GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition cheats: full list

GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition cheats: what still works in the remastered trilogy release

Rockstar’s trilogy remaster brought back nearly the entire catalog of classic codes for the updated build, and the practical question most players ask first is whether the input methods changed at all. The short answer is that the codes themselves are the same phrases Rockstar has shipped since the original 2004 release, but the way you enter them depends on if you are on a controller or a keyboard, and if you are on the Netflix mobile build, the standalone console release, or a PC copy running through a launcher. The cheat counter, the in-game pop-up, and the real-time activation all behave the way veterans remember, so this is one part of the remaster where the experience did not regress.

This guide focuses on the working list for the Definitive Edition of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the input methods that match each platform, and the practical decisions a developer, tester, or curious player needs to make before treating cheat codes as a normal QA tool rather than a novelty. The verified reference used to compile the working list is the comprehensive cheat sheet maintained by IGN’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas cheats and secrets hub, which has been kept current across the trilogy re-release. Where a code’s behavior is platform-specific, the table below calls it out directly.

How to enter cheats in the Definitive Edition

The activation flow is the same one Rockstar standardized in the original release, and the remaster does not require any extra menu or pause to enter a code. You type a phrase or tap a button sequence while gameplay is running, watch for the small confirmation pop-up in the upper corner of the screen, and the effect takes hold immediately. The pop-up is the only signal that matters; if it does not appear, the input was either too slow or misread, and you have to start the sequence again from the beginning.

On PC, type the phrase directly during gameplay using your keyboard. There is no need to open a console or pause. The cadence is the same as typing a chat message: keep it fluid and the code usually registers on the first try.
On PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and the older PlayStation controllers the game still supports, enter the button combinations in order. Most of them are two-button toggles, but timing still matters, so chain them rather than tapping.
On Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Xbox 360-style controllers, use the equivalent button sequences listed in the platform-specific tables below. Xbox inputs are usually the simplest because the official phrasing is closest to the in-game prompts.
On Nintendo Switch, the cheat inputs are mapped to the Switch Pro Controller and Joy-Con layouts, and the cadence rules are identical to the other console builds.
On mobile and the Netflix streaming build, you need either a Bluetooth keyboard paired to the device or the in-game virtual keyboard pulled up on screen. Without one of those, the codes cannot be entered at all.

Platform availability for GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition cheats

The remaster is multi-platform, and the cheat list is the same across each release, but the input method and the presence of a physical keyboard change the experience considerably. The table below summarizes which platforms are supported, what kind of input the build expects, and a short note for QA or dev work that needs the same code path on every device.

Platform	Input method	Cheat input	Note for testers
PC (Rockstar Launcher, Steam, Epic)	Physical keyboard	Type phrase during gameplay	Most reliable for scripted test runs
PlayStation 5 / PlayStation 4	DualSense or DualShock controller	Button sequence during gameplay	Confirm pop-up before saving state
Xbox Series X\|S / Xbox One	Xbox wireless or wired controller	Button sequence during gameplay	Same codes as PS, mirrored inputs
Nintendo Switch	Pro Controller, Joy-Con, or handheld	Button sequence during gameplay	Useful for handheld QA passes
Mobile (iOS, Android)	Virtual keyboard	Type phrase with on-screen keys	Slower than physical input
Netflix mobile streaming	Bluetooth keyboard required	Type phrase with paired keyboard	No on-screen keyboard for codes

Working cheats by category

The Definitive Edition ships with the full catalog of codes that shipped with the original San Andreas, and the remaster did not strip any of them out. Grouping them by what they actually do is more useful for a developer or a returning player than memorizing 90-plus lines, because most of the time you only need one of the categories below to solve a specific test or sandbox scenario.

Player and stat codes

These are the codes that change how CJ himself behaves. The invincibility code is the most common starting point for QA, and the wanted-level code is the most common tool for testing a mission without losing it to a passing police helicopter.

