Cheats in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas are similar to those of its predecessors, requiring input of a series of controller button commands or a keyboard. When a cheat code is successfully entered, a "Cheat Activated" message will appear on the upper left corner of the screen to confirm the cheat has been entered. The following cheat codes must be entered during gameplay. Entering cheat codes during pause menu will not activate the cheat unlike its predecessors.
Note that the PlayStation 2 and Xbox require the use of the D-Pad (up, down, left, right), (NOTE: this is not the analog stick) for directional input. For the Xbox 360, Black is RB and White is LB.
As earlier, the pedestrian hate and riot cheats are permanent and cannot be reversed if the game is saved while the cheat is active. These pedestrian-related cheats can hinder progress during missions.
Player
| Effect | PS2 | PC | Xbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adrenaline effects |      
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ANOSEONGLASS MUNASEF TAKEACHILLPILL |
     
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| Armor, health and $250,000 in money (also repairs vehicles occupied by the player and increases your Criminal Rating to 40)
Note: Enabling the "Health and Armor" cheat during the bike chase of Just Business and during shooting from the car in End of the Line will fail the mission, destroying the bike/Feltzer (End of the Line), and CJ will eventually be Wasted. |
  
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HESOYAM INEEDSOMEHELP |
  
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| CJ jumps 10 times higher | 
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KANGAROO | 
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| Commit suicide / instadeath
Note: If the Unlimited Health cheat is on CJ would not die. |
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SZCMAWO GOODBYECRUELWORLD |
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| Hitman level for all weapons |
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PROFESSIONALKILLER NCSGDAG |
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| Lock wanted level (facilitates exploration of islands/cities and restricted areas before they're unlocked) | 
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AEZAKMI TESTEDEDUCATIONALSKILLS IDOASIPLEASE |
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| Raise wanted level by two stars
Note: If the Lock wanted level cheat is on it will not attain. |
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TURNUPTHEHEAT OSRBLHH |
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| Remove wanted level |
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TURNDOWNTHEHEAT ASNAEB |
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| Six-star wanted level
Note: If the Lock wanted level cheat is on it will not attain. |
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BRINGITON LJSPQK |
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| Maximum fat |
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BTCDBDB WHOATEALLTHEPIES |
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| Maximum lung capacity (infinite air underwater) |
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CVWKXAM MANFROMATLANTIS |
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| Maximum muscle |
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BUFFMEUP JYSDSOD |
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| Maximum respect |
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WORSHIPME OGXSDAG |
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| Maximum sex appeal |
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HELLOLADIES EHIBXQS |
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| Maximum stamina |
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VKYPQCF ICANGOALLNIGHT |
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| Maximum vehicle skills (Driving, flying, bike, cycling) |
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NATURALTALENT VQIMAHA |
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| Minimum fat and muscle |
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KVGYZQK LEANANDMEAN |
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| CJ never gets hungry |
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AEDUWNV IAMNEVERHUNGRY |
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| Spawn Jetpack |
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ROCKETMAN YECGAA |
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| Spawn Parachute |
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AIYPWZQP LETSGOBASEJUMPING |
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| Super punches (one hit kills)
Note: Pedestrians can also super punch. If a pedestrian punches CJ, he will be instantly killed. However, if the Unlimited Health cheat is activated, super punches do not affect CJ. |
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STINGLIKEABEE IAVENJQ |
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| Unlimited ammunition
Note: Using this cheat will often make your sound go dodgy. This cheat also affects Pedestrians. |
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FULLCLIP WANRLTW |
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| Unlimited health
Note: Explosions, drowning, falling, and the guns of the Police Choppers still hurt in the player. CJ will also die from being in a car that explodes. |
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BAGUVIX NOONECANHURTME |
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| Weapons, tier 1 (Brass Knuckles, Baseball Bat, Pistol, Shotgun, Micro SMG, AK-47, Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Molotov Cocktails & Spray Paint) |
