diference mod and plugin help

[urbancek]

So i have a problem what is diference betwen mod and a plugin? why is in game in skyrim se, by clicking mods showing only my plugins and not all mods?

[Grestorn]

A mod can add anything, like textures, meshes (3D models) etc. without actually changing any game mechanics. In that case, a mod doesn't need to add a plugin.

 

As soon as a mod does more than simply changing textures or meshes, it usually comes with one or even more plugins.

 

That's the short version.

[Pickysaurus]

Another way to look at it is:

 

A Mod - the archive you download from Nexus Mods in its entirety but extracted into a folder.

A Plugin - an ESP/ESM/ESL file inside the mod used to tell the game engine to make certain changes (when enabled).

[BigBizkit]

This part in the documentation explains it in a bit more detail: https://wiki.nexusmods.com/index.php/About_Load_Orders#Plugins_vs._Mods.2C_and_how_to_sort_them

 

Many - but not all - mods come with plugins. Texture replacers are a good example of "pluginless" mods.

 

Plugins are esp, esl, or esm files.

 

The ingame "Mods" menu for Skyrim SE will actually just show you your plugin load order. That's a design choice on Bethesda's part, I am afraid.