mhfdat.bin

mhfdat.bin is a large file. Despite containing no textures, models, or sound, it still amounts to 27.4MB when decompressed. With all this data to parse, it can help to know what everything is.

Primary Structure

Most of mhfdat.bin is read from pointers. As such, only some top-level pointers must be in specific positions in the file. The rest of the information in the file is read relative to these pointers, so there's no definitive order different elements must be in.

Header

The header of mhfdat.bin consists first of a file signature, followed by the top-level pointer array.

When encrypted, the first four bytes of the file must be 65 63 64 1A or 0x1A646365, or else Monster Hunter Frontier will error out. Once decrypted, the file will be compressed, and will have a signature in the first four bytes of 4A 4B 52 1A, or 0x1A524B4A. ReFrontier's default settings will both decrypt and decompress any files you give it, so you don't need to worry about most of these details, just that these magic bytes mean certain things to Frontier.

Finally, when decrypted and decompressed, mhfdat.bin has three file signatures in the first 16 bytes. The first four bytes must be 6D 68 66 1A, or 0x1A66686D. The next four bytes must be 59 00 00 00, or 0x00000059, there is a four byte gap, and then the last four bytes must be C8 0B 00 00, or 0x00000BC8. If any of these bytes are different, Frontier will crash. The four byte gap between the second and third signature is modified in memory after the file is read.

Top-level Pointer array

After the sixteen byte signature, mhfdat.bin has a pointer array, which is used by Frontier to read the rest of the file. Many of these pointers aren't well understood, but what is known will be listed.

Details

Top-level Pointer array details

There are a lot of pointers and I'm writing this table by hand so this is going to take a while, sit tight.

Position: The location of the pointer in the file
Address of discovery: Where this pointer was discovered when decompiling Frontier. This location is the offset of the instruction from the file's start. Ghidra names it the "Byte Source Offset"
Aliases: More friendly names these pointers are given in the header ptr_table.
Comments: Self-explanatory

