Offline Downloads

Beginner10-15 minutesWindowsKeyboardMouse

An offline download is a copy of documentation that has been transferred from a server on the internet to a local computer and can be read without an active internet connection. When a mod developer downloads the Unturned™ modding documentation as a PDF or Epub file, that file exists on the local drive and can be opened at any time, in any location, regardless of whether the computer is connected to the internet. The offline copy is a snapshot of the documentation at the moment it was downloaded. It does not update itself, it does not require a login, and it does not depend on any external service to render its content.

This article is part of the 57 Studios™ Modding Knowledge Base foundational sequence. It documents the offline download formats available for this knowledge base and for the official Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation, explains how to obtain each format, describes the tools needed to read them, and establishes the conventions that 57 Studios™ mod developers follow when working with offline documentation. The article that precedes this one (Legacy Tutorials) catalogues older learning resources that predate the current documentation infrastructure. The article that follows (Contributing to the Wiki) describes how to contribute new content to this knowledge base.

The offline download capability exists for a practical reason: mod development workstations are not always connected to the internet. A mod developer who is traveling, working in a location with unreliable connectivity, or working on a server machine that has internet access restricted for security reasons still needs access to documentation. The offline download file is the bridge between the online knowledge base and the air-gapped or intermittently-connected development workstation.

Prerequisites

• Completion of How to Use Your Keyboard
• A Windows computer, regardless of current internet connectivity
• A basic understanding of what a file is and what a folder is (covered in What is a File? and What is a Folder?)
• A basic understanding of what a download is (covered in What is a Download?)
• Approximately twenty-five minutes of uninterrupted reading time
• No prior knowledge of PDF, Epub, or offline reading tools is assumed

What you'll learn

• What an offline documentation download is and why it exists
• The two primary offline documentation formats (PDF and Epub) and their differences
• How to obtain the offline documentation package for the 57 Studios™ knowledge base
• How to obtain the offline documentation package for the official Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation
• Which reading tools are recommended for each format on Windows
• The limitations of offline documentation compared to the live online version
• How to organize offline documentation files on the development workstation
• How to verify that an offline documentation file was downloaded completely and without corruption
• The conventions that 57 Studios™ mod developers follow for offline documentation storage and version tracking

Background

The concept of an offline documentation download is as old as documentation itself. Before the web became the dominant documentation distribution platform, software documentation was distributed on physical media, printed in bound manuals, or shipped as locally-installed help files that opened in a dedicated viewer. The shift to web-based documentation brought significant advantages (search, cross-linking, continuous updates, community annotation), but it also introduced a dependency on internet connectivity that had not existed before.

The offline download format bridges the two eras. It provides the content of the web-based documentation in a form that can be stored locally, read without a network connection, and transported on a USB drive or external hard drive. The two dominant offline documentation formats (PDF and Epub) each evolved from different lineages and serve different use cases, but both solve the same fundamental problem: how to provide a complete, self-contained copy of a large, interlinked document corpus in a single portable file.

The distinction between the live online documentation and the offline download is not merely about connectivity. The live documentation receives continuous updates, corrections, and additions. The offline download is frozen at the moment of export. A mod developer who relies on an offline download from six months ago is working with documentation that may not reflect the current state of the knowledge base, the current version of Unturned™, or the current best practices that the 57 Studios™ cohort has validated since the export date. Understanding this distinction is the prerequisite to using offline documentation effectively rather than being led astray by stale information.

The flowchart above shows the fundamental split between the live documentation path and the offline download path. The offline download is a convenience, not a replacement, and the export date stamped on every offline file is the single most important piece of metadata the mod developer should check before relying on any offline document.

Why offline documentation exists in the modern era

The persistence of offline documentation formats through two decades of increasingly ubiquitous internet connectivity is worth examining. The reason is not nostalgia or institutional inertia. Offline documentation persists because several concrete use cases continue to make a local copy of the documentation essential even when the mod developer has reliable internet access most of the time.

The first use case is travel. A mod developer who works on a laptop during commutes, flights, or stays in locations where internet access is slow, metered, or unavailable cannot rely on a live documentation website. A pre-downloaded PDF or Epub file eliminates the connectivity requirement entirely.

The second use case is server-side work. A mod developer who administers Unturned™ dedicated servers often works on machines that have restricted internet access for security reasons. Copying the documentation to a USB drive and carrying it to the server room is a pattern that recurs across the server-administration portion of the modding community.

The third use case is archival reference. When a mod developer needs to consult the documentation state as it existed at a specific point in time (for example, the documentation that was current when a particular Unturned™ version shipped), the offline download from that era is the only authoritative record. The live documentation has moved on, and the historical state is lost unless a snapshot was preserved.

The fourth use case is performance. Loading a local PDF or Epub file is faster than loading a web page over any internet connection slower than a local SSD, and the offline file never suffers from server downtime, maintenance windows, or DNS propagation delays.

The decision flowchart above describes the documented process that 57 Studios™ mod developers follow for deciding whether to use live or offline documentation in any given situation. The two critical variables are internet availability and documentation age. When internet is available and fast, the live documentation is always preferred. When internet is absent, the offline download is the only option. When internet is available but slow or metered, the offline download becomes a viable alternative if the export date is recent enough that the content is not meaningfully stale.

