I was about to chime in on having the same issue but I decided to actually look at the change history for some of the config code in UE5’s GitHub and found this little gem:
https://github.com/EpicGames/UnrealEngine/commit/3ce7be40b1f094bd5f818288c198e5cea86000f3
- Added system to only save config sections, to user Saved/Config files, that are opted in
- Currently disabled, allowing people to test locally by setting a bool in Base.ini (affects all hierarchical configs)
And in Base.ini: (UE_5.4\Engine\Config\Base.ini)
; Base.ini is required to exist
; To always save all sections like before, set bCanSaveAllSections to true
; You can set this in a particular ini file as well, like BaseEngine.ini
; or add more Sections that you would like to be completely saved out
; See BaseEngine.ini for more examples
[SectionsToSave]
bCanSaveAllSections=false
Section=CurrentIniVersion
Changing bCanSaveAllSections to true will allow Unreal to save and allow edits in all default config files (Game, Engine, etc), even for packaged builds!
Honestly, I was about to write off 5.4 & 5.5 for good until I found this!