The Sims 4 Motherlode Cheat Code: How to Use It

The motherlode cheat in The Sims 4 adds 50,000 Simoleons to your household funds instantly. To use it: open the cheat console (Ctrl+Shift+C on PC, all four triggers on console), type testingcheats true, press Enter, then type motherlode and press Enter again. That’s the whole sequence. Each time you enter motherlode, another 50,000 drops into your account — so you can stack it as many times as you need.

The rest of this guide covers the exact steps for each platform, why motherlode beats the alternatives, and how to cleanly turn off cheats when you’re done so nothing breaks in your save.

The Motherlode Code at a Glance

How to Enable Cheats and Run Motherlode on PC

Load your save, then press Ctrl + Shift + C at the same time. A white text bar appears in the top-left corner of the screen — that’s the cheat console. If nothing happens, make sure the game window is focused (click it once before pressing the shortcut).

Type testingcheats true exactly as written and hit Enter. The console should respond with “Cheats are enabled.” If you see “Cheats are disabled” or nothing at all, the command didn’t register — try again, making sure there are no typos or extra spaces.

Now type motherlode and press Enter. Your household funds jump by 50,000 Simoleons immediately. The cheat console stays open, so you can enter motherlode again right away if you need more. Each entry adds another 50k. Close the console with Ctrl+Shift+C or the Escape key when you’re finished.

One thing worth knowing: testingcheats on works as an alternative to testingcheats true, and testingcheats 1 also functions the same way. All three activate the cheat engine. The game accepts any of them as of the March 2025 build.

How to Enable Cheats and Run Motherlode on Console

Console players get the same motherlode cheat — the activation method is just slightly different, and this trips people up more than it should.

While in your active household, hold down all four shoulder buttons at once. On PlayStation that’s L1 + L2 + R1 + R2. On Xbox it’s LB + LT + RB + RT. Hold them together, not in sequence. The cheat console box appears at the top of the screen the same as on PC.

From there, the process is identical. Type testingcheats true, confirm the enabled message, then type motherlode. The on-screen keyboard appears automatically on console — select each character and confirm the full command before hitting the confirmation button.

The console version of The Sims 4 has had cheat support since the game launched on PS4 and Xbox One back in 2017, so nothing here is experimental. It works on current-generation hardware as well. Fair warning, though: navigating the on-screen keyboard to type testingcheats true is genuinely tedious. Most console players enter motherlode three or four times in one session just to avoid repeating the whole process later.

Why Motherlode Beats Other Money Cheats

The Sims 4 actually has several money-related cheats, and they’re not all equally useful. Understanding why motherlode is the one everyone remembers — and still reaches for — comes down to speed, safety, and precision.

Kaching (or rosebud, its legacy alias) adds only 1,000 Simoleons per use. It works fine, but if you’re trying to fund a full house renovation or buy a premium lot, you’d need to enter it dozens of times. Motherlode gives 50x that in a single command.

Money [amount] is the power-user option — type money 9999999 and your household’s total funds get set to exactly that number, not added to. That’s useful for precision, but it requires testingcheats to already be enabled and it overwrites rather than adds. If you’re not paying attention, you can actually reduce your funds with it by setting an amount lower than what you already have.

Motherlode threads the needle: it adds a meaningful sum (50,000 is enough for most mid-game purchases), it stacks cleanly, and there’s zero risk of accidentally setting your funds to zero. For players who want to top up their budget without going full god-mode, it remains the most sensible choice even now, more than a decade after it first appeared in The Sims 2.

The Money cheat is genuinely better only when you need an exact target amount — say, 200,000 Simoleons for a specific lot. In every other scenario, repeated motherlode entries are faster and lower-risk.

Turning Off Cheats Cleanly After You’re Done

A lot of guides skip this part. Don’t skip this part.

Leaving testingcheats active in your save doesn’t corrupt anything by itself, but it does flag the save as “cheated” in the game’s internal tracking. This affects achievements — any achievements or trophies that require legitimate gameplay won’t unlock while cheats are on. On some platforms, this flag persists even after you disable cheats, so it’s better to disable them before the save gets marked rather than after.

To disable: open the cheat console (Ctrl+Shift+C on PC, all four triggers on console), type testingcheats false or testingcheats off, and press Enter. The console confirms cheats are disabled. Close the console. Done.

Save your game manually right after disabling. This writes the non-cheat state to the save file rather than leaving it pending until autosave. If you want to keep a “clean” version of the household for achievement purposes, duplicate the save before enabling cheats — the game allows multiple save slots and you can copy saves on PC by duplicating the folder in Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Saves.

Common Issues and Why the Cheat Isn’t Working

The motherlode cheat fails for a handful of specific reasons, and most of them are quick fixes.

The console doesn’t open. On PC, this almost always means a background application is intercepting the Ctrl+Shift+C shortcut. Screenshot tools, clipboard managers, and certain system utilities grab that combination. Check your system tray and close anything that might use the same hotkey. Alternatively, try clicking directly on the game window first to make sure it has focus.

“Cheats are disabled” appears after typing motherlode. This means testingcheats true wasn’t entered first, or it didn’t register. You can’t skip that step — motherlode requires the cheat engine to be active. Enter testingcheats true again and confirm the “Cheats are enabled” message before trying motherlode.

The money doesn’t appear. Check that you’re in an active household, not on the map or in build/buy mode accessed from the map. The cheat works in live mode while actively playing a household. If you entered it during a loading screen or transition, the command was ignored.

Console triggers aren’t opening the console. Make sure you’re pressing all four simultaneously, not two at a time. If a controller has a stuck trigger or reduced sensitivity, it may not register all four at once. Testing each trigger in the console’s controller settings first can confirm hardware isn’t the issue.

The game says the cheat is unknown. Typos are the usual culprit — the command is motherlode as one word, no spaces, no capitals required but no hyphens or underscores either. Copy-pasting from a browser into the console works on PC if keyboard input is proving unreliable.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many times can you use motherlode in one session?

There’s no limit. Each entry adds 50,000 Simoleons to your current household funds. Enter it ten times and you’ll have 500,000 added on top of whatever you started with.

Does motherlode work without testingcheats true?

No. Motherlode is a sub-command that requires the cheat engine to be active. Without running testingcheats true first, the console will return an error or simply ignore the input.

Does using motherlode disable achievements?

Yes. Enabling testingcheats (required before motherlode) marks the save as a cheated session, which disables in-game achievements for that session. Some platform-level trophies may also be affected. Disabling cheats afterward doesn’t retroactively restore achievements for that session.

Is there a money cheat that doesn’t require testingcheats?

No standard money cheat bypasses the testingcheats requirement. All money-related console commands in The Sims 4, including kaching, rosebud, and the money command, need testingcheats enabled first.

Can you use motherlode in The Sims 4 on Mac?

Yes, the process is identical to PC. Ctrl+Shift+C opens the console on Mac as well, and the commands are the same.

What’s the difference between motherlode and the money cheat?

Motherlode adds 50,000 Simoleons to your current balance. The money cheat sets your balance to a specific number. If you type money 100000, your funds become exactly 100,000 regardless of what you had before — it won’t add on top of existing funds.