For plugins that one uses for many projects we have no choice but to put it in Engine/Plugins
But it would be great to allow users to specify their own path for custom/third party plugins.
Not great to be limited to engine folder, as one could delete by mistake when uninstalling Unreal Engine.
Please allow users to specify thier own path for plugins, just like Visual Studio allow users to specify path for additional header files.
Its been impossible to get Epic to look at this area for years. (Related thread).
Its a massive turnoff on the whole hype of relying on and using Plugins imho… 
Its early testing , in ue5 it allows you to pick any path of choice when creating plugin, other than c:\programfiles…Engine\Plugins
There is another C:\ProgramFilesx86…Engine\Plugins which you are allowed to use
Then i tried my own custom path, and this worked.
Steps i followed
Then you can start using the plugin, you just need add plugin header to any cpp files where you need to use it, it automatically resolves the path of header just like it does for plugins in project and engine.
In summary looks like the folder you select for plugin creation automatically becomes “Additional Plugin search path”
Hardly any of this information is in the ue4/ue5 manuals. The manuals for this product are a joke. But its a great product. Cause i suspect it worked this way too in ue4.
A professional level of documentation for ue4, was more badly needed by the community than a ue5.
Cause there are many features and hidden features in the product that are documented.
Which must be very lucrative for those who have access to developers of unreal engine, cause only they will have the real word of mouth documentation.
At this point for c++ API , i have nearly given up on checking the docs, but instead going directly to the source code so as not to waste my time.
After testing , turns out only place you can put plugin for it to be seen by multiple projects is
c:\programfiles…Engine\Plugins
However in the editor will not allow you to use that path when creating the plugin, you can choose anywhere to create.
Once plugin is created, you then have t cut and paste it into engine\plugin for it to be seen by multiple projects.
Like with too many things in unreal. forget the manual, focus on trial and error.
^This^ is how it is sadly. The difference between UDN vs. Forums-Answerhub, is vast - like FLYING in first vs economy. You’re basically forced to read source or create BP test projects, as the Docs are mostly useless and Epic DGAF about this channel anymore…
That confirms what am seeing with the documentation.
Also i might have found an undocumented fix for my problem of being able to choose Plugin path
By adding AdditionalPluginDirectories section to project.ini file
"Plugins": [
{
"Name": "Bridge",
"Enabled": true,
"SupportedTargetPlatforms": [
"Win64",
"Mac",
"Linux"
]
}
],
"AdditionalPluginDirectories": [
"../../DevPlugin/UserPlugins"
]
Initially project edited with plugin path will pick up every plugin in said path and ticked in editor as selected. So you have to go untick which plugins you dont need. But thats not really necessary cause i think plugin not included in build.cs is not part of the build anyway.
One thing i noticed is i put in the full path initially from c root C:…
And the project itself changed it to relative path as seen above.
Thanks to those that help to highlight the deplorable state of unreal documentation, which borders on information hiding, Cause it helps to know this ahead especially if you new to the engine like myself.
So that as been mentioned source code, forums, and answerhub far more useful than the documents.
At this point we have google to thank for being able to use this product