The two offline documentation formats

The 57 Studios™ Modding Knowledge Base and the official Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation are available in two offline formats: PDF and Epub. Each format has a distinct origin, a distinct set of capabilities, and a distinct set of recommended reading tools.

PDF: Portable Document Format

PDF (Portable Document Format) was introduced by Adobe Systems in 1993 and standardized as ISO 32000 in 2008. The format was designed to present documents in a way that is independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system used to create them. A PDF file contains a complete description of a fixed-layout document: the text, fonts, images, and vector graphics that compose the document, encoded in a way that any conforming PDF reader renders identically.

The defining characteristic of PDF is fixed layout. Each page of a PDF file has a fixed size (typically A4 or US Letter), and the content on that page is positioned at absolute coordinates. This means a PDF document always looks the same on every screen and prints identically on every printer. The fixed layout is both the format's greatest strength (for documents intended for print or for precise visual reproduction) and its greatest weakness (for documents read on small screens, where fixed-width pages require horizontal scrolling or zoom-and-pan navigation).

For the offline documentation use case, PDF offers several advantages. Every major operating system includes a built-in PDF reader (Microsoft Edge on Windows, Preview on macOS, and Evince or similar on most Linux distributions), so no additional software installation is required. PDF files support internal hyperlinks between sections, allowing the reader to click a cross-reference in the text and navigate to the referenced section. PDF files support a search function (Ctrl+F in any PDF reader) that searches the entire document for a text string. PDF files support a table of contents sidebar in most readers, providing a navigable outline of the document's structure.

The disadvantages of PDF for offline documentation reading are primarily about screen adaptability. A PDF page that is comfortable to read on a 27-inch desktop monitor at 100% zoom may be uncomfortably small on a 13-inch laptop screen and nearly illegible on a phone screen without zooming and panning. The fixed layout cannot reflow to accommodate different screen sizes, which is the problem that Epub was created to solve.

Epub: Electronic Publication

Epub (Electronic Publication) is an open standard maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as part of the EPUB 3 specification. The format was designed for reflowable content: text that can be displayed at any font size on any screen size, with the text automatically reflowing to fill the available width. An Epub file is essentially a ZIP archive containing XHTML content files, CSS stylesheets, images, and a manifest that describes the document's structure and reading order.

The defining characteristic of Epub is reflowable layout. The text in an Epub document has no fixed page size. The reader can change the font size, the font family, the line spacing, and the margin width, and the text reflows to fill the available screen area. This makes Epub the preferred format for reading on small screens (phones, small tablets, e-ink readers) and for readers who need larger text for accessibility reasons. An Epub document that is comfortable to read on a dedicated e-reader at font size 14 is equally comfortable to read on a phone at font size 12, because the text reflows in both cases.

For the offline documentation use case, Epub offers different advantages from PDF. The reflowable text makes technical documentation readable on any device without zooming and panning. Epub files support internal hyperlinks between chapters and sections, exactly as PDF does. Epub files support a table of contents that most readers display as a persistent sidebar or a dedicated navigation pane. Epub files are typically smaller than the equivalent PDF because the format uses text-based markup rather than encoding every character's position as a graphics primitive.

The disadvantages of Epub are about reader availability and visual fidelity. Windows does not include a built-in Epub reader, so a third-party application must be installed. The reflowable layout means that code blocks, tables, diagrams, and other elements that depend on horizontal space may display differently on different screen sizes. The visual design of an Epub document is a suggestion, not a guarantee: the reader's font settings and screen size ultimately control the rendered appearance.

Format comparison table

Characteristic	PDF	Epub
Layout model	Fixed, absolute positioning	Reflowable, adapts to screen size
Built-in Windows reader	Yes (Microsoft Edge, any browser)	No (requires third-party app)
Best screen size	Desktop monitor, tablet in landscape	Phone, e-reader, tablet in portrait
Text search	Yes, Ctrl+F in any reader	Yes, in any competent reader
Internal hyperlinks	Yes	Yes
External hyperlinks	Yes, opens in default browser	Yes, opens in default browser
Table of contents sidebar	Yes, in most readers	Yes, in most readers
Printing fidelity	Excellent, designed for print	Moderate, reflowable layout complicates pagination
File size	Larger (pages encoded as graphics primitives)	Smaller (text encoded as markup)
Accessibility	Limited, fixed layout cannot adapt to screen readers well	Good, reflowable text works with screen readers
Offline annotation	Yes, most readers support highlights and notes	Yes, most readers support highlights and notes
Cross-device sync	No (file must be manually copied)	No (file must be manually copied)

The table above summarizes the trade-offs between the two formats. For the typical 57 Studios™ mod developer working at a desktop or laptop workstation, PDF is the recommended format because it requires no additional software, renders code blocks and tables at the intended width, and prints cleanly onto standard paper sizes. For a mod developer who reads documentation on a phone during a commute or on a dedicated e-reader, Epub is the recommended format because the reflowable text adapts to the small screen without requiring horizontal scrolling.

