Dark Souls 3 Save Editor — Edit Souls, Stats, Level & Inventory

Last verified: 2026-09-30

Save file to edit

%APPDATA%\DarkSoulsIII\<id>\DS30000.sl2

Dark Souls 3 saves are NOT plain text. %APPDATA%\DarkSoulsIII\<SteamID-hash>\DS30000.sl2 is an encrypted archive holding all character slots — each with soul level, the nine stats, held souls, embers, inventory, equipped gear, spells and world flags — plus a header slot the load screen reads for name/level. To edit: fully quit the game AND Steam (disable Steam Cloud so it can't overwrite you), back up DS30000.sl2, then load it into an editor: the DS3 Save Editor (portable desktop, has a Safe Mode that auto-calculates Level/HP/Stamina), souls_givifier (browser, grants ~1 billion souls to max stats), or dsrsaveeditor.pages.dev/ds3 (online, edits stats/embers/inventory). Change what you need, save back over DS30000.sl2, relaunch. Editing souls and stats is low-risk; wrong item IDs and a level that doesn't match your stats are what corrupt a slot.

Dark Souls 3 stores your progress in a single DS30000.sl2 file at %APPDATA%\DarkSoulsIII\<id>\, and it's an encrypted archive — not text you can open in Notepad. You decode it with a save editor. Here's exactly which fields live in the file, which editors read them, and how to edit a slot without corrupting it or getting soft-banned online.

What you can edit and which tag to change

What it changes	XML tag	Example value	Notes
Souls (currency)	`slot → Souls`	`Souls = 999999999`	Held souls. souls_givifier grants ~1 billion so you can level freely. Safe to change; it does not raise your Soul Level by itself.
Soul Level	`slot → Level`	`Level = 120`	Must equal the sum of your nine stats minus the class baseline. The DS3 Save Editor Safe Mode recomputes Level, HP and Stamina from the stats so nothing desyncs.
Base stats	`Vigor / Attunement / Endurance / Vitality / Strength / Dexterity / Intelligence / Faith / Luck`	`Vigor = 40`	Each 1–99. Drive HP, FP, stamina, equip load and damage. Edit these for a real build rather than only adding souls.
Embers	`slot → Inventory (Ember)`	`Ember ×99`	Consumable that restores embered (co-op/invasion) state. Add via inventory like any item.
Inventory items	`slot → Inventory (item ID + quantity)`	`Titanite Slab ×99`	Items added by internal ID. A wrong/DLC-only ID can blank the slot; the online editor and DS3 Save Editor expose a searchable item list to avoid this.
Equipped gear & rings	`slot → Equipment`	`Right Hand = Lothric Knight Sword +10`	Weapons carry an upgrade level. A non-existent weapon ID crashes the slot on load; an upgrade level you lack materials for is fine.
Spells	`slot → Sorceries/Miracles/Pyromancies`	`Add Great Heal`	Learned-spell flags. Adding a spell without the stat/attunement to cast it is harmless — you just can't equip it.
Character name	`header slot → Name`	`Name = Ashen One`	Stored in both the slot and the header the load screen reads. Rename tools update both; editing one desyncs the menu.

How to edit your Dark Souls 3 save by hand

Fully quit Dark Souls 3 AND exit Steam (or go offline) so Steam Cloud can't restore the old DS30000.sl2 over your edit.
Open %APPDATA%\DarkSoulsIII\<id>\ (press Win+R, type %appdata%, open DarkSoulsIII, then the hashed-ID folder).
Copy DS30000.sl2 to a safe backup folder first.
Open the DS3 Save Editor (or dsrsaveeditor online / souls_givifier), load DS30000.sl2, and select the character slot.
Edit souls/stats/embers/inventory. Turn on Safe Mode so Level/HP/Stamina are recalculated from your stats; pick items from the list rather than typing raw IDs.
Save back over the original DS30000.sl2 (the game only reads that exact filename).
Relaunch. If the slot loads with your edits, re-enable Steam Cloud; if it reports corrupt data, restore your backup and make smaller changes.

Prefer a save editor instead of raw XML?

Browser editors (souls_givifier, dsrsaveeditor.pages.dev/ds3) process DS30000.sl2 locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded — which is handy, but you still must disable Steam Cloud first, and they validate item IDs less strictly than the portable DS3 Save Editor with Safe Mode.

Mistakes that corrupt the save

Anti-cheat: DS3 uses server-side checks. Use edited saves OFFLINE only — obviously illegitimate stats/items online can soft-ban you into a cheater matchmaking pool. Play offline after editing.
The .sl2 is bound to your Steam ID. To use an edited save on another account, re-sign the header to the new SteamID — the DS3 Save Editor has an ID-fix option for this.
Adding souls does NOT raise Soul Level — you must edit the nine stats (with Safe Mode recomputing Level) or spend souls in-game.
Back up DS30000.sl2 before every edit — all your characters share the one file, so a bad item ID can take out more than the slot you meant to change.

Not sure where the file is? See the full Dark Souls 3 save file location guide (every platform path), or the corrupted-save recovery guide if an edit broke your file.

FAQ

Where is the Dark Souls 3 save file to edit on PC?

At %APPDATA%\DarkSoulsIII\<hashed-id>\DS30000.sl2. Press Win+R, type %appdata%, open DarkSoulsIII, then the folder named with a long hex ID.

Can I be banned for editing my Dark Souls 3 save?

Editing offline is fine, but playing online with edited stats or illegitimate items triggers server-side anti-cheat and can soft-ban you to a cheater matchmaking pool. Launch offline after editing.

Why didn't adding souls raise my level?

Souls are currency, not level. Raise Soul Level by editing the nine stats — the DS3 Save Editor's Safe Mode recomputes Level, HP and Stamina from them so the load screen matches.

Which Dark Souls 3 save editor is safest?

The portable DS3 Save Editor with Safe Mode is safest because it recalculates Level/HP/Stamina and lets you pick items from a list. souls_givifier is fine for a quick soul/stat max; dsrsaveeditor is a convenient online option.

Other games

Need another game or a quick backup? Use the Save Location Finder — pick any game to get its exact save path plus a ready-to-run backup command.