trigger · has_dlc

Hands-On Usage

has_dlc is commonly used in mods to provide compatibility protection for DLC-specific features. For example, it displays certain decisions or national focus options only when the player owns a particular DLC, preventing script errors or malfunctions due to missing DLC. It's also frequently used within allowed / available blocks to dynamically enable or disable UI elements, implementing an "enhanced with DLC, fallback without DLC" experience branch.

# Only allow execution of a decision if player owns Man the Guns DLC
available = {
    has_dlc = "Man the Guns"
    is_historical_focus_on = no
}

Synergy

• [or](/wiki/trigger/or): Pair with or to check multiple DLCs simultaneously; the condition is satisfied if the player owns any one of them. Ideal for providing a unified compatibility entry point for multiple DLCs with similar functionality.
• [has_game_rule](/wiki/trigger/has_game_rule): Often used alongside has_game_rule in sequence—first verify DLC existence, then further check whether the corresponding game rule is enabled, creating a "DLC + rule" dual-gate mechanism.
• [custom_trigger_tooltip](/wiki/trigger/custom_trigger_tooltip): Wrap has_dlc inside custom_trigger_tooltip to replace the default DLC detection prompt with custom localization text, making it clearer to players what conditions apply.
• [if](/wiki/effect/if) (effect side) and [if](/wiki/trigger/if) (trigger side): Embed has_dlc within the limit clause of an if block to implement conditional branching—"execute logic A with DLC, logic B without DLC".

Common Pitfalls

1. DLC name case and spelling must match the in-game string exactly (e.g., "Man the Guns" not "Man The Guns"). Even a single character case mismatch will cause the trigger to always return false, and the game provides no error message, making it extremely difficult to debug.
2. Do not use it to determine whether DLC content is "active": has_dlc only checks whether the player owns the DLC; it does not reflect whether related game rules have been manually disabled. If mod functionality depends on DLC rules being enabled, you must additionally pair it with has_game_rule for verification. Otherwise, in campaigns where the DLC rule is disabled, the condition will still incorrectly evaluate as available.