AFJ Sheet Editor

About AFJ Sheet Editor

Almost everything that defines Diablo II gameplay lives in plain text tables: item stats, skills, monsters, drop rules, levels and cube recipes. AFJ Sheet Editor, written by AFJ666 and distributed through the Phrozen Keep, is a small spreadsheet-style program made for exactly these files. Its listing there describes it as an Excel-style editor with more features than the older D2Excel, and for many modders it remains the default Diablo 2 txt editor for both classic Lord of Destruction and Diablo II: Resurrected data.

Why a dedicated Diablo 2 txt editor matters

The tables are tab-separated text with one header row, and the game is strict about their format. General spreadsheet programs tend to help in ways that break them: they reinterpret values as dates or formulas, add or strip quotation marks, and can save with line endings or encodings the game does not expect. The Phrozen Keep knowledge base warns that a wrongly saved table can crash the game or make it behave unpredictably. A purpose-built editor avoids the problem by treating every cell as literal text and writing the file back in the same layout it was read.

Working with the grid

Each table opens as a grid of rows and columns, with the column names from the header row and one record per line. That makes wide files such as the skill or monster tables, which run to well over a hundred columns, far easier to read than in a text editor. Modders typically use it to change values in place, copy a row to create a new item or monster, compare neighbouring records and move between several open tables during one session. The interface is intentionally plain and loads quickly even on old hardware.

How to edit D2R txt files

To edit D2R txt files, first extract the original tables from the game’s storage with CascView; they sit in the excel folder under the global data directory. Copy the tables you want to change into your mod’s folder with the same path, open them in the program, make your changes and save. Start the game with the -mod and -txt launch options so it loads your versions, or let D2RMM apply table changes for you if you are packaging a mod for others. Change one thing at a time and test, because a single misplaced tab shifts every value in the row.

Classic Lord of Destruction workflow

The same routine applies to the original game. Tables are extracted from the archives with Ladik’s MPQ Editor, edited, and placed in a data folder beside the game, which is then started with the -direct -txt options so it recompiles the tables into its binary form. Names and descriptions that items and skills refer to are stored separately in string tables, which is where AFJ tbl Editor from the same author comes in.

Knowing what the columns do

The program shows the data but does not explain it. Each column has rules, and many are linked to other tables by codes. A column reference is therefore essential beside the editor: the official data guide for Resurrected covers its tables field by field, and the long-standing file guides on the Phrozen Keep cover the classic ones. A newer alternative for editing the same tables is MrSoloz D2R TXT. For Resurrected strings, which moved to JSON files, see D2RStrEdit.

Version and availability

The current release is version 0.61b, and its entry in the Phrozen Keep text editing section was last changed in January 2018. The program is closed source and no longer developed. It predates Resurrected but still works with its tables, because the file format stayed the same, and community tool lists for D2R modding continue to include it.

Limitations

There is no validation: the program will happily save a value the game cannot use, and it does not know which codes exist in other tables. Forum threads over the years mention occasional glitches and saving quirks, so keep backups of working tables and check a file after large pasting operations. It is a Windows program with an old-style interface, and it has no knowledge of the columns added by newer game patches beyond displaying them like any other.

Who should use it

It suits anyone who edits Diablo II data by hand: mod authors for classic LoD and Resurrected, players making small personal tweaks to drop rates or recipes, and people studying how the game’s systems are wired together. Players who only install ready-made mods do not need it, and those who prefer modern editors may choose a general code editor with a table plugin instead.

D2 Horadric editorial view

This is a simple tool that does one important job well: it lets you edit Diablo II tables without the format damage that general spreadsheets cause. It is free, light and still relevant to Resurrected modding. Its age, closed source, lack of validation and reported quirks keep it in the middle of our scale, but it remains one of the first programs a new modder should install.