The button-code cheats from the PlayStation 2 original mostly survived the jump to Nintendo Switch in the San Andreas Definitive Edition. You can still drop a full weapon set, spawn a Rhino tank, strap CJ into a jetpack, and turn every car into a low-flying aircraft, all from the Joy-Con or Pro Controller.
As always, entering any cheat disables trophy and achievement progress on that save file, and a few pedestrian cheats can break mission scripts. Start a second save for messing around and your clean run stays intact. The GTA 3 Definitive Edition cheats run on Switch the same way.
How to enter cheats on Switch
Cheats go in live during normal gameplay, not from the pause menu. Load your game, press the buttons in order, and a small on-screen notification confirms a code that landed. If nothing pops up, the sequence did not register, so try it again.
There is no timer. The classic PS2 cheats had a reputation for needing fast fingers, but the Definitive Edition puts no time limit between presses, so you can enter each sequence at your own pace.
Every sequence below uses Nintendo's labels: A, B, X, Y for the face buttons, L and R for the shoulders, and ZL and ZR for the triggers. On PC and mobile the same cheats are typed words instead, for example KANGAROO for Super Jump, so the button lists here are the Switch and controller version. The PlayStation inputs live on our San Andreas cheats on PS5 page.
Weapon and combat cheats
The codes we reach for first. Each weapon set arms CJ with a full tier of guns at once.
| Cheat | Effect | Switch buttons |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon Set 1 | 9mm pistol, sawn-off shotgun, MP5, and the rest of the tier-1 loadout | R,ZR,L,ZR,Left,Down,Right,Up,Left,Down,Right,Up |
| Weapon Set 2 | Tec-9, combat shotgun, and the tier-2 weapons | R,ZR,L,ZR,Left,Down,Right,Up,Left,Down,Down,Left |
| Weapon Set 3 | Rocket launcher, sniper rifle, minigun, and the tier-3 weapons | R,ZR,L,ZR,Left,Down,Right,Up,Left,Down,Down,Down |
| Infinite Ammo | Removes ammo drain on your current weapon | L,R,Y,R,Left,ZR,R,Left,Y,Down,L,L |
Player and stat cheats
Health, money, wanted stars, and CJ's body stats all bend to a code here.
| Cheat | Effect | Switch buttons |
|---|---|---|
| Full Health, Armor & $250,000 | Refills health and armor, adds $250,000, and repairs the car you are in | R,ZR,L,B,Left,Down,Right,Up,Left,Down,Right,Up |
| Infinite Lung Capacity | Removes the underwater breath limit | Down,Left,L,Down,Down,ZR,Down,ZL,Down |
| Raise Wanted Level | Adds two wanted stars | R,R,A,ZR,Right,Left,Right,Left,Right,Left |
| Lower Wanted Level | Clears wanted stars gradually | R,R,A,ZR,Up,Down,Up,Down,Up,Down |
| Lock Wanted Level | Freezes the wanted level where it is | A,Right,A,Right,Left,Y,X,Up |
| Six-Star Wanted Level | Jumps straight to maximum heat | A,Right,A,Right,Left,Y,B,Down |
| Maximum Fat | Sets CJ's body fat stat to full | X,Up,Up,Left,Right,Y,A,Down |
| Maximum Muscle | Sets CJ's muscle stat to full | X,Up,Up,Left,Right,Y,A,Left |
| Minimum Fat & Muscle | Resets CJ's body stats to lean | X,Up,Up,Left,Right,Y,A,Right |
| Maximum Respect | Maxes the respect stat | L,R,X,Down,ZR,B,L,Up,ZL,ZL,L,L |
| Super Jump | Much higher jumps | Up,Up,X,X,Up,Up,Left,Right,Y,ZR,ZR |
| Super Punch | A one-hit knockback on your punch | Up,Left,B,X,R,A,A,A,ZL |
World and pedestrian cheats
These change the street around you, from a full riot to oversized heads. A couple carry a catch, noted below.