How to obtain the offline documentation

The 57 Studios Modding Knowledge Base offline download

The 57 Studios™ Modding Knowledge Base is available as an offline download in both PDF and Epub formats. The download package is a single compressed archive (ZIP format) containing both format files, a README with version and export-date information, and a checksum file for verifying download integrity.

Download location

The offline documentation package is available from the 57 Studios™ documentation website at https://docs.57studios.net/downloads/. Navigate to the downloads page, select the desired format bundle (both formats are included in a single ZIP download), and save the file to a known location on the development workstation.

The download package naming convention follows the pattern 57studios-kb-offline-YYYY-MM-DD.zip, where the date component represents the export date. A file named 57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15.zip was exported on 2026-07-15 and contains the documentation as it existed on that date. The date in the filename is the single most important piece of metadata on the file, and it should never be removed or altered.

The official Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation offline download

The official Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation is also available in PDF and Epub formats. The download package is available from the official SDG documentation site and follows a similar naming convention.

SDG documentation download location

The official Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation offline packages are available at https://docs.smartlydressedgames.com/en/stable/. Look for the download link on the documentation home page, typically labeled "Download PDF" or "Download Epub" in the sidebar or footer of the page.

The SDG offline documentation is produced by the same build system that generates the live documentation (Sphinx, a Python documentation generator). The export process produces a PDF file, an Epub file, and in some releases a single-page HTML file that can be saved and opened in any browser without an internet connection. All three formats contain identical content.

Download verification

After downloading an offline documentation package, the mod developer should verify two things: that the download completed without corruption, and that the export date is recent enough that the content is not meaningfully stale.

The ZIP archive includes a checksum file (typically named SHA256SUMS or checksums.txt) containing SHA-256 hash values for each file in the archive. The mod developer can verify that the downloaded ZIP file matches the expected checksum by computing the hash locally and comparing it to the published value.

On Windows, the SHA-256 hash of a file can be computed from PowerShell:

Get-FileHash -Path "C:\Downloads\57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15.zip" -Algorithm SHA256

Compare the output to the published checksum. If the values match, the download is intact. If the values differ, the download was corrupted during transfer and should be re-downloaded.

Download corruption is real

A partial or corrupted download of a ZIP archive may appear to extract normally but produce files with missing or garbled content. The checksum verification step catches this failure mode before the developer relies on corrupted documentation. The few seconds it takes to verify a checksum are trivial compared to the time that can be lost to a corrupted reference.

Reading tools for offline documentation

PDF readers on Windows

Every modern web browser (Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Brave) includes a built-in PDF reader. Opening a PDF file in any of these browsers renders the document and provides search, zoom, and navigation controls. For the majority of offline documentation use cases, a browser is the most convenient PDF reader because it is already installed, it receives automatic security updates, and the interface is familiar from web browsing.

For mod developers who prefer a dedicated PDF reader with annotation and bookmarking features, several free options are available. Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most widely used dedicated PDF reader and supports highlighting, commenting, and bookmarking. SumatraPDF is a lightweight, open-source alternative that launches faster and uses less memory than Acrobat Reader, making it suitable for lower-specification development workstations.

Epub readers on Windows

Windows does not include a built-in Epub reader. A third-party application must be installed. Several free, capable Epub readers are available for Windows.

Calibre is the most comprehensive Epub management tool available. It includes a built-in Epub reader, supports library management for large collections of Epub and PDF files, can convert between formats, and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. For a mod developer who maintains a growing collection of offline documentation files alongside technical ebooks and reference materials, Calibre is the recommended tool.

For mod developers who prefer a simpler, reader-only tool, Thorium Reader is a free, open-source Epub reader developed by the European Digital Reading Lab (EDRLab). It supports the full EPUB 3 specification, renders complex layouts correctly, and includes accessibility features that Calibre's reader does not match. For a mod developer who only needs to read Epub files without managing a library or converting between formats, Thorium Reader is the lighter-weight option.

Reader	Formats	Cost	Annotation support	Library management	Recommended for
Microsoft Edge (built-in)	PDF	Free	Limited highlighting	No	Quick PDF reference, no installation required
Adobe Acrobat Reader	PDF	Free	Full highlighting, comments, bookmarks	No	Dedicated PDF reading with annotation
SumatraPDF	PDF	Free, open-source	No annotation	No	Low-spec workstations, fast launch
Calibre	PDF, Epub, many others	Free, open-source	Full	Yes, comprehensive	Managing a collection of documentation files
Thorium Reader	Epub	Free, open-source	Full	No	Epub reading with accessibility features

The table above summarizes the recommended reading tools for the Windows platform. The choice of reader depends on the format being read, the desired annotation and management features, and the performance characteristics of the development workstation.