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LXGIWYL THUGSARMOURY |
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| Weapons, tier 2 (Fist, Knife, Desert Eagle, Sawn-Off Shotgun, TEC 9, M4, Sniper Rifle, Flamethrower, Fire Extinguisher & Grenades) |
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PROFESSIONALSKIT KJKSZPJ |
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| Weapons, tier 3 (Fist, Chainsaw, Silenced 9mm, SPAS 12, SMG, M4, Sniper Rifle, Heat-Seeking Rocket Launcher, Satchel Charges & Detonator)
Note: If you use the infinite bullets cheat, the detonator will still appear in the weapon list although you're not have any satchel charges. |
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UZUMYMW NUTTERSTOYS |
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Vehicles
| Effect | PS2 | PC | Xbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| All cars have nitrous
Note: When modifying a car, it appears as "2x Nitro". |
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SPEEDFREAK COXEFGU |
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| Cars drive on water |
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This cheat is not available on PC |
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| Flying boats |
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FLYINGFISH AFSNMSMW |
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| Flying cars
Note: Cars take off like planes, except they have no left and right rudder. |
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RIPAZHA CHITTYCHITTYBANGBANG |
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| Increased car speed |
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LPNQMAS |
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| Improved suspensions |
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STICKLIKEGLUE PGGOMOY |
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| Full weapon aiming in vehicles |
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OUIQDMW IWANNADRIVEBY |
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| Massive bicycle bunny hops (Jump 100 feet in air) |
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CJPHONEHOME |
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| Perfect handling |
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STICKLIKEGLUE PGGOMOY |
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| Spawn Bloodring Banger |
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OLDSPEEDEMON CQZIJMB |
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| Spawn Caddy |
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RZHSUEW 18HOLES |
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| Spawn Dozer |
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ITSALLBULL EEGCYXT |
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| Spawn Hunter |
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OHDUDE |
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| Spawn Hydra |
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JUMPJET |
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| Spawn Monster Truck |
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MONSTERMASH AGBDLCID |
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| Spawn Quad |
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FOURWHEELFUN AKJJYGLC |
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| Spawn Hotring Racer A |
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VROCKPOKEY PDNEJOH |
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| Spawn Hotring Racer B |
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VPJTQWV |
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| Spawn Rancher |
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JQNTDMH |
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| Spawn Rhino |
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AIWPRTON TIMETOKICKASS |
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| Spawn Romero |
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WHERESTHEFUNERAL AQTBCODX |
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| Spawn Stretch Limousine |
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CELEBRITYSTATUS KRIJEBR |
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| Spawn Stunt Plane |
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FLYINGTOSTUNT URKQSRK |
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| Spawn Tanker with attached Tanker Trailer |
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AMOMHRER HITTHEROADJACK |
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| Spawn Trashmaster |
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TRUEGRIME UBHYZHQ |
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| Spawn Vortex |
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KGGGDKP IWANTTOHOVER |
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| Taxi missions completed |
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This cheat is not available on PC |
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| Your car is invincible and can instantly destroy other vehicles (Auto-immune car)
Note: Invincibility is unreliable and occasionally turns itself off after cutscenes, inside the car when just finishing dates and missions or if you're inside the car when the cheat is turned on. You have to exit and re-enter the car to re-enable the invincibility, or else your car will blow up when you blow up another car. Also if you disable this cheat while inside the vehicle you will get it all-proof and also not destroyed when you use cheats "Blow up all vehicles". |
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JCNRUAD |
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Themes/pedestrian behavior
Many of these cheats are used in the game during the Los Santos Riots.
