How to Install EXILED Plugins on an SCP: Secret Laboratory Server (Windows and Linux)

EXILED installation has two separate parts: install the EXILED framework, then copy each plugin’s release .dll into the directory used by your server account. On Windows that directory is normally %AppData%EXILEDPlugins; on Linux it is ~/.config/EXILED/Plugins. Start the server and confirm the EXILED load report in the console before troubleshooting individual plugins. If your panel uses the newer LabAPI layout, the loader and dependencies go under SCP Secret Laboratory/LabAPI instead of being copied into the game’s main folder.

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What EXILED is—and what you are actually installing

EXILED is a server-side plugin framework for SCP: Secret Laboratory. It supplies an event system for changing or extending server behavior; its events use Harmony, while framework code is kept outside the base server assembly. That separation can reduce the effect of some small game updates, but it does not make EXILED permanently version-independent. The EXILED release, the plugin build and the SCP: Secret Laboratory game build still have to be compatible.

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The framework and a plugin are different files. Installing EXILED creates the loader, framework files and configuration directories; it does not automatically install gameplay plugins. A plugin’s release package normally contains a DLL that EXILED loads at startup. A source-code archive, README, screenshot, ZIP left unextracted, or unrelated asset is not a plugin assembly. The official installation guidance is explicit that the file placed in the Plugins directory must be a .dll.

You do not install EXILED on players’ computers. It runs on the dedicated server, and every player connects to the server normally after the plugin has loaded.

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Before you begin

• Have a working SCP: Secret Laboratory dedicated server and know the account that starts it.
• Stop the server before moving framework folders, loader files or dependencies. Keep a backup of the server configuration and existing EXILED files.
• Use an EXILED release that supports the server’s current game version. Do not assume the newest EXILED build supports an older or newly updated game build.
• Have local file access on Windows, or SSH/SFTP and ownership access on Linux.
• Know the server port. EXILED creates per-port configuration files, so the port is part of the filename.
• Read the individual plugin’s release notes for required dependencies, supported game versions and any special installation directory.

Choose an installation route

Use one framework installation route, not several at once. Mixing an old manual tree with a panel’s LabAPI files can leave duplicate or stale assemblies and makes version errors harder to diagnose.

Install EXILED on Windows

Automatic installer

1. Download Exiled.Installer-Win.exe from the EXILED release assets.
2. Copy the installer into the dedicated-server folder—the folder from which the SCP: Secret Laboratory server is started.
3. Run it as the same Windows account that normally starts the server. If that account cannot write the required directories, run the installer as an administrator instead.
4. Allow the installer to complete. Avoid moving the generated folders afterward; they need to remain associated with the account that runs the server.
5. Start the SCP: Secret Laboratory server once. Watch the server console for EXILED’s startup and plugin-load messages.
6. Stop the server again before copying your first plugin DLL, then follow the plugin placement procedure below.

Running the installer as an administrator while the server later runs as a different user is a common cause of missing files. Windows gives each account its own AppData directory, so always verify which account owns the path used by the running process.

Manual archive installation

1. Download the EXILED release archive named Exiled.tar.gz and extract it with an archive utility that preserves the folder structure.
2. Locate the extracted EXILED folder and move it to C:Users<User>AppDataRoaming, which is the %AppData% directory for the server account.
3. Do not put EXILED inside the existing SCP Secret Laboratory subfolder. The two folders sit beside one another in the same AppData location.
4. Move the extracted SCP Secret Laboratory folder to that same %AppData% location. Merge only when Windows asks to merge the expected folder structure; do not overwrite unrelated server data without a backup.
5. Start the server and inspect the console for EXILED’s load report.

After this route, the normal plugin directory is C:Users<User>AppDataRoamingEXILEDPlugins. In a shell or documentation page, the equivalent environment-variable form is %AppData%EXILEDPlugins.

Install EXILED on Linux

Automatic installer

1. Download the release asset named Exiled.Installer-Linux.
2. Make it executable if your distribution requires that, then run it from the server directory or provide the server directory explicitly:

./Exiled.Installer-Linux --path /path/to/server

Running the installer from the server folder is also supported. The installer must run as the account that starts the SCP server, or as root. If root performs the installation, check ownership afterward so the unprivileged server account can read the framework and write its configuration.

