PARAM.SFO

Description

SFO (System File Object) are used in folders which content needs to be displayed in the XMB.

The basic file/folder structure of a PS3 content is composed by a SFO, the multimedia Content Information Files, and for special content like Game Saves or Trophy files there is a PARAM.PFD for security reasons, other type of content like games or apps needs an structure of subfolders with names as INSDIR, LICDIR, PKGDIR, TRPDIR, USRDIR, etc...

• The values contained in a SFO can be simplyfied as inputs/outputs for/from the content:
  • Boot modifyers (most of the int32 datas) that are sent to the content when is executed to activate specific features or settings (e.g. audio and video modes of a game).
  • Information texts (most of the utf8 datas) about the content and its restrictions (e.g. title and version of a game).

SFX (System File in XML format) is similar than SFO but without the data related to its structure (the SFO metadata that has no real value).

The conversion between the 2 formats is direct because the important values contained in both formats are the same (version, param_key, param_fmt, param_max_len & param_data).

SFO's and SFX's can be chained in a structure of subfolders where the "main" SFO activates a special subfolder, and the subfolder contains another SFO that activates another subfolder and so on.

These structures are limited by the system and activated by a combination of CATEGORY and special flags on ATTRIBUTE.

In Blu-Ray discs, the "main" PARAM.SFO itself is activated by another flag inside PS3_DISC.SFB.

Internal Structure

header

At offset 0x0, length 0x14 (20 bytes)

Code Sample

index_table

At offset 0x14, composed by a number of entries defined with tables_entries in the header, each entry is 0x10 length (16 bytes). Values are in Little Endian.

Every entry belongs to a key name in the key_table and defines a data area in the data_table

Code Sample

Data Types

fmt		Data Type	Description	Notes
In SFO	In SFX
04 00	No?	utf8-S	utf8 Special Mode, NOT NULL terminated	Used in SFO's generated by the system and/or linked to an user (Game Saves and Trophies). See Discussion page
04 02	utf8	utf8	utf8 character string, NULL terminated (0x00)	Can be used any character from the system fonts. The NULL byte is counted as part of the used bytes in len
04 04	int32	int32	integer 32 bits unsigned	Allways has a length of 4 bytes in len and max_len (even in the case some bytes are not used, all them are marked as used)

key_table

Composed by a number of key entries defined with tables_entries in the header, are short utf8 strings in capitals, NULL terminated (0x00), and ordered alphabetically (from A to Z). This alphabetically order defines the order of the associated entries in the other two tables (index_table, and data_table)

The end offset of this table needs to be aligned to a multiply of 32bits (4 bytes), this is made with a padding at the end of key_table when needed (in a few SFO's the table is aligned naturally as a coincidence caused by the length of the key names used, when this happens there is no padding needed)

data_table

Composed by a number of data entries defined with tables_entries in the header, every entry in this table is defined by the associated entry in the index_table by using: fmt, len, max_len, and offset. There is no padding between entries neither at the end of this table

Some data entries can be filled with zeroes (not used, but availables for being used). This entries can be considered reserved, and are marked with a len = 0 in the associated entry in the index_table

Internal Structure Examples

Both example files (SFO & SFX) are hand made (the structure is correct but are only a minimal example). Both contains the same info but in different format: only 1 entry (TITLE_ID) and the value for this entry (BLUS12345)

• The bigger difference between SFO and SFX is SFX doesnt contains:
  • SFO header
  • Key and Data offsets
  • Data used length

SFO

Offset(h) 00 01 02 03  04 05 06 07  08 09 0A 0B  0C 0D 0E 0F
     0x00 00 50 53 46  01 01 00 00  24 00 00 00  30 00 00 00 | .PSF....$...0... |
     0x10 01 00 00 00  00 00 04 02  0A 00 00 00  0F 00 00 00 | ................ |
     0x20 00 00 00 00  54 49 54 4C  45 5F 49 44  00 00 00 00 | ....TITLE_ID.... |
     0x30 42 4C 55 53  31 32 33 34  35 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 | BLUS12345....... |

Areas	Offset	Size	Name	Example	Notes
header	0x00	0x04	magic	PSF
	0x04	0x04	version	01 01 00 00	1.01
	0x08	0x04	key_table_start	24 00 00 00	Absolute start offset of key_table = 0x24
	0x0C	0x04	data_table_start	30 00 00 00	Absolute start offset of data_table = 0x30
	0x10	0x04	tables_entries	01 00 00 00	Number of entries in index_table, key_table, and data_table = 1
index_table	0x14	0x02	key_1_offset	00 00	key_1 relative offset. (Absolute start offset of key_1) - (Absolute start offset of key_table) = 0x24-0x24 = 0
	0x16	0x02	data_1_fmt	04 02	data_1 data type = utf8
	0x18	0x04	data_1_len	0A 00 00 00	data_1 used length (BLUS12345 = 9 bytes + 1 byte NULL termination) = 10 bytes
	0x1C	0x04	data_1_max_len	0F 00 00 00	data_1 total length. TITLE_ID is always = 16 bytes
	0x20	0x04	data_1_offset	00 00 00 00	data_1 relative offset. (Absolute start offset of data_1) - (Absolute start offset of data_table) = 0x30-0x30 = 0
key_table	0x24	0x09	key_1	TITLE_ID	Relative offset defined in the index_table
	0x2D	0x03	padding	00 00 00	9 bytes used by the previous entries + 3 padding = 12 (aligned to 4 bytes)
data_table	0x30	0x0F	data_1	BLUS12345	Data type, used length, total length, and relative offset defined in the index_table

SFX

SFX are used in some disc with special content
SFX Can be used as "templates" to generate SFO files
SFX Can be created using a SFO as the "source". See: SFO2SFX

Code Sample

• Notes
  • The function of add_hidden="false" is unknown

SFO Requirements for HDD contents

This table contains all the parameters known/found for an overview of the requirements needed to build a specific PARAM.SFO for a specific HDD content (SFO's and SFX's used in disc media are not included here).

param				Used in SFO/SFX with CATEGORY
				Bootable							Data		Save		Trophy
				PS3	PS1	PS2		PSP			PS3	PS2	PS3	PSP	PS3
key	fmt	len	max_len	AP, AM, AV, BV, AT, WT, HG, CB, HM, SF	1P	2G	2P	MN	PE	PP	GD	2D	SD	MS
ACCOUNT_ID	utf8-S	16 (0x010)		No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
ACCOUNTID	utf8	16 (0x010)		No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
ANALOG_MODE	int32	4 (0x004)		No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
APP_VER	utf8	6 (0x006)	8 (0x008)	Opt	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Opt	No	No	No	No
ATTRIBUTE	int32	4 (0x004)		Opt	Yes	Yes	Opt	Yes	Yes	Yes	Opt	No	Yes	No	No
BOOTABLE	int32	4 (0x004)		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
CATEGORY	utf8	3 (0x003)	4 (0x004)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
CONTENT_ID	utf8	37 (0x025)	48 (0x030)	Opt	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
DETAIL	utf8	variable	1024 (0x400)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Opt	No	No
GAMEDATA_ID	utf8	?	32 (0x020)	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ITEM_PRIORITY	int32	4 (0x004)		No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
LANG	int32	4 (0x004)		No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
LICENSE	utf8	variable	512 (0x200)	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
NP_COMMUNICATION_ID	utf8	13 (0x00D)	16 (0x010)	Opt	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
NPCOMMID	utf8	12 (0x00C)	16 (0x010)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
PADDING	utf8-S	0 (0x000)	8 (0x008)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
PARAMS	utf8-S	1024 (0x400)		No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
PARAMS2	utf8-S	12 (0x00C)		No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
PARENTAL_LEVEL_x	int32	4 (0x004)		Opt	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
PARENTAL_LEVEL	int32	4 (0x004)		Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
PARENTALLEVEL	int32	4 (0x004)		No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
PATCH_FILE	utf8	?	32 (0x020)	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PS3_SYSTEM_VER	utf8	8 (0x008)		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Opt	Yes	No	No	No
REGION_DENY	int32	4 (0x004)		Opt	No	No	Opt	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
RESOLUTION	int32	4 (0x004)		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
SAVEDATA_DETAIL	utf8	variable	1024 (0x400)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY	utf8	variable	64 (0x040)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
SAVEDATA_FILE_LIST	utf8-S	3168 (0xC60)		No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
SAVEDATA_LIST_PARAM	utf8	variable	8 (0x008)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
SAVEDATA_PARAMS	utf8-S	128 (0x080)		No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
SAVEDATA_TITLE	utf8	variable	128 (0x080)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
SOUND_FORMAT	int32	4 (0x004)		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
SOURCE	int32	4 (0x004)		No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
SUB_TITLE	utf8	variable	128 (0x080)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Opt	No	No
TARGET_APP_VER	utf8	6 (0x006)	8 (0x008)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Opt	No	No	No	No
TITLE	utf8	variable	128 (0x080)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
TITLE_ID	utf8	10 (0x00A)	16 (0x010)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
TITLE_xx	utf8	variable	128 (0x080)	Opt	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
TITLEID0xx	utf8	9 (0x009)	16 (0x010)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
VERSION	utf8	6 (0x006)	8 (0x008)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
XMB_APPS	int32	4 (0x004)		?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

• Trophy installers creates a PARAM.SFO without CATEGORY, for this reason in the previous table are represented with the icon . Its placement in XMB up to firmware 4.25 was in column, in firmware 4.30 was moved to column, this placement in XMB is not dependant of its CATEGORY. Trophy folders/files are created by a trophy installer (TROPHY.TRP). See: Trophy files

Parameters Descriptions

ACCOUNT_ID

param_fmt: utf8-S
param_max_len: 0x10 (16 bytes)
param_len: 0x10 (16 bytes)

Used by: Save Data

PSN User Account stored as utf8-S. The string is compared with the user info in XRegistry.sys. The comparison can only return two values, right, or wrong, if the comparison returns right the SaveData is valid.