| Effect | PS2 | PC | Xbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aggressive drivers |
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YLTEICZ |
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| Aggressive traffic |
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YLTEICZ |
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| Beach party theme (Beach-themed pedestrians, beach-themed cars, CJ wears shorts and flip-flops.) |
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LIFESABEACH CIKGCGX |
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| Beater/junk car traffic |
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BGKGTJH |
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| Black traffic |
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IOWDLAC |
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| Carnival/funhouse theme (Civilians are fast food workers & clowns, Carl Johnson has a clown outfit and pink hair, traffic consists of Pizza Boy, BF Injection, Hotknife, Tug, Quad, Hotdog and all four wheeled vehicles have hydraulics.) |
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CRAZYTOWN PRIEBJ |
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| Cars float away when hit
Note: This cheat does not work in missions involving races and car chases. |
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BUBBLECARS BSXSGGC |
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| Pedestrians riot
Note: Unlike previous games, this code can be turned on and off at will. However, keeping it on may cause problems during the storyline. This code brings up data from the Los Santos Riots except on a statewide scale. |
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STATEOFEMERGENCY IOJUFZN |
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| Explode all vehicles (except BMX, Mountain Bike, and Bike)
Note: It also cause an explosion on the Destroyed Vehicles. |
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ALLCARSGOBOOM CPKTNWT |
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| Invisible cars |
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WHEELSONLYPEASE XICWMD |
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| Kinky theme/pimp mode (Attracts prostitutes with sex toys/gimp suit) |
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BEKKNQV |
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| Prostitutes pay you instead of taking your money |
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n/a |
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| No pedestrians/reduced traffic
Note: Parked cars still spawn. |
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GHOSTTOWN THGLOJ |
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| Pedestrians are Elvis |
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BLUESUEDESHOES |
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| Pedestrians attack you |
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BAGOWPG STOPPICKINGONME |
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| Pedestrians attack you with guns |
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BGLUAWML |
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| Pedestrians have weapons |
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FOOOXFT SURROUNDEDBYNUTTERS |
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| Pedestrians riot (with golf club)
Note: Madd Dogg will instantly jump to his death once you start his mission. |
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AJLOJYQY ROUGHNEIGHBORHOOD |
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| Pink traffic |
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LLQPFBN |
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| Rural traffic |
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EVERYONEISPOOR |
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| Rural theme
Note: If you activate this cheat, CJ will wear rural clothes automatically. |
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FVTMNBZ |
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| Sports car traffic |
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EVERYONEISRICH GUSNDHE |
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| Traffic lights always green |
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ZEIIVG |
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| Yakuza theme (Triads start to appear in the streets with Katana's. Mostly black cars and motorcycles patrol the streets. Ambulances may also spawn with a black colour scheme, and any cars the player spawns or imports will also be black.) |
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NINJATOWN AFPHULTL |
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Gangs
| Effect | PS2 | PC | Xbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gang members spawn much faster |
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MROEMZH |
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| Gang wars break out all over the streets (can be deactivated) |
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ONLYHOMIESALLOWED |
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| Gangs and workers |
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MROEMZH |
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| No citizens or cops, only gang members having gunfights |
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BIFBUZZ |
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| Recruit anyone into gang with Pistols
Note: If the player recruits a Ballas and/or Vagos gang member and starts a gang war, the recruited Ballas and/or Vagos will immediately attack the player. |
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SJMAHPE WANNABEINMYGANG |
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| Recruit anyone into gang with rocket launchers
Note: If the player recruits a Ballas and/or Vagos gang member and starts a gang war, the recruited Ballas and/or Vagos will immediately attack the player. |
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ROCKETMAYHEM ZSOXFSQ |
|
| Recruit anyone into gang with AK-47s
Note: If the player recruits a Ballas and/or Vagos gang member and starts a gang war, the recruited Ballas and/or Vagos will immediately attack the player. |
Unknown / Unavailable | BMTPWHR NOONECANSTOPUS |
Unknown/ Unavailable |
Time and weather
| Effect | PS2 | PC | Xbox |
|---|---|---|---|
| Always midnight (00:00)
Note: Odd sudden weather changes. If you are killed, the time reverts to 12:00. When disabled the time that passed is added to your current time. |
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NIGHTPROWLER XJVSNAJ |
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| Always 21:00 with orange sky
Note: When disabled the time that passed is added to your current time. |
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OFVIAC |
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| Cloudy weather |
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ALNSFMZO |
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| Fast gameplay |
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SPEEDITUP PPGWJHT |
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| Slow gameplay |
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SLOWITDOWN LIYOAAY |
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| Speed up time
Note: Enter code again to deactivate. |
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YSOHNUL TIMEJUSTFLYBY |
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| Foggy weather |
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CFVFGMJ CANTSEEWHEREIMGOING |
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| Overcast weather |
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ALNSFMZO DULLDULLDAY |
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| Sandstorm |
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CWJXUOC SANDINMYYEARS |
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| Rainy weather |
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AUIFRVQS | n/a |
| Stormy weather |
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SCOTTISHSUMMER MGHXYRM |
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| Sunny weather |
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PLEASANTLYWARM AFZLLQLL |
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| Very sunny weather |
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TOODAMNHOT ICIKPYH |
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Negative effects of cheating
Cheating in GTA San Andreas has been proven to have some negative effects on missions and gameplay. The following list contains side effects that may arise by playing the game with cheats. To avoid any of these side effects, it is recommended to use cheat codes only after the game has been completed or on an alternate save file. However, some minor side effects from a save file with cheats can spread onto a file without cheats.