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Pre-release builds

Use the --pre-releases switch only when you intentionally need the latest prerelease and have confirmed that it matches your game build. For example:

./Exiled.Installer-Linux /home/scp/server --pre-releases

A prerelease can solve a newly introduced compatibility gap, but it can also introduce changes before plugin authors have updated their DLLs. Treat it as a deliberate maintenance decision rather than a routine install option.

Manual archive installation

1. Download Exiled.tar.gz.
2. Extract it on the server:

tar -xzvf EXILED.tar.gz

3. Move the extracted EXILED directory into the server user’s ~/.config directory.
4. Move the extracted SCP Secret Laboratory directory into that same ~/.config directory.
5. Place plugins in ~/.config/EXILED/Plugins, preserving the capital letters in EXILED and Plugins.
6. Start the server as the same user and read the console output.

If you unpacked or moved the files through an SSH session logged in as root, the paths may have been created under root’s home directory. Confirm that the target .config, EXILED directory and plugin DLLs belong to the account that actually launches SCP: Secret Laboratory. Linux permissions and ownership errors can look exactly like a plugin that was never installed.

Install an individual EXILED plugin

Install the framework first, then add plugins one at a time. Stop the server before copying files so that a partially written DLL cannot be read during startup.

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1. Open the plugin author’s release page and download the compiled release asset. Choose the DLL that matches the plugin’s documented EXILED and SCP: Secret Laboratory versions.
2. Extract the download if it is an archive. Identify the actual plugin assembly; it ends in .dll. Do not copy the archive, its README, a source project, or a directory of unrelated assets as the plugin itself.
3. Copy the DLL into the platform’s EXILED plugin directory.

4. Ensure the server-running account can read the DLL and every directory above it.
5. Start the server, then look for the plugin name in EXILED’s plugin-load report.
6. Only after a successful load should you edit that plugin’s settings. If you add several plugins at once and one fails, remove the new files and add them back individually to identify the cause.

Some plugins ship with separate dependency DLLs or give a different path in their release instructions. Follow those instructions for that plugin; the standard EXILED directory is not permission to scatter assemblies through the base game folder.

When a hosting panel uses the current LabAPI layout

Some current hosting documentation describes EXILED as being loaded through Northwood’s LabAPI loader rather than through only the older folder-move procedure. The visible paths may be shown relative to the account’s configuration root, so a panel can display /.config/ where a normal shell user would use ~/.config/. Confirm the panel’s home-directory mapping before uploading.

For an SFTP-based installation, stop the server and use this sequence:

1. Upload the complete EXILED/ directory to the account’s .config directory.
2. Upload Exiled.Loader.dll to .config/SCP Secret Laboratory/LabAPI/plugins/global/.
3. Upload the EXILED dependency files to .config/SCP Secret Laboratory/LabAPI/dependencies/global/.
4. Create plugins/global/ and dependencies/global/ if they do not exist. Linux paths are case-sensitive, so match LabAPI, plugins, global and every filename exactly.
5. Start the server and inspect the dashboard console for EXILED’s plugin-load report.

Do not replace the entire SCP Secret Laboratory folder with a downloaded copy. That folder also contains server configuration, and replacing it can discard settings unrelated to EXILED. Upload the loader and dependency files into the existing tree instead.

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A successful first start creates /.config/EXILED/Configs/ in panels that expose the configuration root that way. On a conventional Linux account the same directory is normally expressed as ~/.config/EXILED/Configs/. If no EXILED configuration directory appears and the console contains no EXILED messages, stop and fix the loader path or ownership before adding more plugins.

Verify the installation from the console

The server console is the authoritative first check. On a normal start, EXILED reports that it has loaded and lists plugins it discovered. A plugin that appears in that report is being found by the framework; a plugin absent from the report has a path, filename, permission, dependency or compatibility problem that must be solved before its in-game commands can work.

• Confirm that the server is running under the account whose AppData or ~/.config directory you inspected.
• Confirm that the file is a release DLL, not a source archive or a nested DLL still inside a ZIP.
• Confirm that the directory spelling and capitalization match the platform-specific path.
• Read the first error associated with the plugin rather than only the final startup failure; dependency and version errors are often reported earlier.
• Check that the framework release supports the current SCP: Secret Laboratory game build.

On the first successful start, look for the EXILED Configs directory. Its creation is useful evidence that the framework is running, but it does not prove that every plugin is compatible; each plugin still needs to appear in the load report.

