tutorial [Tutorial] How to remove/resize/delete any GUI button

[xFranko]

Most of you probably already know this, but it’s still a good idea to document it here.

Sometimes you may want to remove annoying buttons you never use, or simply rearrange or resize parts of the UI.

This tutorial will be split into two sections:

1. Deleting a button
2. Moving & Resizing

In this part, we’ll focus on deleting a button.
We’ll be using Resource Hacker to modify Conquer.exe, editing the GUI.INI, GUI800X600.ini, Control.ani files, and removing some .dds image files.

Note 1: Make a backup of anything you will modify in case you break your GUI!

Note 2: This has been tested on 6609 I'm not sure about the behavior on older clients.

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[1.1] Example: Removing the “Poker” Button

First, type the following command in the game Talk chat: /enablefocus (Credits goes to @Spirited for this command)
This allows you to identify a button’s ID by simply hovering over it.
When you hover over the button, look at the top-left corner of the screen. You’ll see information displayed in this format: [parent -child]

You’ll also see the ANI reference name, which points to the DDS image controlling that button.

• The first number is the parent window ID
• The second number is the child window/button ID under that parent

For example: [579 - 3055]

• 579 → parent container (this holds most of the icons at the top-right area btw)
• 3055 → the specific ID of the Poker button
• This exact same format is used inside the GUI.INI files (along with x, y, width, height, etc.).

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[1.2] Editing Conquer.exe with Resource Hacker

Now that we have the button ID, open Resource Hacker and load Conquer.exe

• Click Open
• Make sure you edit the correct executable (in my case, I’m using the DX9 version, so I edit the exe inside ENV_DX9)

Next:

• Expand the Dialog section
• You’ll only see parent windows, so search for 579

Inside this dialog, you’ll see an approximate layout of all the buttons in that container.
Each line represents a child control under parent 579, written in something similar to a CSV format.

The second value in each line is the button ID we found in-game:

CONTROL "ShowHand", 3055, BUTTON, BS_OWNERDRAW | WS_CHILD | WS_VISIBLE | WS_TABSTOP, 82, 62, 14, 13

To disable the button: Replace WS_VISIBLE with WS_DISABLED

Updated line: CONTROL "ShowHand", 3055, BUTTON, BS_OWNERDRAW | WS_CHILD | WS_DISABLED | WS_TABSTOP, 82, 62, 14, 13

Now Compile [1] and Save [2] (Make sure to close the client first), a backup will be created automatically under the name Conquer.old.exe in the same file you can keep or delete it.

At this point, the button will no longer be clickable, but the image will still be visible.

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[1.3] Removing the Button Image

Next, open GUI.INI or GUI800X600 and search for the button entry:

This section defines:

• Button position and size
• The ANI section that controls its image

Now open: ani/Control.ani

Search for: [Dentrance_DentranceBtn]

You’ll find four frames, each pointing to a DDS image used for different button states:

• Simply delete this entire section.
• Once removed, the button will be completely gone when you open the client.

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[1.4] Optional Cleanup

For extra cleanup, you can also delete the DDS image files from their directory since they’re no longer needed alongside the entries from GUI.ini

However, removing the ANI section alone is enough to fully hide the button.

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[1.5] Alternative Method (Without /enablefocus)

If you can’t use the /enablefocus command, you can use WinSpy instead.

• Drag the WinSpy finder tool (shown in the screenshot below)

• Drop it on the button you want to remove

• WinSpy will give you the Caption, which matches the first string in the Resource Hacker control entry.

• Note: WinSpy does not provide the window ID
  So you’ll need to:

  • Search for that caption string in Resource Hacker using CTRL + F

  • Locate the matching control manually

  • And that’s it.

 

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[2.1] Resizing/Moving a button

By now, resizing should be straightforward. Simply adjust the size values in the GUI.INI file.
Make sure to apply the same changes in GUI800X600.ini as well, so the button displays correctly at both resolutions.

If you prefer a visual approach, you can use the /enablefocus command. This allows you to resize a button by dragging its corners. For example, if the nobility icon appears too large, you can reduce its size by dragging the edges of the red selection box.

You can also move the button by dragging it, and the new position will be automatically saved to your GUI.INI file.

Note 1: I recommend avoiding direct visual editing when possible. It’s easy to accidentally click another button (such as a nearby button), and sometimes the UI may behave unpredictably. In some cases, the button can end up outside the window boundaries and become invisible.

Note 2: Resizing won't work for most types of buttons because their sizes will depend only on the actual DDS image, what you will control is the area that's clickable (the red square) when resizing.

Note 3: You will often make the button unclickable when moving it with the command, to fix that just restart the client and it will be clickable in its new position.

Note 4: If you wanna move an element, you won't be able to move it outside its parent container (you can know the element boundaries by [RED] edges and parent by [YELLOW] edges when hovering with the command enabled) for example the settings button, you won't be able to move it (if someone figures out a solution maybe they can drop in comments! )

 

 After Resize : 

Note 5: You can also use WinSpy if you want to experiment with a button’s position without restarting the client or using in-game commands. This helps reduce the risk of breaking something, since WinSpy changes are applied only in memory and will be discarded once the client is restarted.

Edited January 6 by xFranko

[Spirited]

Great guide! Thanks for the contribution!