Red Dead Redemption 2 cheats work differently from most games. Instead of button sequences or phone numbers, you type phrases—short pieces of text that activate cheats through a dedicated menu. Many red dead redemption 2 cheats are locked by default and only become available after you buy specific in-game newspapers. This guide covers every cheat, which ones need unlocking, and the two things that catch most players off guard.
Two things to know before you start: First, activating any red dead redemption 2 cheats disables saving for that session and turns off trophy and achievement tracking. Second, many cheats require buying a specific newspaper in-game before the phrase will work—entering the right phrase on a locked cheat does nothing.
How Red Dead Redemption 2 Cheats Work
Red Dead Redemption 2 cheats are text phrases entered through the Settings menu rather than button combinations or phone numbers. Each cheat has a unique phrase—sometimes a quote, sometimes a short sentence—that you type into the cheat entry field. Get the phrase exactly right and the cheat activates. Get one character wrong, and nothing happens.
The system has two tiers. Some Red Dead Redemption 2 cheats are available from the start of the game. Others are locked and only appear as available in the menu after you have purchased the specific newspaper that unlocks them. The newspapers are available from general stores and newspaper vendors across the map at various story progression points.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was developed by Rockstar Games and released in 2018. For the game’s official overview and platform details, see Rockstar’s RDR2 page.
How to Enter Red Dead Redemption 2 Cheats
Entering red dead redemption 2 cheats requires accessing the pause menu Settings section rather than an in-game console or controller shortcut.
- Press the pause button to open the main menu.
- Navigate to Settings from the main pause menu.
- Press Triangle (PS4) or Y (Xbox) to open the Cheats submenu—this option does not appear in all menu states; make sure you are on the main Settings screen.
- Select Add Cheat, and a text entry field appears.
- Type the cheat phrase exactly—capitalisation matters on some phrases; if a cheat fails, try all lowercase or all uppercase.
- Press Confirm—if the phrase is correct and the cheat is unlocked, it appears in your cheat list.
Once a red dead redemption 2 cheats phrase is entered and saved, it stays in your cheat list permanently. You do not need to retype it in future sessions. Toggle cheats on and off from the same Cheats submenu.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Cheats You Can Use Right Away
These red dead redemption 2 cheats require no newspaper unlock. They are available from the moment you start the game and can be entered at any point in the story.
| Effect | Cheat Phrase |
| Increase health, stamina, and Dead Eye bars | TURTLE |
| Increase Dead Eye level | I SEEK AND I FIND |
| Refill Dead Eye bar | PAINT IT BLACK |
| Refill health bar | TECH AND SUPERMENATION |
| Refill stamina bar | THE FORTUNE IS YOURS |
| Fog of war removed (reveals full map) | YOU LONG FOR SIGHT BUT SEE NOTHING |
| Simple weapons (basic weapon set) | A SIMPLE LIFE, A BEAUTIFUL DEATH |
| Heavy weapons (powerful weapon set) | GREED IS AMERICAN VIRTUE |
The Dead Eye cheats are the most useful of the immediately available red dead redemption 2 cheats for players who want to make combat less punishing without fully removing the challenge. Refilling Dead Eye mid-fight changes the combat rhythm significantly without making you invincible.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Cheats You Must Unlock With Newspapers
The majority of red dead redemption 2 cheats require purchasing a specific in-game newspaper first. Newspapers are sold at general stores and newspaper stands in towns across the map. Each paper unlocks a different set of cheats when purchased.
| Effect | Cheat Phrase | Newspaper Required |
| Set wanted level to maximum | YOU WANT PUNISHMENT | Blackwater Ledger No. 72 |
| Clear wanted level | YOU WANT FREEDOM | New Hanover Gazette No. 27 |
| Infinite ammo | ABUNDANCE IS THE DULLEST DESIRE | Blackwater Ledger No. 66 |
| Infinite Dead Eye | GUIDE ME BETTER | Blackwater Ledger No. 68 |
| Infinite stamina | THE LUCKY BE STRONG EVERMORE | Blackwater Ledger No. 68 |
| Infinite health | IM AFRAID OF NO MAN | Blackwater Ledger No. 70 |
| Spawn race horse | RUN! RUN! RUN! | Blackwater Ledger No. 67 |
| Spawn stagecoach | THE BEST OF THE OLD WAYS | Blackwater Ledger No. 69 |
| Spawn wagon | KEEP YOUR DREAMS SIMPLE | Rhodes Newspaper No. 2 |
| Drunk Arthur | A FOOL ON COMMAND | Blackwater Ledger No. 71 |
| Fortify health, stamina, and Dead Eye | SEEK HIGHER GROUND | Valentine Daily Register No. 2 |
| Stealth weapons | DEATH IS SILENCE | Saint Denis Times No. 48 |
| Explosive ammo | FIRE FIRE FIRE | Saint Denis Times No. 46 |
| Explosive melee attacks | YOU SEEK MORE THAN THE WORLD OFFERS | Saint Denis Times No. 47 |
| High performance horse | WOULD YOU BE HAPPIER AS A CLOWN | New Hanover Gazette No. 29 |
| Increase bounty | YOU ARE A BEAST BUILT FOR SIN | Blackwater Ledger No. 73 |
| Gunslinger outfit | VANITY. ALL IS VANITY | Rhodes Newspaper No. 1 |
| Gentleman outfit | EDIT WORTHY NOTED | Saint Denis Times No. 43 |
| Farmer outfit | BETTER THAN MY DOG | New Hanover Gazette No. 28 |
Newspapers become available as you progress through the story chapters. If a newspaper is not available for purchase yet, the cheat it unlocks cannot be entered until you reach the relevant story point. This is intentional—Rockstar tied red dead redemption 2 cheats to story progression, so you cannot unlock everything immediately.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Cheats: Weapon and Ammo Codes
The weapon and ammo red dead redemption 2 cheats give you either a basic or heavy loadout. Simple weapons provide a starter set suitable for early game exploration. Heavy weapons give you the most powerful firearms in the game regardless of your story progress.
