Glitches in GTA San Andreas

This page lists all of the possible glitches encountered in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

First Mission Glitch
In the first mission, when C.R.A.S.H. drive CJ around in their squad car, the player can enter the Jetpack cheat when the car stops at the level crossing. CJ will be killed and will respawn at the nearest hospital. If this is done correctly, the player will be able to go inside every enterable structure at the very beginning of the game, even clothes stores and sometimes the player can enter Jizzy's Pleasure Domes when San Fierro is unlocked. Some bridges may also be unlocked, although crossing them still gives the player a four-star wanted level.

Girlfriend Glitch
Strangely, Carl's girlfriend is immune to any type of damage inflicted by satchel charges. She is, however, vulnerable to gunfire and all other types of damage.

Ghost Tug/Baggage/Tractor/Forklift Glitch
If Carl carjacks a Tractor, Tug, Baggage Handler or any other one-seater vehicle from the right side, he will slam the driver's head into the dashboard rather than hitting him. When he does that, the vehicle will move by itself because when stealing any other 2-seated car, e.g. Premier from the passenger side, the driver will attempt to drive off.

Monster Glitch
The player must obtain a Monster and park one wheel onto a random car's hood or trunk. The wheel must glitch by pressing against the Monster's body. Next, they must get out of the Monster, get in the car CJ parked on, and the player may find themselves spinning high in the air, crashing back down to earth, or respawning somewhere else. Also, if the player manages to glitch the tire of the vehicle while it is moving onto the hood of the car, the car may fly into the air, merge into the ground and potentially stretch out, or catapult the Monster into the air.

Ammu-Nation Glitch
The player must go to any Ammu-Nation shooting range, and make sure CJ is dating Katie Zhan. Then, they have to go to any weapon challenge, and enter the "suicide" cheat. When CJ respawns at the nearest hospital, he will not have any of his weapons. Then, he must pick up either a pistol, Micro Uzi, Shotgun or Assault Rifle and it will have infinite ammunition. The player will then not be able to switch weapons, but saving and then loading after doing this glitch will let the player not only switch weapons, but all weapons in the player's possession will have infinite ammunition, with the ammo counter glitching every time the player shoots. It is also possible that if the player does this glitch, it will affect other save games.

Car Spawn Glitch
When the player is driving down any highway in the state, the player may randomly encounter NPC cars that spawn inside of each other, thus they will be stuck and will give off sparks, then both cars will start smoking and eventually explode. The cars can be freed by simply hitting them with CJ's car. Cars may also spawn stuck half-in and half-out of the ground, usually at a 45 degree angle and with their rear end submerged in the road. This seems to occur most frequently on long bridges, such as the Gant or Garver Bridge, for unknown reasons. They usually just go the same speed as the other cars, but some may kind of bump around and explode. It is unknown what factor of the game causes these glitches, however it could happen due to the low frame rate while playing the game.

Taxi Driver Mission Glitch
A glitch can occur when the player begins the Taxi Driver mission, but no fares are available. It happens when the player has crossed over the map boundaries (e.g. flying too far away from San Andreas). It is advised to complete the Taxi missions very early on in the game to avoid this glitch.

End of the Line Mission Glitch
After completing the mission End of the Line, all law enforcement vehicles will disappear from the player's garages (police cars, Rhinos, and even the SWAT Tank). This may be a glitch, but it is most likely to stop players from obtaining the SWAT Tank (as End of the Line is the only mission to obtain it and the vehicle was never meant to be available during normal gameplay). The player can, however, obtain the tank if they fail the mission, whether accidentally or on purpose. To do this, the player must fail the mission and then drive it into a garage. However, the player will still be unable to complete the mission and retain the vehicle.

Train Glitch
During the mission End of the Line, the player will encounter an engine carriage of a Brown Streak. Unlike most trains that appear during missions, this one can be hijacked (with the penalty of losing Sweet, thus failing the mission). If this train is jacked, other trains will appear on the player's track, passing through the player's train.

If the player has left a train at Cranberry Station in Snail Trail, then another train will pass through it for the target to get on. The second train is useful to trail the other as it goes faster than the Sanchez; however, there is a little catch up required though this will not fail the mission.