What is included in the offline documentation

The offline documentation package contains the same article content as the live knowledge base, converted to a static format suitable for offline reading. Specifically, the offline package includes:

• Every article in the knowledge base at the time of export, organized by section in the same order as the live site
• All text content, including code blocks, tables, and diagrams
• All internal cross-references, converted to internal hyperlinks that navigate within the offline file
• The article frontmatter metadata that is visible in the live site (title, description, prev/next navigation)
• A generated table of contents organized by section, matching the live site's section hierarchy

What is not included in the offline documentation

The offline documentation package does not include several features that depend on a live server or a network connection:

• Search across the entire knowledge base. The offline reader's built-in search function searches within the single open file, but it does not search across multiple files or perform the relevance-ranked search that the live site's search engine provides.
• Live updates. The offline file is a static snapshot. It does not check for updates, it does not download new content, and it does not indicate when the content it contains has been superseded by a newer article on the live site.
• Interactive elements that require a server. Any content that depends on server-side processing (user accounts, comment sections, analytics dashboards, submission forms) is not functional in the offline file.
• External hyperlinks in offline mode. The offline file contains external hyperlinks to external websites (the SDG documentation, the Unturned™ Steam store page), but following those links requires an internet connection. The links are present in the text and can be followed when the workstation is connected to the internet.
• Video and audio content. Any embedded video or audio content in the live documentation is represented as a static placeholder or a link in the offline file. The media files themselves are not included in the offline download to keep the file size manageable.
• Interactive Mermaid diagrams. In the live documentation, Mermaid diagrams are rendered dynamically in the browser. In the offline PDF and Epub files, Mermaid diagrams are rendered as static images at export time. The static image is functionally equivalent to the live diagram (it shows the same structure), but it cannot be zoomed, panned, or interacted with as a live diagram can.

Export date is the single most important field

Every offline documentation file carries an export date, typically in the filename and in a metadata field near the beginning of the document. Before relying on any claim in an offline file, check the export date. If the file is more than three months old, cross-reference any claims against the live documentation before using them as the basis for a modding decision. The offline documentation is a convenience snapshot, not an authoritative reference, and the knowledge base evolves faster than most mod developers expect.

Organizing offline documentation on the development workstation

The 57 Studios™ cohort has converged on a documented convention for organizing offline documentation files on the development workstation. The convention is simple and does not require any special tools, but it prevents the common failure mode in which a mod developer has multiple versions of the same offline documentation file scattered across different folders and cannot remember which version is current.

The recommended folder structure is:

C:\Dev\Docs\
├── 57studios-kb\
│   ├── 57studios-kb-offline-2025-12-01.zip
│   ├── 57studios-kb-offline-2026-01-15.zip
│   ├── 57studios-kb-offline-2026-03-01.zip
│   └── extracted\
│       └── 57studios-kb-offline-2026-03-01\
│           ├── 57studios-kb.pdf
│           └── 57studios-kb.epub
├── sdg-docs\
│   ├── sdg-docs-offline-2025-11-01.zip
│   └── extracted\
│       └── sdg-docs-offline-2025-11-01\
│           ├── sdg-docs.pdf
│           └── sdg-docs.epub
└── tools\
    └── ... (offline copies of tool documentation)

The key conventions embedded in this structure:

• One top-level folder per documentation source (57studios-kb, sdg-docs, etc.). The folder name identifies the source at a glance.
• ZIP archives are preserved in their original form rather than being deleted after extraction. The original ZIP contains the checksum file and any README metadata that may not have been extracted.
• Extracted ZIP contents go in an extracted/ subfolder to keep them cleanly separated from the archived ZIP files. The extracted folder's name matches the ZIP filename to make the correspondence obvious.
• Date stamps in filenames are never changed. The export date in the filename is the single piece of metadata that determines whether the file is current or stale, and altering it destroys that information.

Pro tip

Pin a shortcut to the C:\Dev\Docs\ folder in File Explorer's Quick Access bar. The shortcut provides one-click access to the entire offline documentation library and functions identically whether or not the workstation is connected to the internet.

Limitations of offline documentation

The limitations of offline documentation fall into three categories: staleness, search quality, and feature loss. Each category is discussed below.

Staleness

The offline documentation is a snapshot at the moment of export. The live knowledge base receives continuous updates: new articles are added, existing articles are revised, field values are corrected, and best practices are updated to reflect changes in the Unturned™ modding ecosystem. An offline download from six months ago may reference a Unity Editor version that has been superseded, a modding workflow that has been simplified, or a set of best practices that the cohort no longer follows.

The practical impact of staleness depends on how quickly the knowledge base is evolving. During periods of active Unturned™ game updates, the knowledge base may receive multiple article revisions per week, and an offline file that is even one month old may contain obsolete field values or procedures. During periods of stability, an offline file that is six months old may still be functionally identical to the live documentation for most articles.

The 57 Studios™ cohort recommendation is to refresh the offline download at the start of every major modding project and to cross-reference any field values or procedures against the live documentation if the offline file is more than one month old.

Search quality

The search function in an offline PDF or Epub reader is a plain-text substring search. It finds every occurrence of the search term in the document, in the order the occurrences appear, without any relevance ranking or weighting. The live documentation's search engine uses semantic indexing, phrase matching, and relevance scoring to return the most useful results first.

The practical difference is substantial for a large knowledge base. Searching the live site for "caliber linkage" returns the magazine asset article near the top because every instance of the phrase in the article body boosts its relevance score. Searching an offline PDF for the same phrase returns every occurrence in chronological document order, and the mod developer must scroll through all of them to find the central article.

The workaround for offline search limitations is to use the table of contents sidebar to navigate to the relevant section first, then use the reader's search function within that section only. The section-scoped search is fast, accurate, and avoids the noise of cross-references that mention the search term in passing.