When the user/console has not been registered in PSN = 0000000000000000

When the savedata owner has been faked (by official DEX feature "save fake data owner") = FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

ACCOUNTID

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x10 (16 bytes)
param_len: 0x10 (16 bytes)

Used by: Trophy

Same string than ACCOUNT_ID but stored as utf8 because the system uses it for normal functions (in this case is sent to PSN to synchronize the trophy data with your online account).

ANALOG_MODE

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: PS1 Game

Hexadecimal (little endian)	Hexadecimal (big endian)	Decimal	Binary (flags)	Feature (notes)
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	1	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	Analog Mode Enabled

• Analog Mode Enabled

Enables compatibility with the analog sticks of the Dualshock Controller.

Digital is single stick mode i.e. remapping the dpad, Analog is twin stick mode or flightstick mode

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Controller (digital only)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_Analog_Controller (Dual analog, can be set digital with analog button)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DualShock (Dual analog with rumble, can be set digital with analog button)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Analog_Joystick (Dual analog, can be set digital with analog button)

Note: DualShock3+SixAxis are the first to remove the analog button, but can be set in digital mode by software (hence the need of this setting)

• Questions:
  • It works (and can be enabled) in PS2 classics ?
  • In case of working in PS2 classics... is needed ? (is posible Dualshock 2 enables it by default, so can be pointless)
  • On Cobra cfw (not classic) analog mode is auto selected when a PS2 game needs the function, digital mode is grayed out and cannot be highlighted.
  • Is posible to disable it ? (in PS1 classics the default mode seems to be disabled so can be pointless, but for PS2 Classic and in case of enabled by default it could be posible to disable)

APP_VER

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x8 (8 bytes)
param_len: 0x6 (6 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game, Minis Game, PSP Remasters Game, Game Data

Application version (or patch version). Not used in old games.

The format is XX.YY where "XX" and "YY" are numbers, and the point "." is included in the string, e.g: 01.00 for the first stable version released.

• Cummulative Patches

Game patches uses a bigger APP_VER as 01.01 for the first patch, but keeping the same TITLE_ID from the original release.

ATTRIBUTE

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game, PS1 Game, Minis Game, PSP Remasters Game, PCEngine game, NEOGEO game, Game Data, Save Data

Contains a maximun of 32 flags that can be turned on/off to activate/deactivate special boot modes and features of the content.

Values are stored in "Little Endian" format inside the SFO, to represent the whole tables in a "human readable" format has been needed to convert them to "Big Endian" and then to "Binary".

ATTRIBUTE flags for firmware features (1^st byte)

Hexadecimal		Decimal	Binary (flags)	Feature
little endian	big endian			Bootable	Save Data	Disc Subfolders
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	1	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	PSP Remote Play (v1)	Copy Protected	Subfolder Enabled
02 00 00 00	00 00 00 02	2	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000010	PSP Export	Not Used Yet	Not Used Yet
04 00 00 00	00 00 00 04	4	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000100	PSP Remote Play (v2) requires: PSP Remote Play (v1)	Not Used Yet	Not Used Yet
08 00 00 00	00 00 00 08	8	00000000 00000000 00000000 00001000	XMB In-Game Forced Enabled	Not Used Yet	Not Used Yet
10 00 00 00	00 00 00 10	16	00000000 00000000 00000000 00010000	XMB In-Game Disabled	Not Used Yet	Not Used Yet
20 00 00 00	00 00 00 20	32	00000000 00000000 00000000 00100000	XMB In-Game Background Music	Not Used Yet	Not Used Yet
40 00 00 00	00 00 00 40	64	00000000 00000000 00000000 01000000	System Voice Chat ? (See note)	Not Used Yet	Not Used Yet
80 00 00 00	00 00 00 80	128	00000000 00000000 00000000 10000000	PSvita Remote Play	Not Used Yet	Not Used Yet

ATTRIBUTE flags for firmware screens ? (2^nd byte)

Hexadecimal		Decimal	Binary (flags)	Feature
little endian	big endian			Bootable
00 01 00 00	00 00 01 00	256	00000000 00000000 00000001 00000000	Move Controller Warning
00 02 00 00	00 00 02 00	512	00000000 00000000 00000010 00000000	Navigation Controller Warning requires: Move Controller Warning
00 04 00 00	00 00 04 00	1024	00000000 00000000 00000100 00000000	PlayStation Eye Cam Warning requires: Move Controller Warning
00 08 00 00	00 00 08 00	2048	00000000 00000000 00001000 00000000	Move Calibration Notification
00 10 00 00	00 00 10 00	4096	00000000 00000000 00010000 00000000	Stereoscopic 3D Warning
00 20 00 00	00 00 20 00	8192	00000000 00000000 00100000 00000000	Used by PlayStation Now Beta
00 40 00 00	00 00 40 00	16384	00000000 00000000 01000000 00000000	Not Used Yet
00 80 00 00	00 00 80 00	32768	00000000 00000000 10000000 00000000	Not Used Yet

ATTRIBUTE flags for game & software features ? (3^rd byte)

Hexadecimal		Decimal	Binary (flags)	Feature
little endian	big endian			Bootable	Patches (Overwrite flags)
00 00 01 00	00 01 00 00	65536	00000000 00000001 00000000 00000000	Install Disc	Unknown
00 00 02 00	00 02 00 00	131072	00000000 00000010 00000000 00000000	Install Packages	Unknown
00 00 04 00	00 04 00 00	262144	00000000 00000100 00000000 00000000	Unknown	param_key: RESOLUTION, SOUND_FORMAT, and ATTRIBUTE flag: Remote Play
00 00 08 00	00 08 00 00	524288	00000000 00001000 00000000 00000000	Game Purchase Enabled	Unknown
00 00 10 00	00 10 00 00	1048576	00000000 00010000 00000000 00000000	Unknown (See note)	ATTRIBUTE flag: XMB In-Game
00 00 20 00	00 20 00 00	2097152	00000000 00100000 00000000 00000000	PCEngine (X0)	ATTRIBUTE flag: Move Controller warning
00 00 40 00	00 40 00 00	4194304	00000000 01000000 00000000 00000000	License Logo Disabled	ATTRIBUTE flag: Stereoscopic 3D warning
00 00 80 00	00 80 00 00	8388608	00000000 10000000 00000000 00000000	Move Controller Enabled	ATTRIBUTE flag: Move Controller Enabled

ATTRIBUTE flags for ? (4^th byte)

Hexadecimal		Decimal	Binary (flags)	Feature
little endian	big endian			Bootable
00 00 00 01	01 00 00 00	16777216	00000001 00000000 00000000 00000000	Reserved (X1) requires: PCEngine ?
00 00 00 02	02 00 00 00	33554432	00000010 00000000 00000000 00000000	Reserved (X2) requires: PCEngine ?
00 00 00 03	03 00 00 00	50331648	00000011 00000000 00000000 00000000	Reserved (X3) requires: PCEngine ?
00 00 00 04	04 00 00 00	67108864	00000100 00000000 00000000 00000000	NeoGeo (X4) requires: PCEngine
00 00 00 05	05 00 00 00	83886080	00000101 00000000 00000000 00000000	Reserved (X5) requires: PCEngine ?
00 00 00 06	06 00 00 00	100663296	00000110 00000000 00000000 00000000	Reserved (X6) requires: PCEngine ?
00 00 00 07	07 00 00 00	117440512	00000111 00000000 00000000 00000000	Reserved (X7) requires: PCEngine ?
00 00 00 08	08 00 00 00	134217728	00001000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not Used Yet
00 00 00 10	10 00 00 00	268435456	00010000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not Used Yet
00 00 00 20	20 00 00 00	536870912	00100000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not Used Yet
00 00 00 40	40 00 00 00	1073741824	01000000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not Used Yet
00 00 00 80	80 00 00 00	2147483648	10000000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not Used Yet

ATTRIBUTE flags for bootable content (1^st byte)

Portables

 · PSP Remote Play v1 (firmware v1.10)
 · PSP Remote Play v2 (firmware v1.80)
 · PSVita Remote Play (firmware v4.00)
Remote play is a feature that displays the PS3 screen on a PSP or a PSVita enabling remote operations over a wireless LAN. See: Remote Play

 · PSP Export (firmware v1.70)
Used in PS1 Classics, PSP Minis, and PSP Games. Allows the copy of the game to a PSP by pressing over the game icon and selecting the option [Copy] in the side menu. This export process is closelly related with how the PS3 manages the downloads and installation of content from PSN using temporal subfolders in dev_hdd0/vsh/task/. See Project Database (PDB)

XMB In-Game (short press)

 · XMB In-Game Forced Enable (firmware v2.40)
Games released/compiled before firmware 2.40 doesnt uses "XMB In-Game" even when launched in higher firmwares. This flag enables "XMB In-Game" for these old games, the flag has no effect in games released after 2.40 because newer games has "XMB In-Game" enabled by default. See: XMB Modes.

 · XMB In-Game Disabled (firmware v2.40)
Disables "XMB In-Game", the flag works in all games and doesnt causes any problem, useful to free ram and to improve the loading time of the menu. See: XMB Modes.

