Last verified July 17, 2026. Red Dead Redemption 2 handles cheats differently from Grand Theft Auto. The codes are not button strings or phone numbers. They are phrases, many of them written like strange old sayings, and several are tied to newspapers Arthur can buy after certain story points. The result feels more in-world than a normal cheat menu, but the punishment is stricter too.
Once you activate cheats in RDR2, saving is blocked and achievements or trophies are disabled for that cheated session. That makes these codes best for a separate playground save, not a serious campaign file where you are still chasing story progress, completion, medals, or unlocks.
Pixel Twelve's Red Dead Redemption 2 game page is the broader game hub. This guide is the practical cheat reference: how to enter codes, what the most useful phrases do, which ones need newspapers, and how to avoid confusing a fun experiment with a real save.
How to Enter Cheats in RDR2
Pause the game, open Settings, then use the Cheats prompt shown in the lower corner of the screen. On PlayStation, that prompt is Triangle. On Xbox, it is Y. From there, you can enter a phrase exactly as the game expects it. Once a cheat is accepted, it appears in the cheat list and can be toggled from that menu.
Punctuation is part of the phrase. Capitalization is usually less important than entering the words and punctuation cleanly, but the safest habit is to copy the phrase exactly. If a code fails, check the punctuation, check whether it requires a newspaper, and check whether you are far enough in the story for that newspaper to exist.
Some cheats are available without a newspaper requirement. Others require Arthur to buy a specific issue from the New Hanover Gazette, Saint Denis Times, or Blackwater Ledger after a story milestone. The game uses those papers as an in-world way to reveal cheat phrases, so late-game powers often stay locked until the campaign has moved far enough.
What Cheats Disable
RDR2 is blunt about the tradeoff. Activating cheats blocks saving and disables achievements or trophies for the session. Turning a cheat back off does not magically turn that session into a clean file again. If you want normal progress, reload a save from before cheats were activated.
That changes how you should use this page. The safest method is to make a manual save, activate cheats, cause trouble, test horses, spawn wagons, refill Dead Eye, or throw money around, then quit without saving and reload the clean file. Treat cheat time like a side room, not the main campaign.
This warning matters more in RDR2 than in many open-world games because so much progress is slow and cumulative. Honor, camp upgrades, horse bonding, challenges, compendium work, and mission medals can represent hours of play. A cheat session should not be where you do serious completion work.
Best Cheats to Try First
`Greed is now a virtue` gives Arthur money. It is the most obvious sandbox cheat because cash touches weapons, clothes, supplies, horses, and camp comfort. Use it to test purchases, not to replace the actual economy of a serious playthrough.
`You flourish before you die` refills health, stamina, and Dead Eye. It is a cleaner first combat cheat than trying to stack several effects at once. If you want to replay a fight without worrying about meters, this is the phrase to know.
`A simple life, a beautiful death` unlocks a basic weapons set. `Greed is American virtue` unlocks heavier weapons, but that one is tied to newspaper progress. Weapon cheats are fun for instant firefights, but they flatten the careful equipment curve that makes the early chapters feel grounded.
`You want punishment` raises your wanted level. `You want freedom` lowers it. Those two are perfect for testing the law system or turning a quiet town into a chase. They also show why cheats are better outside normal mission play: the moment wanted level becomes a toy, story tension starts to collapse.
Player, Money, and Honor Cheats
For money, use `Greed is now a virtue`. For a full meter refill, use `You flourish before you die`. For fortifying health, stamina, and Dead Eye, reference lists commonly use `You seek more than the world offers`, which requires later newspaper progress. For infinite stamina, `The lucky be strong evermore` is one of the most useful exploration cheats, but it is also locked behind story newspaper availability.
Honor can be pushed too. `Virtue unearned is not virtue` raises honor, while `Balance. All is balance` moves honor toward neutral. Those phrases are powerful because honor affects how RDR2 frames Arthur's behavior and certain prices, scenes, and responses. Use them carefully if you care about the tone of your story file.
Dead Eye cheats are tempting because the system is one of RDR2's signature tools. Phrases like `Be greedy only for foresight` and its stronger variations adjust Dead Eye level. They are useful for testing later targeting behavior, but they are not a good substitute for learning how combat rhythm works in normal play.
Horse, Wagon, and Travel Cheats
Horse and vehicle cheats are where RDR2 gets playful. `Run! Run! Run!` spawns a race horse. `You are a beast built for war` is commonly listed for a war horse and requires later newspaper progress. `Keep your dreams simple` creates a wagon. `Would you be happier as a clown?` creates a circus wagon after the right newspaper requirement.
These codes are best used in open areas. Like most open-world spawn cheats, they need space and a reasonable surface. If a horse or wagon code fails in a cramped street, move to a road, field, or camp edge and try again.
