# Introduction
## What is the playlist file?
The playlist file is a plain text file located in your game directory's `platform` folder. It manages:
* Default game parameters (e.g. `match_ending_enabled`)
* Gamemodes (e.g. `custom_tdm`, `survival`) and what maps these gamemodes can be played on
* Gamemode parameters (e.g. `default_shield_hp` for `custom_tdm`)
Through the playlist file, you can customize any gamemode without needing to know how to code.
## How do I modify the playlist file?
Simply open the file with any text/code editor.
### Structure
In the playlist file, there's the gamemodes, and there's the playlists. Gamemodes are defined in the `Gamemodes` block, while playlists are defined in the `Playlists` block. At the bottom of the file, you will also find `KVFileOverrides`.
{% hint style="warning" %}
Playlists and gamemodes can share the same name (e.g. `custom_tdm`)! You can differentiate them by looking in which block they're defined.
{% endhint %}
#### Gamemodes block
Gamemodes are **bases** which the playlists **build upon**. You do not typically need to modify anything in this block. Currently, we have as base gamemodes:
* `survival`: standard Apex Battle Royale experience
* `custom_tdm`:despite its name, it's a variable-team deathmatch experience with respawns
#### Playlists block
This is where you can define playlists in order to modify the behavior of the gamemodes. We will talk about this section more in just a bit.
{% hint style="info" %}
Multiple playlists can have the same base gamemode.
{% endhint %}
#### KVFileOverrides block
This is where you can modify weapon values, such as damage, ammo count etc. You can read more about how to modify weapon properties in the Weapons section.
{% hint style="danger" %}
We urge you to use this method instead of modifying the files `scripts/weapons/*` , as the changes are broadcasted to every player connected to you, so no weird issues arise using this method. This way, no desync issues/weird bugs will arise.
{% endhint %}
#### Now, let's look at an example:
```yaml
Playlists
{
custom_tdm
{
inherit defaults
vars
{
max_teams 2
min_players 2
max_players 64
//TDM Settings
survival_jumpkit_enabled 1
survival_wallrun_enabled 1
survival_infinite_ammo 1
default_shield_hp 75
ground_loot_enable 0
lootbin_loot_enable 0
//whitelisted_weapon_0 "mp_weapon_mastiff"
jump_from_plane_enabled 0
match_ending_enabled 0
sur_circle_start_paused 1
}
gamemodes { custom_tdm { maps {
mp_rr_desertlands_64k_x_64k 1
} } }
}
}
```
The above is an excerpt from the `custom_tdm` **playlist** settings. You can find the full version in the file.
First of all, anything preceded by `//` is not read by the game and is named a **comment**. It is there only to help other people understand what you've done, or to neatly organize all the properties you've written. A common practice is to **comment** properties you want to temporarily disable without deleting them, as the game will not read the contents.
```
max_teams 2
```
In the code above, you see what we'll refer to going forward as a **KV** (key-value) or **PlaylistVar**. The **key** is the property name (`max_teams`) and the value is, well, the value of said property (`2`). The game will read this **KV** and make it so the players only get distributed in 2 teams, which is perfect for a Team Deathmatch!
KV's support multiple value **types**:
| Type | Explanation | Example |
| -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| `int` | Integer | `3`, `-41` |
| `bool` | Must be either 0 or 1
Typically used for PlaylistVars with only 2 possible values, such asreplay\_enabled
| `0` |
| `float` | Rational numbers | `3.14` |
| `string` | Plain text
Must be surrounded by "
| `"mp_weapon_mastiff"` |
## Practical Example
Team Deathmatch is nice and all, but, because of the flexibility of the playlist file, we can make it into a Free For All without any code changes, with the following properties changed:
```
max_teams 64
max_players 64
max_team_players 1
```
Notice that we use a new KV called `max_team_players`. This will make it so the game is forced to leave only 1 player in each team.
{% hint style="warning" %}
Make sure `max_players` isn't greater than `max_teams` though, because the game will not have enough teams to assign the players to!
{% endhint %}
## I want more!
Continue to the next section, where you can read about all of the KVs you can modify.
---
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