No Traffic Glitch
Sometimes, if Carl is driving or flying really fast over San Andreas and abruptly stops or lands, no cars will spawn on the road, although stationary vehicles and pedestrians do spawn. This glitch can be fixed by simply activating a sub-mission or entering an interior. This glitch also sometimes occurs if CJ dies inside an interior. Then, when CJ spawns at the hospital, there will be no traffic.

Driveway Beagle
On the southernmost block of Fort Carson, there is a Beagle that spawns in the driveway of a house, stuck between the house and a large palm tree. It is unstable, as even the slightest nudge or push can cause its left engine to catch on fire and explode. Entering it is not recommended, as it will also lead to imminent destruction. Sometimes, it just explodes immediately, even if the player never touched it. This glitch is most likely a coding error. However the Beagle must have not been intended to spawn there. It is possible to get it out by sprinting against its backside and nudging it out from between the house and the tree, or by using several cheats.

Airport Gate Glitch
The player can open the front gate of the Easter Bay Airport before CJ acquires a pilot's license. First, they have to go up to the left sliding gate, punch it, and then they need to turn away quickly, and it should slide open.

Ghost Bike Glitch
If CJ rams into a motorcyclist and then quickly drives off whilst looking behind CJ's vehicle, the pedestrian disappears and the bike will drive with no one on it. This happens if CJ is far enough away that the ped disappears whilst they are doing the 'get on' animation. The bike reads that the driver is getting on, and drives like normal but without the pedestrian. The bike will drive normal until it's flipped over or jacked.

Interior Glitch
If CJ enters an interior while having a parachute on and the player switches to it, the altitude meter will be all the way at the top, because Carl is in the Hidden Interiors Universe. This is technically not really a glitch since all of the interiors are located in the sky.

Escalators Game Crash Glitch
On the PC version of San Andreas, if CJ is at place containing escalators with moving steps nearby, like The High Roller's entrance in Las Venturas or inside Verona Mall in Los Santos, and the player start rotating / flipping the camera around, this might cause the game to crash to desktop. It's unknown if this glitch is present on PS2 / XBOX console versions of the game.

Flying Train Glitch
In the mission Snail Trail, if the player follows one of the Freight trains that spawns in the opposite direction to the Brown Streak, the Freight will make a right turn off the tracks at Cranberry Station and fly across the map until reaching the tracks at Red County where the train will make another right back onto the tracks and continue on its journey like a normal train. Viewing this glitch to completion requires failing the mission.

This is caused by the path file within the game only being coded as far as Cranberry Station. When the train reaches the end of the path, it heads directly for the next set of coordinates, which are located in Red County, way across the map.

Invisibility Glitch
In Downtown Los Santos, there is a building with floors on the outside that the player can stand on. On the floor in the middle of two other higher floors, they can see very little of the interior of it in some places, while others, when they look at just the right angles, make CJ invisible, but only in that spot looking in that angle. If the player has a jetpack on and do this, the flames will show. The building is straight across the highway from an Ammu-Nation.

Railroad Signal Glitch
In San Fierro, the two railroad crossings in Doherty have glitches on the signals; the barriers appear too high up and too far to the right. They are functional, but do not spawn correctly.

Busted Glitch
If Carl is arrested during the riots and somebody kills the arresting officer, the BUSTED sign will not disappear.

Random Plane Crash Glitch
There is a common and sometimes irritating random factor of the game where airplanes crash to the ground or into buildings near CJ (with sometimes fatal or mission-failing consequences). Most crashes occur if the player is roaming around an area with many tall structures around them. The airplane may crash into one of these structures, making an audible explosion sound. However, there are also some instances where the player is on relatively flat ground and an airplane may just crash straight into the ground near them, or into the vehicle the player is in. Other crashes occur after CJ exits an interior after being inside for a few minutes and an aircraft spawns too low. Random crashes occur all around the state, most notably around Downtown Los Santos and San Fierro, or also in heavily-forested areas like Whetstone. There are also frequent crashes on top of Mount Chiliad.

Madd Dogg's Safehouse basketball and gym glitch
It's been reported by some that saving at Madd Dogg's Mansion once it becomes a safehouse can cause a glitch rendering all the basketball games and gyms in the State inoperable. This doesn't appear to happen all the time (and may not be an issue with the PS2 version).

