How to Create Items in D2R and Use .d2i Item Files with D2CE

D2CE can create items, and move them between characters as portable .d2i item files — import, export, socket them, and set their quality flags. It is the most powerful feature in the editor and the one with the easiest misunderstanding attached: the extension .d2i means two different things in Diablo II tooling. This guide covers item creation step by step, then explains that dual meaning carefully, because confusing the two files is a genuinely destructive mistake.

First: the two meanings of .d2i

• .d2i item files — in D2CE’s item workflow (item import/export arrived in v2.16), a .d2i file holds a single item that you can import into a character or export from one, and share between characters and saves.
• The .d2i shared stash file — in your D2R save folder, the file with the .d2i extension is the shared stash itself, holding every item every offline character shares.

Same extension, completely different contents. Never overwrite the stash file in your save folder with an item file, and never treat an exported item file as a stash backup. If the stash is what you want to edit, use the shared stash guide instead, and read the save file location guide so you can identify each file in the folder with confidence.

Step by step: creating and importing items

1. Close the game, back up the whole save folder, and load the character in D2CE. Get the editor from the download page; the D2CE user guide covers the item dialog in the wider workflow.
2. Open the character’s items and use D2CE’s item creation to build the item you want, or import an existing .d2i item file someone exported (or that you exported from another character earlier).
3. Set the item’s properties within the game’s limits (see below), including sockets — and use the Gems, Potions & Skulls Creator to fill empty inventory slots with the gems, potions or skulls you want to place in those sockets or use alongside the item. The matching GPS Converter can convert an existing gem, potion or skull into another kind or quality.
4. Set the quality flags you intend: an item can be made ethereal, superior, or indestructible where the item type supports those qualities.
5. To reuse an item elsewhere, export it to a .d2i item file and keep that file outside your save folder.
6. Save the character with CTRL-S, then test in game: equip the item, check its tooltip reads correctly, and play briefly before trusting the save.

Upgrades that pair with item work

D2CE’s Options → Upgrade submenu applies bulk improvements to what a character already carries: upgrade all gems and skulls to their perfect state, upgrade all potions to the highest quality or convert them all to Full Rejuvenation potions, raise weapon and armour durability to 255, and restock stackable items to full (for example, 12 keys). These are often the fastest honest route to a “prepared” test character: create the base gear, then upgrade its consumables and socket-fillers in one pass.

Keep properties within game limits

An editor will write numbers the game would never generate. Items whose properties sit far outside the game’s own ranges are the classic cause of saves that misbehave, display nonsense, or fail checks elsewhere. Work like the game does: plausible damage, defence and requirement values for the item’s type and level, a socket count the base item can actually have, and one quality concept at a time rather than stacking every flag on everything. If a character stops loading after item work, restore your backup and re-apply the item in smaller steps — and see why an edited character can disappear and the unreadable-save guide before experimenting further. Note, too, the Patch 3.x caveat: items and item formats from the current game era are outside what this 2023 editor knows.

Item creation pairs naturally with a dedicated test character: see making a level 99 character for build testing, and browse further tasks on the guides hub.