Age of Empires 2 cheats: every code including Definitive Edition

Age of Empires II ships with more than 30 working cheat codes, and they run the full range from a quiet +10,000 gold top-up to Aegis, which makes every build, research, and resource drop instant for everyone in the match. Each one is a text phrase you type into the in-game chat box, not a button combo.

The single thing to settle first is where they're allowed. In Definitive Edition a code only fires if Allow Cheats was switched on before the match started, and every code is locked out in Ranked and Quick Match.

Typing even one code also freezes that session's Steam and Xbox achievements, so we keep our unlock runs on a separate clean game.

The codes below lead with Definitive Edition, and we flag the older Age of Kings, The Conquerors, and HD Edition wherever they differ. For a strategy game with a very different cheat setup, the Bannerlord console commands live in a config file. Case doesn't matter, so type them however reads easiest.

The full Age of Empires 2 cheat list

The Code column is exactly what you type into the chat box. We've grouped the codes by what they do, so the one you want is easy to find.

Resources and economy

The three resource-flood codes are interchangeable, all named after the developers' children, and all arrived with The Forgotten expansion.

Free units

How Do You Turn This On is the veteran here, working across the original game, HD, and Definitive Edition. The rest came in over The Conquerors, The Forgotten, and later DE updates.

Transformations

Cameleon skips a few units: it leaves the Mameluke, Camel Scout, Camel Raider, Mounted Trebuchet, and camel-mounted heroes alone.

Yes We Khan is worth checking against your own build. The official Age of Empires support page ties it to the Genghis Khan campaign, while the Age of Empires Fandom wiki treats it as a general DE cheat from update 56005, and the two don't fully agree on its scope.

Map and vision

Those are the only two exploration codes, and both are toggles, so re-enter either one to switch it back off.

Game-state and endings

Aegis is the one we'd type first for a sandbox. Instant everything applies to the AI too, so it speeds the whole match up rather than tilting it in your favor.

Natural Wonders is the one to treat carefully. It's irreversible, and it trades control of your own civilization for line of sight and command of the map's wildlife.

Black Death carries a known bug. The Fandom wiki reports it may only reliably kill the first player unless you're player 1 yourself, so it's a messier team-wipe than the name promises.

One code targets a single opponent instead of the whole board. The code is torpedo1 through torpedo8 (exact valid range not officially pinned down), and it wipes out every unit and building belonging to that player number.

Fandom lists the range as 1 to 8, while StrategyWiki's original-game page says use 2 to 8 and warns that torpedo1 can crash the game, and no official DE source settles the current range.

How to enter cheats in Age of Empires 2

On PC the method is identical across every edition. Press Enter during a game to open the chat box, type the code, then press Enter again to submit. StarCraft and StarCraft 2 cheats use that exact chat-box entry, listed on our StarCraft and StarCraft 2 cheats page.

It doesn't matter if you use upper or lower case. Both work.

Definitive Edition requires an extra step. Cheats only function if Allow Cheats was checked before the match started, which covers single-player, skirmish, and non-ranked custom or multiplayer lobbies.

They're switched off completely in Ranked and Quick Match, with no setting that overrides it.

The original Age of Kings and The Conquerors were looser about multiplayer. A host could allow cheats in any lobby, with no separate ranked-mode lockout, since that stricter block is something Definitive Edition added later.

The Xbox release of Definitive Edition doesn't take chat-box entry the way the PC version does. A confirmed Xbox entry method isn't documented in our sources, so treat cheats there as a PC-first feature until Microsoft's support page spells out the console steps.

The downside to using cheats

Here's the kicker: in both Definitive Edition and HD Edition, entering any cheat code disables Steam and Xbox achievements, the single-player scenario medal, and campaign-related achievements for that session.

The block lasts only for that session, not forever. Grand-strategy fans get a similar trade-off with HOI4 console commands, which only run outside Ironman. Achievement progress resumes normally in a later game you play without cheats, so one messed-around match doesn't lock anything permanently.

Because cheats are also fully blocked in Ranked and Quick Match, they can't touch your ranked standing at all. This achievement behavior comes from the Age of Empires Fandom wiki cheat-code article, cross-checked against player reports in the AoE2:DE Steam community discussions rather than a single official statement, so treat the exact edge cases as community-confirmed.

What changed in Definitive Edition

This is the detail most quick lists skip, and it's where an old guide can steer you wrong. Several codes behave differently now than they did in the 1999 release.

The resource codes are the clearest example. Robin Hood, Cheese Steak Jimmy's, Lumberjack, and Rock On each grant +10,000 in Definitive Edition, but the same four only gave +1,000 in the original Age of Kings and The Conquerors.

Spelling shifted too. In Definitive Edition it's woof woof (original AoK/AoC used no space: woofwoof), so a copy-paste from a two-decade-old FAQ can miss the change.

A cluster of codes started as limited-time event cheats and were later made permanent through updates, per the official Age of Empires support page. My CPU Can Handle It and Sharing Is Caring became permanent in update 107882, Tech Tech One Two Free in update 56005, and Going Above and Beyond in update 51737.

Photon Man was also added in DE update 56005, Catzor is a Definitive Edition addition, and Grab Your Pitchforks arrived with the Victors and Vanquished content, DE only.

One code we couldn't confirm

You'll see NoUI listed elsewhere, said to toggle the in-game interface on and off with the code noui. We're keeping it out of the verified tables above and marking it unconfirmed.

The reason is sourcing. It appears only on the Fandom wiki, it isn't on the official Definitive Edition support page, and the aggregator sites that repeat it look like they copied Fandom rather than checking it independently.

Try it if you're curious, but don't build a plan around it.

Where to start

For a relaxed sandbox, switch Aegis on and clear the board with marco and polo, then build whatever you've always wanted to try at full speed. It's the closest thing to a creative mode the game has. If you want another classic RTS to break open, the Warcraft 3 cheat codes work the same chat-box way.

If you just want a fast economy in a skirmish, the four resource codes plus My CPU Can Handle It clear most early pressure in seconds. Stellaris console commands scratch the same 4X itch on a galactic scale, on our Stellaris console commands page.

Either way, if achievements matter to you, tick Allow Cheats only on a game you're happy to keep flagged, and start a fresh clean match when you want your unlocks to count.