BOT File

What are BOT files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a BOT file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your BOT files.

What is a BOT file?

BOT files have multiple uses, and Bucket 'o Tab Tablature is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Bucket 'o Tab Tablature

Bucket 'o Tab Tablature is a file format produced by the Bucket 'o Tab program, a shareware tablature creation system written by Scott Evans in 1994 for Windows 3.x and 3.1. The format holds musical tablature data - strings, fret positions, rhythm markings, and related text - used for editing, printing and, in the registered version of the program, sound playback of guitar or bass tab.

Bucket 'o Tab can import ASCII tab, export ASCII tab, import files created by Bass Tab Creator (BTC), support variable numbers of strings (4- through 7-string), include rhythm indicators (with a TrueType font for nicer printing), and play back tabs via sound hardware (registered version only). The program writes its own binary format to store full tablature projects: layout, note positions, tuning, rhythm, comments and printing instructions.

Files in this format begin with the ASCII signature TABDATAFILE at offset 0, contain the strings "END OF COMMENTS1" and "END OF DATABASE" somewhere within. Internal identifiers include those markers used to split comment and data sections, and a header tag "TABDATAFILE" to identify the file as belonging to this format rather than other uses of the same extension.

How to open BOT files

Important: Different programs may use files with the BOT file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your BOT file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested three different BOT openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 24, 2026

All known file formats using extension .BOT

While Bucket 'o Tab Tablature is a popular type of BOT-file, we know of 3 different uses of the .BOT file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

Robot Arena Bot

Robot Arena Bot files store complete robot designs created for Robot Arena 2: Design and Destroy by Gabriel Interactive. These files define everything about a robot's physical structure, appearance, component layout, and control wiring so that the game can load, display, and simulate custom robots in battles or for AI-use.

Such a design file is produced when a user builds a robot in the game's Bot Lab and exports or saves it from the "Robot Designs" screen. Players can also copy one of these files into the AI directory (under a particular team name) so that the game's computer-controlled bots will use that robot design.

The Robot Arena Bot file is a binary format unique to Robot Arena 2. Third-party tools such as PyRA2 can parse it (for example, to convert the robot model and parts into VRML).

Internally it can be recognised by a signature of the first few bytes: it begins with the four bytes 0x6B000000 at offset zero, and contains embedded strings such as MODELS, _COLOR, .TGA, and BOTS.

Soldat Bot Information

Soldat Bot Information files store configuration settings for non-player characters ("bots") in the game Soldat. These plain text files define behavior, appearance and interaction preferences for bots, so they act more like specific personalities than generic opponents.

Each BOT file is created by the game (or by players modifying the default ones) and read by Soldat when bots are loaded into a match. These files live in the bots folder of Soldat's installation. The game uses them to determine the bot's name, colors (shirt, pants, skin, hair), favored weapons, accuracy, and how the bot chats under certain conditions (e.g. when winning, low health, or seeing an enemy). Settings control combat behavior (e.g. shooting dead enemies), camping, frequency of grenade use, secondary weapon choice, and other cosmetic features like headgear, hair style, chains.

Files begin with a header line "\[BOT\]" followed by "Name=…" at offset 0 with carriage return/line feed. Internal keywords include Name, Color1, Color2, Skin_Color, Hair_Color, Favourite_Weapon, Secondary_Weapon, Friend, Accuracy, Shoot_Dead, Grenade_Frequency, Camping, OnStartUse, Hair, Headgear, Chain, Chat_Frequency, Chat_Kill, Chat_Dead, Chat_Lowhealth, Chat_SeeEnemy, Chat_Winning. The presence of strings like GRENADE_FREQUENCY, CHAT_FREQUENCY and others listed above help identify the format.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of BOT files. Remember, different programs may use BOT files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about BOT file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.