Feature loss

Several features of the live documentation site have no equivalent in the offline formats. Interactive diagrams (Mermaid flowcharts, sequence diagrams, state diagrams) are rendered as static images in the offline file. The copy-to-clipboard button on code blocks does not exist in the offline file; the mod developer must select and copy the code manually. The "edit this page" link that appears on every live article (pointing to the GitHub repository) is not present in the offline file.

For the vast majority of documentation reading tasks, these feature losses are not consequential. The static diagram conveys the same information as the live diagram. The manual copy operation takes approximately two seconds longer than the clipboard button. The mod developer who wants to edit a page can navigate to the GitHub repository from the live site when internet access is restored.

Use cases for offline documentation

The offline documentation download serves several distinct use cases that recur in the 57 Studios™ mod-development workflow. Each use case drives a different set of requirements for which format to choose and how current the download needs to be.

Travel and intermittent connectivity

The travel use case is the most common. A mod developer who works on a laptop during flights, train commutes, or stays in locations with unreliable internet access downloads the offline documentation before departing and uses it as the primary reference during the disconnected period. For this use case, the most recent available export is recommended, and the Epub format is often preferred because the reflowable text adapts to the small screen of a laptop or tablet used in a constrained travel environment.

Server-room and air-gapped workstations

The server-room use case arises when a mod developer needs to consult documentation on a machine that has internet access restricted or disabled for security reasons. The documentation is downloaded on an internet-connected machine, copied to a USB drive, and carried to the air-gapped workstation. For this use case, the PDF format is typically preferred because the air-gapped workstation runs a standard Windows installation that includes a built-in PDF reader, whereas Epub requires installing additional software on a machine that may not permit software installation.

Archival reference

The archival use case arises when a mod developer needs to consult the documentation as it existed at a specific historical point. For example, a mod developer maintaining a mod that targets an older Unturned™ version may need to reference the documentation state that was current when that version shipped. For this use case, the offline download from the relevant date is preserved as an archival snapshot. The export date in the filename is the critical metadata field; without it, the archival value of the file is lost.

Performance on low-specification workstations

The performance use case arises when a mod developer works on a workstation with limited memory or processing power. Opening a local PDF file consumes substantially fewer system resources than loading a modern documentation website with JavaScript, web fonts, and dynamic content. For a development workstation with 4 GB of RAM or less, the offline PDF is the practical choice for documentation reference because it leaves more memory available for the Unity Editor and other development tools.

Best practices

• Download the most recent offline documentation package at the start of every major modding project and store it with the project's reference materials.
• Check the export date in the filename before using any offline document. If the export is more than one month old, cross-reference key claims against the live documentation.
• Choose PDF for desktop and laptop use, Epub for phone and e-reader use. The format selection directly affects reading comfort and should not be treated as a default.
• Verify the SHA-256 checksum of every downloaded ZIP archive before extracting it. A corrupted offline document is worse than no offline document because it may contain garbled content that appears correct at a glance.
• Preserve the original ZIP archive after extracting its contents. The ZIP contains metadata files (README, checksums) that may not be obvious from the extracted files alone.
• Maintain a single, organized folder structure for all offline documentation files. The C:\Dev\Docs\ convention prevents the scattered-files problem.
• Pin a shortcut to the offline docs folder in File Explorer's Quick Access bar for one-click access regardless of internet status.
• Refresh the offline download after every major Unturned™ game update. The documentation updates within days of a game update, and the offline download from before the update may contain procedures or field values that no longer apply.
• If the offline documentation is more than three months old, treat it as a historical reference only and do not rely on its procedures or field values without cross-referencing the live documentation.

Frequently asked questions

Is the offline documentation updated automatically?

No. The offline documentation is a static file exported at a specific date. It does not update itself, check for updates, or download new content. To get a current copy, download a new offline package from the documentation website.

How often should I refresh my offline documentation download?

At the start of every major modding project, and after every major Unturned™ game update. Between those events, the documentation is unlikely to change in ways that affect your specific mod, and refreshing more often than monthly is unnecessary for most mod developers.

Why are there two formats? Can't I just download one?

You can download either format individually if the download page offers that option. Both formats contain identical content. The choice between PDF and Epub depends on your reading device and preferences, as documented in the format comparison table in this article. Downloading both is a convenience for mod developers who read documentation on multiple devices.

What happens to interactive diagrams in the offline version?

Mermaid diagrams (flowcharts, sequence diagrams, state diagrams) are rendered as static PNG images at export time. The static image shows the same structure as the live diagram. Hover tooltips, click targets, and the ability to zoom into sub-diagrams are not available in the static image. For the vast majority of diagram-reading tasks, the static image is functionally equivalent to the live version.

Can I search the offline documentation the same way I search the live site?

No. The offline reader's search function is a plain-text substring search that returns results in document order. The live site's search engine uses semantic indexing and relevance ranking to return the most useful results first. For section-scoped searches (searching within a single article), the offline search is functionally identical to the live search. For site-wide searches (searching across all articles), the offline search is substantially less useful because it cannot rank results by relevance.

