half-Life: Alyx	546560	Half-Life Alyx	hlvr
Aperture Desk Job	1902490	Aperture Desk Job	steampal
Artifact Classic	583950	Artifact	dcg
Artifact Foundry	1269260	Artifact 2.0	dcg
Dota Underlords	1046930	Underlords	dac

In vpk: links and on the command line, steam:<appid>/ stands for the install folder, such as steam:730/game/csgo/pak01_dir.vpk.

Where Files Are in a Package

Most games use the same top-level folders. The examples are from Dota 2:

Folder	What it holds	Example
models/	Models	models/heroes/juggernaut/
materials/	Materials and textures	materials/models/heroes/juggernaut/
particles/	Particle systems	particles/units/heroes/hero_juggernaut/
sounds/	Sounds	sounds/vo/juggernaut/
soundevents/	Sound events, which define how sounds play	soundevents/game_sounds_heroes/
panorama/	The user interface and its images	panorama/images/heroes/
scripts/	Game data	scripts/npc/
resource/	Localization text	resource/localization/

The game pages, such as Counter-Strike 2, list the folders of each game.

A map package holds the compiled map, maps/<map>.vmap_c, and a maps/<map>/ folder with its world, lighting and entities. Its materials and textures come from the main package.

Finding a Package in the Explorer

The Explorer tab lists your installed Steam games that have VPK packages, with those packages and their workshop items. Double-click a package to open it.

Type in the filter box at the top to show only the packages whose path contains the text.

Browsing a Package

A package opens in its own tab, with a folder tree on the left and the files of the selected folder on the right.

• Type a path into the box above the tree, such as models/props/de_dust/hr_dust/dust_crates/, and press Enter to go there. Paths are case-sensitive.
• The arrow buttons, and the back and forward buttons of your mouse, go back and forward.
• List shows names, sizes and types, and Grid shows thumbnails.

Searching a Package

Press Ctrl+F in a package tab to search the whole package:

• File Name (Partial Match) finds files whose name contains the text.
• File Name (Exact Match) finds files with exactly that name.
• File Full Path finds files whose path contains the text.
• Regex matches a regular expression against file names, such as ^weapon_.*\.vmdl_c$.
• File Contents (Case Sensitive) finds files that contain the text. It reads every file, so it is slower.
• File Contents Hex Bytes finds files that contain the bytes.

The results do not show the folder of a file. Right-click a result to select it in the tree.

References

The References tab of an open file lists the files it uses, such as the materials of a model:

Double-click a reference to open it, or press Ctrl+C to copy its path. The References tab of a material lists its textures:

Files That Use a File

To see which files use a file, right-click it and choose View asset info.

The files that use it are listed at the lower left. This list is available in Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, Half-Life: Alyx and SteamVR Home.

Which Package a File Is In

The bottom left corner of the window shows the file in the active tab and the package it was opened from.

Right-click a file and choose Copy URL to copy a vpk: link with the package, or Copy name for only its path.

If a model or material shows up without its textures, see Game Search Paths.