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A Glitch, or in some cases a Bug, is an error in the game that produces an effect that was unintended by programmers and appears in almost every game.

Below are recorded glitches in Grand Theft Auto V. Some have since been fixed with updates, but a few remain unpatched.

Description[]

The glitches often arise from mistakes or errors in the game's coding which go unnoticed during development and testing of the game. Glitches can be unintentional and may cause problems to the player, but some glitches may be used to the player's advantage.

Some glitches are prominent than others and each one is specified and/or shared on a certain console (where these depends on the console's technical aspects). One of the most popular and common glitches is nicknamed "Blue Hell", which is featured in every game since GTA III. Once the player enters Blue Hell, they will fall for 5–10 seconds before returning to the surface.

Grand Theft Auto V[]

Cloning glitch[]

When the mission Mrs. Philips becomes available and before accepting it, when playing as Trevor, make sure that Ron is standing in Trevor's garden, take any vehicle and gently bump into Ron, just enough to knock him over, he will then proceed to walk into Trevor's trailer and then walk back out along with multiple clones of Ron without hats. Every time the camera is moved to take Trevor's trailer out of view, a new clone will spawn, also if right is pushed on the D-pad, this is the only time Trevor will actually make nice comments as opposed to the negative comments he usually makes to NPCs (Encountered in the PS3 and Xbox 360 version).

Cypress Flats River Glitch[]

There is a bug in the river of Cypress Flats, where the shades and lights do not respond correctly. You can provoke this by simply moving the camera (and sometimes even if it is not moved).

Money glitch[]

Sometimes, buying an excessive amount of products, such as car customisation or food, results in the last price reduction remaining on-screen at the top right of the HUD until the player reloads the game or dies. It may also occur from buying cars or paying for hospital fees.

Thrown weapons glitch[]

Throwing any kind of handheld explosives, such as Grenades or Sticky Bombs, may crash the game. The only workaround for some missions (e.g. Blitz Play) which require throwing handheld explosives is to quick throw it instead. You can quick throw by aiming any gun to the target and press G (Encountered in PC version).

Gate glitch[]

In Richman, Los Santos, there are several gates at the entrances of driveways of some homes which open automatically when the player gets close to them. If the player drives a vehicle up to one of these gates and rubs against it while the door is opening or closing, the player's vehicle may be thrown violently to the opposite direction, often flying through the air a few miles before crashing back down to the ground. This glitch is very similar to the swingset glitch in GTA IV and was patched in the 1.14 update.

Duplicated protagonist[]

Occasionally, if the player switches characters many times over a short period of time in Single Player, a duplicate character may appear. The duplicate character will act like a normal pedestrian, and will move towards the nearest pedestrian pathway and walk as if he were a normal NPC. Switching characters again will revert this glitch.

Imminent crash glitch[]

Sometimes, if the player switches from any other player to Trevor, he may spawn inside his helicopter flying towards a skyscraper, causing him to crash and instantly kill himself. It is unknown if this was a spawn glitch or if it was intended. On rare occasions, Trevor can survive the crash and will exit the vehicle unharmed if the player switches back to him.

Interiors glitch[]

There is a way to glitch into many interiors in the game as any character that are either locked after a certain part of the story or only accessible to a single Protagonist. Enter-able locations include: Floyd's apartment, Franklin's house, Michael's mansion when he is not around, Lester's house, etc. To perform this glitch, stand on the roof of the house or building the player wishes to enter and switch to another character and quickly switch back, and the player may spawn inside the house. This may take a few attempts, but the player must beware, as some interiors like the Vangelico store after The Jewel Heist or the Lifeinvader Building after Friend Request are not solid meaning that if the player glitches inside they will fall into Blue Hell for a few seconds and spawn somewhere nearby or rarely when the player spawns they die instantly. The only interior not compatible with this glitch is Trevor's trailer and if the player tries to glitch in it will spawn the player somewhere outside the trailer (Tested on Xbox 360).

Disappearing vehicle[]

Occasionally when loading quick-saves taken from when the character was driving, the vehicle will disappear, sending the player flying at the speed the vehicle was traveling.

Duplicated vehicle[]

Sometimes, if the player had finished a friend activity, the friend will ask the player to take him/her to their destination. Simply enter a car and drive to their destination. But, when almost reaching the destination marker, speed up so the vehicle will overshoot the destination. If this is done correctly, a duplicate car (the car the player is driving) will appear in the same position as the destination marker and the friend will enter it. If this is done correctly when hanging out with other protagonists, it is also one of the ways to obtain other protagonists' special vehicles.