 · XMB In-Game Background Music (firmware v2.40)
When enabled allows to play your own music from the files stored in your HDD by using the icon that appears in XMB column, is posible to play single songs or a playlist and then return to the game while your music is playing. See XMB In-game background music

 · System Voice Chat ?
Speculation: Not clear if the flag enables or disables voice chat, and not clear wich kind of voice chat (in the very probable case there are severals chat modes/types), supposed to be valid before Jun 2010, matching chronologigally the release of "home" (probably used in beta stages of the developing of chat functions inside "Home" enviroment to make internall tests related with voice chat). Enabling the flag manually for testing in different SFO's with different CATEGORY's didnt give any result

ATTRIBUTE flags for bootable content (2^nd byte)

Move

 · Move Controller Warning (firmware v3.40)
 · Navigation Controller Warning (firmware v3.40)
 · PlayStation Eye Cam Warning (firmware v3.40)
This warning screens are composed by several animated images loaded from dev_flash/vsh/resource/game_ext_plugin.rco, are displayed before the game is launched (around 3 seconds each), are an explain of the correct way to use "move controller", "navigation controller", and "eye cam" respectively. The game waits for them to appear so removing them improves the loading time, the presence of this 3 flags/screens has no effect over move controller support.

 · Move Calibration Notification (firmware v3.40)
This is a calibration screen composed by several animated images loaded from dev_flash/vsh/resource/sysconf/calibration/, appears when the controller has not been calibrated previously (or when is miss-configured).

 · Stereoscopic 3D Warning (implemented in firmware v3.40)
This is a warning screen (composed and loaded from ?) similar than the ones related with move peripherals, when enabled only appears if the PS3 is connected to a "Stereoscopic 3D" compatible TV.

ATTRIBUTE flags for bootable content (3^rd byte)

Discs

 · Install Disc
Disables the main/primary icon of the disc (only the extra/secondary icons are displayed), used when the disc only contains "Install Packages" and there is no bootable content on the disc main path in dev_bdvd/PS3_GAME/USRDIR/EBOOT.BIN.

 · Install Packages
Loads a secondary SFO from path: dev_bdvd/PS3_GAME/PKGDIR/PARAM.SFO (the flag in the main SFO in path dev_bdvd/PS3_GAME/PARAM.SFO enables the secondary SFO in path dev_bdvd/PS3_GAME/PKGDIR/PARAM.SFO displayed as a bubble inside a disc ), the secondary SFO and the contents of this subfolder are mounted by XMB under the main disc icon in column. See BluRay Disc Structure

 · Game Purchase Enabled
Enables the [purchase] option that appears in side menu when pressing over the icon in XMB. Is directly related with CONTENT_ID. When the content is purchased its CONTENT_ID is checked online to obtain the license. After the license is retrieved the game loads another PARAM.SFO from a subfolder with different values. E.g. main PARAM.SFO enables the purchase flag and could use the TITLE "Demo", when purchased other PARAM.SFO from a "C00" subfolder is loaded that could use the TITLE "Full".

 · flag 1048576 (decimal) (firmware <4.00?)
When activated, "XMB in Game" for software is used (when quitting an app that uses this flag the message displayed in XMB In-Game changes to: "Do you want to quit the software now?"), and disables [About this Game] option that appears in side menu when pressing over the icon in XMB. This flag is used in combination with the parameter BOOTABLE = 2 to make the software boot in a special mode

 · PCEngine (firmware <3.41?)

 · License Logo Disabled (firmware <3.41?)
Disables the [About this Game] option that appears in side menu when pressing over the icon in XMB. This flag also removes the needed of storing a LICENSE param_key in the PARAM.SFO, the consequence of removing LICENSE param_key is the size of the PARAM.SFO file is reduced drastically (LICENSE text is huge in comparison with the rest of the file... SFO's without LICENSE are much smaller). Used by games that have their own license and not the sony one (e.g: PCengine & NeoGeo)

 · Move Controller Enabled (firmware v3.40)

Enables Move Controller support for the game. See Move Motion Controller

Note Move Navigation Controller is supported in all games because is a reduced version of DualShock 3 and PlayStation Eye camera is enabled automatically when needed. This ones doesn't have/needs a flag

ATTRIBUTE flags for bootable content (4^th byte)

 · NeoGeo (firmware <3.41?)

ATTRIBUTE flags for savedata (1^st byte)

 · Copy Protected

Disables the [Copy] option that appears in side menu when pressing over the gamesave icon in XMB. In other words... disables the gamesave export feature. Used only in PS3 Game Saves (CATEGORY: SD). See Game Saves.

Note in PS3 Game Saves the PARAM.SFO is always included in the list of protected files that is stored inside PARAM.PFD, so after removing the copy protection flag in the .SFO is needed to generate a valid .PFD. See PARAM.PFD

ATTRIBUTE flags for disc subfolders (1^st byte)

 · Subfolder Activated
Used in Discs subfolders (CATEGORY: TR, VR, DP, XR) to activate another subfolder. This secondary subfolder can contain another SFO (or a .SFX) and are loaded in cascade, all the SFO's in the subfolders structures contains an ATTRIBUTE = 1. In other words... the flag simply indicates the presence of items under this path.

ATTRIBUTE flags for patches (3^rd byte)

 · Overwrite RESOLUTION, SOUND_FORMAT, Remote Play For remote play: with this flag you ll need to add one of the flag related to remote play. E.G. 262272 (0x40080) for PS VITA only added (God of War Collection 1.01 with PARAM.HIP explaining it s not compatible with PSP)

 · Overwrite XMB In-Game Expect to overwrite only flags nº: 4, 5, and 6. Verifyed in killzone 3 (BCES01007) patch v01.14 with a value for ATTRIBUTE: 20 00 10 00 (overwrites the original value of ATTRIBUTE, and enables "XMB In-Game Background Music"). Other posible values not verifyed yet: 08 00 10 00 (for overwriting of "XMB In-Game Forced Enabled"), and 20 00 10 00 (for overwriting of "XMB In-Game Disabled")

 · Overwrite Move Controller warning screen Expect to overwrite only flag N09, N10 (+09), N11 (+09)

 · Overwrite 3D warning screen Expect to overwrite only flag N13

 · Overwrite Move Controller Compatible

• This list contains a short description of all the ATTRIBUTE flags known, there is no room in this page for explaining in detail all this functions but there are several links to other pages that expands the info, please help completing the identification of all flags (with short descriptions and links to other wiki pages when posible/needed), also try to not add too much speculation and in case of speculation use question marks, for an open discussion, any usefull notes or brainstorming use Discussion page.

BOOTABLE

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game, PS1 Game, Minis Game, PSP Remasters Game

Specifyes if the content is bootable or not, and the boot mode.

Hexadecimal		Decimal	Binary (flags)	Feature
little endian	big endian
00 00 00 00	00 00 00 00	0	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000	Not Bootable
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	1	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	Bootable (mode 1)
02 00 00 00	00 00 00 02	2	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000010	Bootable (mode 2)

Not Bootable

• Looks pointless because the SFO's for contents that are not bootable simply doesnt includes the parameter BOOTABLE (like savegames or trophies where BOOTABLE doesnt exists and if you include it manually the system ignores it), but in some specific cases the PARAM.SFO contains the parameter BOOTABLE with a value of 0 (e.g: in SFO's of CATEGORY PP... for PSP transferable games, where the game is not intended to boot on PS3, is only stored temporally in PS3 ready to be transfered to a PSP)

Bootable (mode 1)

• Used in all games that "boots" on PS3 (and all apps that boots on PS3, with the exception of the ones using bootable = 2 explained below)

Bootable (mode 2)

• After 4.00 firmware XMB can identify some bootable contents as "software" by using this flag ("bootable games" and "bootable software" should be considered different based on this flag, or they boots in different modes), is used in combination with the ATTRIBUTE flag 1048576 (in decimal), this flag displays an specific message from game_ext_plugin.rco/english.xml when quitting the software <Text name="msg_need_quit_to_operate_ask">To perform this operation, you must quit [%1]. Do you want to quit the software now?</Text>, and "About this Game" is removed from the option side menu (infobar)
• Note the XMB mesages enabled with the ATTRIBUTE flag are specific for software (not for games), and the data type of BOOTABLE is int32 (flags), when looking at BOOTABLE flags in binary the flags are different (BOOTABLE flag 2 doesnt contains flag 1)
• The use of this flag is not completly known/documented, feel free to experiment and return back to edit wiki with new info

CATEGORY

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x3 (3 bytes)

Used by: All but Trophy

The next table represents the columns where the content is placed in the XMB and the CATEGORY asociated.

