Best Padding Settings Per Game: Partial, Full or None in Iso2God
The best padding settings per game in Iso2God start from one safe rule: use Partial as your default. Switch to Full only when saving space matters most and that specific game is known to tolerate it, and keep padding (None) for installer discs and any game where removal has been documented to break the conversion.
Padding is not game data. A retail Xbox 360 disc image is padded to the full mastered layout, so an ISO of a small game still occupies roughly the full disc size. Removing that padding makes the resulting Games On Demand (GOD) package smaller, faster to copy over FTP or USB, and cheaper to store. The trade-off is compatibility: a small number of games genuinely depend on parts of that layout, and for those games aggressive removal produces a package that installs, or appears to install, and then fails.
This guide gives you a decision for each situation rather than a single universal setting. For the underlying mechanics first, read how Iso2God padding works, explained in full. If a conversion already went wrong, go straight to what to do when padding broke your game. Every tool mentioned here is on the download page.
The three modes, in one table
| Mode | What it does | Use it when | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | Keeps the disc layout byte-faithful, padding included. | An installer disc, a documented keep-padding case, or a game you are troubleshooting. | Lowest compatibility risk, largest output. |
| Partial | Removes some padding. The safe middle ground in the GUI workflow. | Your default for almost every single-disc game. | Low. This is the documented fix for at least one game that Full breaks. |
| Full | Removes all padding. In the GUI this is also how a rebuilt, shrunken ISO is produced. | Space is critical, the game is a single play disc, and nothing documents a problem with it. | Highest. A few games break with all padding removed. |
None of these modes changes the game itself. They change how much of the empty, mastered layout travels with it. That is why the same game can work perfectly with one setting and fail with another: the difference is layout, not content.
Default: Partial, and why it earns that spot
Partial removes enough padding to deliver most of the storage and transfer benefit while staying conservative about the layout. In practice that means you should not need a reason to choose Partial — you need a reason to choose anything else. Start every unfamiliar game at Partial, convert, transfer, and test it on your console before you delete the source ISO.
That testing step matters more than the setting itself. Keep the original ISO until the GOD package has actually launched and played past its opening section on your modded console. A conversion log that finishes cleanly tells you the package was written; it does not tell you the game tolerates the layout you chose.
Documented case 1: Tetris – The Grand Master Ace needs Partial
The clearest documented counter-example to “always use Full” is Tetris – The Grand Master Ace. The r4dius fork maintainer’s own per-game compatibility notes record that this game breaks when padding is set to remove all of it, and that Partial is the setting to use. This is not a rumour repeated between forums: it is written in the README of the maintained Windows GUI fork.
Treat that one case as a warning about the whole category. If a game this simple can depend on its padded layout, you cannot assume an unfamiliar game is safe with Full just because most games are. When in doubt, Partial is the documented, defensible answer.
Documented case 2: Wolfenstein: The New Order Disc 1 keeps its padding
Wolfenstein: The New Order Disc 1 is the opposite exception. ConsoleMods’ documentation records that this disc’s installer requires its padding to be left intact for its first GOD conversion. In Iso2God terms that means None — do not trim this disc down on the first pass.
The reason is the disc’s job. Disc 1 here is an installer, not simply the first half of the game. Installers read and copy content in ways that can depend on the original layout, which is exactly the situation padding removal disturbs. Once content is installed by the route the documentation describes, later discs are a separate question — judge each disc on its own role, not on the game’s name.
The two-disc pattern: install disc versus play disc
Many two-disc Xbox 360 releases split their content into an install disc and a play disc, and they should not be converted as if they were two equal halves. The r4dius README’s own per-game table documents the common pattern for many two-disc games, including titles such as Grand Theft Auto V and Battlefield 4: Disc 1 is handled as extracted install content, and Disc 2 becomes the GOD package.
| Disc role | Recommended handling | Padding approach |
|---|---|---|
| Install disc (Disc 1 on many releases) | Follow the documented install-disc route for that game; for Wolfenstein: The New Order Disc 1, convert with padding kept. | None / keep padding until the install step is complete. |
| Play disc | Convert to a GOD package in the normal way. | Partial by default; Full only if space is critical and the game tolerates it. |
| Single-disc game | Convert to a GOD package. | Partial by default. |
Before converting any multi-disc game, check which disc installs and which disc plays. Queuing both discs through identical settings is the single most common way to create a package set that looks complete and does not work. The Iso2God GUI queues discs one by one for a reason: each disc gets its own decision.
When Full is the right choice
Full has a legitimate use. Choose it when all of the following are true: the game is a single play disc rather than an installer, storage or transfer time is a real constraint for you, nothing documents a padding problem for that title, and you will test the result before deleting the ISO. Full is also the mode behind the GUI’s rebuilt-ISO workflow, where an ISO is rebuilt with full padding removed to produce a smaller image rather than a GOD package.
Space is the honest reason to reach for Full. If that is your situation, pair this guide with how much storage a GOD library actually needs and GOD packages versus extracted XEX folders — sometimes the format choice saves more space and trouble than the padding choice.
A note on iso2god-rs and –trim
If you convert with the command-line tool iso2god-rs instead of the Windows GUI, do not map its option onto these three modes. The --trim option in iso2god-rs only drops unallocated space from the end of the image. That is narrower than Partial and much narrower than Full, and it is not the same feature, even though the effect overlaps for many games. A game that needs Partial in the GUI is not automatically handled by --trim, and a game that breaks with Full may be fine with --trim for a different reason. Both tools are linked from the download page.
Step by step: choosing a setting for a new game
- Identify the disc’s role. Single play disc, install disc, or play disc from a multi-disc set?
- Check for a documented exception. Tetris – The Grand Master Ace means Partial; Wolfenstein: The New Order Disc 1 means keep padding.
- Start at Partial for everything else, unless storage pressure is severe.
- If you chose Full, test before you trust it. Launch the game and play past the opening on the console.
- Keep the source ISO until that test passes. Re-converting is cheap; re-ripping is not.
Who can play the result
Padding choices do not change the console requirement. A GOD package produced by Iso2God carries an unlocked licence, so playing it requires a modded Xbox 360 — JTAG, RGH, or a BadUpdate-class exploit — or an emulator such as Xenia. A stock retail console will refuse it regardless of whether you chose None, Partial, or Full. This site is an unofficial fan resource and states that plainly on every guide.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best padding setting for most games?
Partial. It is the safe default in the GUI workflow: it removes some padding, saves real space, and avoids the documented failures that come with removing all of it.
Is Full ever safe?
Yes, for many single-disc games, and it saves the most space. It is not universally safe, which is why it should be a deliberate choice with a test afterwards, not a global default.
My game broke after I removed all the padding. What now?
Re-convert from the original ISO at Partial, and for an installer disc keep the padding entirely. The full recovery walkthrough is in the padding-broke-my-game guide.
Does iso2god-rs have Partial and Full modes?
No. iso2god-rs offers --trim, which only removes unallocated space from the end of the image. It is a command-line tool with a different, narrower option, described on the download page.
More conversion walkthroughs live on the Tutorials hub. Next, see XGD2 versus XGD3 explained if you are unsure what kind of disc image you are starting from.