Configure plugins without editing the base-game file

The default EXILED configuration is separate from the base game’s config_gameplay.txt. The official README gives these per-port locations:

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Replace (ServerPortHere) with the server’s listening port. A plugin’s own documentation can specify another configuration file or subsection, so use that documentation when its settings do not appear in the per-port YAML file.

Preserve YAML indentation and spelling when editing. Make a backup before changing values, and restart if the plugin documentation says it reads settings only during initialization. Editing config_gameplay.txt will not configure ordinary EXILED plugins and can lead to the mistaken conclusion that the plugin is ignoring its settings.

Reload plugins without a full reboot

EXILED provides the Remote Admin or server-console command:

reload plugins

This reloads EXILED plugins, including newly added plugins, when the server accepts the command. Dynamic updates depend on how the plugin was written: a plugin designed for reloads can apply changes immediately, while one that keeps state or hooks startup-only systems may require a complete server restart. Use the plugin’s release notes as the deciding authority. If a reload reports an error or the old behavior remains, stop the server, make the file change while it is offline, and reboot.

Compatibility after SCP: Secret Laboratory updates

Game updates are the main reason a previously working EXILED setup can stop loading. EXILED must track the server’s game version, and a game update can temporarily leave the framework incompatible until a matching EXILED release is published. Individual plugins can have an additional compatibility requirement.

1. Before updating the game, back up the server configuration, EXILED configuration and plugin directory.
2. Read the EXILED release notes and confirm that a build supports the target SCP: Secret Laboratory version.
3. Check each plugin’s release notes for the same game and EXILED version range.
4. Update the framework and plugins in a maintenance window, then start the server with only the framework if you need to isolate a failure.
5. Remove an older DLL when the plugin’s update instructions require replacement. Keeping two versions of one plugin can create duplicate-load or assembly-conflict errors.
6. Do not force a prerelease solely because the game updated. Use one only when you intentionally accept prerelease behavior and have checked plugin compatibility.

If no compatible EXILED release exists yet, the reliable options are to keep the server on the supported game build, temporarily run without the affected plugins, or wait for the framework and plugin authors to publish matching releases. Reinstalling the same old DLL will not make it compatible with a changed game assembly.

Troubleshooting by symptom

EXILED never appears in the console

• On Windows, verify the framework is in the AppData directory of the account launching the server, not an administrator’s separate AppData directory.
• On Linux, verify that ~/.config resolves to the server user’s home and that the user can read the files.
• For a panel, verify the LabAPI loader and dependencies are in their exact global directories and that you did not replace the complete game folder.
• Check the framework/game-version pairing before changing any plugin files.

The framework loads but a plugin is absent

• Open the actual release archive and copy the DLL itself into the correct Plugins directory.
• Look for an accidental nested path such as PluginsPluginNamePluginName.dll when the plugin expects the DLL directly in Plugins.
• Check file ownership and read permissions, especially after an installation performed as root.
• Remove duplicate or obsolete versions if the plugin update instructions call for replacement.
• Read the console for a missing dependency or incompatible game/EXILED version.

The plugin loads but its settings have no effect

• Edit the per-port EXILED YAML file rather than config_gameplay.txt.
• Confirm that the filename contains the port used by this server instance.
• Follow the plugin’s own documentation if it stores settings elsewhere.
• Run reload plugins only when the plugin supports dynamic reloads; otherwise restart the server.

Linux says the file exists but still cannot load it

• Check capitalization: EXILED, Plugins, LabAPI, plugins, dependencies and global are not interchangeable on Linux.
• Check ownership on every parent directory, not only the DLL.
• Confirm that a root login did not place the files under /root/.config while the server runs as another user.

A game update broke several plugins at once

Treat a simultaneous failure as a compatibility event first. Check the current game build against the EXILED release, then check plugin releases. Keep backups, avoid mixing old and new loader files, and wait for or install a release explicitly marked for the new game version.

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A repeatable installation checklist

1. Stop the server and make a backup.
2. Identify the server account, operating system and whether the host uses the LabAPI layout.
3. Install a game-compatible EXILED release with the matching automatic or manual route.
4. Start once and verify EXILED’s console report and creation of its configuration directory.
5. Stop the server and copy one plugin release DLL into the correct directory.
6. Start again and verify that plugin by name in the load report.
7. Configure it in the per-port EXILED YAML file or the plugin’s documented location.
8. Use reload plugins only when supported; otherwise reboot.
9. After future game updates, recheck framework and plugin compatibility before replacing files.

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