- Cheating decreases your Criminal Rating by 10 (except for "Health & Armor" cheat).
- Enabling the "Health and Armor" cheat during the bike chase of Just Business and during shooting from the car in End of the Line will fail the mission, destroying the bike/Feltzer (End of the Line), and CJ will eventually be Wasted.
- Enabling the "Health and Armor" cheat during the Lure mission will immediately destroy your doors, making the mission more difficult (unless the player kill the bikers first).
- The Health and Armor cheat does not have an effect on the DA's car on 555 We Tip.
- Enabling the "Health and Armor" cheat at any time during a taxi driver sub-mission will immediately empty the tip bar, making you unable to get the Speed Bonus.
- Enabling the "Lock Wanted Level" cheat will cause a glitch on the Mike Toreno mission stopping the script after the red marker (unless the "Lock Wanted Level" cheat is disabled).
- When the "Pedestrians attack with Golf Clubs" cheat is activated in the game during the Madd Dogg mission, Madd Dogg will immediately jump off of the roof, failing the mission.
- The Max Fat and Max Muscle cheats make it difficult for the player to date Helena Wankstein (unless the player collected all Oysters).
- The Minimum Fat and Muscle cheats make it difficult for the player to date Michelle Cannes & Barbara Schternvart (unless the player collected all Oysters).
- The Super Punches cheat are not recommended during the Riot events of Los Santos. Since any civilian (including CJ) being punched with this cheat turned on will automatically die (unless the infinite health cheat is turned on).
- The Recruit Anyone cheats reverse in effect during Gang Wars.
- The missions Burning Desire, Life's a Beach, Photo Opportunity, and Madd Dogg cannot be completed if too many cheats have been used before the mission.
- If you enable the Jetpack cheat whilst CJ has stepped on a red mission marker, the game crashes before the mission starts.
- The Pedestrians Riot cheat makes the mission "Madd Dogg" impossble to complete, as Madd Dogg falls off before you have enough time to park the truck under him.
- The Pedestrians Riot cheat also makes the mission Tanker Commander impossible to complete, as Mr. Whittaker will instantly attack Catalina upon meeting her, causing her to shoot him, making the cutscene permanent.
- If you enter the Flying Cars cheat, and you drive a car into any body of water, CJ will become stuck in the car and will not be able to get out (unless the "Flying Cars" cheat is disabled). Same applies when bailing out whilst in the air (rarely).
- If you enter the Cars Float Away When Hit cheat too many times, cars will sometimes spawn in midair and fall from the sky. Also, random cars will explode as soon as CJ is within spawning distance of them.
- If you enable the Flying Cars cheat, random NPC cars may suddenly lift off and fly away.
- Enabling the Health and Armor cheat during the mission Reuniting The Families (the chase part) will not repair Sweet's car.
- Enabling the Destroy All Cars cheat during the mission Reuniting The Families (possibly to make the cop cars & bikes destroyed quickly) will make Sweet's car explode and will make CJ stuck inside the car (unable to get out & killed) (Include Tanker Exploding Before Sweet's Car Crash into it that make Game Completely Stop).
- If the Cars Float On Water cheat is enabled, the Nevada, Rustler, Stuntplane and Cropduster will roll backwards when they spawn. It is unknown why this happens, but it is hypothesized that they roll backwards because their nose tilts upwards when parked.
