GFF files are the "Generic File Format" of Neverwinter Nights. A binary encoded file with a basic structure, it contains all the blueprints, area instanced information, even saved games contents.

Editors

The game comes with a very basic Windows only GFF editor, good for simple changes. In NWN:EE it is located in Neverwinter Nights\util\win32\GFFEditor.exe

There is the tool TlkEdit2 (2da/tlk/gff/erf Editor) on the vault, this runs in Java so is more cross compatible and may be easier to use.

Then you can decompile the files into JSON using the neverwinter-nim tooling. This is good for mass changes or uploading to a code repository.

Editing GFF Files

There may be references on other wiki pages to editing GFF files directly - the toolset either doesn't support specific changes (eg; higher numbers than the toolset shows) or doesn't support the changes full stop even if the game recognises them (eg; setting a NPC familiar type).

To edit the modules GFF files first open it so it extracts the contents to the Documents\Neverwinter Nights\modules\temp0 folder. Then find the file you wish to edit in your editor of choice (or copy it elsewhere, then copy it back). Once edited save the module and it'll package up the file without question.

Editing it later in the toolset may change the GFF fields back to some default or remove them entirely - so be warned changes made using a GFF editor may be undone at any moment.

Editing GFF with nwscript

You can convert most GFF formats to Json with ObjectToJson and back from Json to GFF formats with JsonToObject. Limitations here are the bigger fields like DWORD or DWORD64.

File Format Specifications

You can read most of the generic information in the GFF format specification Bioware made with a rundown of how it operates in the PDF.

Here is some cribbed information for ease of access.

File Formats and Types

Encapsulated Resource Containers

These are all "erf" as per the naming "Encapsulated Resource Container" but there are variants as per below. All of them are openable in nwhak.exe and other tools and the contents extracted - more or less.

Name	File Type	Notes
Module	.mod .nwm	Modules are specifically ones with a module.ifo file and other relevant information for loading a module. Nowadays in EE all kinds of file formats can be added here, but this is serverside only so things like models, textures, tileset information or clientside 2da files should be instead added to hakpacks for distributing to players. nwm is a special kind of module meant for the developer to use, so they can be (mostly) patched. Primarily it means the save games associated with them do not save the entire module state only part of it so the rest is loaded from the module file and therefore can change between saves.
Hakpack	.hak	Hakpacks have sets of files in them, such as models, textures, 2da files, etc. They can additionally host files usually just found in the module, such as scripts or blueprints, but these are not then editable in the toolset itself and if duplicated in the module may cause some oddities (see Content Load Order for specifics).
Erf file	.erf	These are generic containers of files primarily used to transport some data between modules. You can export an erf from the toolset made up of a set of file, and import it into another module (a similar thing can occur if copying raw files from the temp0 directories although exporting does sanitise some things like faction IDs for objects).
Save game	.sav	Save games come in two kinds, the basic kind for most modded content contains essentially the entire module file, plus relevant changes and real-time information (such as actions, spells, effects, players). The second is the kind for nwm files and these contain only the changes and real time information with the rest loaded from the nwm file.

GFF File Types

These are the kinds of files store in a .mod or .hak that are GFF files. note that some of them are specific to EE. See also nwnlexicon RESTYPE. All of these work with ObjectToJson.

Note soundset files (SFF) are not really GFF they're a bit weird. See the file format specifications for those.

Name	File Type	Nwscript constant	ObjectToJson Compatible	Notes
Area	.are	RESTYPE_ARE	Yes	Area files are created in the toolset and store the area layout, script information, lighting information etc.
Combined Area Format	.caf	RESTYPE_CAF	Yes	Combined Area Format, used for TemplateToJson, consisting of a combined ARE, GIT and GIC all in one. Can be used in hakpacks to load an area using JsonToObject.
Dialogue	.dlg	RESTYPE_DLG	Yes	Dialogue files, a branching tree of text choices for players to interact with, that may run scripts.
Faction	.fac	RESTYPE_FAC	Yes	The faction information stored in the module file.
Generic File Format	.gff	RESTYPE_GFF	Yes	Generic File Format. Most of the files in this list are of a GFF type, but none will be named "file.gff". The toolset will use these in ERF files as a "ExportInfo.gff" file. The game engine uses this format for temporary engine files not written to disk, as well as in the generic StoreCampaignObject and related functions but again, hidden since the object stored will be retrieved correctly due to the GFF headers.
Area Instanced Contents	.gic	RESTYPE_GIC	Yes	Area file instanced content; eg: placed monsters and placeables in the area. Part of the CAF format if you want to have a easier way to save all area info in one, see above.
Area Instanced Comments	.git	RESTYPE_GIT	Yes	Area file instanced comments. While used in the toolset primarily, technically the game needs them to be present when using CopyArea etc. but the game doesn't really display them anywhere. Part of the CAF format if you want to have a easier way to save all area info in one, see above.
Graphical User Interface	.gui	RESTYPE_GUI	Yes	Graphical User Interface files, essentially containing some of the config and layout for the mostly hardcoded GUI (the events/buttons etc. have hardcoded ID's).
Module Information	.ifo	RESTYPE_IFO	Yes	Module Information files - ie module.ifo is stored in the .mod of a module and defines the name/start location/default module scripts etc.
Template Palette	.itp	RESTYPE_ITP	Yes	Item Template Palette - used primarily in the toolset and DM client to spawn new stuff.
Journal	.jrl	RESTYPE_JRL	Yes	Journal file - can define quests and journal entries.
Blueprint Files
Creature	.utc	RESTYPE_UTC	Yes
Door	.utd	RESTYPE_UTD	Yes
Encounter	.ute	RESTYPE_UTE	Yes
Item	.uti	RESTYPE_UTI	Yes
Merchant (Store)	.utm	RESTYPE_UTM	Yes
Placeable	.utp	RESTYPE_UTP	Yes
Sound	.uts	RESTYPE_UTS	Yes
Trigger	.utt	RESTYPE_UTT	Yes
Waypoint	.utw	RESTYPE_UTW	Yes

Data Limits

This is the most useful information for many basic edits.

Data Type	NWN Explorer Name	Size (in bytes)	Value Limits	Description	Notes
BYTE	UINT8	1	0 to 255	Unsigned single byte	Smallest unit to store so also used for booleans
WORD	UINT16	2	0 to 65535	Unsigned integer	UINT16 in Explorer
DWORD	UINT32	4	0 to 4294967296	Unsigned integer
DWORD64	UNIT64	8	0 to roughly 18E18	Unsigned integer
CHAR	INT8	1	-128 - 127	Single character signed integer
SHORT	INT16	2	-32768 to 32767	Signed integer
INT	INT32	4	-2147483648 to 2147483647	Signed integer
INT64	INT32	8	Roughly -9E18 to +9E18	Signed integer
FLOAT	FLOAT	4	Variable see Wikipedia	Floating point value
DOUBLE		8	Variable see Wikipedia	Double-precision floating point value
CExoLocString		variable	n/a	Localized string. Contains a StringRef DWORD, and a number of CExoStrings, each having their own language ID.
CExoString	STRING	variable	n/a	Non-localized string	Commonly used in the toolset (ie user set per-module)
CResRef	RESREF	16	16 characters	Filename of a game resource. Max length is 16 characters. Unused characters are nulls.
VOID / Binary		variable	n/a	Variable-length arbitrary data	Used to store things like sqlite data on BICs or Modules/Saves
Struct	ENTRY	variable	n/a	A complex data type that can contain any number of any of the other data types, including other Structs.	Used to lay out data in the GFF, eg; level data in a BIC
List	LIST	variable	n/a	A list of Structs.

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GFF