Can I print the offline documentation?

Yes. The PDF format was specifically designed for printing, and a PDF file prints identically on any printer. The Epub format can also be printed, but the reflowable layout may produce unexpected page breaks and the printed output may not match the screen display exactly. For printing, always use the PDF format.

What do I do if the offline documentation contains a broken link?

Broken internal links in the offline documentation (links between sections of the same file) are a build-system bug and should be reported through the contributing process documented in Contributing to the Wiki. Broken external links (links to websites) are not fixable in the offline file because the target website is not accessible without an internet connection.

Can I copy text from the offline documentation into my own notes?

Yes. The text in both PDF and Epub files can be selected, copied, and pasted into any other application, exactly as text from a web page can be copied. The attribution conventions described in Contributing to the Wiki should be followed when republishing copied content.

How large is the offline documentation file?

The file size depends on the number of articles, the number of images and diagrams, and the export format. A typical offline PDF of the complete knowledge base is in the range of 10 to 50 megabytes. The Epub version is typically smaller because text-based markup is more compact than the PDF's fixed-layout encoding. The ZIP download package containing both formats is approximately the sum of the two individual files plus a small overhead for the ZIP container format.

Can I share the offline documentation with other mod developers?

Yes. The offline documentation is a static file with no access restrictions, login requirements, or DRM. It can be copied to a USB drive and shared with other mod developers on the same team, transferred to a new workstation, or archived for long-term reference. When sharing, include the original ZIP archive (not just the extracted files) so that the recipient receives the checksum and README metadata along with the documentation content.

What happens when the live documentation is updated after I download the offline copy?

Nothing happens to your offline copy. The offline copy is a snapshot frozen at the export date. It does not update, it does not notify you of changes, and it does not indicate that a newer version is available. To see the updated content, download a new offline package or visit the live documentation site.

Which format is better for reading on a phone?

Epub. The reflowable text adapts to the phone's narrow screen without requiring horizontal scrolling. PDF on a phone screen typically requires pinch-zooming each page to a readable size and then panning horizontally to read each line, which is fatiguing for more than a few minutes of reading.

Can I add my own notes and highlights to the offline documentation?

Yes, in PDF readers that support annotation (Adobe Acrobat Reader, most browser-based PDF readers) and in Epub readers that support annotation (Calibre, Thorium Reader). The annotations are stored within the reader's local database, not in the documentation file itself, so they do not travel with the file if it is copied to another machine.

What happens if I lose the offline documentation file?

If the file was backed up, restore it from the backup. If the file was not backed up, download a fresh copy from the documentation website. Because the offline file is a static snapshot, a fresh download of a more recent export is functionally a superset of the lost file (it contains all the old content plus any new content added since the lost file's export date). Losing an offline documentation file is among the least consequential data losses in the mod-development workflow because the file is trivially replaceable.

Can I use the offline documentation on a device that is not a Windows computer?

Yes. PDF and Epub are platform-independent formats. A PDF file downloaded on a Windows workstation can be copied to an iPad, an Android tablet, a Linux laptop, a Chromebook, or a dedicated e-reader and will open correctly on all of them, provided the device has a PDF or Epub reader installed. The cross-platform portability of the offline formats is one of the reasons they have persisted as documentation distribution standards.

How do I know if the offline documentation is current enough to rely on?

Compare the export date in the filename to the current date. If the difference is less than 30 days, the offline documentation is current enough for procedural reference (field values, configuration steps, workflow sequences). If the difference is between 30 and 90 days, cross-reference procedural claims against the live documentation. If the difference exceeds 90 days, treat the offline documentation as a historical reference and verify every procedural claim against the live documentation before relying on it.

Can I convert the offline documentation from one format to another?

Yes. Calibre (the free Epub library manager) can convert between PDF and Epub and several other formats. However, the conversion from PDF to Epub or from Epub to PDF is rarely perfect: the fixed layout of PDF does not translate cleanly to the reflowable layout of Epub, and vice versa. The cohort recommendation is to download the format in which the documentation will primarily be read rather than downloading one format and converting it.

What is the difference between the PDF produced by the documentation build system and a PDF I print from a web browser?

The documentation build system produces the PDF directly from the article source files, preserving internal hyperlinks, the table of contents structure, and the document metadata. A PDF printed from a web browser captures a rendered web page and typically loses internal hyperlinks, the table of contents sidebar, and the document metadata fields. The build-system PDF is functionally superior to a browser-printed PDF for every offline reading task.

Can I extract a single article from the offline documentation rather than carrying the entire file?

The offline documentation package contains the entire knowledge base as a single file. Extracting a single article requires a PDF editing tool capable of deleting pages (for PDF) or an Epub editor capable of removing chapters (for Epub) and is not recommended for the typical mod developer. The better approach is to bookmark the article within the offline reader and navigate to it by bookmark rather than splitting the file.

Why does the offline documentation not include a dark mode option?

Dark mode is a feature of the application rendering the documentation (the web browser, the PDF reader, the Epub reader), not a property of the documentation file itself. A PDF or Epub file rendered in a reader that supports dark mode will display in dark mode if the reader's setting is enabled. The offline file does not control the color scheme; the reader does.