- Enabling time cheats (Midnight for example), may cause the in-game time to progress and it will never stop unless the cheat is enabled again (causing the clock to speed up like the "Faster Clock" cheat until it catches up to whenever it should be).
- Enabling Fat and Stamina Cheats will cause CJ to not be allowed to work out in any gym.
- If the player has the "Flying Cars" cheat enabled while starting any Racing side-mission, all of the opponent's cars will lift off and fly away as soon as the race starts.
- If the player has the Riot cheat enabled, pedestrians can be seen fighting each other in the background during mission cutscenes. Sometimes pedestrians may interfere with the cutscene and attack CJ.
- Sometimes when you attack or steal an NPC's car, they walk away instead of running away or fighting you. This cheating side effect can occur after only one cheat is activated.
- When you activate "Health and Armor" cheat when you drive a vehicle is about to explode when the vehicle is fixed, the car still explode during Blood Bowl Sub-Mission.
- Enabling the "Raise Wanted Level" & "Six-Star Wanted Level" cheat during the mission "555 We Tip" will fail the mission.
- Enabling the "All Cars Explode" cheat during Race Tournament Sub-Mission will eventually CJ to be disqualified (if CJ exits the vehicle) & wasted (if CJ fails to exit the vehicle).
- Enabling the "Invulnerable Cars" after getting in a car is uneffective because if the player tries to damage a car and that car explodes, his/her car will also smoke and explode, eventually making CJ wasted (if the player fails to exit the car in time).
Tricks
- During the third mission, Sweet & Kendl, if you type in the cheat "Bounty on your head", you will cause your gang to attack you. However, if you are able to run them over with a vehicle, de-activate the "Bounty on your head" cheat, activate the cheats "Recruit Anyone" and "Maximum Respect" cheat, lock on and recruit them, they will become your allies. They have a lot of health and they can take a lot of damage. Also, they never de-spawn. This is confirmed for PC.
- Whilst the "Speed up time" cheat is activated at least twice, inputting Left, Down, Right, Up, Left, Down, Right, Up on the PS2 controller when listening to the radio in a vehicle will allow you to skip tracks.
- If you enable the "Invincible Vehicle" cheat code, then enter any car, (Except aircraft and boats) then disable the cheat while you are in the same vehicle, the car will still be invincible, but won't destroy other vehicles on contact. (If you use Pay'n Spray or Mod Shop or store the vehicle in a garage, it will lose its invincibility)
What you can do with "Recruit anyone" Cheat
Trivia
- So far, GTA San Andreas is the only game to have a cheat code wherein the player cannot (automatically) earn any wanted level for trespassing in any prohibited area (in the case of GTA San Andreas, San Fierro and Las Venturas if both cities has yet to be unlocked) as Wanted Levels cannot be disabled for trespassing in prohibited areas including the Washington Beach Police Station in GTA Vice City, the tarmac of Francis International Airport and the areas that has yet to be unlocked in GTA IV, and Fort Zancudo, Humane Labs and Research and the tarmac of Los Santos International Airport in GTA V (if the player has yet to purchase a hangar as Michael and Franklin or when playing as Trevor)
- Enabling the "Sports Cars" cheat will replace normal civilian cars with sports cars (and some of them are rare) spawning throughout the states, like Phoenix, Euros, Hotknife, Uranus (They are considerably rare in free roam if this cheat has not been activated yet). The same as "Cheap Cars" cheat.
- If you enable the peds attacking you with weapons cheat while on vigilante missions, a glitch will occur where the targeted criminals will sometimes separate from their cars. For example if you are on Level 4 (where there are four criminals in a car), this cheat code will sometimes cause two of the criminals to abandon the car while the other half continues to drive it.
- Enabling “BIFBUZZ” will also spawn the ninth gang that is unused normally. And if the player activates this cheat in areas outside of Los Santos, they will see Los Santos gangs spawn in other areas (even rural areas), much like somewhat in the Riot.
- If the time stuck at 00:00 cheat is used and sometime is passed some times, an oval thing that resembles the sun, but is smaller in size appears. It has the same colour as sun. It is believed to be a NIGHTPROWLER glitch.