Horse bonding and ownership are part of the normal game, so do not confuse a spawned horse with real long-term progress. Use horse cheats to test speed, mess around, or cross terrain quickly in a throwaway session. For a serious save, buy, tame, or bond with the horse you actually want to keep.
Weapon, Ammo, and Outfit Cheats
`Abundance is the dullest desire` is the famous infinite ammo phrase, but it requires a newspaper. It is one of the strongest cheats in the game because RDR2's combat economy expects ammunition to matter. Once ammo is infinite, every fight becomes louder and less thoughtful.
Weapon-set cheats can unlock basic, heavy, stealth, or gunslinger-style kits depending on the phrase and requirement. They are useful if you want to test gun feel or create a cinematic fight, but they should not be used to judge normal weapon progression. RDR2 spaces out access for a reason.
Outfit and camp-related cheats can also exist behind newspaper locks. They are fun, but they can create the same false sense of progress as money cheats. If you use them, do it after saving cleanly and with the expectation that the session is temporary.
Newspaper Requirements Explained
Several RDR2 cheats require a newspaper issue that appears only after specific missions or chapters. The game is not only asking you to know the phrase; it is checking whether Arthur has reached the point where that phrase has been surfaced in the world.
That is why some correct phrases fail for players. The code is real, but the save has not met the requirement. Buy newspapers when new issues appear in Valentine, Saint Denis, or Blackwater, then return to the cheat menu. If the phrase still fails, check story progress and punctuation.
For most players, the cleanest approach is to finish the campaign or reach late story chapters before turning the cheat menu into a toybox. Early chapters are carefully paced, and cheats can make them feel strangely hollow.
How to Use Cheats Without Regret
Make a manual save before opening the cheat menu. Enter the phrases you want. Play as wildly as you like. When you are done, reload the clean save. That rhythm keeps cheat sessions fun instead of stressful.
Do not activate cheats before a mission where you care about medals. Do not use them during a chapter where you are trying to preserve story tone. Do not assume toggling a cheat off fixes the session. RDR2's warning exists because the game does not want cheated progress blending into a legitimate save.
Used the right way, Red Dead Redemption 2 cheats are excellent. They let you turn the world into a movie set, test guns, spawn rides, play with the law, and see systems bend. Used carelessly, they mostly create confusion around saves. Keep those two experiences separate and the cheat menu becomes exactly what it should be: a temporary break from the rules.
Useful Cheat Phrases to Know
`Greed is now a virtue` adds money. `You flourish before you die` refills health, stamina, and Dead Eye. `A simple life, a beautiful death` gives a basic weapon set. `Death is silence` is commonly listed for stealth weapons. `History is written by fools` unlocks gunslinger weapons. `You want everyone to go away` clears bounties and lockdown areas in many reference lists.
`You want more than you have` creates a superior horse. `My kingdom is a horse` increases horse bonding. `Keep your dreams light` creates a horse-drawn cart. `Keep your dreams simple` creates a wagon. Some of these phrases work freely, while others are tied to newspapers or story progress, so a correct phrase can still fail if the save is too early.
Use Cheats After the Campaign If You Care About the Story
The best time to use RDR2 cheats is after you already understand the campaign's normal pace. Money pressure, weapon access, horse bonding, honor, and wanted levels all help shape Arthur's journey. If you turn those systems into switches too early, the world becomes a toy before it becomes a place.
After the campaign, cheats can be a great way to revisit the map without worrying about purity. Spawn rides, trigger fights, test weapons, explore with stamina cheats, and make your own chaos. Keep the clean save separate, and the cheat menu becomes a reward for curiosity instead of a threat to progress.
Why Some Codes Feel Stronger Than Others
RDR2's strongest cheats are not always the flashiest ones. Money, infinite ammo, Dead Eye changes, and horse spawning change the campaign's economy and travel rhythm immediately. Weather or wanted-level changes are easier to treat as temporary fun because they mostly affect the moment in front of you.
If you are only testing, start with the smaller toys. Spawn a wagon, change a wanted level, refill meters, or try a weapon set. Save the big progression-breaking cheats for a file where you already know you are not preserving story progress.
PC, PlayStation, and Xbox Notes
The phrase system keeps RDR2 simpler than games with separate platform button codes. PC, PlayStation, and Xbox players are generally dealing with the same cheat phrases, entered through the in-game menu rather than through live controller inputs. The platform difference is mostly the button used to open the Cheats entry screen.
That makes the guide easier to use on a second screen. Read the phrase, enter it carefully, check whether the game accepts it, then toggle it from the list. If it fails, the issue is usually punctuation, a missing newspaper requirement, or story progress rather than the platform itself.