Invincibility keeps CJ safe from most damage. Explosions, falling, drowning, and being run over can still hurt him, so the cheat is not a true god mode for physics-driven deaths.
Infinite ammo applies to the currently equipped weapon and remains active until you reload the autosave or quit the session.
Wanted level up or down lets you escalate or drop a pursuit at will, which is useful for testing escape and chase mission logic without restarting the whole encounter.
Max health, armor, and money fills out the survival bar and bank account in one go. The exact cap is the same as a maxed-out legitimate playthrough.
Fat and thin codes exist alongside the muscle and stat-max codes, which is helpful when testing clothing or NPC reaction triggers that depend on body type.

Weapon kit codes

There are three full-kit codes that replace CJ’s current arsenal with a themed loadout. The trade-off is that the kit you pick is the kit you have, so pick the one closest to the encounter you want to test rather than cycling between them in the middle of a fight.

Code effect	What it spawns	Best used for
Thug kit	Bat, pistol, shotgun, mini SMG, AK-47, rocket launcher, Molotov cocktail, spray can, brass knuckles	General-purpose mission testing
Street kit	Knife, pistol, sawed-off shotgun, Tec-9, sniper rifle, flamethrower, grenades, fire extinguisher	Stealth and fire-damage tests
Professional kit	Chainsaw, silenced pistol, combat shotgun, M4, bazooka, plastic explosive	Heavy combat and explosives QA

World and NPC manipulation codes

This group is the one a developer is most likely to reach for when reproducing a bug report. The mayhem codes change pedestrian behavior, outfit, and pedestrian archetypes, and they are the fastest way to set up a stress scenario in the open world.

Riot mode makes pedestrians attack each other in the streets. Useful for testing crowd AI without spawning a rival gang directly.
Triads mode equips CJ with a samurai sword and replaces civilians with triad members.
Clown and fast-food mode gives CJ a red wig and comical glasses, and swaps the pedestrian pool for clowns and mascots.
Country mode dresses CJ in a rural outfit and replaces the streets with country-themed NPCs and vehicles.
Gimp mode places CJ in the gimp suit and replaces pedestrians with prostitutes and pimps.
Beast mode increases punch damage dramatically and applies the same buff to nearby pedestrians.

Vehicle spawn codes

San For additional context, Andreas has always been generous with vehicle spawns, and the remaster kept the entire roster. Spawning a vehicle is a one-time effect rather than a permanent unlock, so the same code entered twice will simply replace the previous car with another of the same type. This is fine for scripted testing, but a developer who needs a persistent vehicle should save after spawning.

Standard car spawn for general traffic-style tests.
Sports car spawn for high-speed mission and stunt QA.
Tank spawn for armor and heavy-weapon stress tests.
Hydra and other aircraft spawns for flight mission reproduction.
Boat and jet ski spawns for the smaller San Fierro and Las Venturas water bodies.
Bicycle and motorcycle spawns for parkour-style and stunt test passes.

Stat, gang, and recruit codes

These are the codes that change the way NPCs behave around CJ and how his own attributes work in the open world. The recruit codes in particular are the cleanest way to test follower AI and squad behavior without scripting a custom encounter.

Infinite sprint and oxygen lets CJ run without tiring and removes the underwater air meter, which is helpful for any mission or asset that depends on continuous movement.
Recruit anyone with a 9mm pistol makes any pedestrian on screen follow CJ armed with a 9mm. The follower count is limited by the engine’s NPC budget, so very dense crowds may drop a follower as new ones join.
Recruit anyone with a rocket launcher behaves the same as the pistol recruit but equips the follower with a rocket launcher instead.
Gang replacement swaps the entire pedestrian pool for members of one of San Andreas’ gangs, which is the simplest way to test gang-based dialogue and reaction triggers.
Empty streets clears pedestrians so only the chosen gang remains. This is a clean way to isolate NPC AI without the noise of a full city.