Second cloning glitch[]

In Michael's mansion, Michael's family members may be standing on furniture when he enters, and can actually clone themselves for unknown reasons. There will also sometimes be random NPCs walking around the grounds of Michael's mansion for no reason. This appears to only happen very early on in the game.

Ponsonbys glitch[]

If Michael does not buy a suit for the first heist and instead automatically obtains one by switching characters, the Ponsonbys store icon will permanently be on every character's HUD for the rest of the game.

Sawed-off Shotgun on a Bus[]

Strangely, the player can fire the Sawn-Off Shotgun while driving a Bus. This is widely believed to be a glitch, since this is the only large vehicle where this is possible. However, this may have been intended due to the vehicle's large windows. This appears to be fixed in the enhanced version of the game.

Object glitch[]

Crashing through destructible objects, like fences and signs, and parking the vehicle in the spot where the object was will sometimes cause it to respawn through the vehicle when out of the player's line of sight. Re-entering the vehicle will dislodge both the vehicle and the object.

Freeze plane[]

If the player bails out of an airplane in mid-air and deploys a parachute, the airplane will continue flying in a straight path until it begins losing power and it starts going into an uncontrolled vertical descent. If the airplane continues flying far enough away from the player, the plane may freeze in mid-air and stay there until the player approaches it. This glitch seems to have been patched in 1.08, and it is not present in subsequent versions.

Falling beneath the map[]

Rarely if the player switches characters while driving at high speeds and switches back quickly the player will fall beneath the map and spawn back.

Gauntlet mission glitch[]

There have been players reporting a glitch that happens during one of the Gauntlet modification mission for the the Union Depository Heist (Subtle Approach). One would be required to drive the Gauntlet requested for the mission into Los Santos Customs and purchase the "Gold Heist Preparation" mod (which costs $11,000), and fail the mission with the message of "The Required Mods Cannot Be Purchased Due To Insufficient Funds", regardless of the amount of cash that character is holding. See the video for the details. If the player chooses to "Retry" the mission after failing it, the glitch would repeat itself; however, if the player chooses to "Quit" the mission, the character would be spawn in the garage of Los Santos Customs, with the vehicle disappeared, and the $11,000 removed. Occasionally, restarting the game might fix the glitch, and it is still unknown why this glitch happens. There also have been reports stating that the player could have avoided such a glitch by having at least twice the amount of minimum cash required (which means $22,000) before pulling the car into the garage each time.

Unlimited pistol ammo[]

Pistols can randomly lose their ammo counter, giving the player permanent unlimited ammo. Sometimes this can happen after The Merryweather Heist. If you switch to Michael, you'll see he has a lot of ammo on all his weapons. The ammo is around 9000 and will turn to around 6000 when the weapon is equipped. (PS4 version, also observed in the PC version).

Cargobob glitch[]

Lifting a dump truck with a Cargobob may cause it to spin uncontrollably in mid-air.

Game freeze in satellite view[]

When all three protagonists are available, if one is switched to within close proximity to another (enough for the game to not usually go in satellite view) before the mission Three's Company has been completed. Then the camera will pan into satellite view and 'freeze' there. (Tested on PC)

Rhino and Barracks glitch[]

When driving the Rhino, if the player sticks the gun turret in the back of a Barracks, both vehicles may get flung with great force in opposite directions. This glitch has now been patched.

Free vehicle repair[]

If one of the players damages his vehicle, simply switching to another character and then switching back to the previous character will repair the vehicle. This glitch can be quite helpful if the player doesn't have enough money to visit a Los Santos Customs garage to repair it.

Uncalculated Risk disabled[]

Many players have reported a glitch that disables the mission Uncalculated Risk from appearing on the map. It is unknown what factor of the game causes this, but it is quite problematic, since the mission is required for 100% completion. The mission is supposed to appear for Franklin after all the parachute missions are completed, but if the player completes the last parachute mission with any other player besides Franklin, the mission may not appear on the map. So far, there is no fix for this glitch.

