Red Dead Redemption 2 Cheat Codes: Complete List & How to Enter Them

All RDR2 cheat codes are entered through the Settings menu — pause the game, open Settings, then press Triangle (PS) or Y (Xbox) to reach the cheat input screen. From there, type the exact phrase listed below. Once unlocked, every cheat toggles on and off freely without re-entering. Fair warning: enabling any cheat blocks Achievements and Trophies and disables manual saving for that session — your progress won’t carry over while cheats are active.

Below you’ll find the top 5 most-used codes first, then step-by-step activation instructions, the full categorized list, and a breakdown of which cheats require specific newspapers before they’ll work.

Quick Reference: The 5 Cheats Players Actually Use First

If you’re here because you want something specific right now, these are the five codes that see the most use — practical, immediately impactful, and most don’t require any prerequisites.

The money cheat is repeatable — enter the session, use it multiple times in sequence, and you can stack cash before the session ends. You lose the save, but the merchant you spend it with doesn’t know that. Useful for buying camp upgrades or gear mid-chapter.

How to Enter Cheat Codes in Red Dead Redemption 2

The menu path isn’t obvious the first time. Here’s exactly how it works on both platforms:

1. Press Options (PlayStation) or Menu (Xbox) to open the pause screen.
2. Navigate to Settings using the right bumper or shoulder button.
3. Once inside Settings, press Triangle (PS) or Y (Xbox). This opens the cheats list — it’s blank until you’ve entered codes.
4. Press Triangle / Y again to open the text input field.
5. Type the cheat phrase exactly as written — capitalization doesn’t matter, but spelling does. Hit confirm.
6. A notification confirms whether the cheat unlocked or failed.

After a cheat is entered once, it stays permanently in your cheats list for that save file. Toggle it on or off from the same Settings menu whenever you need it — no re-entry required. The game prompts you with a warning before activation, letting you know saves and trophies are suspended.

One thing worth knowing: you can enter and unlock cheats without activating them. Unlocking ≠ enabling. You can build up a full list of unlocked cheats and only toggle them on when you actually want a sandbox session.

Full RDR2 Cheat Codes List by Category

Money & Economy

Weapons & Ammo

Health, Stamina & Dead Eye

Horses & Vehicles

Honor, Wanted Level & World

Misc & Fun

Newspaper Prerequisite Cheats Explained

Eight cheats in RDR2 are locked behind newspaper ownership — you physically need to have purchased a specific edition before the game accepts the phrase. Enter the code without the paper and you’ll see the error: “You do not meet the prerequisites to unlock this cheat.” The newspaper doesn’t need to be in your current inventory; owning it at any point on that save file is enough.

Three newspaper chains cover different regions and release new editions as the story advances:

• New Hanover Gazette — sold in Valentine
• Blackwater Ledger — sold in Strawberry
• Saint Denis Times — sold in Rhodes and Saint Denis

The Saint Denis Times is the one that gates the most cheats, so it’s worth buying each new edition as chapters progress. Here’s the exact unlock timeline for newspaper-dependent cheats:

A practical note: newspaper vendors occasionally don’t have stock when you visit. This isn’t a bug or a missable moment — come back after a short time skip or fast travel. None of the editions are permanently locked out based on community testing, even if you’ve progressed past the listed chapter.

The Infinite Ammo cheat has a quirk worth knowing: it’s the only one unlockable through two different newspapers from two different publishers. Either No. 27 or No. 43 works — whichever you pick up first does the job. If you’re in early Chapter 2 and find the Valentine vendor, grab the Gazette and that cheat is already available to you well before Saint Denis opens up.

What Happens When You Use Cheats

Two concrete consequences kick in the moment you enable a cheat from the Settings menu:

• Achievements and Trophies are suspended for the entire play session. This applies to PlayStation trophies and Xbox achievements both.
• Manual saving is disabled. The game will not let you save while any cheat is active.

Crucially, this is session-based, not permanent. Disable all active cheats, and both saves and trophy progress resume normally. Your existing unlocked cheats stay in the list — toggling them off doesn’t remove them, it just deactivates them for that session.

So the practical approach most players use: run a cheat session to experiment, grind gear, or just cause chaos, then disable everything and reload the last manual save to continue the story with trophies intact. The game essentially treats cheat sessions as a separate sandbox that doesn’t write to your save file while active.

One thing this system means for the money cheat specifically — $500 per use is solid for early chapters but limited if you’re trying to fund late-game purchases. Since the session won’t save, you’d be spending that money within the same session. Camp upgrades via the Share cheat are a better use here since they apply to camp state rather than wallet balance.

Common Issues & Troubleshooting

A few things come up repeatedly when players first try to use cheats in RDR2.

“I typed the code but nothing happened.” Check spelling carefully — the phrases are case-insensitive but punctuation matters. Greed is now a virtue works; Greed is now a virtue! with a trailing character will not. Also make sure you’re in the cheat entry field (second Triangle/Y press), not just browsing the existing cheat list.

“The game says I don’t meet prerequisites.” You’re missing the required newspaper for that specific cheat. Check the table above for which edition you need and where to buy it. You can’t bypass this with any workaround — the newspaper ownership check is tied to your save file data.

“My cheat code disappeared from the list.” Unlocked cheats are permanent on a save file and shouldn’t vanish. If you’re on a different save slot or started a new game, you’d need to re-enter them. Cheats don’t carry between separate save files.

“Can I use cheats in Red Dead Online?” No. Cheat codes are strictly single-player only. The Settings menu cheat input doesn’t exist in the Online mode at all.

“The newspaper vendor won’t sell me a paper.” Some vendors have inconsistent stock timing. Try visiting at a different in-game time of day, or fast travel away and return. No newspaper edition has been confirmed as permanently missable based on story progression.