Guides

Info

All in-game resources are packed into the pak01_dir.vpk file. Path: Steam/steamapps/common/dota 2 beta/game/dota/

Replacing images (vtex)

Images in Dota 2 use the .vtex_c format.

Main directories

All images are stored in subfolders of panorama/images/. Main paths:

Resource type	Path
Ability icons	`panorama/images/spellicons/`
Hero icons	`panorama/images/heroes/`
Rank icons	`panorama/images/rank_tier_icons/`
Item icons	`panorama/images/items/`

Tools

Decompiling/Viewing: Source2Viewer
Editing: Photoshop, miniPaint, or any other graphics editor.
Compiling: Compiler
Packing: VPKTool

Example: replacing an ability icon

Let's replace Dazzle's Shallow Grave icon:

Navigate to panorama/images/spellicons/ inside pak01_dir.vpk.
Find and decompile the dazzle_shallow_grave_png.vtex_c file using Source2Viewer.
Open the resulting image in a graphics editor, make your changes, and save the file as .png.
Use Compiler to compile the image into .vtex_c format.
Create a folder with the path panorama/images/spellicons/ and place your compiled file inside.
Use VPKTool to create a .vpk archive from this folder.
Move the resulting .vpk file to the mods directory (your game's language folder).

Replacing sounds (vsnd)

Sounds in Dota 2 use the .vsnd_c format.

Main directories

All sounds are stored in subfolders of sounds/. Main paths:

Resource type	Path
Item sounds	`sounds/items/`
Hero ability sounds	`sounds/weapons/hero/`
Hero voice lines	`sounds/vo/` (ignore announcer_dlc_)
Music	`sounds/music/`

Tools

Decompiling/Viewing: Source2Viewer
Editing: Tenacity or any other audio editor.
Compiling: Compiler
Packing: VPKTool

Example: replacing an item sound

Let's replace the Force Staff sound:

Find any sound in .mp3 or .wav format.
Edit it if needed.
Use Compiler to compile the file into .vsnd_c format.
Rename the file to force_staff.vsnd_c
Create a folder with the path sounds/items/ and place your compiled file inside.
Use VPKTool to create a .vpk archive from this folder.
Move the resulting .vpk file to the mods directory (your game's language folder).

Editing styles (vcss)

Styles in Dota 2 use the .vcss_c format.

Main directories

All styles are stored in subfolders of panorama/styles/.

Tools

Decompiling/Viewing: Source2Viewer
Editing: gram or any other text editor.
Compiling + Packing: Minify

Example: changing the "Play" button style

1. Enabling developer mode

In Dota 2's launch options (Steam → right-click Dota 2 → Properties → General), enter: -dev -language english

Launch the game.

2. Finding the element via Panorama Debugger

After the main menu loads, press F6 to open Panorama Debugger.
Click the Play Dota button — the corresponding component will be automatically highlighted in the element tree.
The right-hand column shows the styles applied to the element; you can also temporarily edit values there in real time to see the result immediately.
The button has the #PlayButton attribute. Next to it, the file where this style is declared will be shown — play.css.

Tip

Edits made in Panorama Debugger aren't saved and reset when the game restarts — this is just a way to quickly dial in the values you want before transferring them to your mod file.

3. Extracting and editing the source style file

In Source2Viewer, open pak01_dir.vpk and find the play.vcss_c file at panorama/styles/.
Decompile and open the file.
Find the .PlayButton selector in it and edit the properties you want. Example of changing the background and font style of the button:

css

.PlayButton
{
    width: 330px;
    max-height: 49px;
    margin-bottom: 21px;
    margin-right: 58px;
    padding: 4px 12px 4px 12px;
    background-color: #6d47bf; /* purple background*/
    font-style: italic; /* font style*/
    box-shadow: fill #5eff6e 1px 1px 8px 1px; /* green glow*/
    opacity: 1.0;
    transition-property: box-shadow, background-color, opacity, transform;
    transition-delay: 0.0s;
    transition-duration: 0.2s;
    transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;
}

4. Preparing the mod via Minify

Download Minify and go to its mods folder.
Copy the User Styles folder and rename the copy, for example, to Play Button.
Inside the new folder, rename the _styling.css file to styling.css and open it.
Clear the file's contents entirely and paste the following code, specifying the path to the original resource in the comment and using the adjusted selector:

css

/* g:panorama/styles/play */
#PlayButton {
    width: 330px;
    max-height: 49px;
    margin-bottom: 21px;
    margin-right: 58px;
    padding: 4px 12px 4px 12px;
    background-color: #6d47bf;
    font-style: italic;
    box-shadow: fill #5eff6e 1px 1px 8px 1px;
    opacity: 1.0;
    transition-property: box-shadow, background-color, opacity, transform;
    transition-delay: 0.0s;
    transition-duration: 0.2s;
    transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;
}

Tip

You can read more about CSS here, or use an AI.

5. Compiling and installing

Launch Minify, select the mod you created (Play Button) and the desired game language.
Click Patch and wait for the process to finish.
Launch Dota.

Replacing Models

Replacing and Editing Effects

Text Replacement

Text in Dota 2 is stored in .txt files.

Main Directories

All localization files are located in the resource/localization/ folder.

Text Type	File
Game interface	`dota_<language>.txt`
Ability text	`abilities_<language>.txt`
Settings	`gameui_<language>.txt`

Replace <language> with your game language, for example english.

Tools

Extract/View: Source2Viewer
Editing: Notepad++, VS Code, or any text editor.
Packaging: VPKTool

Example: Changing Match Result Text

In this example, we'll change the "Win" and "Loss" text shown in the match history.