| Cheat | Effect | Switch buttons |
|---|---|---|
| Big Head Mode | Enlarges every character's head; a Definitive Edition addition rather than a classic holdover | Up,Up,Down,Down,Left,Right,Left,Right,A,B |
| Armed Pedestrians | Pedestrians carry and use weapons | ZR,R,B,X,B,X,Up,Down |
| Angry Pedestrians | Pedestrians turn hostile toward you | Down,Up,Up,Up,B,ZR,R,ZL,ZL |
| Rioting Pedestrians | Kicks off a city-wide pedestrian riot | Down,Left,Up,Left,B,ZR,R,ZL,L |
| No Pedestrians | Clears every pedestrian off the streets | B,Down,Up,ZR,Down,X,L,X,Left |
| Faster Gameplay | Speeds up the game clock and physics | X,Up,Right,Down,ZL,L,Y |
| Slower Gameplay | Slows the game clock and physics | X,Up,Right,Down,Y,ZR,R |
Heads up on Rioting Pedestrians: third-party guides report that once you trigger it on a save, the riot is permanent and cannot be toggled back off. Keep it off any save you care about.
Vehicle and spawn cheats
Everything from a tank to a VTOL jet, plus the traffic-color and handling toys.
| Cheat | Effect | Switch buttons |
|---|---|---|
| Flying Cars | Ground vehicles gain flight | Y,Down,ZL,Up,L,A,Up,B,Left |
| Flying Boats | Boats gain flight | ZR,A,Up,L,Right,R,Right,Up,Y,X |
| Pink Traffic | Turns all traffic pink | A,L,Down,ZL,Left,B,R,L,Right,A |
| Black Traffic | Turns all traffic black | A,ZL,Up,R,Left,B,R,L,Left,A |
| Aggressive Traffic | AI drivers turn reckless and aggressive | ZR,A,R,ZL,Left,R,L,ZR,ZL |
| Spawn Rhino Tank | Drops a Rhino military tank | A,A,L,A,A,A,L,ZL,R,X,A,X |
| Spawn Jetpack | Drops a jetpack | Left,Right,L,ZL,R,ZR,Up,Down,Left,Right |
| Spawn Monster Truck | Drops a monster truck | Right,Up,R,R,R,Down,X,X,B,A,L,L |
| Spawn Parachute | Adds a parachute to your inventory | Left,Right,L,ZL,R,ZR,ZR,Up,Down,Right,L |
| Spawn Hunter | Drops a Hunter attack helicopter | A,B,L,A,A,L,A,R,ZR,ZL,L,L |
| Spawn Hydra | Drops a Hydra VTOL jet | X,X,Y,A,B,L,L,Down,Up |
| Spawn Vortex | Drops a Vortex hovercraft | X,X,Y,A,B,L,ZL,Down,Down |
A note on Spawn Jetpack: one launch-week roundup listed it among missing cheats, but Game Informer, Inverse, GTABase, and Shacknews all publish a working code, so treat the sequence above as current.
What cheats switch off
Entering any cheat disables trophy and achievement progress on that save file. Push Square, Inverse, and GTABase all report this, though no dedicated official Rockstar Support article for the Definitive Edition confirms it first-party, so treat it as the settled position across the guides rather than a Rockstar statement.
The fix every guide agrees on is simple: keep one save for cheating and a separate clean save for completion. That way a jetpack joyride never costs you a trophy run. The San Andreas cheats on PS4 follow the identical button list.
One more caution. The pedestrian-behavior cheats, meaning riots, armed peds, and no peds, can break some mission scripts. Leave them off any story save you plan to finish.
Cheats that were cut from the Definitive Edition
Not everything from the PS2 days made the port. Our San Andreas Definitive Edition cheat list has the full working set. These classic San Andreas cheats are confirmed gone, so no button sequence brings them back on Switch.
- Infinite Health. Rockstar could not carry this over as a togglable invincibility cheat on the Unreal-engine remaster.
- Never Get Hungry (no hunger).
- Cars Float on Collision.
- Destroy All Cars.
- Invisible Cars.
- Adrenaline Mode.
- The pedestrian costume themes (Kinky, Rural, and Yakuza/Triad), reported under slightly different names by different outlets.
If you grew up spamming infinite health, that absence is the one that stings, and it is the change players ask about most.
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