PS3 HDD Game Structure

FileSystem Path in device dev_hdd0/game/<TITLE_ID>/			XMB Icon	CATEGORY								Since	Generated by	Description and Examples
											Name
PARAM.SFO				AP							App Photo			PlayMemories
					AM						App Music			Qriocity Music Unlimited
						AV					App Video			Netflix, LoveFilm, Maxdome
						BV					Broadcast? Video
							AT				App TV			QOOK TV, Now TV, Torne (TV/Video Services Column hidden when no installed content)
							WT				Web? TV	3.70		Animaxtv, 4oD etc...starts Web Browser from LINK.XML with corresponding online page.
									CB		CELL? BE?			Life with PlayStation, Folding@home
										AS	App Store ?	4.46+ ?		PlayStation Now
										HM	Home			PlayStation Home
						---		---		SF	Store Frontend?			PlayStation Store
								HG			HDD Game	1.00		Combined with ATTRIBUTE generates "subcategories" e.g: and
								2G			PS2 Game	1.31		PS2 Discs installed in internal HDD, only in "backward compatible" PS3's. See: Emulation
								2P			PS2 PSN ?	3.70		"PS2 Classics". Re-edited PS2 games released as a .pkg in "PlayStation Store"
								1P			PS1 PSN ?	1.70		"PS1 Classics". Re-edited PS1 games released as a .pkg in "PlayStation Store"
								MN			PSP Minis	3.15		"PSP Minis". Format inherited from PSP
								PE			PSP Emulator	3.70		"PSP Remasters". Re-edited PSP games released as a .pkg in a "Install Disc"
								PP			PSP			Not bootable, but can be copyed to a PSP or PS VITA (? as option suggest it on XMB)
								GD			Game Data		and	PS3 disc installs, Game updates, Game DLC, Game common user data (e.g: GT5)
								2D			PS2 Data	1.31	and	PS2 Emulator Data, DLC for PS2 Disc games (related with CATEGORY 2G). See: Emulation
C00/	PARAM.SFO		Used with CATEGORY: HG, and others ?											Demo
L00/ (up to 05)	PARAM.SFO		Used with CATEGORY: HG, and others ?											Restricted content based in License Area Number
USRDIR/	EBOOT.BIN		Used with CATEGORY: All above except 2G and 2D									1.00		Main executable
USRDIR/	IMAGE.DAT		Used with CATEGORY: 2G and 2D									1.31		PS2 Virtual HDD
DRMDIR/	PKG_DIGEST.DAT											2.80		Installation folder security hashes
HTMLDIR/	Empty ?													Example: Torne
SHOPDIR/	?													Unknown, used in NPJA90001
MANUAL/	001.DDS (up to 999)											4.21		Game/app manuals made with pictures
FileSystem Path in device dev_hdd0/home/<userid>/			XMB Icon	CATEGORY								Since	Generated by	Description and Examples
											Name
savedata/	SAVEDIR	PARAM.SFO						SD			Save Data	1.00		See: Game Saves - PS3
		PARAM.PFD
minis_savedata/	SAVEDIR	PARAM.SFO						MS			Memory Stick?	3.15		See: Game Saves - Minis
								MS			Memory Stick?			See: Game Saves - PSP Remaster
psp2_backup/	etc...							No				4.00	Transfer	PSvita contents. Not bootable, import/export to PSvita

• Notes
  • PS1 Game Saves and PS2 Game Saves are stored in a Virtual Memory Card (<Virtual MemCard>.VM1 for PS1 and <Virtual MemCard>.VM2 for PS2) without a PARAM.SFO
  • PS Store icon on XMB Video and Game columns might only appear according to your settings

---

Blu-Ray disc structure details

PS3 Disc Game Structure

FileSystem Path in device dev_bdvd/				XMB icon	SFB/SFO/SFX Mandatory Parameters								Since	Enabled by
					APP_VER	ATTRIBUTE	BOOTABLE	CATEGORY			TITLE	TITLE_ID
										Name
PS3_DISC.SFB												Yes	1.00	Enables others with HYBRID_FLAG
PS3_GAME/	PARAM.SFO				Opt	Opt	Opt		DG	Disc Game	Yes	Yes	1.00	HYBRID_FLAG (g) in PS3_DISC.FSB
	USRDIR/	EBOOT.BIN											1.00	BOOTABLE (1) in parent PARAM.SFO
	INSDIR/	PARAM.SFO		No?	Yes	No	No		AR	Autoinstall Root	No	No	?	HYBRID_FLAG (g) in PS3_DISC.FSB ?
		DATA000.PKG (up to 999)											?
	PKGDIR/	PARAM.SFO			No	Yes	No		DP	Disc Packages	Yes	Yes	1.00 ?	ATTRIBUTE (131072) in parent PARAM.SFO
		PKG01/ (up to 99)	PARAM.SFO		No	No	No		IP	Install Package	Yes	Yes	1.00 ?	ATTRIBUTE (1) in parent PARAM.SFO
			INSTALL.PKG										1.00 ?
	LICDIR/	LIC.DAT											1.00
	TROPDIR/	<NPCOMMID>/	TROPHY.TRP										2.40
PS3_GM01/ (up to 99?)	PARAM.SFO				Opt	Opt	Opt		DG	Disc Game	Yes	Yes	4.00+ ?	HYBRID_FLAG (g) in PS3_DISC.FSB
	USRDIR/	EBOOT.BIN											4.00+ ?	BOOTABLE (1) in parent PARAM.SFO
	LICDIR/	LIC.DAT											4.00+ ?	dev_bdvd/PS3_GAME/LICDIR/LIC.DAT
PS3_CONTENT/	THEMEDIR/	PARAM.SFO			No	Yes	No		TR	Theme Root	Yes	No ?	2.00+	HYBRID_FLAG (T) in PS3_DISC.FSB
		D001/	DATA001.P3T (up to 999)										2.00+	ATTRIBUTE (1) in parent PARAM.SFO
	VIDEODIR/	PARAM.SFO			No	Yes	No	VR		Video Root	Yes	No ?	?	HYBRID_FLAG (V) in PS3_DISC.FSB
		D001/ (up to 999)	PARAM.SFO	?	No	No	No	VI		Video Item	Yes	No	?	ATTRIBUTE (1) in parent PARAM.SFO
			DATA000.MP4										?
PS3_EXTRA/	PARAM.SFO				No	Yes	No		XR	Extra Root	Yes	Yes	3.41-	HYBRID_FLAG (g) in PS3_DISC.FSB ?
	D001/ (up to 999)	PARAM.SFX			No	No	No		IP	Install Package	Yes	No	3.41-	ATTRIBUTE (1) in parent PARAM.SFO
		DATA000.PKG											3.41-
	D002/ (up to 999)	PARAM.SFX			No	No	No		TI	Theme Item	Yes	No	3.41-	ATTRIBUTE (1) in parent PARAM.SFO
		DATA000.P3T											3.41-
	D003/ (up to 999)	PARAM.SFX			No	No	No		VI	Video Item	Yes	No	3.41-	ATTRIBUTE (1) in parent PARAM.SFO
		DATA000.MP4											3.41-
PS3_VPRM/	PARAM.SFO				No	No	No	DM		Disc Movie	No	No	?	HYBRID_FLAG (v) in PS3_DISC.FSB
PS3_UPDATE/	UPDATE.PUP												1.00 ?	HYBRID_FLAG (u) in PS3_DISC.FSB

PS3 Blu Ray

These are "fake Blu-Ray discs" with the minimal values inside SFO's/SFX's needed for the structure to work, and the needed HYBRID_FLAG's inside the main PS3_DISC.SFB. All the files are 100% hand made from scratch and tested.

Game discs in folder PS3_GAME The basic structure of a game disc.

0GAM00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (g), TITLE_ID (0GAM00001)
|--- PS3_GAME
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (DG), TITLE_ID (0GAM00001)
     |--- USRDIR
          |--- EBOOT.BIN

Movie discs in folder PS3_VPRM This is the part of a Blue-Ray movie structure related with the PS3 system. Described as "hybrid disc" when contains a game+movie e.g: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (BLUS30847)

0MOV00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (v), TITLE_ID (blank)
|--- AACS
|    |--- DUPLICATE (2.cer 2.tbl 1.lst 1.cc1 3.inf)
|    |--- (2.cer 2.tbl 1.lst 1.cc1 3.inf)
|--- BDMV
|    |--- AUXDATA
|    |    |--- sound.bdmv
|    |--- BACKUP
|    |    |--- CLIPINF
|    |    |    |--- (11.clpi)
|    |    |--- PLAYLIST
|    |    |    |--- (6.mpls)
|    |    |--- index.bdmv
|    |    |--- MovieObject.bdmv
|    |--- CLIPINF
|    |    |--- (11.clpi)
|    |--- META
|    |    |--- DL
|    |         |--- bdmt_eng.xml
|    |         |--- thumb_L.jpg
|    |         |--- thumb_S.jpg
|    |--- PLAYLIST
|    |    |--- (6.mpls)
|    |--- STREAM
|    |    |--- (11.m2ts)
|    |--- index.bdmv
|    |--- MovieObject.bdmv
|--- CERTIFICATE
|--- PS3_VPRM
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (DM)

Game discs in folder PS3_CONTENT

PS3 Blu Ray video content

PS3 Blu Ray install content

Themes folder is mounted as a "secondary icon" under the "main game icon". Doesn't need/admit an SFO/SFX, the icon contained in the theme is resized and displayed inside a bubble, also the TITLE of the Theme is used for the content.

Video folder is mounted on video column. Videos can not be copied to the internal or external storage.

0CONT00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (TV), TITLE_ID (0CONT00001)
|--- PS3_CONTENT
     |--- THEMEDIR
     |    |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (01000000), CATEGORY (TR), TITLE (Themes)
     |    |--- D000
     |         |--- DATA001.P3T
     |         |--- DATA002.P3T
     |--- VIDEODIR
          |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (01000000), CATEGORY (VR), TITLE (Videos)
          |--- D001
          |    |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (VI), TITLE (Video 1)
          |    |--- DATA000.MP4
          |--- D002
               |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (VI), TITLE (Video 2)
               |--- DATA000.MP4

Game discs in folder PS3_GAME/PKGDIR

PS3 Blu Ray install content

Can be considered an "expansion" of the basic blu-ray structure of a game disc, activated by the flag 00000200 in the ATTRIBUTE of the PARAM.SFO inside PS3_GAME. Packages are displayed in subfolders inside bubbles with its icons resized.

When the packages are installed, the file PARAM.SFO from PKGDIR is renamed to DISC.SFO and copyed inside the installation folder.

