binfile.md

BIN file format

BINs are files used by the game client. They contain typed structured data.

BIN header

The BIN file starts with the following header:

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	4	PROP	magic code
4	4	u32	version

Parsing of following data depends on the version.

Starting from version 2, the header is followed by links to other BIN files (a list of their path):

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	4	u32	linked files count
4	?×n	string	linked files paths

After linked files (or version for older BIN files) are the entry types:

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	4	u32	entry count
4	4×n	u32	entry types

BIN entries

Entry header:

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	4	u32	entry length
4	4	u32	entry hash
8	4	u16	field count

The header is followed by field data as defined here.

Data types

BIN data is structured and each value is typed. Some types are nested and can contain other values.

The following types are defined:

Value	Format	Size	Nested	Description
0	empty	6
1	bool	1
2	s8	1
3	u8	1
4	s16	2
5	u16	2
6	s32	4
7	u32	4
8	s64	8
9	u64	8
10	float	4
11	vec2(float)	8
12	vec3(float)	12
13	vec4(float)	16
14	matrix4x4	64
15	rgba	4		RGBA byte values
16	string	2+n		2-byte size followed by content
17	hash	4		BIN hash value
18	container	> 9	✓	array of values of the same type
19	struct	> 10	✓	structure with named fields
20	embedded	> 10	✓	structure with named fields
21	link	4
22	option	2+n	✓	an optional value
23	map	> 10	✓	key/value pairs
24	flag	1		boolean used as a flag

Note: Value size is either fixed (e.g. numeric types) or provided in the header (e.g. structs). The only exceptions are nested strings whose size cannot be inferred from the header.

Structs and embeddeds

Structs and embeddeds store their values in fields. Each field of is associated to a type and a hash (based on its human-readable name). Fields are optional.

Note: Structs and embeddeds work the same. The difference is internal: structs are stored as fields and embeddeds are pointers to static data.

Data starts with the following header:

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	4	u32	struct/embedded name hash
4	4	u32	data size (remaining bytes)
8	2	u16	field count

Note: if the name hash is 0, struct is void and ends right after the name hash.

Header is followed by field data. Each field is introduced by a small header followed by field value data. Field header format is describe below:

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	4	u32	field name hash
4	1	u8	field type

Other nested types

Containers, options and maps are nested types for which all elements are sequenced and have the same type (provided in the header).

Container

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	1	u8	value type
1	4	u32	data size (remaining bytes)
5	4	u32	value count

Option

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	1	u8	value type
1	1	u8	1 if option has a value, 0 otherwise

Map

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	1	u8	key type
1	1	u8	value type
2	4	u32	data size (remaining bytes)
6	4	u32	key/value count

BIN hashes

BIN files use 32-bit hashes to identify fields and reference some data instances.

An FNV-1a hash is applied to the lowercased string value.

Patch files

Patch files are used to override specific BIN entries. Their format is identical to BIN files, except for an additional header, before the usual PROP magic code.

Pos	Size	Format	Description
0	4	PTCH	magic code
4	4	u32	unknown (always 1)
8	4	u32	unknown (always 0)
12	4	PROP	BIN file magic code followed by usual data