No restriction on restricted zones[]

In the mission Fair Game, after Trevor kills the male elk from the "mating pair", Cletus will leave him to do the next kill alone. If Trevor leaves the area, it is possible to enter restricted areas such as Fort Zancudo, Bolingbroke Penitentiary and the Humane Labs and Research without receiving a wanted level. However, there will be no traffic on the roads, except for scripted traffic such as trucks or tractors. Be warned, however, if Trevor starts shooting then the wanted stars will appear. (UPDATE) When Trevor kills the last elk after Cletus leaves, when a marker appears on the body prompting the player to take a picture of it, if Trevor leaves, this time, there will be traffic. If Trevor dials 911 and waits for a police car to respond, he can steal the vehicle without getting any wanted level. If the player accelerates the vehicle immediately after stealing it, the police officer in the co-driver seat will stay inside, unless Trevor stops for longer than five seconds. He will then leave. Also, if an NPC commits a crime in the co-driver officer's view, he will use the police speaker and order them to pull over, or to stop the vehicle.

Altruist Cult glitch[]

While out of a mission, or hanging out with any of the main characters, there is an area in Mount Chiliad where the player is exempt from police attention. This area is the Altruist Cult and its surroundings. The only way to get a wanted level is to force it by using cheats. If the player dials 911 and waits for a police car to respond, they can shoot the police officers directly, punch them, blow them up, even the car. But if they try to steal the police cruiser while an officer is inside, they will receive a two-star wanted level. This is likely not a glitch, but a way to avoid police to come to the cult so the player can freely massacre its hostile and constantly spawning inhabitants.

Voice swap[]

If the player runs Jimmy De Santa over with a car when playing as Trevor, Trevor may speak in Michael's voice.

Helmet swap[]

Sometimes when Michael takes off his bicycle helmet in his house, it will turn into a motorcycle helmet (Tested on Xbox 360).

Heist crew member copy[]

When playing The Bureau Raid, if Packie and Gustavo Mota are chosen as the gun crew (choosing the fire truck scenario) and the player kills them by destroying the fire truck, they will gain a copy of one of the crew members (usually Packie).

Bus as Fire Truck[]

A rare bug during the setup phase of The Bureau Raid (after having chosen the Fire Truck approach) will cause the game register a Bus as a Fire Truck, then place a waypoint marker to Lester's safehouse instructing the player to deliver the vehicle, despite it not being a fire truck. It is unknown if this bug occurs exclusively with the Bus, however, no matter what vehicle is delivered, the fire truck will still appear in the mission.

Taxi ride glitch[]

Trying to hail an occupied cab might cause the protagonist's back to stick upright when walking and jogging (sprinting animation stays normal). It may also slightly glitch the player's arm positions, to the point where if the player aims his weapon, the weapon will be very clearly pointing in a different direction. This is a harmless but rather humorous glitch that looks extremely goofy on Trevor, since his jogging animation has him more hunched than Franklin and Michael.

Bus driver respawn[]

Any bus suffers from an unusual spawn glitch. If the player hijacks a bus and then exits it, and the player walks a few meters away from the bus (making sure the bus is out of the player's line of sight), if the player looks back at the bus, a driver will suddenly spawn in the driver's seat, and will begin attempting to drive it away. This, as said first, works in the Bus, the Airport Bus and the Dashound. Rarely, the driver might not spawn, but the bus' wheels are turning indefinitely when placed in front of an object, and this ends when the player enters the vehicle.

Ghost Train[]

Rarely, the player will be able to find a group of between three and five train cars rolling down any train track in the state without any engine car powering them. The train cars will be moving at a steady rate and will gradually get slower and slower until they stop completely. This is most likely a spawn glitch, where the game fails to spawn a train engine along with the train cars. This glitch may also occur in GTA Online. If the train cars come to a complete stop, sometimes another moving train may come from behind on the same track. When this happens, the moving train can be observed going right through the train cars.

Hat change during clothing changes[]

As of 1.13, the interactions menu has been added to story mode. If the player chooses an outfit which includes a hat (such as the Highway Patrol outfit), they can enter the interaction menu and choose a different hat then choose no hat and the helmet will disappear. This applies to Michael's Scuba Suit where the player can remove the snorkel or the hood (or both), the Security Suit, and the Highway Patrol outfit. Strangely enough, if the player tries this with the Stealth Suit, his hair will glitch through the mask (Applies to all characters). Franklin's Bugstar Exterminator outfit can have his hat removed. Trevor's Highway Patrol helmet can be removed, Security Suit helmet can be removed, and Dock Worker hat can be removed (the hat can also be placed onto any outfit the player desires through that menu).

