How to Install a Time Cycle Mod in GTA V, 4 and San Andreas 2026

A time cycle mod swaps out the data files your game uses to draw the sky, sunlight, weather transitions and colour grading, so installing one changes how every hour of the in-game day looks without touching a line of game code. On PC that means copying a replacement file into a specific folder through OpenIV or a simple mods loader, and on Android it means editing the OBB archive. The whole job takes about ten minutes once you know which edition you own.

Most failed installs come down to one thing: the file went into the wrong folder, or a second time cycle mod was already active. This guide covers GTA V, GTA IV and San Andreas separately, with the exact paths written out, because a GTA V instruction that works fine will not work on San Andreas at all. Updated for 2026.

What You Need Before You Start

Four things have to line up before you copy anything: your exact game edition, a file-editing tool that matches it, a time cycle mod whose instructions name the same edition, and a backup you have actually tested.

Start with the edition. GTA V on Steam and Epic each keep their files in a slightly different place, and GTA IV has separate Episode 1, Episode 2 and The Definitive Edition installs that do not share data files. San Andreas has a PC version and a separate Android version with a different method entirely. Check your platform before anything else.

Next, a mod-loading or file-editing tool. For GTA V on PC that is usually OpenIV, or SimpleModsLoader if the mod author recommends it. GTA IV mods normally ride on an ASI loader such as Silent’s ASI Loader. San Andreas on PC needs a plain text editor and a file browser. Android needs an archive tool such as ZArchiver and a file manager that can see the game’s folders.

Then the mod itself. Read the description before downloading, not after. You want to see the game version it was built for, the file list inside the archive, and the destination folder. A mod page that never says which file it replaces is a page that will leave you hunting for something that was never in the download.

Finally, your saves. Copy the save folder out to your desktop and open one to confirm it loads. Backups take thirty seconds; a broken save after an overwritten data file takes a whole evening.

Two more rules that save most of the headache. Only one time cycle file can be active at a time, so if a previous mod is still in place, take it out first. And time cycle mods change singleplayer and Story Mode lighting only, never GTA Online, because the online game is verified on every launch.

How to Install a Time Cycle Mod Step by Step

1. Confirm the mod supports your exact game edition and platform, and read the author’s folder path.
2. Back up your save folder and, if you already have a replacement file in the destination, copy that original aside.
3. Open your file-editing tool and navigate to the destination folder for your game.
4. Copy the included timecyc.dat or timecycp.dat file into that folder, replacing the existing file when prompted.
5. Do not add the same files to a second location such as a mods folder and the data folder at the same time.
6. Close the game and the launcher completely, then start the game again.
7. Stand somewhere open with a clear view of the sky and wait for the light to change.
8. If the result is wrong, delete only the files the author listed and put your backup back.

That list is the whole process. Everything below is the same eight steps with the real folder names for each game, so you can jump straight to your title.

How to Install a Time Cycle Mod in GTA V for PC

OpenIV is the safest route for GTA V because it writes your game files through a browser that can only touch the folders it shows you. Most competitors say “drop it in the mods folder” without saying which one, so here is the whole path.

Open OpenIV and set Tools > OpenIV options so Edit mode is on. OpenIV will ask for the GTA V folder, which on a Steam install is usually SteamsteamappscommonGrand Theft Auto V. Once it connects, navigate to x64, then data, then gta, then timecycle. That folder holds the default timecyc.dat and timecycp.dat files. Replacing those is the whole job.

Where the OpenIV mods folder actually is: when Edit mode is on, OpenIV marks the writable game folder as mods and everything you copy there is written to disk on the real drive. It sits under the same x64 path, so x64datagtatimecycle inside the mods view is the same physical folder as the game’s own timecycle directory. You are not creating a second copy.

If the mod page says to use SimpleModsLoader instead, follow that page rather than this one. SimpleModsLoader wants its own mods folder inside the GTA V folder, and the time cycle file goes inside that. Pick one method per file and stick with it, because two copies of the same mod loading at once is one of the main causes of a broken sky.

To check it worked, drive out of a building and face the horizon. Watch for a warmer, deeper sunset, a slower and more colourful dawn, and night that is darker without turning into a black screen. A full day passes every in-game hour, so give it a few minutes at an accelerated time before deciding it failed. If you want to skip the waiting, some time cycle mods ship with a script that skips straight to a chosen hour.

Script Hook V is a separate thing. It is the framework that loads scripts and ASI plugins, and plenty of time cycle mods need it, but installing it on its own changes no lighting at all. If the archive contains only an .asi file and a .ini, you need a loader as well.

How to Install a Time Cycle Mod in GTA IV for PC

GTA IV mods are safer through a loader than through direct file replacement, because the game’s data files differ so much between episodes that an overconfident overwrite is easy to do.

The common route is an ASI loader such as Silent’s ASI Loader, dropped into the GTA IV game root folder. The root is where gtavc.exe lives, not the common or patch folder. Once the loader is in place, ASI plugins usually go into an asi folder in that same root, or into a plugins folder if the mod author says so. Read the author’s line on this, because both layouts exist in the wild.

Check your edition before anything. Episode 1, Episode 2 and The Definitive Edition carry different data, and a time cycle mod that targets one of the older episodes can produce a washed-out or fully black sky on a newer one. If you have upgraded through The Complete Edition disc, the installed data no longer matches what the mod author was testing.