0PKG00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (g), TITLE_ID (0PKG00001)
|--- PS3_GAME
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (00000200), CATEGORY (DG)
     |--- PKGDIR
          |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (0100000), CATEGORY (DP), TITLE (Packages)
          |--- PKG01
          |    |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (IP), TITLE (Package 1)
          |    |--- INSTALL.PKG
          |--- PKG02
               |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (IP), TITLE (Package 2)
               |--- INSTALL.PKG

Game discs in folder PS3_GAME/INSDIR Can be considered an expansion of the basic blu-ray game disc structure, activated by default with the "g" HYBRID_FLAG from PS3_DISC.SFB

The presence of INSDIR forces a mandatory installation (warning screen with "Yes" or "No", if selecting "No" the game doesnt boots) performed in main XMB (before starting the game). When the installation is completed the game boots

Inside game_ext_plugin.rco/english.xml
<Text name="msg_game_cannot_start_wo_install_need_area_install_ask">This game cannot be started unless it is installed on the system storage.
To install on the system storage you must create a game partition of %1.
Do you want to start installing?</Text>

Used for "game patches" and "game expansion packs". The PARAM.SFO inside "INSDIR" contains the "APP_VER" of the bigger patch of the folder. Note that "download content" packages doesnt contains "APP_VER" so its installation doesnt updates the main game. For this reason "APP_VER" is only related with patches. Other types of PKG can be installed but the main game will reload the message above because it was expecting to have a game patch.

0INS00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (g), TITLE_ID (0INS00001)
|--- PS3_GAME
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (DG)
     |--- INSDIR
          |--- PARAM.SFO <--- APP_VER (01.02), CATEGORY (AR)
          |--- DATA000.PKG
          |--- DATA001.PKG

Game discs in folder PS3_EXTRA Icon sizes is the same used in "PStore news" menu ([big squares of 486x405 pixels]). see: Content Information Files

Similar as PKGDIR, the file PARAM.SFO from PKGDIR (seems typo error) is renamed to DISC.SFO.

0EXT00001
|--- PS3_DISC.SFB <--- HYBRID_FLAG (g), TITLE_ID (0EXT00001)
|--- PS3_GAME
|    |--- PARAM.SFO <--- CATEGORY (DG)
|--- PS3_EXTRA
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (0100000), CATEGORY (XR), TITLE (Extras)
     |--- D001
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (IP), TITLE (Package 1)
     |    |--- DATA000.PKG
     |--- D002
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (IP), TITLE (Package 2)
     |    |--- DATA000.PKG
     |--- D003
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (VI), TITLE (Video 1)
     |    |--- DATA000.MP4
     |--- D004
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (VI), TITLE (Video 2)
     |    |--- DATA000.MP4
     |--- D005
     |    |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (TI), TITLE (Theme 1)
     |    |--- DATA000.P3T
     |--- D006
          |--- PARAM.SFX <--- CATEGORY (TI), TITLE (Theme 2)
          |--- DATA000.P3T

dev_bdvd/PS3_GM01/ is a folder at the same level than PS3_GAME, is used for multiboot game discs (the only disc structure that supports direct multiboot). Each eboot is mounted using its own icon. This discs uses speciall LIC.DAT files, see: LIC.DAT page

The two numbers at the end of the name PS3_GM01 looks like a counter, but only PS3_GM01 is supported (other numbers are not supported... yet)

---

You can download this structures to experiment with them or to look how SFO's SFX's are built ---> [Blu-Ray fake discs by sandungas]

• Remove-insert again disc might be required to make structures appears.

• DISC.SFO seems to force the user to start the installed game with the original disc with this message on XMB:

"to play this game, you must insert the following disc. Insert the disc, and then start the game 
again.  (8001003E) Install disc"

This can/should be resolved by launching BD emulator, removing the disc.sfo file, or using Lxx folders. See Discussion page

CONTENT_ID

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x30 (48 bytes)
param_len: 0x25 (37 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game

Content ID

Content Identificator for Gamepurchase feature. Used in games that runs in "demo mode" and can be purchased (unlocked) by pressing triangle over its icon in XMB.

The format is: XXYYYY-NP_COMMUNICATION_ID-LICENSE_ID where:

• XX is ?
• YYYY is ?
• - is a separator character (mandatory)
• NP_COMMUNICATION_ID is explained in NP_COMMUNICATION_ID
• - is a separator character (mandatory)
• LICENSE_ID is ?

This games has a minimal folder structure with two PARAM.SFO like this:

NPxx12345
|--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (00000800), CATEGORY (HG), TITLE (GAME Trial) ... & others
|--- USRDIR
|    |--- EBOOT.BIN
|--- C00
     |--- PARAM.SFO <--- ATTRIBUTE (00000800), CATEGORY (HG), TITLE (GAME Full) ... & others

DETAIL

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x400 (1024 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: Save Data

Text lines displayed under SUBTITLE text. Used only for SaveData to store long texts from the game like the name of the level you was playing, the equipment of your character (in a RPG), or the car you was driving (in a race simulator), etc...

When the text is too long to fit in the screen it scrolls vertically from bottom to top, if the Data_Used_Size is not correct this scroll doesn't flow properly.

The special byte "0A" displaces the text to the next line (a linefeed), this can be used to create long texts composed by several horizontall lines.

GAMEDATA_ID

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x20 (32 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: Unknown (not bootable?)

Found in explore_plugin (checked at: /app_home/PS3_GAME/PARAM.SFO), and XMB databases (accessed as Game:Game.gameDataID)

ITEM_PRIORITY

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game, PS2 Game (probably others)

Used to order the contents vertically in XMB columns, contents with any value of ITEM_PRIORITY are displayed at top of XMB column, and after them all the other contents without ITEM_PRIORITY

Contents with bigger values in ITEM_PRIORITY are placed at top of the list, the scale is from 0x00000000 (at bottom) up to 0xFFFFFFFF (at top)

LANG

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: Trophy

Language used when the "trophy config file" TROPCONF.SFM was installed. Template:XMB languages

LICENSE

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x200 (512 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: HDD Game

License text of the content, hidden by the system in actual firmwares

NP_COMMUNICATION_ID

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x10 (16 bytes)
param_len: 0xD (13 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game

Network Platform Communication ID. Also is the name of the folder containing the trophy installer: TROPHY.TRP

The format is 4 letters + 5 numbers with optionally a subid (usually 0) : NPWRyyyyy_zz (e.g. NPWR00001_00)

NPCOMMID

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x10 (16 bytes)
param_len: 0xC (12 bytes)

Used by: Trophy

Same than NP_COMMUNICATION_ID but with a param_len of 12 bytes

PADDING

param_fmt: utf8-S
param_max_len: 0x8 (8 bytes)
param_len: 0x0 (0 bytes)

Used by: Trophy

Unknown

PARAMS

param_fmt: utf8-S
param_max_len: 0x400 (1024 bytes)
param_len: 0x400 (1024 bytes)

Used by: PS3 Save Data

• Intended to store:
  • Counters (number of times the .SFO was updated, etc...)
  • User/console ID's
  • Some more unknown and reserved areas. See Discussion page

Usage	Offset	length	Example	Description	Notes
features	0x00	1 (0x1)	01	Unknown	values found: always 1
	0x01	1 (0x1)	08	PS3 SaveData features ?	Some kind of "savedata feature flags" in binary (like the type of savedata system screen, its visibility, etc...). Values found: 1,2,3,5,7,8 or "PARAMS version" with the added value from the byte before (v1.8 in this example)
	0x02	1 (0x1)	01	Unknown	values found: 1,2
	0x03	1 (0x1)	03	Cummulated counter slot nº	Position of a "cummulated counter taken from another SFO when they was merged". values found: 2,3
	0x04	1 (0x1)	03	SFO Updates counter slot nº	Position of the "number of times the SFO was updated". Values found: 2,3
	0x05	3 (0x3)	zero filled	Reserved	Not used yet
counters	0x08	4 (0x4)	00000000	Counter slot 1 ?	values found: always 0
	0x0C	4 (0x4)	E1010000	Counter slot 2	In most old games used as a SFO Updates counter In most new games used as a Cummulated counter (e.g: after completing the game a counter from the SAVE can be moved to the PROFILE)
	0x10	4 (0x4)	CF130000	Counter slot 3	In most old games not used In most new games used as a SFO Updates counter (so the previous counter is available to store other data)
	0x14	4 (0x4)	01000000	Counter slot 4 ?	values found: always 1
ID's	0x18	4 (0x4)	01000000	User ID	Local User identifier (same name used to store the user files in dev_hdd0/home/<User ID>)
	0x1C	16 (0x10)	FEDCBA9876543210FEDCBA9876543210	PSID	Local PS3 identifier, aka Open PSID, or offline PSID
	0x2C	4 (0x4)	01000000	User ID	Local User identifier (same name used to store the user files in dev_hdd0/home/<User ID>)
	0x30	16 (0x10)	0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF	ACCOUNT_ID	Network User identifier (PSN account)
	0x40	960 (0x3C0)	zero filled	Reserved	Not used yet

• Notes:
  • The SFO parameter ACCOUNT_ID is the same than the ACCOUNT_ID inside PARAMS. When the parameters PARAMS & ACCOUNT_ID are present in the SFO the string can be found twice in the file (always happens in savegames). When the user has not been registered an account in PSN its ACCOUNT_ID is filled with zeroes
  • When the SFO is generated the user/console data is taken from XRegistry.sys
  • The system displays the time when the savedata was updated by reading the timestamp of PARAM.SFO

