Crusader Kings 3 is a game that was designed to be tweaked, customized, and modded. Even the everyday player can start to mess around with their game thanks to the extensive list of cheat codes and console commands available via the console window.
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These let you tamper with the game in all sorts of ways, mostly letting you tweak your campaign and your characters. For example, you can give your character infinite Piety, drop men-at-arms at your largest city, and customize your character with a variety of different traits. Here's a finely curated list of the very best cheat commands in Crusader Kings 3. You get can get real wacky with some of these. Have fun!
How To Turn On Cheats In Crusader Kings 3
Gone are the days of pressing X, Y, Up, Down on your controller. Turning on the cheats in Crusader Kings 3 is very easy.
Steam users have to right-click on Crusader Kings 3 in your library and open the Properties tab. Then hit General, and select Set Launch Options.
Enter debug_mode into the empty box, and ta-da. Next time you launch Crusader Kings the game will be in debug mode. Time to get cheating.
How To Open The Command Console In Crusader Kings 3
The magic `, ~ or Shift-Alt-C will open the command console. Repeat the command to close it again. It will open a command window at the top of your screen. To use any of the cheat commands listed below you just need to type them in and hit enter.
Some commands will have multiple different ways to be applied. If you hit Tab you'll get a drop-down menu with some options to choose from. Take the add_perk command as an example. Type add_perk then hit Tab and you'll get a list of the different perks to choose from, saving you the hassle of opening up another window to read up on your perks. Not sure which are the best intrigue perks? We've got you covered.
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Best Cheat Commands In Crusader Kings 3
There are a lot of different cheat commands in Crusader Kings. The game is deep and complicated, and these commands let you tweak just about anything. We've streamlined the list to include the most useful cheats.
| Code | Example | Effect |
| instabuild | instabuild | This code is super useful if you just want to build everything. It will automatically complete all the buildings and holdings in the player-controlled domain. |
| gold | gold (amount) | Instantly grants your character the set amount of gold. This defaults to 1000 if you just type in "gold." |
| kill | kill (character id) | You can find out a character's ID number by hovering over the character in debug mode. This code will instantly kill them. Such is medieval life. |
| age | age (number) (character id) | If you do not specify a character ID, this code will just add the chosen age to your player character. Use a negative value to take years away. Your queen will live forever. |
| add_perk | add_perk (perk id) (character id) | This code allows you to pick and choose perks for you or other characters. If you press Tab after entering the add_perk command you'll get a list of all the perks. |
| add_trait | add trait (trait id) (character id) | Like perks, you can add or take away traits for you or other characters. Press Tab and it'll open a list of all the different traits. |
| add_lifestyle_xp_all | add_lifestyle_xp_all (amount) (character id) | This will add a set amount of experience to your character's entire lifestyle perks tree. Want your character to just have every single perk? Why not? You are cheating, after all. |
| discover_all_eras | discover_all_eras all | Haven't got time to be waiting around for your head of culture to figure out how trebuchets work? Use this code to unlock all innovations from your player character's culture. |
| end_schemes | end_schemes | Worried that your now god-like character is about to be assassinated? Run this code through the command console every now and then to end all negative, and positive, schemes against your character. |
| gain_all_perks | gain_all_perks (character id) | This instantly grants all lifestyle perks to your character or another character of your choice. Like your daughter. Or son. Or greatest enemy, if you're feeling dangerous. |
| yesmen | n/a | A simple command that makes all other AI characters agree with you and accept all proposals. Type it again to turn it off. |
| set_intrigue | set_intrigue (amount (character id) | This code works for any of the lifestyle statistics, like Stewardship, Martial, Learning, or Prowess. Just type in set_prowess 16 and your character will go from puny squire to medieval Schwarzenegger. |
| instant_birth | n/a | Does what it says on the tin. All pregnancies for every character for the rest of the game will only last one day. Entering the code again will turn it off. |
| gain_all_dynasty_perks | gain_all_dynasty_perks (character id) | Instantly unlocks every single dynasty perk for the dynasty of the chosen character. Remember, don't enter an id if you want to unlock them for your player character. |
These are some of the cheat highlights for Crusader Kings 3. Short of modding the game, they're the best way to experiment with wacky new characters (extremely strong, or pathetically weak), and to play around with some of the more time-consuming mechanics like dynasty trees and religion.
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