- Simple weapons (no unlock needed): A SIMPLE LIFE, A BEAUTIFUL DEATH—provides a basic pistol, repeater, and shotgun
- Heavy weapons (no unlock needed): GREED IS AMERICAN VIRTUE—provides a bolt-action rifle, pump shotgun, and semi-auto pistol
- Infinite ammo (requires Blackwater Ledger No. 66): ABUNDANCE IS THE DULLEST DESIRE—removes the need to carry or purchase ammo
- Explosive ammo (requires Saint Denis Times No. 46): FIRE FIRE FIRE—every shot causes an explosion on impact
- Stealth weapons (requires Saint Denis Times No. 48): DEATH IS SILENCE—provides throwing knives and a suppressed revolver
Red Dead Redemption 2 Cheats: Horse, Money, and Survival Codes
There is no money cheat in red dead redemption 2 cheats—this is the second most searched question after how to enter cheats, and the answer is that Rockstar did not include one. For cash in RDR2 without cheats, bounty hunting and treasure map completion are the fastest legitimate methods.
- Race horse (requires Blackwater Ledger No. 67): RUN! RUN! RUN!—spawns a fast thoroughbred.
- High performance horse (requires New Hanover Gazette No. 29): WOULD YOU BE HAPPIER AS A CLOWN—spawns a superior horse.
- Stagecoach (requires Blackwater Ledger No. 69): THE BEST OF THE OLD WAYS—spawns a usable coach.
- Fortify all cores (requires Valentine Daily Register No. 2): SEEK HIGHER GROUND—fills and fortifies health, stamina, and Dead Eye.
- Infinite health (requires Blackwater Ledger No. 70): IM AFRAID OF NO MAN—makes Arthur completely invincible.
For a complete map of where to find each newspaper vendor in RDR2, the Red Dead Wiki newspaper locations guide has every vendor indicated by town and chapter availability.
Why Red Dead Redemption 2 Cheats Disable Saving and Trophies
Activating any red dead redemption 2 cheats immediately disables two things for the rest of that session: the ability to manually save your game, and trophy or achievement tracking. Both restrictions lift when you quit to the main menu and reload—but any progress made while cheats were active is lost unless the game autosaved before you activated a cheat.
- Saving is disabled the moment a cheat is toggled on—not when you enter the phrase, but when you enable it from the cheat list.
- Autosaves still happen but they also carry the cheat-disabled status—loading an autosave from a cheat session will show a warning.
- Trophies and achievements are session-locked—turning cheats off mid-session does not restore trophy tracking until you fully quit and reload.
- Progress is not permanently blocked—story missions completed during a cheat session still count; only trophies tied to that specific session are affected.
- Best practice: complete any trophy-linked activities first, then save, then enable red dead redemption 2 cheats for free roam.
For our full Rockstar game cheat guide collection, including GTA IV and GTA San Andreas codes, visit our Rockstar games cheats hub. For RDR2 mod content and trainer guides, see our
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a money cheat in red dead redemption 2 cheats?
No. There is no money cheat in red dead redemption 2 cheats on any platform. Unlike GTA V, which has a money workaround through stock market manipulation, RDR2 has no equivalent. The fastest legitimate ways to earn money in RDR2 are completing treasure maps, hunting and selling pelts, and completing bounty hunting missions.
Why is my red dead redemption 2 cheats phrase not working?
The two most common causes are: the newspaper that unlocks the cheat has not been purchased yet, or the phrase has a capitalisation or spelling error. RDR2 cheat phrases need to be entered exactly as written. Some phrases work in all caps, some within sentence case, and some in all lowercase. If a phrase fails, try a different capitalisation before assuming the cheat is locked.
Do red dead redemption 2 cheats work in Red Dead Online?
No. Red Dead Redemption 2 cheats are strictly single-player only. They are completely disabled in Red Dead Online, and entering phrases through the Online settings menu has no effect. For Red Dead Online tips and guides, see the Red Dead Online section on Red Dead Wiki.
Red Dead Redemption 2 cheats reward players who play the game world—you earn most of them by reading newspapers that exist within the fiction of the 1899 setting. That detail makes them feel earned even when you are breaking the rules. Save before enabling anything, collect your newspapers as you play, and the full cheat list opens up naturally across the story.