Open pak01_dir.vpk using Source2Viewer.
Navigate to resource/localization/.
Extract dota_english.txt (or the file for your language).
Find these lines:

text

"dota_profile_recent_game_result_win" "Win"
    "dota_profile_recent_game_result_loss" "Loss"

Replace the text:

text

"dota_profile_recent_game_result_win" "HELL YEAH"
    "dota_profile_recent_game_result_loss" "50%"

Save the file.
Create the folder resource/localization/ and place the edited file inside it.
Create a .vpk archive using VPKTool.
Move the finished .vpk file into your game's language folder.

Screenshot

Important

Valve frequently updates localization files, sometimes even without releasing a game patch. After an update, your changes may stop working or some text may become incorrect.

If this happens, extract the updated localization file again and repeat your changes, or use the automatic method below.

Automatic Replacement with a Script

This method automatically reapplies your changes to the latest localization file after every Dota 2 update.

1. Installation

Install:

Python
the vpk module:

bash

pip install vpk

Download the archive containing the script and extract it.

2. Configuration

Open main.py and set the required paths:

python

VPK_PATH = r"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\dota 2 beta\game\dota\pak01_dir.vpk"
INTERNAL_FILE_PATH = "resource/localization/dota_english.txt"
REPLACE_FILE = "replace.txt"
OUTPUT_VPK = "pak02_dir.vpk"

Parameters:

VPK_PATH — path to the original pak01_dir.vpk.
INTERNAL_FILE_PATH — path to the localization file inside the archive.
REPLACE_FILE — file containing your custom replacements.
OUTPUT_VPK — name of the generated mod.

3. Adding Replacements

Open replace.txt and add the lines you want to replace:

text

"dota_profile_recent_game_result_win" "HELL YEAH"
"dota_profile_recent_game_result_loss" "50%"

4. Building the Mod

Open a command prompt in the script folder and run:

bash

python main.py

When the script finishes, it will generate pak02_dir.vpk.

Move it to your game's language folder.

Tip

After every Dota 2 update, simply run python main.py again. The script will automatically use the latest localization file and reapply all replacements from replace.txt.

Font Replacement

Fonts in Dota 2 are stored as regular .ttf/.otf files, so replacing them doesn't require Source2Viewer or VPKTool — you just need to prepare the font files and place them in the right folder.

Main Directories

Fonts are stored in the panorama/fonts/ folder.

The game uses two main fonts:

Font Name	File
Radiance	`radiance-light.otf`
Reaver	`reaver-regular.otf`

Tools

Font editing: FontForge
Font search: online-fonts or any other font website

Example: Replacing the Main Interface Font

Find and download a font you like, for example on online-fonts.

When choosing a font, it's recommended to paste the following text into the preview field to immediately see how the font looks with Cyrillic characters, numbers, and special symbols:

text

BrownЧёрный123./?!

Download the font file and make a copy of it — you'll need two identical files: one will replace Radiance, the other will replace Reaver.
Open FontForge and open the first font file in it.
Go to Element → Font Info and specify:
- Fontname: Radiance-Light
- Family Name: Radiance
Click OK, then File → Generate Fonts.
Select the OpenType (CFF) format, set the file name to Radiance-Light, and click Generate (if a warning appears, click Yes; if an error occurs, click Generate again).
Repeat steps 3–6 with the second (copied) font file, but specify different values:
- Fontname: Reaver-Regular
- Family Name: Reaver
- File name: Reaver-Regular
Navigate to the folder with the installed fonts:

text

Steam\steamapps\common\dota 2 beta\game\dota\panorama\fonts

Tip

Before making changes, copy the fonts folder to your desktop — this will let you quickly restore everything to its original state.

Delete all files in this folder except grenze-bold and creepster-regular, and place the two generated files (Radiance-Light.otf and Reaver-Regular.otf) there.
Launch Dota.

How to Revert Everything

To roll back the changes, delete the fonts folder and put the previously copied folder from your desktop in its place. If you don't have a copy left, delete the fonts folder and run a file integrity check.

Guides ​

Replacing images (vtex) ​

Main directories ​

Tools ​

Example: replacing an ability icon ​

Replacing sounds (vsnd) ​

Main directories ​

Tools ​

Example: replacing an item sound ​

Editing styles (vcss) ​

Main directories ​

Tools ​

Example: changing the "Play" button style ​

1. Enabling developer mode ​

2. Finding the element via Panorama Debugger ​

3. Extracting and editing the source style file ​

4. Preparing the mod via Minify ​

5. Compiling and installing ​

Replacing Models ​

Replacing and Editing Effects ​

Text Replacement ​

Main Directories ​

Tools ​

Example: Changing Match Result Text ​

Automatic Replacement with a Script ​

1. Installation ​

2. Configuration ​

3. Adding Replacements ​

4. Building the Mod ​

Font Replacement ​

Main Directories ​

Tools ​

Example: Replacing the Main Interface Font ​

Guides

Replacing images (vtex)

Main directories

Tools

Example: replacing an ability icon

Replacing sounds (vsnd)

Main directories

Tools

Example: replacing an item sound

Editing styles (vcss)

Main directories

Tools

Example: changing the "Play" button style

1. Enabling developer mode

2. Finding the element via Panorama Debugger

3. Extracting and editing the source style file

4. Preparing the mod via Minify

5. Compiling and installing

Replacing Models

Replacing and Editing Effects

Text Replacement

Main Directories

Tools

Example: Changing Match Result Text

Automatic Replacement with a Script

1. Installation

2. Configuration

3. Adding Replacements

4. Building the Mod

Font Replacement

Main Directories

Tools

Example: Replacing the Main Interface Font