How to Setup and Run Portable BYOND on Any USB Drive BYOND is an excellent platform for playing and developing indie games like Space Station 13. However, the standard installer requires administrator privileges and permanently writes data to your local hard drive. By configuring BYOND to run portably, you can carry your favorite games, developer tools, and login sessions on a single USB flash drive to use on any Windows computer.
This guide will show you how to bypass the standard installer and isolate your user data for a fully portable experience. Prerequisites Before starting, ensure you have the following items ready:
A USB Flash Drive: Any standard USB 2.0 or 3.0 drive with at least 500 MB of free space.
A Windows PC: You will need temporary access to a PC to download and extract the initial files. Step 1: Download the Zip Version
The standard executable installer requires system administrative rights to run. To avoid this, download the standalone archive instead. Navigate to the official BYOND download page.
Look past the primary download button to find the alternative formats.
Download the latest ZIP archive version (usually named byond_version_soft.zip). Step 2: Prepare the USB Drive Structure
Keeping your portable drive organized ensures that cache files do not clutter your root directory. Plug your USB flash drive into your computer.
Open the drive and create a new main folder named PortableBYOND. Inside PortableBYOND, create two separate subfolders: Bin (This will hold the application files)
UserData (This will hold your settings, pager data, and game cache) Step 3: Extract the Application Files
Now you need to place the core system files into your newly created structure.
Locate the downloaded byond_version_soft.zip file on your PC.
Open the archive and extract all of its contents directly into the PortableBYOND/Bin folder on your USB drive. Step 4: Create the Portable Launch Script
By default, BYOND looks for user data in your local Windows Documents folder. To force it to save data to the USB drive instead, you must redirect the application using a environment variable via a batch script. Open Notepad (or any text editor) on your PC. Paste the following exact lines of code into the document:
@echo off set BYOND_USER_DIRECTORY=%~dp0UserData start “” “%~dp0Binyond.exe” Use code with caution. Code Explanation:
@echo off: Hides the command background text to keep the launch clean.
set BYOND_USER_DIRECTORY=: Tells the system exactly where to store user files.
%~dp0: A dynamic variable that automatically detects the drive letter of your USB, preventing broken paths if the letter changes on a different PC. Step 5: Save and Test the Script In Notepad, click File > Save As. Change the “Save as type” dropdown menu to All Files (.).
Name the file LaunchBYOND.bat and save it directly inside the main PortableBYOND folder on your USB drive. Double-click LaunchBYOND.bat to test it.
The BYOND pager will open, and you will notice new configuration files automatically generating inside your PortableBYOND/UserData folder. Tips for Running BYOND Portably
Keep It Clean: Game caches for large multiplayer games can grow rapidly. Periodically check the UserData/cache folder if your USB drive runs low on space.
Eject Safely: Always use the Windows “Safely Remove Hardware” option before unplugging your drive. Unplugging the drive while a game is actively writing data can corrupt your player save files.
Performance Note: If you experience stuttering or slow loading screens, try using a USB 3.0 flash drive plugged into a matching blue USB 3.0 port on your host computer. If you want to optimize this setup further, let me know:
Are you planning to use this drive for game development (Dream Maker)?
Do you need help setting up automated backups for your player data?
Tell me your specific goals, and I can customize the configuration for you.
Leave a Reply