Weather, time, and traffic codes

The world-state codes are a separate group because they affect environment, traffic density, and time of day rather than CJ or the NPC pool. The time-of-day code is one of the more useful QA tools because many mission triggers and ambient encounters only spawn at specific hours.

Time-of-day and weather toggles for setting a known world state during a reproduction.
Traffic-density up and down for stress testing pathfinding and collision on dense roads.
Boat, plane, and motorcycle traffic toggles for isolating a specific vehicle archetype on the streets.

Platform-specific input reference

The exact button sequences differ between controllers, and entering a PlayStation sequence on an Xbox pad or vice versa will silently fail. The table below summarizes the input families the Definitive Edition accepts, and the rest of the article focuses on the codes themselves, which are identical across all platforms.

Controller family	Sequence style	Quick test
DualSense / DualShock (PS5, PS4, PS3, PS2)	Two-button toggles, often with a d-pad or trigger modifier	Test with infinite ammo first; input is the most timing-sensitive on this pad
Xbox wireless / Xbox 360 pad	Two-button toggles using A, B, X, Y, triggers, and bumpers	Mirrored layout from PS, so QA scripts that log inputs need a per-platform mapping
Switch Pro Controller / Joy-Con	Same conceptual sequences, mapped to the Switch face buttons and triggers	Useful for handheld reproductions where the laptop or PC is unavailable

What the codes do to your save file

Cheats in San Andreas are designed to be reversible, but they are not all completely neutral. Some save with the cheat active, some revert on reload, and the trophy and achievement conditions usually treat any save that was written under a cheat as ineligible for the corresponding unlock. Anyone using these for QA, content creation, or casual replay should keep that boundary in mind before treating a cheat-enabled session as a clean one.

Cheats do not corrupt the save. They modify the runtime state of the world, not the mission or progress data.
Saving during an active cheat persists the cheat’s effect on the next reload. Disable the cheat and save again to clear the runtime state.
Trophies and achievements that depend on a clean run, including any 100% completion tracking, will disqualify saves that were written while a cheat was active.
Stat-based cheats such as muscle, fat, and respect often have to be re-applied if you reload a save that was not written with the cheat active.

Troubleshooting: when a cheat does not register

The confirmation pop-up in the upper corner is the only feedback the game gives you, and a missed input never produces a partial effect. That makes input troubleshooting straightforward, but it also means a slow cadence is the most common reason a code appears to be broken when it is not. Walking through the diagnostic list below resolves almost every reported failure.

No pop-up appears. The sequence was too slow, a button was missed, or the controller layout is wrong. Re-enter the sequence at a faster pace.
Pop-up appears but the effect does not happen. Some codes are gated by story progress. Weapon kits and stat codes usually work from the start, while recruit and weapon codes may need a chapter unlock.
Effect is active but disappears after a save reload. Some cheats are runtime-only and do not persist. Re-enter the code after the reload.
Mobile or Netflix build will not accept typed input. There is no on-screen keyboard option for the Netflix build, so the only way to enter a cheat is via a paired Bluetooth keyboard.
Code worked once and then stopped working. Many codes toggle, so entering the same code again disables the effect. This is by design and is the same behavior as the original release.

Cheats, the Definitive Edition, and QA workflows

For a developer or tester, the cheat catalog is one of the cleanest tools in the build for reproducing a reported bug without writing a custom script. The same approach that worked in 2004 still works in the remaster, and the cheat pop-up is a reliable signal that the code path was hit. The practical rules of thumb below are the ones that hold up across most open-world test passes.

Treat a cheat entry as a state change, not a one-off toggle. The same cheat can put the world into a state you do not want, especially the time-of-day and weather codes.
Save before activating an experimental cheat chain. The save can be discarded, but it gives you a clean reset point if a code has a side effect you did not expect.
When reproducing a reported mission bug, start with the wanted-level code and the appropriate weapon kit. That covers the majority of combat-driven failure modes without scripting.
For follower and squad reproduction, use the recruit codes rather than scripting NPCs. The cheat path matches the engine’s normal recruit logic, so any bug you see is the same bug a player would report.
When testing on a different platform, retest the input on that platform’s controller layout. A code that registers on a DualSense can still fail on an Xbox pad because the buttons are different.