Position	Address of discovery	Aliases	Comments
`0x010`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf46a3]`	`important_nums`	Seems to point to an array of important constants, such as the number of items in the game
`0x014` - `0x030`	N/A		Empty, perhaps remnants of an older structure
`0x034`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf47cc]`	`armorForging`	Points to an array of armor forging data structs
`0x038`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf47cf]`	`otherWeaponForging`	Array of miscellaneous weapon forging data
`0x03c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf47d2]`	`weaponUpgradePath`	Data of which weapons upgrade to which other weapons
`0x040`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf47d5]`		Currently unknown
`0x044`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf47d8]`		Currently unknown
`0x048`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf47e1]`		Currently unknown
`0x04c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf47c9]`	`armorUpgradeMats`	Array of materials required to upgrade armor
`0x050`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf480f]`	`headArmor`	Head Armor Data
`0x054`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4852]`	`bodyArmor`	Body Armor Data
`0x058`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4893]`	`armArmor`	Arm Armor Data
`0x05c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf48d4]`	`waistArmor`	Waist Armor Data
`0x060`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4922]`	`legArmor`	Leg Armor Data
`0x064`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf482e]`	`headArmorNames`	Array of Head Armor Names
`0x068`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4871]`	`bodyArmorNames`	Array of Body Armor Names
`0x06c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf48b2]`	`armArmorNames`	Array of Arm Armor Names
`0x070`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf48fd]`	`waistArmorNames`	Array of Waist Armor Names
`0x074`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4941]`	`legArmorNames`	Array of Leg Armor Names
`0x078`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4963]`	`equipDesc`	Array of Equipment Description Strings
`0x07c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf49a6]`	`meleeWeapons`	Melee Weapon Data
`0x080`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4a34]`	`rangedWeapons`	Ranged Weapon Data
`0x084`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4a5d]`	`rangedWeaponNames`	Array Ranged Weapon Names
`0x088`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf49cd]`	`meleeWeaponNames`	Array of Melee Weapon Names
`0x08c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf49d3]`	`meleeWeaponDesc`	Array of Melee Weapon Descriptions
`0x090`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4a63]`	`rangedWeaponDesc`	Array of Ranged Weapon Descriptions
`0x094`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4ac4]`	`armorStatArray`	Array of Pointers to Armor Stat Data, seems redundant?
`0x098`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4b1c]`	`armorWeaponStatArray`	Array of Pointers to Armor and Weapon Stat Data, probably redundant
`0x09c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4b80]`	`armorNameArray`	Array of Pointers to Armor Names, probably redundant
`0x0a0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5038]`
`0x0a4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf503e]`
`0x0a8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5044]`
`0x0ac`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf504a]`
`0x0b0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5073]`
`0x0b4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5079]`
`0x0b8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf507f]`
`0x0bc`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5085]`
`0x0c0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf508b]`
`0x0c4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4bc6]`
`0x0c8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4bf5]`
`0x0cc`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4bfb]`
`0x0d0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4cd1]`
`0x0d4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4cd7]`
`0x0d8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4cc5]`
`0x0dc`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4d14]`
`0x0e0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4d08]`
`0x0e4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf47b5]`
`0x0e8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf47af]`
`0x0ec`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4d2d]`
`0x0f0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4d58]`	`hunterPearlSkills`	Referenced in ReFrontier
`0x0f4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4d7b]`
`0x0f8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4daf]`
`0x0fc`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4db5]`	`itemData`	Item Data
`0x100`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4da3]`	`itemNames`	Item Names
`0x104`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4dec]`
`0x108`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4df2]`
`0x10c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4df8]`
`0x110`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4de0]`
`0x114`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4e1b]`
`0x118`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4e0f]`
`0x11c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4e3a]`
`0x120`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4e5a]`	`carveItemDrops`	Carve Drop Data
`0x124`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4e82]`	`partBreakItemDrops`	Part Break Data
`0x128`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4ec1]`
`0x12c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4eb8]`	`itemDesc`	Item Descriptions
`0x130`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4f23]`
`0x134`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4fc1]`	`monsterDesc`
`0x138`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4ff0]`
`0x13c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5145]`
`0x140`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf517d]`
`0x144`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5177]`	`arenaItems`
`0x148`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf51b6]`	`arenaEquipment`
`0x14c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf51ec]`	`arenaStageIDC1`
`0x150`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf51e0]`
`0x154`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf521a]`	`arenaStageIDC0`
`0x15c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5261]`	`arenaAmmo`
`0x160`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5298]`	`machaPotRewards`
`0x164`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf52c0]`
`0x168`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf52ba]`
`0x16c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf52f3]`
`0x170` - `0x17c`	N/A
`0x180`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5397]`
`0x184`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf53c0]`
`0x188`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf53f0]`
`0x18c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5421]`
`0x190`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5427]`
`0x194`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf542d]`
`0x198`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5455]`
`0x19c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5491]`
`0x1a0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf54d3]`
`0x1a4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5542]`
`0x1a8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5570]`
`0x1ac`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf55a0]`
`0x1b0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf55d0]`
`0x1b4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5611]`
`0x1b8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5640]`
`0x1bc`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5646]`
`0x1c0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5661]`
`0x1c4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf567c]`
`0x1c8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf57f2]`
`0x1cc`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf583d]`
`0x1d0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5843]`
`0x1d4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf56ea]`
`0x1d8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf56cc]`
`0x1dc`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf56d2]`
`0x1e0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf56d8]`
`0x1e4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf56de]`
`0x1e8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf56e4]`
`0x1ec`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5682]`
`0x1f0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5693]`
`0x1f4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf56a4]`
`0x1f8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf56b5]`
`0x1fc`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf56c6]`
`...`
`0x32c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf5bdc]`	`carveHCItemDrops`	Carve HC Drop Data
`...`
`0x5f0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf6bfc]`	`weaponGRForging`	G-Rank Weapon Forging Structs
`0x5f4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf6c02]`	`armorGRForging`	G-Rank Armor Forging Structs
`0x5f8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf6c08]`
`0x5fc`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf6c0e]`	`weaponG50Forging`
`...`
`0x738`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf774d]`	`carveGRHCItemDrops`	Carve G-Rank HC Drop Data
`...`
`0x7ac`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf7875]`	`weaponSpecialForging`	Special Weapon Forging Structs
`...`
`0x940`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf831a]`	`weaponTowerForging`	Tower Weapon Forging Structs
`...`
`0x998`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf83b1]`	`armorTowerForging`	Tower Armor Forging Structs
`...`
`0xa18`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf872c]`	`evoUpgrades`	Evolution Upgrade Data
`...`
`0xa40`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf4ef0]`	`itemSourceStrings`	Text describing where each item can be obtained
`...`
`0xa98`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf8cb2]`	`questList`
`...`
`0xab8`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf8d48]`	`transmogForging`
`0xabc`
`0xac0`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf8d54]`	`weaponForging`
`0xac4`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf8d5a]`	`armorZenithForging`
`...`
`0xb2c`	`[mhfo-hd.dll + 0xaf8f43]`	`specialShops`
`...`

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mhfdat.bin

Primary Structure

Header

Top-level Pointer array

Top-level Pointer array details

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