Packages are a collection of resource files used by Sublime Text: plugins, syntax highlighting definitions, menus, snippets and more. Sublime Text ships with several packages, and more user created ones are available
Packages are stored in .sublime-package files, which are zip files with a different extension. Packages may also be stored unzipped within a directory, or a mix of the two: any loose files in the package directory will override files stored in the .sublime-package file.
Zipped packages may be stored in:
Loose packages may be stored in:
For example, the package Python is stored in <executable_path>/Packages/Python.sublime-package, and any files in the <data_path>/Packages/Python directory will override those stored in the .sublime-package file.
In general, <executable_path>/Packages is for packages that ship with Sublime Text, and <data_path>/Installed Packages is for packages installed by the user.
There are two special packages: Default and User. Default is always ordered first, and User is always ordered last. Package ordering comes into effect when merging files between packages, for example Main.sublime-menu. Any package may contain a file called Main.sublime-menu, however this won't override the main menu, instead the files will be merged according to the order of the packages.
Packages other than Default and User are ordered alphabetically.
To create a new package, simply create a new directory under <data_path>/Installed Packages. You can access this directory from the Preferences/Browse Packages menu.
To override a file in an existing package, just create a file with the same name under the Packages/<Package Name> directory.
For example to override the file function.sublime-snippet in the Python.sublime-package package that ships with Sublime Text, create a directory called Python under the <data_path>/Packages directory, and place your function.sublime-snippet file there.