I am working on a mod that revamps Hand to Hand a little.
One of the features I would like to include is a Knockout.

If I find no better way I will just negative their fatigue. This puts them on the ground but still moving and making noise a little.
So what is a better way? Is there anyway to force a real knock out such as is used on essential characters?

I have looked at commands such as setting "unconscious" but that leaves them standing up not "out cold" on the ground.

I guess I could change them to essential and then zero their health but that seems way too heavy handed.

The only other method I can think of is to use paralysis. If you set the NPC's status to paralysed, it won't have the telltale shader or visual effect. That being said, negative fatigue is probably easier.

Yes, Drain Fatigue 5-10,000 is what I usually use; and then a 1-second Restore Fatigue 1,000,000 to revivie. Works very well, I find.