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Locating Subnautica: Below Zero's install location on macOS (the brute force approach)

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Tobey Blaber edited this page Nov 12, 2023 · 2 revisions

This guide was written for macOS Sonoma. The instructions below should still work for other versions of macOS, but there may be some slight differences.

Note that while the images refer to Subnautica, this is just because I am too lazy to take new screenshots. Just pretend that the screenshots refer to Subnautica: Below Zero.

If you run into any unexpected issues while following this guide, join the Subnautica Modding discord server and send a message in one of the #help-and-support channels describing your problem. Make sure to mention you were following this guide, and what step you got stuck on, and I or someone else will help you out.

First try to find the installation location via conventional methods if you haven't already:

  • If you own the game on Steam, right-click the game in your Steam library and click Manage -> Browse local files.
  • If you own the game with Epic Games, right-click the game in your Epic Games Launcher library, click Manage, and then click the folder icon next to the UNINSTALL button.

If for whatever reason you still can't determine the install location, we'll have to try to do it via brute force:

  1. Open Terminal from Launchpad by pressing Command + Space, typing terminal and pressing enter.

  2. Copy and paste the following command into the Terminal window and press enter to run it:

    "/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister" -dump | grep -E "/SubnauticaZero.app" | rev | cut -d '/' -f2- | rev | cut -d '/' -f2- | cut -d '(' -f 1 | sed 's/^/\//'

    image

    Possible locations where Subnautica: Below Zero might be located will be printed in the Terminal.

    To determine which one is correct:

    1. Copy the path you want to check from the Terminal, then from the Finder menu bar click Go -> Go to folder..., paste in the path you copied and press enter.

    2. In the Finder window which opens, right-click the Subnautica: Below Zero app (SubnauticaZero.app) and choose Show Package Contents.

      image

    3. Now, if you view the contents as a list (if you don't know how, you can right-click in the folder and choose View -> as List), and click the little arrow to expand the Contents folder, you should see something like this (note I also expanded the Frameworks folder inside Contents):

      image

      What you're looking for here are these two key things that highlight this is the right folder:

      • The SNAppData folder at the bottom - this is where Subnautica: Below Zero stores your save games - you might not see this if you've never run the game.
      • The UnityPlayer.dylib file within Frameworks - this is the backbone of the Unity game engine which Subnautica: Below Zero runs on.

      If you don't see these, you are not in the right place and need to try again with another path from the Terminal output.

    Once you have found the right place, press the back arrow at the top of the Finder window to navigate back to the folder with the Subnautica: Below Zero app (SubnauticaZero.app) - this is the folder you want to install BepInEx into. At this point, you should go back to whatever guide linked you here and continue.

  3. If you were still unable to determine how to find your Subnautica: Below Zero installation folder, there is one last thing you can try:

    1. Open Terminal from the Launchpad if it's not already open.

    2. Copy and paste the following command into the Terminal and run it:

      sudo find / -iname SubnauticaZero.app 2>/dev/null | grep '^/' | rev | cut -d '/' -f2- | rev

      This command may require you to enter your password. It will take a long time to complete as it will search every possible location on your Mac for Subnautica: Below Zero, and you will see nothing happening in the Terminal while it is running. You will likely be prompted multiple times to give permission to Terminal to access certain folders. You will want to click Allow for all of these, to make sure the command is able to check every location on your Mac.

      Once it has completed, you will see a list of possible paths where Subnautica: Below Zero might be installed printed in the Terminal. Use the instructions above in step two to check if any of these paths are correct, and then continue on with the guide that linked you here once you have found the right folder.

If you ran into any unexpected issues while following this guide, join the Subnautica Modding discord server and send a message in one of the #help-and-support channels describing your problem. Make sure to mention you were following this guide, and what step you got stuck on, and I or someone else will help you out.

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