To confirm the cycle loaded, open the game and watch a full in-game day. Look for a noticeably different sky colour, stronger directional light and a night that reads as night rather than flat grey. If nothing changes, check that the loader file is in the root and not in a subfolder, because a loader sitting one level too deep is the single most common GTA IV mod failure.

Removal is the reverse of installation: take the .asi file out of the plugins or asi folder and the loader .dll out of the root. Nothing needs restoring from backup unless you overwrote an original file, which is exactly why the backup came first.

How to Install a Time Cycle Mod in San Andreas

San Andreas PC keeps its time cycle files in a plain data folder, which makes it the simplest of the three once you know the layout.

On PC, the files sit at gta-san-andreasdatagtatimecyc.dat, with a matching timecycp.dat beside it. Some San Andreas builds tuck the folder one level deeper under a modded data directory, so browse rather than assume. Close the game, copy your new file over the old one, and you are done. Backup the original first, because the file is small and it is also the file your game needs to load at all.

A lot of San Andreas time cycle mods are CLEO packages instead of a plain data replacement. Those arrive as a script file that goes into the cleo folder in your San Andreas directory, sometimes with a .ini next to it, and they let you switch time cycles from a keypad combination without restarting. Follow the folder the author names. If you already run other Cleo mods, do not clear that folder when you install.

One point worth repeating because it causes arguments in every comment thread: a CLEO time cycle selector may work with the default time cycle file already inside your game and ship no .dat of its own. If the archive has no data file, you do not need to hunt for one. Read the author’s note about whether a matching file is included before you go looking in the wrong directory.

Installing a Time Cycle Mod on San Andreas for Android

Android is a different method, and the confusion here comes from the OBB archive and the extra folder inside the app’s data directory.

First open ZArchiver and locate the obb archive for the game, which is a large compressed file sitting in your Android folder structure. Open it and extract it to a working folder on your storage rather than editing inside the archive directly. You want to see a real data folder on disk before you change anything.

Inside the extracted game folders, the time cycle file lives at datagtatimecyc.dat. Open that file in a text editor from ZArchiver, tap once to edit, and confirm when asked. Replace it with your mod’s file, then compress the data folder back into an archive and place that archive inside the app’s own data folder. Android apps commonly have a folder whose name includes a period, something like com.rockstargames.gtasa, and that period is the part people miss.

To test on mobile, launch the game, drive outside and watch the sky. Screen flicker at medium quality settings is a known side effect of some time cycle mods, and raising the visual quality setting is the fix that mod authors themselves give.

How to Test and Remove the Mod Safely

Test one change at a time, because a time cycle mod, an ENB series preset and a graphics overhaul all touching the sky at once tells you nothing about which one caused a black horizon.

Start somewhere open with a wide view of the horizon, then watch a full in-game day rather than judging the first thirty seconds. Sunset lighting only shows at sunset, and many players install a night mod and conclude it failed because they looked at noon. If the mod includes a log file, open it after a run; a clean install usually leaves a short log with no error lines.

Removing is deliberately minimal. Delete only the files the author listed, put your backup copy of the original file back if you kept one, and clear the cache folder your game or launcher uses. Then confirm the launcher still starts the game normally and that Story Mode loads without a verification prompt.

If your game suddenly asks for verification or refuses to start, you almost certainly overwrote a file you should not have. Restore from your backup rather than letting the launcher download a fresh copy, because a fresh copy wipes every other mod you have installed.

Common Mistakes and Quick Fixes

No visible change after installing. Usually the file was copied into the mods folder while a second copy sits in the data folder, or the file went to the wrong game entirely. Remove every duplicate and keep one copy in the exact path the mod author names.

Sky loads as a solid black or white block. That points to a time cycle file from a different edition, or two mods fighting over the same file. Take out every time cycle file and reinstall one that matches your edition only.

Black sky in FiveM. A custom time cycle was installed on top of the server’s own lighting files. Remove the file from the FiveM data folder and let the server config control the cycle.

Screen flicker on Android. Visual quality is set to medium while the mod was built for higher settings. Raise the visual quality setting in the game options.

Mod ignored on launch. The ASI loader or Script Hook V is missing, or a loader file sits one folder too deep. Put the loader in the game root, restart the launcher and launch again.

Time cycle resets every session. Either the CLEO script is not loading, or the stock file was replaced instead of the one the script edits. Check the cleo folder contents and confirm which data file the script expects.

Game asks for verification on launch. An original file was overwritten with no backup. Restore your backup copy instead of re-downloading the game.

Two habits prevent most of that list. Search your mod loader folder for any other file named timecyc.dat or colorcycle.dat before you install, and remove that one specifically. Then check the download source: scan the archive with a malware checker before extracting it, and prefer mod pages that name the author, the game version and the exact files included.

Finally, keep time cycle mods away from GTA Online and most SAMP servers. Online sessions verify their own files, and client-side lighting mods are ignored or cause a disconnect at best. Story Mode, FiveM with your own server config, and singleplayer San Andreas are where you will actually see the change.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion: Check Compatibility Before You Download

Six steps, in this order, and the install usually goes fine: identify your exact GTA edition, read the mod’s compatibility notes, back up your saves and the file you are replacing, install into the single path the author names, launch and watch a full in-game day, then remove only what you added if you dislike it.

The first step is the one that decides everything else. A time cycle mod is a data file swap, not a plug-in, so the moment the edition or the destination path is wrong nothing visible happens and you start guessing. Check compatibility before you download, and the ten-minute job stays a ten-minute job.