"ALAN 0" License plate glitch[]

PATCHED After patch 1.07, there was a massive glitch involving the custom license plates of player's personal vehicles in story mode. The license plates on the personal vehicles of players would change so that they would read "ALAN 0", with no explanation at all. This glitch would get applied to the protagonists' personal vehicles (such as Michael's Obey Tailgater), and it would also rarely get applied to any vehicle inside one of the player's safehouse garages. This glitch seemed to be more prevalent among players who have a GTA Online account, and have used the Rockstar Social Club application to change their online vehicle's license plate. It is unknown what factor of the game caused this glitch, but it appears to have been patched at the 1.09 update, as it is not present in subsequent versions.

Switch glitch[]

Before 1.06, if the player switches too many times, the player is unable to access the internet and the HUD becomes missing. This glitch will affect GTA Online. The player is also unable to save the game, switch into another character, etc. This glitch has not been patched, and the only way to fix this is restart the game storyline. This glitch will still affect the next patches ahead if the player already does this.

Floating scissors in Barber shops[]

When killing somebody and quickly going in to Herr Kutz Barber, sitting on the chair to get a haircut, and getting a Wanted Level after sitting on the chair, a glitch will occur. The player won't be able to move, and the player will notice that a pair of scissors is hanging in the air near the player's head. This will continue forever unless the player switches to another character. (Tested on PS3, playing as Michael, as of September 2014).

Ammo glitch in DLCs[]

Since most DLC updates feature new weapons, one or two protagonist(s) will lose their ammo, leaving only one remaining ammo round, although it has been fixed to stop losing ammo. Including:

  • Beach Bum Pack/1.06: The first effect takes place here. When the patch 1.06 was released, along with the free Beach Bum Pack, there was a glitch in single player when the player is given the SNS Pistol, the amount of stored ammunition in the pistols will revert to zero and the clip will leave six rounds. The cause of this glitch is unknown, but it probably had something to do with the amount of the pistol rounds' coding. The protagonist will lose their pistols' ammo leaving the pistol's rounds remaining.
  • Valentine's Day Massacre Special/1.10: The protagonist will lose their Light Machine Guns' ammo.
  • The Business Update/1.11: The protagonist will lose their pistols' ammo again, as well as rifles.
  • Independence Day Special/1.15: The protagonist will lose their sniper rifles' ammo.
  • The Last Team Standing Update/1.17: The protagonist will lose both shotgun and sniper rifles' ammo.

Radio stations glitch[]

Occasionally, Los Santos Rock Radio, Radio Los Santos and Channel X may glitch and play songs from other stations after loading into story mode. This can be fixed by saving the game. (Confirmed on PS4 when spawning as Franklin, 3rd February 2015)

Michael on Trevor's trailer[]

A glitch occurs where Michael may be seen sitting in the armchair outside Trevor's trailer following the mission Meltdown.

Clipboard/Object Duplication Glitch[]

Sometimes if the player switches to Michael he will spawn at the movie studio and he starts talking to an individual with a clipboard. When the player regains control of Michael and pulls out a sniper and aims at the man with the clipboard, he will start screaming and dropping/spawning clipboards endlessly. This is similar to the glitch in Michael's house where random NPC's will spawn.

Monkey Business glitch[]

Players have often reported that when they try to start the mission Monkey Business, they get the message "The mission has been disrupted, please return later", no matter what character they try and start the mission with. This can be solved by driving away until the Icon reappears and going back to the mission start location (tested on Xbox One version, but also happens on PC).

Weapons For Mark II Locked[]

PATCHED Added as a part of Gunrunning DLC update, many players reported a new bug that caused some weapons for the Mk II weapons to become locked, requiring them to revert the weapons back to their original state in the MOC upon entering the Ammunition Store. This issue has been resolved in 1.41.

Thermal/Night Vision Glitch[]

If the player unexpectedly disconnects the session while having night/thermal vision turned on, they will be taken back to story mode with their vision still turned on. This can be fixed by joining back GTA Online to turn off vision effects.

Collisions From North Yankton Still Loaded[]

If a player restarts the mission Prologue and then closes the game without completing the mission there is a very rare chance that the collisions from North Yankton will stay despite North Yankton being invisible.

Gallery[]

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