How do I bookmark specific articles in the offline PDF or Epub?

In most PDF readers, bookmarks are created through the reader's bookmark interface (typically a ribbon icon or a right-click context menu option). In most Epub readers, bookmarks are created similarly. The bookmark is stored in the reader's local data, not in the documentation file, so bookmarks do not transfer with the file to another machine. The table of contents sidebar serves as a built-in navigation aid that does not require manual bookmarking.

Worked example: downloading and using the offline documentation

The procedure below traces a complete end-to-end download and use session for the offline documentation, from the initial website visit to opening a specific article in a PDF reader.

1. Open a web browser and navigate to https://docs.57studios.net/downloads/.
2. On the downloads page, locate the most recent offline documentation package. The filename includes the export date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
3. Click the download link. The browser downloads the ZIP archive to the default download location (typically C:\Users\<username>\Downloads\).
4. Open File Explorer and navigate to the Downloads folder. Locate the downloaded ZIP file, e.g., 57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15.zip.
5. Open PowerShell. Press the Windows key, type PowerShell, and press Enter.
6. In PowerShell, navigate to the Downloads folder: Set-Location -LiteralPath "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads".
7. Compute the SHA-256 hash: Get-FileHash -Path "57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15.zip" -Algorithm SHA256.
8. Compare the displayed hash value to the published checksum on the downloads page. If the values match, the download is intact.
9. Create the storage directory if it does not exist: New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "C:\Dev\Docs\57studios-kb" -Force.
10. Copy the ZIP archive to the storage directory: Copy-Item "57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15.zip" -Destination "C:\Dev\Docs\57studios-kb\".
11. Extract the ZIP archive: Expand-Archive -LiteralPath "C:\Dev\Docs\57studios-kb\57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15.zip" -DestinationPath "C:\Dev\Docs\57studios-kb\extracted\57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15".
12. Open the extracted PDF file. Double-click 57studios-kb.pdf in the extracted folder. The file opens in the default PDF reader (typically Microsoft Edge on a standard Windows installation).
13. Use the reader's table of contents sidebar (typically a button in the toolbar or a sidebar panel) to navigate to the desired section and article.
14. Use the reader's search function (Ctrl+F) to find specific terms within the open article.
15. When finished reading, close the PDF reader. The file remains on disk and can be re-opened at any time without an internet connection.

The flowchart above diagrams the complete download-and-use procedure. The checksum verification step (steps 6-8) is the only gate in the process. A checksum mismatch at that gate sends the flow back to the download step. A checksum match allows the flow to continue to extraction and reading.

Appendix E: Comparison of PDF and Epub reading experiences by device category

Device category	Screen size	PDF experience	Epub experience	Recommended format
Desktop monitor	24-27 inches	Excellent. Full page visible at comfortable zoom.	Good. Reflowable text works but wastes screen width.	PDF
Laptop (15-inch)	15-16 inches	Good. Full page at 100-125% zoom.	Good. Reflowable text fills the screen.	Either
Laptop (13-inch)	13-14 inches	Adequate. May need zoom to 125-150%.	Good. Reflowable text adapts to the smaller screen.	Epub
Tablet (landscape)	10-11 inches	Good. Full page at 100% zoom on high-resolution screens.	Good. Text is comfortable at default font sizes.	Either
Tablet (portrait)	10-11 inches	Adequate. Page width requires 100-125% zoom.	Excellent. Text flows into a comfortable single column.	Epub
Phone	5-7 inches	Poor. Requires pinch-zoom and panning.	Excellent. Text reflows to fit the narrow screen.	Epub
E-reader (e-ink)	6-8 inches	Poor. PDF rendering is slow on e-ink screens.	Good. Epub is the native format for most e-readers.	Epub
Dual-monitor workstation	2× 24-27 inches	Excellent. PDF on one monitor, Unity Editor on the other.	Good. Epub on the secondary monitor.	PDF

The table above provides device-specific format recommendations that extend the general rule (PDF for desktop and laptop, Epub for phone and e-reader). The dual-monitor workstation configuration, which is the standard 57 Studios™ development setup, strongly favors PDF because the fixed layout renders at full width on the secondary monitor without wasting horizontal space.

Appendix F: Offline documentation version management for multi-project workstations

A mod developer who maintains multiple mod projects simultaneously, each targeting a different Unturned™ version or a different state of the modding documentation, needs a version-management discipline beyond the single-project convention described earlier in this article.

The multi-project convention extends the single-project folder structure with one additional level of organization:

C:\Dev\Docs\
├── 57studios-kb\
│   ├── 57studios-kb-offline-2025-12-01.zip          ← for Project A (older version)
│   ├── 57studios-kb-offline-2026-03-15.zip          ← for Project B (mid-cycle)
│   ├── 57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15.zip          ← current, for Project C
│   └── extracted\
│       ├── 57studios-kb-offline-2025-12-01\
│       ├── 57studios-kb-offline-2026-03-15\
│       └── 57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15\
├── sdg-docs\
│   ├── sdg-docs-offline-2025-11-01.zip
│   └── extracted\
│       └── sdg-docs-offline-2025-11-01\
└── project-index.txt                                 ← maps projects to documentation versions

The project-index.txt file is a plain-text record of which project uses which documentation version. Its format is straightforward:

Project A (Legacy Vehicle Pack)  → 57studios-kb-offline-2025-12-01
Project B (Medieval Weapons)     → 57studios-kb-offline-2026-03-15
Project C (Modern Firearms v2)   → 57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15

The index file prevents the failure mode in which a mod developer returns to a project after several months and cannot remember which version of the documentation was current when the project was active. The index file is maintained manually, updated whenever a new project starts or an existing project's documentation reference is refreshed, and stored alongside the offline documentation files.

