Elden Ring’s two most common mod loaders, Mod Engine 2 and Elden Mod Loader (EML), get mixed up constantly, and it’s easy to see why. Both let you run mods, both are commonly used together, and plenty of guides treat them as interchangeable. They actually work in completely different ways, which matters a lot once you’re trying to remove one or both cleanly.
Why these two tools need different removal steps
Elden Mod Loader works by placing a dinput8.dll file directly inside your game’s folder, using a technique where the game loads that DLL automatically at startup, the same general approach REFramework uses for RE Engine games. There’s no separate process running in the background and no standalone executable to close, since the DLL only does its job the moment the game itself launches.
Mod Engine 2 works nothing like this. It lives in its own self-contained folder, which can be anywhere on your system, and starts the game through a .bat launcher rather than anything built into the game’s files. If you’ve used both tools together, which is common since some mods specifically need EML’s load timing, you’re dealing with two entirely separate removal processes, not one.
Removing Elden Mod Loader
Since EML never runs as a background process, there’s nothing to close in Task Manager for the loader itself. Removal comes down to the files sitting in your game folder.
- Navigate to your Elden Ring install folder, then into the
Gamesubfolder specifically, for example...\steamapps\common\ELDEN RING\Game\. - Delete or rename
dinput8.dll. Renaming it to something likedinput8.dll.bakworks if you want the option to restore it later without redownloading. - If you want a full cleanup rather than just disabling the loader, also delete the
modsfolder inside that same directory.
Your individual mod files don’t need to be deleted just to disable EML. Without dinput8.dll present, the game has no way to load them, so they simply sit inactive until you decide otherwise.
If you’re using the separate Elden Mod Loader GUI wrapper on top of base EML, that tool keeps its own configuration file, EML_gui_config.ini, and its own log file, EML_gui_log.txt, wherever you placed the GUI executable. Delete that folder separately if you installed the GUI.
Removing Mod Engine 2
Because Mod Engine 2 keeps everything in one self-contained folder outside the game directory, this removal looks different.
- Close Elden Ring if it’s running, and check Task Manager for
modengine2_launcher.exein case it’s still active. - Locate the folder where you originally extracted Mod Engine 2. If you’re not sure where that is, right-click the shortcut or
.batfile you use to launch modded Elden Ring and select “Open file location.” - Delete that entire folder. This removes the launcher, the
.tomlconfiguration file, and every mod stored in itsmodsubfolder in one step, since they all live together. - Go back to launching Elden Ring directly through Steam or Epic Games instead of the
.batfile.
What to do if you’re running both
If both tools are installed together, removing one doesn’t affect the other, since they don’t share any files or configuration. You can safely follow the EML steps and the Mod Engine 2 steps independently, in either order, depending on which one you’re trying to remove.
Verifying game files afterward
Neither loader modifies your core Elden Ring installation, so a file verification isn’t strictly required, but it’s a reasonable final check if you want confirmation that nothing was left behind or accidentally altered. Steam Support and Epic Games Support both cover the verification process in more detail if either platform’s steps don’t match what you’re seeing.
| Platform | Steps |
|---|---|
| Steam | Library, right-click Elden Ring, Properties, Local Files, Verify Integrity of Game Files |
| Epic Games | Library, click the three dots next to Elden Ring, select Verify |
A note on save files and anti-cheat
Save data lives in AppData\Roaming\EldenRing, separate from either mod loader, and removing EML or Mod Engine 2 has no effect on it. Both tools also force offline play while active, since Elden Ring’s anti-cheat doesn’t allow modified sessions to connect. Once both loaders are removed and you’re launching the game normally, online play works exactly as it did before you installed anything.
Conclusion
Elden Mod Loader and Mod Engine 2 solve a similar problem in fundamentally different ways, one as a DLL sitting inside your game folder, the other as a self-contained launcher living entirely outside it, and that difference is exactly what determines how each one gets removed. EML comes down to deleting or renaming a single DLL in the game’s Game subfolder, while Mod Engine 2 comes down to deleting the one folder you originally extracted it into. Knowing which tool you’re actually running, rather than treating “mod loader” as one generic thing, is what makes the difference between a clean uninstall and hunting through the wrong folder for files that were never there to begin with.