What are the components in a Skyrim Special Edition save filename?

Question

Skyrim Special Edition save filenames clearly have useful information in them in a specific format.
This information can be handy e.g. when going back through the save game history to decide which saves to keep and which to dump, since a directory full of multi-megabyte saved games can get very large.

Here are some example filenames:

Autosave3_74DD6D56_1_42617469737465_KnifepointRidge01_000521_20171125110855_3_1.ess
Quicksave0_74DD6D56_1_42617469737465_KnifepointRidge01_000527_20171125111521_4_1.ess
Save1_AC6950AD_1_507269736F6E6572_Tamriel_000006_20171125005247_1_1.ess

What do the various components mean?

Feel free to update the community answer if you have only a little extra information to add.

cjs · Answer

Save filenames have nine components separated by underscores. Examples:

Autosave3_74DD6D56_1_42617469737465_KnifepointRidge01_000521_20171125110855_3_1.ess

The components are:

[0] Save Slot

One of Quicksave0, Autosave{1,2,3} or Save{1,2,3,...}.

[1] Racemenu hash

Unique hash used to identify your save profile. Regenerated on closing racemenu.

[2] Flag for modded game

0 for unmodded, 1 for modded.

[3] Character name in hex

Use a site like this one to convert. Examples:

42617469737465 is Batiste
507269736F6E6572 is Prisoner

[4] Location

A textual location name (with CamelCase words, no spaces) sometimes followed by a two digit number.

Examples: Tamriel, HelgenKeep01, HalfMoonMill, KnifepointRidge01.

[5] Days, Hours, Minutes played

Format is DDHHMM.

[6] Timestamp

Format is YYMMDDHHMMSS.

[7] Level

Current level of character. Variable digits, not padded.

[8] Unknown Number

Examples: 1.

Credit to NQS NamedQuicksaves for some of the above information.

What are the components in a Skyrim Special Edition save filename?

One Answer

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question