S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylNo-code tool
Change the Zone’s numbers. No code.
A free tool for Windows. Find a weapon, armour, item, NPC or trader, change the numbers, and Studio builds a small mod and installs it into the game. No coding, no Zone Kit.
SHA-25638bb9fb7…ac752d1ehow to verify
This is a beta. Reading the game, building and installing mods are tested on the developer’s PC. That a Studio mod changes values in the game is not confirmed yet: the first test on 4 October showed the magazine unchanged, and test mods are being checked now. What is proven and what is not: see Status.
How it works
Studio finds your game and reads its data in a few seconds: weapons, armour, items, NPCs and traders, with names in English and Ukrainian.
Search by name or by goal: “weight”, “magazine”. On the card, step numbers with − and + or type new ones; the game’s value is always next to them.
One button builds a mod with only the changed fields and puts it in the game’s mods folder. One button removes it, too.
After installing, start the game, or restart it if it was open: the game reads mods only when it starts.
Features
Studio finds the installed game and reads the data from your own disk once: the base game, the Cost of Hope DLC and the edition bonuses. That is about 13,661 records in a few seconds (2.4 s on the developer’s PC), with English and Ukrainian names taken from the game itself.
Every number sits in a box with − and + buttons. Next to it you always see the game’s value, the typical range for that class (pistol magazines, say) and notes on where and when the change shows in the game.
×1.2, /2, +10%.
Type in English or Ukrainian: “medkit”, “AK”, “Sidorovich”. Search also understands goals such as “weight”, “magazine” or “repair”, and says so honestly when something is not in Studio yet. The editor home has tiles for popular goals.
weight>5, damage:30..40, magazine=30|45.
Open two records side by side, two assault rifles for example. The ← arrow takes a single value; “Make the same…” copies the chosen fields in one step, and one step undoes it.
“Install to game” builds a Name_P.pak file with only the changed fields ({bpatch}) and puts it in the ~mods folder. While the game runs, Studio leaves that folder alone: it waits for the game to close, and you keep editing meanwhile.
After installing, Studio tells you where to look in the game and what should change: weight in the inventory tooltip, the magazine after a full reload, trader stock after the trader restocks. You answer yes or no and get advice.
Every change with its time and name. Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y work even after a restart, and Studio saves a checkpoint on every install.
A switched-off change stays in the mod but is not built into the file. One click turns it back on.
As a .zmsmod file or a ZMSMOD1:… text code for a message, without the game’s numbers or your PC’s paths. The receiver sees the originals from their own game.
Studio turns a {bpatch} mod from a .pak, .zip, .cfg or folder into a new mod of yours. It never changes the original.
The “buys from you” and “sells to you” multipliers, plus stock: the minimum, maximum and chance of each item.
zms.exe does the same without a window: search, edit, build, install.
Put an empty portable.txt next to the program, and all data is kept in a data folder beside it.
English and Ukrainian, dark and light. Switch any time.
Gallery
Screenshots of the program itself, made with the game installed on the developer’s PC. Click a screenshot to open it full size.
Safety
These rules are built into the program itself.
The only file Studio writes into the game folder is its own mod in ~mods.
No telemetry. Game data stays in a cache on your PC, and Studio only reads the game’s log to see whether the game opened the mod.
Studio makes a copy before every replacement or removal of a mod. The last 10 are kept.
While the game runs, Studio does not touch mods: it waits for the game to close and installs then.
A mod is a single file, and one button removes it. Studio never changes other mods in ~mods.
The program contains no game files and no Oodle decompressor: Studio uses what is already on your PC.
Requirements
oo2core*.dll) somewhere on the PC. Studio finds it itself: Epic’s Unreal Engine and Zone Kit include one, and so do some games. If there is none, Studio explains what to do. More about OodleThe program is not signed, so Windows may show SmartScreen. Click “More info” → “Run anyway”.
Status
Zone Mod Studio is a beta, and we say plainly what is not proven yet. As of 4 October 2026.
on the developer’s PC: Steam, game 2.0.6, Cost of Hope DLC
with test mods in the game itself
once the in-game check confirms the basics
0.1.0
0.1.1
Now
Prove in the game that changes work
Next
Bulk edits, new pages, recipes
FAQ
That is how Windows treats programs without a digital signature, and Studio is not signed yet. Click “More info” → “Run anyway”.
To make sure the zip is the right one, compare its SHA-256 with the one on the download page.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 compresses its data with Oodle by Epic Games, but the game has no separate decompressor file. Studio cannot ship one: the file belongs to Epic.
Such a file (oo2core*.dll) comes with Unreal Engine and the Zone Kit, free but large programs from Epic, and with some other games.
Studio mods only change the numbers of existing records and add no new items, so removing a mod should not harm your saves. But this is a beta: make a separate save before you check, so you can go back to it.
The game keeps some values in the save itself. For example, the rounds already in a magazine stay until a full reload.
GSC Game World officially supports S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 modding: it released the Zone Kit and guides, including how to make cfg mods. Zone Mod Studio makes exactly such cfg mods, text changes in the ~mods folder, just without code.
It is an unofficial fan tool: GSC did not make, review or endorse it.
Studio changes the numbers of records that already exist. It does not make new items, models, textures, quests or locations; that is what the Zone Kit is for.
Carry weight, stamina, repair, stashes and difficulty cannot be edited yet: search and the goal tiles mark them “Not in Studio yet”. They are planned.
A free beta for Windows 10 and 11. No installer: unzip the archive and run the program.