Walk Underwater Glitches
There are various glitches that allow CJ to stand on the sea floor and walk around as if he was on land:


 * If CJ hits a fence with a motorbike, and he ejects from the bike and lands in the sea, he may land on the surface of the water as if it were solid ground. Then, after he does the "Getting Up" animation, he may suddenly drop down and appear on the sea floor.


 * The player must begin a multiplayer session. Next, they need to get any amphibious aircraft ( Sea Sparrow, Skimmer , Leviathan ), and fly out into relatively shallow water. Then, they need to land in the water, and have the player in the passenger side get out and hijack the driver. The driver will fall out, and suddenly appear underwater on the ocean floor, and he will be able to walk around without a breath meter. This glitch is only possible on the PS2 version.

Mountain Bike Glitch
Obtain a Mountain Bike and, while Carl is riding it, the player must hold down Square and tap X very quickly. If done correctly, CJ's body will shimmer and distort out of proportion. This glitch appears to be possible only on the PS2.

Police Vehicles Glitch
Sometimes, after a flight between cities, police vehicles from the starting point would still spawn on the player's destination.

Whetstone Highway Glitch
In Whetstone, near Angel Pine, sometimes traffic can be found driving the opposite way even though the highway itself is one way only. This is because a small road leading to the highway is a two-way street, and it turns into a one-way when it merges to the highway.

Third Person Train Glitch
Main Article: Freight It is possible to drive a train in third person on GTA San Andreas.

Plane Glitch
Note: To activate this glitch, the player must unlock all areas of San Andreas. The player must take a random flight from a city to another city. After that, when the plane cutscene is going on, they need to enter the "All cars explode" cheat. Carl will be killed and when he respawns at a hospital, the player can see that the view is in cutscene mode and the health bar, money bar and map will disappear. Even saving is impossible to deactivate this glitch.

Invincible Pedestrian Glitches
Carjack a vehicle with a passenger in it, keep the speed up so the passenger doesn't get out and run away. Drive down a beach and into the water, the car will stop and begin to sink, letting the passenger get out. However, the passenger will be running against the door as the car sinks. If Carl gets on the roof and pushes the passenger away from the door, the passenger will "run" to the shore and begin to run down the beach. Since NPCs are meant to die when they go into water, the passenger will have a black targeting reticule and will be "undead"; since the passenger is technically "dead", the passenger will be invulnerable to all forms of damage for a short time until they fall over dead. Another way to exploit this glitch is to steal a car from a pedestrian, so that the ped will chase Carl. Drive his vehicle slowly into a Pay N' Spray garage, so that both Carl and the pedestrian are inside at the same time. When the garage door opens back up after the car gets resprayed, the pedestrian will be invincible and will not die even if their target reticule becomes black. If Carl tries to run over the pedestrian with a vehicle, they will go through it and he will shimmer and distort out of proportion.

Driver Glitch
Shoot random objects near a garage (i.e. Doherty Garage), wait until a car hit to the garage vehicles or the wall, then push it before he/she reverses except if the garage is still empty, then go away from the garage. The driver will disappear. This can work to garage that besides the street except Prickle Pine Safehouse & CJ's House.

Tear Gas Glitch
If the player throws a Tear Gas canister into a crowd and then performs a stealth kill on any NPC in the crowd, every NPC affected by the Tear Gas will undergo the same stealth kill animation and die at the same time.

Ghost Vehicle Glitch
If the player drives a combine harvester and hit the drivers door gently, the driver will be gone as if it was killed by the harvester and the vehicle will drive itself normally without anyone inside. If the player hijacks the vehicle, CJ will get in the vehicle and still be able to drive it around normally.

Moonwalk Glitch
If, while sprinting, Carl takes a picture with a camera by quickly pressing the right mouse button (to aim) and right after, the left mouse button (to take a picture, almost at the same time), CJ should be running with the slow running animation, but with the sprinting speed, making him look like he's sliding on the ground. The higher the FPS, the easier it is to do. (Tested on PC)

Police Car Spawn Glitch
If the player dies in an area which is patrolled by different police vehicles than the police vehicles that stalk the area that the hospital is in, the police vehicles that spawn at the place where the player died may spawn incorrectly in the vicinity of the hospital when the player resurrects there. This glitch also occurs when CJ is released from the police department after being arrested.

