All Red Dead Redemption 2 Cheat Codes

Every cheat code in Red Dead Redemption 2 is entered through the Settings → Cheats menu — press Triangle on PlayStation or Y on Xbox to open the input field. Before you start, know this: activating any cheat disables manual saving and locks all Achievements and Trophies for that session. Some codes also require purchasing specific newspapers in Saint Denis first. With that out of the way, here’s the complete list.

The codes below are split into two categories: newspaper-locked cheats (which need a specific in-game newspaper purchased before they’ll work) and open-world cheats (available any time). Every code is tested as of the current version on PS4/PS5 and Xbox One/Series X.

How to Enter Cheat Codes in Red Dead Redemption 2

Open the main menu, go to Settings, then look to the lower right corner of the screen. You’ll see a Cheats option — press Triangle (PS4/PS5) or Y (Xbox) to open it. Press that button a second time and a text input field appears. Type the phrase exactly as written, including capitals and punctuation where listed.

A few things worth knowing before you start punching in codes:

• No saving while cheats are active. The game will warn you. If you need to save, back out and disable cheats first.
• Achievements and Trophies are disabled the moment any cheat is toggled on — even if you’re not actively using it.
• Newspaper cheats won’t unlock until the corresponding paper has been purchased. The game will simply reject the input.
• Some cheats (drunk mode, for example) toggle on and off. Others are one-time spawns or stat adjustments.

One detail the menus don’t explain: you don’t need to re-enter a code every session. Once unlocked, cheats are stored in your Cheats menu permanently and can be toggled on or off without re-typing the phrase. That means newspaper cheats only require the purchase once.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Newspaper Cheat Codes

These eight cheats are locked behind specific in-game newspapers sold in Saint Denis. You don’t need to be holding the paper when you enter the code — purchasing it at any point permanently unlocks the associated cheat. If you’ve skipped newspapers during the story, don’t worry: all editions stay available for purchase throughout your playthrough. Check the back of documents in-game (the “flip” button) for hidden code hints printed on the reverse.

The War Horse spawned by You are a beast built for war is a fully bonded Hungarian Half-bred with high health and decent speed — genuinely useful for combat scenarios even if you’re not cheating through the rest of a session.

Open World Cheat Codes

These codes work without any newspaper requirement. Open the Cheats menu, type the phrase, and they’re yours. Note that some of these can be found written in the world — You flourish before you die appears in a drawer at Snowfield Shack, and Run! Run! Run! is written on a chalkboard inside Fort Riggs — but finding them in the world isn’t required to activate them.

Money & Honor Cheats

Real talk: RDR2 doesn’t have a money cheat that dumps thousands into your pocket. Greed is now a virtue adds exactly $500 — a flat, one-time injection that can be triggered repeatedly, but you’ll be re-entering the code each time. It’s not the game-breaking cash exploit some players expect.

For Honor manipulation, you have three tools. Balance. All is balance resets to neutral — useful if you’ve accidentally tanked your Honor mid-playthrough and want clean access to the high-Honor story outcomes. Virtue unearned is not virtue (newspaper-locked) maxes it out entirely. You revel in your disgrace, I see drops it — primarily useful if you want merchants and bounties to behave differently, or you’re testing dishonorable dialogue variations.

One edge case worth knowing: Honor cheats interact with story progression. Resetting or maxing Honor with a code right before certain late-game conversations can affect Arthur’s internal monologue. The game checks Honor state at specific dialogue triggers, not just at cutscene boundaries.

Horse & Vehicle Cheats

Six codes deal directly with horses and transport, and there’s more nuance here than the raw cheat list suggests.

My kingdom is a horse is the genuinely useful one here. Bonding to level 4 normally takes hours of riding, brushing, and feeding — this skips all of it. Maximum bonding unlocks the horse’s full speed and handling stats, plus the rearing animation when you fire from the saddle. If you’re using a horse you’ve already named and equipped, this is the most practical single cheat in the list.

You want more than you have scales to your current mount — so if you’re already on a top-tier Missouri Fox Trotter, the spawned horse may not be noticeably better. Community testing suggests it consistently produces high-tier breeds, but exact stats vary by session.

Dead Eye & Combat Cheats

Dead Eye progression in RDR2 is tiered — five distinct levels that unlock over the course of the story, each adding a new mechanic. The cheat system mirrors this exactly, giving you surgical control over which level you’re operating at.

Be greedy only for foresight combined with Abundance is the dullest desire (infinite ammo) is the closest RDR2 gets to a god mode setup. Dead Eye never drains, every shot connects at full slow-motion precision, and you never run dry. That said, it fundamentally removes the tension that makes combat interesting — the “slowed time, manual target painting, one last shot” pressure is what makes Dead Eye feel earned. Worth knowing the combination exists, worth knowing it hollows out the experience if you lean on it too hard.

For players who just want to skip the early Dead Eye grind — particularly frustrating in Chapter 1 — I shall be better (Level 3) gives you the critical hit display without completely trivialiing combat. That’s the sweet spot.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do RDR2 cheat codes affect trophies permanently?

No. Cheats block Achievements and Trophies only while active. Disable all cheats, reload your save (or load a clean save), and trophy tracking resumes normally. Using cheats on one save file doesn’t affect a separate save.

Can I save the game with cheats on?

No. Manual saving is disabled whenever any cheat is active. Autosave also stops triggering. To save progress, open the Cheats menu and disable everything first, then save normally.

Do I need to buy every newspaper to unlock all cheats?

Only the eight newspaper-locked codes require a purchase. The rest are available regardless of story progress or newspaper collection. All newspaper editions remain on sale in Saint Denis throughout the entire playthrough, so nothing is permanently missable.

Do cheats work in Red Dead Online?

No. Cheat codes are strictly a single-player feature. The Cheats menu doesn’t exist in the Online mode.

Can I enter codes on PC (Steam/Epic)?

Yes. The PC version uses the same Cheats menu accessed via Settings. Keyboard input makes typing phrases slightly faster than on console — no functional difference otherwise.

Does using the money cheat ($500) multiple times stack?

Yes, but you have to re-enter Greed is now a virtue each time. It’s not a toggle — each input is a fresh $500 deposit. Tedious but functional if you need a larger amount quickly.