What did not change in the remaster

Players returning from the original 2004 release will notice that the cheat catalog, the input flow, and the pop-up confirmation all behave the same way they did two decades ago. The remaster is a visual and quality-of-life update, and the cheat code subsystem is one of the parts of the game that Rockstar left functionally identical. For most players, that is a feature rather than an oversight, because the cheat list is part of the game’s culture, and breaking it would have been a regression in its own right.

For a tester or content creator, the implication is that any reproduction, script, or guide you built around the original cheat list still applies. The codes still register in real time, the pop-up is still the success signal, and the same save-game caveats still hold. That makes the Definitive Edition a low-friction environment for cheat-driven testing, which is one of the reasons the cheat list is still a relevant QA tool rather than a relic.

Internal references for further reading

Two of our own articles pair well with the cheat workflow: a developer-focused piece on building puzzle content in another open-world-style build at Monitor control room safe code: a developer guide to environmental puzzles, and a production-focused look at how a different turn-based RPG handled its content cadence at Expedition 33 guide: building a turn-based RPG on Unreal 5. Both touch on how cheat or debug tooling fits into a live development cycle and complement the QA workflow described above.

Frequently asked questions

Do GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition cheats work on every platform?

Yes. The cheat list is the same on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and the mobile and Netflix streaming builds. The codes themselves are identical, but the input method depends on whether the platform expects a typed phrase or a controller sequence.

Do I have to pause the game to enter a cheat?

No. Cheats are entered during gameplay without pausing. The confirmation pop-up appears in the upper corner of the screen, which is the only feedback you need to confirm that the code registered.

Will my saves be flagged or corrupted if I use cheats?

Saves are not corrupted, and the game will still load them normally. However, trophies and 100% completion tracking usually disqualify any save that was written while a cheat was active, so the practical rule is to keep a clean save and a separate cheat-enabled save.

Why does the invincibility cheat not protect me from explosions?

The invincibility code makes CJ resistant to most damage, but explosions, falling damage, drowning, and being run over still hurt him. That behavior is by design and is identical to the original 2004 release.

Can I enter cheats on the Netflix mobile streaming build?

You can, but only with a Bluetooth keyboard paired to the device. The Netflix build does not expose an on-screen keyboard for cheat entry, so without a paired keyboard the codes cannot be entered at all.

Why do some cheats stop working after I save and reload?

A subset of the cheats are runtime-only and reset when the save is reloaded. Re-enter the code after the reload, or save the game while the cheat is active if you want it to persist on the next load.

Is there a cheat for the Hydra or Rhino in the Definitive Edition?

Yes, the vehicle spawn cheats include the Hydra and the Rhino. The vehicle spawns once when the cheat is entered, and entering it again replaces the existing vehicle with a new one of the same type rather than duplicating it.

Do the recruit cheats give followers unlimited ammo?

The recruit cheats equip followers with either a 9mm pistol or a rocket launcher, but they do not change the follower’s ammo count. For unlimited ammo, use the infinite ammo cheat alongside the recruit code.

Will the Definitive Edition cheats disable trophies?

Most trophy and achievement conditions that depend on a clean playthrough treat saves written while a cheat was active as ineligible. If you want a clean trophy run, keep a separate save file that was never written under a cheat.

Are these cheats confirmed to work in the current version of the remaster?

Yes. The cheat list above is taken from the current Definitive Edition release across the supported platforms, and the catalog matches the original release. The IGN cheats and secrets hub is kept current as the game is patched, and the same code paths still register on PC, console, and the mobile build.

GTA San Andreas Definitive Edition cheats: full working list and how to enter them