• Speculation:
  • In the case one of the first bytes at the begining is used to store flags (second byte mostly because is the one that changes most in the samples found) there is a limited number of firmware features related with savegames that needs to work in a different mode based on a flag (this flags should be using as settings of the gamesave), some posible features enabled/disabled by this flags could be:
    • Times the savedata was exported/imported to a external device (counters)
    • Trophy disabled (not posible to unlock trophies from this gamesave, because was imported from external device and/or belongs to other user/console)
    • Fake savedata owner (feature available in debugs)
    • load trophy data when game boots (some games displays the list of trophies inside a game screen)
    • savedata system screen replaced/hidden (some games uses their own savedata screen instead of the system screens, in this case the system needs to disable the default screens or make it invisible, like in tomb raider)
  • Another option is the first bytes at the begining are configuring the internal structure of the PARAMS area, by defining the counters types or his positions
  • An another option is the first bytes are simply the version of the savegame (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and so on...) this "gamesave versions" could be defining some requirements of the whole PARAM.SFO structure, or/and the security used by the related PARAM.PFD and other secured files in the gamesave

PARAMS2

param_fmt: utf8-S
param_max_len: 0xC (12 bytes)
param_len: 0xC (12 bytes)

Used by: Save Data

Unknown, usually filled with zeroes

PARENTAL_LEVEL_x

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game

Used to restrict the content to a specific License Area. See Regions

The "x" at the end of the name PARENTAL_LEVEL_x defines the License Area wich is one of this list.

parameter	License Area Name	License Area Number	Regions
PARENTAL_LEVEL_A	SCEA	01	US, Canada (North America), Mexico, Central America, South America
PARENTAL_LEVEL_C	SCH	05	China
PARENTAL_LEVEL_E	SCEE	02	Europe/Middle East/Africa, U.K./Ireland, Australia/New Zealand (Oceania), Russia, Ukraine, India, Central Asia
PARENTAL_LEVEL_H	SCEH	03	Singapore/Malaysia (Southeast Asia), Taiwan, Hong Kong
PARENTAL_LEVEL_J	SCEJ	00	Japan
PARENTAL_LEVEL_K	SCEK	04	Korea (South Korea)

• All this parameters are used in group, ordered alphabetically, and preceded by a "standard" PARENTAL_LEVEL with the value 00000000 (disabled)
• Valid values are the same than PARENTAL_LEVEL (an scale from 1 to 11) with the only difference that the value for disable is FFFFFFFF

---example string---
00000000 05000000 0A000000 01000000 FFFFFFFF 06000000 0B000000
---example explain---
PARENTAL_LEVEL = 00000000 (disabled)
PARENTAL_LEVEL_A = 05000000 (level 5)
PARENTAL_LEVEL_C = 0A000000 (level 10)
PARENTAL_LEVEL_E = 01000000 (level 1)
PARENTAL_LEVEL_H = FFFFFFFF (disabled)
PARENTAL_LEVEL_J = 06000000 (level 6)
PARENTAL_LEVEL_K = 0B000000 (level 11)

PARENTAL_LEVEL

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game, Minis Game, PSP Remasters Game, Game Data, Save Data, Minis Save Data

It is a scale to rate the content for the different users based in user profile settings and international rating systems as: PEGI, ESRB, CERO, etc...

The higher the level the higher the restriction e.g:

• A game rated 11 will be displayed with an "locked" icon in XMB and requires the "unlock PIN" for a user with level 1.
• A game rated 1 can be played by all levels, from 1 to 11.
• Level 0 is disabled.

Hexadecimal (little endian)	Hexadecimal (big endian)	Decimal	Rating
00 00 00 00	00 00 00 00	0	Disabled
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	1	Lower restriction
02 00 00 00	00 00 00 02	2
03 00 00 00	00 00 00 03	3
04 00 00 00	00 00 00 04	4
05 00 00 00	00 00 00 05	5
06 00 00 00	00 00 00 06	6
07 00 00 00	00 00 00 07	7
08 00 00 00	00 00 00 08	8
09 00 00 00	00 00 00 09	9
0A 00 00 00	00 00 00 0A	10
0B 00 00 00	00 00 00 0B	11	Higher restriction

PARENTALLEVEL

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: PS1 Game, Trophy

Same than PARENTAL_LEVEL

PATCH_FILE

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x20 (32 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: Unknown (patches?)

Found in explore_plugin (checked at: /app_home/PS3_GAME/PARAM.SFO), and XMB databases (accessed as Game:Game.patchFile)

PS3_SYSTEM_VER

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x8 (8 bytes)
param_len: 0x8 (8 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game, PS1 Game, Minis Game, PSP Remasters Game, Game Data

Minimum PS3 System Software required for the content to be bootable.

The format is XX.YYYY where "XX" and "YYYY" are numbers, and the point "." is included in the string, e.g: 03.4100.

REGION_DENY

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game

Regions restrictions for the content, added in firmware 3.30

There are 12 valid Regions, each region has a position assigned in the binary string, marked with an "1" when the region is prohibited, or a "0". when is allowed.

Hexadecimal (little endian)	Hexadecimal (big endian)	Binary (flags)	Region Nº	Target Territory	Notes
FE FF FF FF	FF FF FF FE	11111111 11111111 11111111 11111110	0	Japan
FD FF FF FF	FF FF FF FD	11111111 11111111 11111111 11111101	1	US, Canada (North America)	Used in Netflix
FB FF FF FF	FF FF FF FB	11111111 11111111 11111111 11111011	2	Europe / Middle East / Africa
F7 FF FF FF	FF FF FF F7	11111111 11111111 11111111 11110111	3	Korea (South Korea)
EF FF FF FF	FF FF FF EF	11111111 11111111 11111111 11101111	4	U.K. / Ireland
DF FF FF FF	FF FF FF DF	11111111 11111111 11111111 11011111	5	Mexico, Central America, South America
BF FF FF FF	FF FF FF BF	11111111 11111111 11111111 10111111	6	Australia / New Zealand (Oceania)
7F FF FF FF	FF FF FF 7F	11111111 11111111 11111111 01111111	7	Singapore / Malaysia (Southeast Asia)
FF FE FF FF	FF FF FE FF	11111111 11111111 11111110 11111111	8	Taiwan
FF FD FF FF	FF FF FD FF	11111111 11111111 11111101 11111111	9	Russia, Ukraine, India, Central Asia
FF FB FF FF	FF FF FB FF	11111111 11111111 11111011 11111111	10	China
FF F7 FF FF	FF FF F7 FF	11111111 11111111 11110111 11111111	11	Hong Kong
Examples
01 F0 FF FF	FF FF F0 01	11111111 11111111 11110000 00000001		From 1 to 11	[Photo] of a PS3 DEX with Allowed Region=1-11 (region 0 not allowed)

RESOLUTION

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game, PS1 Classics Game, Minis Game, PSP Remasters Game

TV video modes supported by the content.

When there are several flags activated the PS3 will use the one with higher quality supported by the TV.

Hexadecimal (little endian)	Hexadecimal (big endian)	Decimal	Binary (flags)	Feature (notes)
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	1	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	480 (4:3)
02 00 00 00	00 00 00 02	2	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000010	576 (4:3)
04 00 00 00	00 00 00 04	4	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000100	720 (16:9)
08 00 00 00	00 00 00 08	8	00000000 00000000 00000000 00001000	1080 (16:9)
10 00 00 00	00 00 00 10	16	00000000 00000000 00000000 00010000	480 (16:9)
20 00 00 00	00 00 00 20	32	00000000 00000000 00000000 00100000	576 (16:9)
Examples
3F 00 00 00	00 00 00 3F	63	00000000 00000000 00000000 00111111	All video modes supported

• Tests
  • PS2 games remastered in PS3 format (not "ps2 classics") like "resident evil 4 HD" (CATEGORY=HG and TITLE_ID=NPEB00342) doesnt supports 1080 mode by default (or at least this one). 1080 mode in combination with SOUND_FORMAT (all SOUND_FORMAT modes enabled) the RESOLUTION flags are readed but the PS3 crashes
  • Note the resolution for originall PS1 disc games can vary (See: Emulation Resolution). The RESOLUTION flags used in PARAM.SFO's of "PS1 Classics Game" from PSN seems to be specific and not fixed sizes (e.g: 01 00 00 00). This will need another table if more are found

• There are special RESOLUTION values for PS1 and PS2 Classics, and PSP Remasters ?. The resolution for original PS1 disc games can vary (See: Emulation Resolution). The RESOLUTION flags used in PARAM.SFO's of "PS1 Classics Game" from PSN seems to be specific (e.g: 01 00 00 00). This will need another table if more are found

SAVEDATA_DETAIL

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x400 (1024 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: Minis Save Data

Used to store texts generated by the game, the format s the same than DETAIL

SAVEDATA_DIRECTORY

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x40 (64 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: Save Data, Minis Save Data

Name of the folder where the game stores its SaveData. The format is: TITLE_IDxxxxx (9 bytes + 22 bytes max), e.g;: BLUS00001_savedata_01 where:

• TITLE_ID Identifier of the content. Explained in TITLE_ID.
• xxxxx Are texts (with variable lenght) to difference all the SaveDatas generated from the same game by the same user.