Appendix A: Offline documentation download quick-reference card

Attribute	Value
Download location (57 Studios KB)	https://docs.57studios.net/downloads/
Download location (SDG docs)	https://docs.smartlydressedgames.com/en/stable/
Formats available	PDF, Epub (ZIP package containing both)
File naming convention	<source>-offline-YYYY-MM-DD.zip
Checksum file	SHA256SUMS or checksums.txt inside the ZIP
Recommended PDF reader	Microsoft Edge (built-in), Adobe Acrobat Reader, SumatraPDF
Recommended Epub reader	Calibre, Thorium Reader
Recommended storage path	C:\Dev\Docs\<source>\
Refresh cadence	Start of each major project, after each major game update
Maximum recommended offline age	30 days for procedural content, 90 days for reference content

Appendix B: External references

Resource	URL	Notes
57 Studios Modding Knowledge Base	https://docs.57studios.net/	Live documentation, always current
Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation	https://docs.smartlydressedgames.com/en/stable/	Official SDG field and system reference
Unturned on Steam	https://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/Unturned/	Game page and changelog
Adobe Acrobat Reader	https://get.adobe.com/reader/	Free PDF reader with annotation support
SumatraPDF	https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/	Lightweight open-source PDF reader
Calibre	https://calibre-ebook.com/	Epub and PDF library manager and reader
Thorium Reader	https://www.edrlab.org/software/thorium-reader/	Free EPUB 3 reader with accessibility features
EPUB 3 specification	https://www.w3.org/TR/epub-33/	W3C EPUB 3.3 specification
PDF specification (ISO 32000)	https://www.iso.org/standard/75839.html	ISO standard for the PDF format

Appendix C: SHA-256 checksum verification procedure

The procedure below verifies that a downloaded offline documentation ZIP archive arrived intact.

1. Open PowerShell. Press the Windows key, type PowerShell, and press Enter.
2. Navigate to the folder containing the downloaded ZIP file. Use the Set-Location command with the folder path: Set-Location -LiteralPath "C:\Dev\Docs\57studios-kb".
3. Compute the SHA-256 hash of the ZIP file: Get-FileHash -Path "57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15.zip" -Algorithm SHA256.
4. PowerShell displays the hash value. Compare it to the published checksum for this download (available on the download page or in a SHA256SUMS.txt file alongside the download link).
5. If the values match, the download is intact. Extract the ZIP archive with Expand-Archive -LiteralPath "57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15.zip" -DestinationPath "extracted\57studios-kb-offline-2026-07-15".
6. If the values do not match, delete the ZIP file, re-download it, and repeat the verification from step 3.

Appendix D: Troubleshooting offline documentation display problems

Symptom	Most likely cause	Resolution
PDF opens but text is garbled	Corrupted download or incompatible PDF reader	Verify the SHA-256 checksum. If the checksum matches, try a different PDF reader.
Epub opens but formatting is wrong	Incompatible Epub reader that does not support EPUB 3	Install Calibre or Thorium Reader, both of which support the full EPUB 3 specification.
Code blocks appear with no line breaks	PDF reader rendering issue with monospace fonts	Try opening the PDF in a different reader (Microsoft Edge, Adobe Acrobat Reader).
Table of contents is missing or incomplete	Reader not rendering the TOC metadata	Try a different reader. In some PDF readers, the TOC is hidden by default and must be opened from the View menu.
Diagrams appear as blank boxes	Build-system issue, or the diagram rendering failed at export time	Report the issue through the contributing process. In the meantime, reference the live documentation to view the diagram.
ZIP file refuses to extract	Corrupted download or incomplete transfer	Verify the SHA-256 checksum. If the checksum does not match, re-download. If the checksum matches and extraction still fails, the archive may have been truncated during download despite the hash matching a partial file. Re-download from a different network if possible.

Document history

Version	Date	Author	Notes
1.0	2026-07-26	57 Studios	Initial publication. Covers offline download formats, obtaining, reading tools, limitations, and organizational conventions.

Cross-references

• What is a Download?, the foundational article on downloads that precedes this one in the conceptual sequence.
• What is a File?, the article that establishes what files are and how they relate to offline documentation storage.
• What is a Folder?, the article that establishes the folder hierarchy concept used in the offline docs organization convention.
• Contributing to the Wiki, the next article in this section; documents how to contribute content to the knowledge base.
• How to Create a Steam Account, the first article in the next section; documents the first step in setting up a Steam-based modding environment.
• Smartly Dressed Games modding documentation, the official SDG documentation, also available as offline PDF and Epub.
• Unturned on Steam, the Unturned™ Steam store page.