Pedestrian Glitch
Next to the bridge that connects San Fierro and Bayside Marina a glitch may occur. Sometimes the pedestrian will spawn half inside the road or foot paths and half outside the road or foot paths, this glitch can be witnessed at anytime during the gameplay. However, it is unknown this is a glitch or a bug. This glitch can only be seen in Bayside Marina.

The Walk Through Bridge
In Los Flores there is a small, slanted bridge going over a motorway. The side supports of this bridge are not solid and can easily be driven through with a bike.

The Walk Through Hill
Just North of Mount Chiliad, and South of the big radio transmitter at the top of the hill, there is a small beach. From here head slightly to the left and you will come to a hill which can be walked through. This allows you to look under the map, as well as through the ground and into buildings in the distance.

Pedestrian Reaction Glitch
Sometimes after completeing End of the Line, some pedestrians across the state won't react to the player attacking them. Instead of fighting back or running away, they continue walking as if nothing happened.

Helicopter Glitch
When the player has a three-star wanted level or higher and is in an area with steep hills, like San Fierro or northeast Los Santos, police helicopters will sometimes spawn underground. The helicopter's rotor blades will show up through the street; they won't hurt CJ.

CJ Clone Glitch
During the mission End of the Line there a chance see the pedestrian that look like a CJ, also he is have health like a CJ and he is sprint like a CJ.

Mobile Version Glitches
The mobile version has more glitches than other versions. This includes: Most glitches seem to be encountered more often after prolonged gameplay. All except the train glitch and Sweet's Girl glitch can be fixed by restarting the game.
 * If Carl enters a train and the player leaves the game, once they resume, the train with CJ inside may respawn in Las Venturas, with only the locomotive itself on the tracks. If the player hasn't unlocked Las Venturas, Carl will immediately receive a 4-star wanted level and he can only get back to Los Santos or San Fierro by swimming (which will usually kill him in the process).
 * The cars' headlights and taillights may encounter texture errors.
 * Sometimes a car's damaged parts appear in mismatched colors.
 * If the player were to fail a mission and retry, the game may glitch and the mission cannot be completed.
 * If this happens, the player will have to say no to the "Retry?" option, go back to the mission giver, and start it over from the beginning.
 * It is possible for the mission Sweet's Girl to apparently glitch out before the cutscene starts and shut the game down. To prevent the glitch from happening, it is advised to start another mission before-hand and come back to check if it works.
 * After the mission Robbing Uncle Sam, Ryder's Picador will apparently stop spawning in his driveway. To fix this glitch, stay in Grove Street, turn the game down, use another app for a few minutes and then swap back to the game. The Picador should respawn in the garden and will not despawn.
 * When Michelle Cannes asks the player to drive during a date, Carl will not swap seats, but instead get out of the car, causing Michelle to abandon the player and count the date as a failure.
 * Sometimes, after saving at the Johnson House, Sweet's Greenwood and the BMX that spawns on Grove Street will not appear. This can be easily fixed by driving a short distance away (two or more blocks) and driving back to Grove Street. It is unclear if this glitch occurs on other versions.
 * After recruiting a gang member, swimming in the water, and climbing on top a dock, the gang member will often hang from the dock and not move. The only way to move the gang member is by hitting him with a boat, upon which he will sink and eventually disappear. It is also unclear if this occurs on other versions.
 * Being inside of a customized vehicle, exiting the game and removing it from running in the background, then restarting the game, will cause any customizations you made on the car to reset. Essentially, the game gives you a newly spawned car.
 * On the Windows Nokia version of the game, clothing(Mainly pants) may have square-splotches of darker, lighter, or entirely different colors on them.
 * Another glitch observed on the Windows Nokia version and possibly others: When the player wears a hoodie, this may cause CJ's head to clip through clothing items that go on CJ's heads such as hats and shades. Example: If wearing a rag(Such as from Binco), CJ's nose will clip through.

Separate Articles

 * Ammu-Nation Glitch
 * Andromada Glitch
 * Headless CJ Glitch
 * Madd Dogg Gym Glitch
 * Mountain Bike Glitch
 * Tear Gas Glitch
 * Territory Glitch
 * Chiliad Challenge Glitch
 * Las Venturas TransFender Glitch
 * Blue Hell