.NET Core vs .NET Framework
Windows only

by Brian Gillespie (Last updated: Wednesday, May 21, 2025)

Rhino 8.20 uses .NET Core 8 by default, and Rhino 8.19 or older uses .NET Core 7 by default.

On Windows, some older plug-ins will not run when .NET Core is active, and requires the legacy .NET Framework, instead.

To change Rhino to always use .NET Framework:

  1. Start Rhino for Windows
  2. Type the command SetDotNetRuntime
  3. Select the Runtime option
  4. Set the NETFramework option
  5. Close Rhino

To change Rhino to always use .NET Framework using the Registry:

  1. Run RegEdit
  2. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\McNeel\Rhinoceros\8.0\Global Options
  3. Create a REG_SZ value named DotNetRuntime and set its data to netfx

To start Rhino in .NET Framework once:

Caution: only recommended if you have a plug-in that doesn’t run in .NET Core.

  1. Create a new shortcut for Rhino in Windows
  2. Edit the shortcut
  3. Add command line argument /netfx

To start Rhino in .NET Core once:

  1. Create a new shortcut for Rhino in Windows
  2. Edit the shortcut
  3. Add command line argument /netcore

.NET Core Version

Starting with version 8.12, you can select the version of the .NET Runtime that it will use instead of its default.

Please note that Rhino 8 does not currently support running on .NET 9 (or later) Runtime, and only supports .NET 7 and 8.

Installing the .NET Desktop Runtime:

In order to use a different version of .NET Core than the default, you must first install the .NET Desktop Runtime.

  1. Open your browser to https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet
  2. Click on the version of .NET you wish to use
  3. Download the .NET Desktop Runtime for x64
  4. Run the downloaded installer to install the runtime

To set the .NET Core version once:

  1. Create a new shortcut for Rhino in Windows
  2. Edit the shortcut
  3. Add command line argument /netcore-8, or /netcore-7

To set the .NET Core version using the Registry:

  1. Run RegEdit
  2. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\McNeel\Rhinoceros\8.0\Global Options
  3. Create a REG_SZ value named DotNetCoreVersion and set its data to 8 or 7

For more details:

For more details, visit our developer documentation for .NET 7.