SAVEDATA_FILE_LIST

param_fmt: utf8-S
param_max_len: 0xC60 (3168 bytes)
param_len: 0xC60 (3168 bytes)

Used by: Minis Save Data

Contains a list with an space reserved for 99 entries, each entry 32 bytes long, for a total size of 3168 bytes (99 * 32 = 3168)

Entries refer to other files from the folder, example of one entry:

0x0550  53 45 43 55  52 45 2E 42  49 4E 00 00  00 72 93 A5 | SECURE.BIN...... |
0x0560  8B 8A D4 FA  8E B8 2B 3F  A6 61 BC ED  A6 00 00 00 | .z....+?.a...... |

53 45 43 55  52 45 2E 42  49 4E <------------------------ file name
72 93 A5 8B  8A D4 FA 8E  B8 2B 3F A6  61 BC ED A6 <----- file hash ??? (changes when the file is updated)

SAVEDATA_LIST_PARAM

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x8 (8 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: PS3 Save Data

In most of the savegames (when the game doesnt uses it) is filled with zeroes with a param_len of 1 byte (the null termination)

This area is available for the game to store "any" data, the purposes of this data is to avoid tampering with the files generated by the game, the usage of this area is optional for the game developers and can be considered a more deep security layer under the PARAM.PFD layer

Because the data is generated and recovered by the game, its type or usage can be different for each game, the next table contains some valid examples found:

TITLE_ID	Title	SAVEDATA_LIST_PARAM		Notes
		Example	Method
BCAS20108, BCES00569, BCUS98114	Gran turismo 5	GAMEDAT	Copypasted ?
BLES01739, BLJS10228, BLUS31052	Dead Island Riptide	IIBJFMO, ALFJASP, HMDASLM, PTRONAS	Copypasted + scrambled ?
BLES00153, BLES00171, BLES00172, BLUS30055	The Orange Box	141312	Folder Size in sectors	See the example in Discussion page
BCES01007	Killzone 3	CONFIG	Copypasted ?
BLES00776	Venetica	3-47755	?
BLES00839	Prince of Persia, forgotten sands	1ACBKM3, 1ACBKM6	?
BLES00919	Majin and the forsaken kindgom	LP	?
BLES01060	Crysis 2	0000000	?
BLES01081	Yakuza 4	SYSTEM, CLEAR	?
BLES01306	Tintin	LYN	?
BLES01310	Hunted: The Demon's Forge	UNKNOWN	?
NPEB00347	Dead Space Extraction	INGAME	?

More info: http://www.ps3hax.net/showthread.php?t=60459

SAVEDATA_PARAMS

param_fmt: utf8-S
param_max_len: 0x80 (128 bytes)
param_len: 0x80 (128 bytes)

Used by: Minis Save Data

Example

Offset	length	Example	Description	Notes
0x11B0	16 (0x10)	41000000000000000000000000000000	Unknown	allways the same value found ("A" in utf8)
0x11C0	16 (0x10)	FEDCBA9876543210FEDCBA9876543210	Unknown	changes when the savedata is updated
0x11D0	16 (0x10)	0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF	Unknown	changes when the savedata is updated
0x11E0	16 (0x10)	00000000000000000000000000000000	Unknown	allways the same value found (blank)
0x11F0	16 (0x10)	00000000000000000000000000000000	Unknown	allways the same value found (blank)
0x1200	16 (0x10)	00000000000000000000000000000000	Unknown	allways the same value found (blank)
0x1210	16 (0x10)	00000000000000000000000000000000	Unknown	allways the same value found (blank)
0x1220	16 (0x10)	ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF0123456789	Unknown	changes when the savedata is updated

SAVEDATA_TITLE

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x80 (128 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: Minis Save Data

Subtitle of the Save, the format is the same than SUBTITLE

SOUND_FORMAT

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game, PS1 Game, Minis Game, PSP Remasters Game

Sound modes supported by the content.

Hexadecimal (little endian)	Hexadecimal (big endian)	Decimal	Binary (flags)	Feature (notes)	Flag Nº (flag required)
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	1	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	[LPCM] 2.0	01
02 00 00 00	00 00 00 02	2	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000010		02
04 00 00 00	00 00 00 04	4	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000100	[LPCM] 5.1	03
10 00 00 00	00 00 00 10	16	00000000 00000000 00000000 00010000	[LPCM] 7.1	05
00 01 00 00	00 00 01 00	256	00000000 00000000 00000001 00000000	[Dolby Digital] 5.1	09 (02)
00 02 00 00	00 00 02 00	512	00000000 00000000 00000010 00000000	[Digital Theater Systems (DTS)] 5.1	10 (02)
Examples
15 00 00 00	00 00 00 15	21	00000000 00000000 00000000 00010101	All LPCM modes	1+3+5
02 01 00 00	00 00 01 02	258	00000000 00000000 00000001 00000010	Only Dolby Digital 5.1	2+9
17 01 00 00	00 00 01 17	279	00000000 00000000 00000001 00010111	All LPCM modes + Dolby Digital 5.1	1+2+3+5+9
02 02 00 00	00 00 02 02	514	00000000 00000000 00000010 00000010	Only Digital Theater Systems (DTS) 5.1	2+10
17 03 00 00	00 00 03 17	791	00000000 00000000 00000011 00010111	All sound modes	1+2+3+5+9+10

• Tests
  • PS2 games remastered in PS3 format (not "ps2 classics") like "resident evil 4 HD" (CATEGORY=HG and TITLE_ID=NPEB00342) only supports LPCM 2.0 by default. In the first tests was impossible to activate other sound modes (the flags are ignored). In combination with RESOLUTION (all RESOLUTION modes enabled) the SOUND_FORMAT flags are readed but the PS3 crashes

• Other SOUND_FORMAT values availables in non retail (Debug, AV/Test, etc...) consoles ?

SOURCE

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: Trophy

Unknown, usually filled with zeroes

SUB_TITLE

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x80 (128 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: Save Data

The line of text displayed under TITLE text, used only in SaveData to store short texts from the game like your player name, your play time, photo used or your rank in the game

When the text is too long to fit in the screen it scrolls horizontally from right to left, if the Data_Used_Size is not correct this scroll doesn't flow properly. The same behaviour happens with TITLE, TITLE_xx, TITLEID0xx and TITLE_ID

TARGET_APP_VER

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x8 (8 bytes)
param_len: 0x6 (6 bytes)

Used by: Game Data

Target application version for incremental patches. Patches containing TARGET_APP_VER can be installed over the game with the same APP_VER.

The format is XX.YY where "XX" and "YY" are numbers, and the point "." is included in the string, e.g: 01.00

TITLE

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x80 (128 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: All but Trophy

Default "title of the game" for all languages. The text is displayed right to the ICON0.PNG.

The special byte "0A" displaces the text to the next line (a linefeed), this can be used to create long texts composed by several horizontall lines, the maximun number of horizontal text lines allowed for the TITLE is 3 (in other words... you can use the "linefeed" byte 2 times)

TITLE_ID

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x10 (16 bytes)
param_len: 0xA (10 bytes)

Used by: HDD Game, PS1 Game, Minis Game, PSP Remasters Game, Game Data

Identifier of the content, in the format ABCD12345. Must be the same ID inside the Makefile when compiling the .SELF, or/and when creating the .PKG (also known as Productcode)

TITLE_ID for Physical Media (in format: ABCD12345)

Media (A)	Rights (B)	Region (C)	Type (D)	?? (12)	License Number (345)
B=PS3 Bluray P=PS4 Bluray S=PS1, PS2, PS3 CD/DVD U=PSP UMD V=PSvita Card X=PS3 Bluray + Extras (PSvita crossbuy)	C=Copyrighted by sony L=Licensed to sony	A=Asia C=China E=Europe H=Hong Kong J=Japan K=Korea P=Japan (PS1/PS2) U=USA	B=Peripheral Software C=System Firmware D=Demo M=Malayan Release S=Retail release T=(closed) Betas [Pre-Production Discs] [1] V=Multi Region PS3 CS disc X=Install disc? (Demos, Store Videos) Z=Region locked PS3 CS disc	??	From 001 to 999 (in chronological order)
PE=PS1 and PS2 CS disc for Europe, Australia & Gulf area PT=PS1 and PS2 CS disc for Japan & Asia PU=PS1 and PS2 CS disc for USA & Canada

For more detailed info see Template talk:TITLE ID for Physical Media

TITLE_ID for Digital Media (in format: ABCD12345)

Network Environment (AB)		Region (C)	Type (D)	?? (12)	License Number (345)
NP=Retail		A=Asia E=Europe H=Hong Kong J=Japan K=Korea U=USA I=Internal ? (Sony) X=Firmware/SDK Sample	A=First Party PS3 (Demo/Retail) B=Licensed PS3 (Demo/Retail) C=First Party PS2 Classic (Demo/Retail) D=Licensed PS2 Classic (Demo/Retail) E=Licensed PS1 Classic (PAL) (Demo/Retail) F=First Party PS1 Classic (PAL) (Demo/Retail) G=First Party PSP (Demo/Retail) H=Licensed PSP (Demo/Retail) I=First Party PS1 Classic (NTSC) (Demo/Retail) J=Licensed PS1 Classic (NTSC) (Demo/Retail) K=First Party Game related Content L=Licensed Game related Content / Video M=Music N=Game Soundtracks O=Other P=PS3 App Q=PS3 Theme / Avatar R=PS3 Theme S=System T=? U=? V=? W=First Party PSP Remasters X=First Party PSP Minis Y=Third Party PSP Remasters Z=Third Party PSP minis	??	From 001 to 999 (in chronological order)

• Other TITLE_ID's. See Discussion page
  • TEST12345 (in savedata). When mounting a disc in a backup manager using the option "direct boot", the mounted disc use the TITLE_ID from backup manager (TITLE_ID from backup manager has not been unloaded properly and the disc adopts it). The savedata of this game will use TEST12345. When several different games are mounted and "direct launched", the savedata will be corrupted/invalid (because the overwriting of PARAM.SFO). TEST12345 seems to a common TITLE_ID used in all backup managers, the name probably is derived from official tools or internal firmware functions (Described as tips with ps3.gen.exe:"setting the TITLE_ID to TEST-XXXXX or disc version to "00.00" enable the program to build the disc image even when errors are found).
  • TEST***** All the disc images generated for debug PS3's in the development stages of the game

TITLE_xx

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x80 (128 bytes)
param_len: variable

Used by: HDD Game

Same than TITLE but for localized languages.

An .SFO can contain several TITLE_xx where xx is a number for a regional code.

The "default" TITLE is always present when other "localized" TITLE_xx are used.

TITLEID0xx

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x10 (16 bytes)
param_len: 0x9 (9 bytes)

Used by: Trophy

SFO's for trophies contains a full list of 16 TITLEID0xx for all languages where xx is a number for a language code.

All them can contain data, or only the default TITLEID000. The ones without data are marked with a Data_Used_Size = 0 bytes

The text contained inside default TITLEID000 is the same than TITLE_ID

VERSION

param_fmt: utf8
param_max_len: 0x8 (8 bytes)
param_len: 0x6 (6 bytes)... or 0x3 (3 bytes) when used in trophy

Used by: HDD Game, PS1 Game, Minis Game, PSP Remasters Game, Game Data, Trophy

Disc revision, or Package revision. The number increases when the content is re-released or re-packaged for whatever reason that doesn't affect the main executable (e.g. when a disc game reaches platinum sales, or "game of the year edition" including extra contents).

When the main executable is updated, the APP_VER increases (this can be done with patches)... but the VERSION of the patch (or the re-released disc) returns to 01.00.

Additionally this gives the possibility to release different versions of the same patch (used when the original patch contains a bug, needs to be replaced, and is not cumulative)

The format is XX.YY where "XX" and "YY" are numbers, and the point "." is included in the string, e.g: 01.00.

• When used in a SFO for a trophy it has a param_len of 3 bytes, with the format: X.Y e.g: 1.0

XMB_APPS

param_fmt: int32
param_max_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)
param_len: 0x4 (4 bytes)

Used by: Unknown (bootable?)

Found in explore_plugin (checked at: /app_home/PS3_GAME/PARAM.SFO), and XMB databases (accessed as Game:Game.xmbApps)

Hexadecimal		Decimal	Binary (flags)	Feature (notes)
little endian	big endian
01 00 00 00	00 00 00 01	1	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000001	?
02 00 00 00	00 00 00 02	2	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000010	?
04 00 00 00	00 00 00 04	4	00000000 00000000 00000000 00000100	?
08 00 00 00	00 00 00 08	8	00000000 00000000 00000000 00001000	?
10 00 00 00	00 00 00 10	16	00000000 00000000 00000000 00010000	?
20 00 00 00	00 00 00 20	32	00000000 00000000 00000000 00100000	?
40 00 00 00	00 00 00 40	64	00000000 00000000 00000000 01000000	?
80 00 00 00	00 00 00 80	128	00000000 00000000 00000000 10000000	?
Etc...

Tips & Tricks

This section is to add more extended explains about features that cant been easily clasifyed inside other sections

Replacing a PARAM.SFO manually

When replacing a PARAM.SFO manually in the internall HDD (using a file manager, FTP, etc...) the system ignores it. This happens because the system is storing a "duplicated" copy of the old one.

To be sure that the new PARAM.SFO has been loaded you can change the TITLE (Paid attention also to TITLE_xx) , this way you can see the new name displayed in XMB, is a good idea to use something that identifyes the change as "My test 01".

• The most convenient and quick way to "refresh" the XMB is as simple as booting the game one time (by pressing X button over its icon)... inside the game press "PS" button and exit with "quit"... then return to the XMB and the new PARAM.SFO has been loaded. So in resume... the XMB is refreshed when you boot it for first time so you need to boot it one time and quit to load the new PARAM.SFO.

• The other solution is by using the option "rebuild database" from the recovery menu (this re-indexes all the files in the internall HDD), is long but can fix rare problems. This can be used when the PARAM.SFO you are playing with is not BOOTABLE (you cant boot it to "refresh" the XMB)

When replacing a PARAM.SFO manually in a Game Disc (to be loaded later by a backup manager) sometimes the system ignores it. This happens because the system is storing a "duplicated" copy of the old disc structure included its PARAM.SFO (iirc). The trick to "refresh the XMB" is again by booting the game (pressing X in the main icon)... for this to work is needed to have a EBOOT.BIN in the main path inside USRDIR folder (e.g: the EBOOT.BIN from the "move demo disc" just plays a video in .MP4 and is tiny)

Creating a frankenstein PARAM.SFO

PS3 Blu Ray "corrupted data"

The first step is to go to the parameters table to look wich param_key's are mandatory and wich ones can be removed or zeroed (note this table has a lot of YES that probably are OPT, is just that this ones has not been verifyed or found)

• When you generate a non proper file you can have a nice icon of "corrupted data", but in some cases the game boots normally. In other cases when adding or removing param_key's the file is "partially" corrupted because there is a "break point" in the structure and the file is "partially" loaded (the PS3 loads the values before the structure "break point" normally, but after this point the values shown as corrupted or missing). Try to boot from app_home if needed.

• When adding "non-standard" param_key's to a SFO for an specific type of content (that only admits a few ones) the SFO is loaded without problems but firmware ignores them because are "not-expected" (e.g. when adding SUB_TITLE to a SFO for category "HG").

• The minimal structure tested (and working) for a homebrew can be copied/downloaded at the bottom of the page, its not "standard" but the PS3 doesn't complain, and probably can be reduced even more.

• If Error 80028F08:

can be resolved by pressing triangle one time and launch the game from start or back from the ICON.

Creating Discs

The "fake blu-ray" structures that can be downloaded from this page uses two "dirty tricks" that was usefull to identify the critic values needed to work, but can be a bit confusing to replicate them.

The first one is the removing of TITLE and TITLE_ID from most of the SFO's, this can generate a strange behaviour mostly for the primary icon. The second one is the ATTRIBUTE flag to hide the main icon. The other factor involved in this weird behaviours are the "backup managers" that are hardcoded to look for files and format in some specific structures.

When playing with this fake blu-rays use a USB pendrive (is faster to connect/disconnect to ps3/pc) with a "GAMEZ" folder in the root, and remember to "dismount" the game before disconecting the USB to avoid the XMB to go crazy, also remember the XMB sometimes keeps a backup copy of the old PARAM.SFO

For install packages (max: 100, FW min: 1.80) you can use PS3_EXTRA or PKGDIR both will work but are displayed different

For themes ( max: 200, FW min: 2.50) and videos (max: 200, FW min: 2.40) use PS3_EXTRA or PS3_CONTENT remember themes includes its own icon and title, videos are mounted in video colum when using PS3_CONTENT pretty nice for chapters of series, video manuals, etc...

(Max items & FW min are theory, not tested)

For patches use INSDIR, its installation is more automated

Creating Patches

The type of patch is defined by its APP_VER, TARGET_APP_VER, and VERSION. There is no way to update an installed content without APP_VER The standard way to install a patch is by using the same TITLE_ID of the previous release and a bigger APP_VER, when the patch is installed its PARAM.SFO replaces the old one, consequently its APP_VER increases

But there are some tricks related with this patching system that can be used to add files to the install folder without keeping this standard:

• Using a "blank" APP_VER

This is as easy as filling the value for APP_VER in the patch with zeroes, the undesired effect is the app will have no version. The benefit is this will work for installing cummulating files as "themes", "roms" etc...

• Using the same APP_VER and TARGET_APP_VER in the patch and in the app

This will replace the PARAM.SFO by other with the same values, so is similar than the previous one, but keeping its version. Additionally this assures you that the files are compatibles with this version of the app (e.g: a theme that only works with a specific version)

Tools, manuals and external links

Sorry if im missing some link, several things of this page was copy-pasted months ago by googling in random forums.

• Tools

SFO_tools_-_linux-64bit-compiles.rar (23.61 KB)

https://github.com/an0nym0u5/PSL1GHT/commit/75013299710d2bde224e2052284461a665a071bf

read_sfo.tar.bz2 (6.33 KB)

PS3SFOEdit.zip (47.59 KB)

SFO reader

Another SFO reader

SFO Test(217.99KB) Deroad SFO test homebrew ( really useful for fast test, can boot under X category so it refresh the SFO and avoid stuck SFO and games, XMB in game is not "visible")

SFO Test (113.69KB) resigned for cfw 4.21 & repacked with different id (SFOT00001) for convenience (and not overwrite 3.55 version)

[PkgView] (by ifcaro): The fastest, lighter, and intuitive PKG extractor ever. Very usefull to extract individual files or to take a look inside the PKG without extracting

[2] SFO PS3 reader By Matthieu Milan

• Sources and links

http://www.ps3hax.net/showthread.php?t=28704

http://ps3dev.wikispaces.com/PARAM.SFO

https://github.com/ps3dev/PSL1GHT/blob/master/tools/ps3py/sfo.py (old way) https://github.com/an0nym0u5/PSL1GHT/tree/master/tools/make_sfo (new/better way)

read_sfo.tar.bz2 (6.32 KB)

http://ps3tutorials.wikispaces.com/Edit+the+sfo.xml+Tutorial

http://mc.pp.se/psp/psf.xhtml (SFO parameters used in PSP)

• Examples

A little collection of SFO's ordered by categories http://www.sendspace.com/file/oy270g

Just a collection of PARAM (.bin .pfd .sfo .tpf) files: http://www.mirrorcreator.com/files/0OAXGOHN/PARAM.rar_links

CATEGORY "2P"(PSN Converted PS2 game/saves) SFO examples http://dl.dropbox.com/u/60710927/XMBMPLUS/DEVELOPMENT_SOURCES/PS2_GAME_SFO/PS2_GAME_SFO.rar. There are three files, one SFO file taken from the PS2 Game directory and two SFO files taken from two different saves generated by that game.