Age of Empires II
Age of Empires 2 Cheats
Age of Empires 2 cheats are typed into the in-game chat box, which makes them the simplest on this site — nothing to open, nothing to install, no arguments to get right.
What is worth knowing is which ones are toggles, which need a Town Centre to do anything, and what using any of them costs you.
Entering any code disables achievements for that session, and in Definitive Edition it also forfeits the medal for a single-player scenario. Cheats are unavailable in ranked and unranked multiplayer entirely.
Age of Empires 2 Cheat Browser
Search by name or filter by what the code does. Every code copies with the spaces and apostrophes intact, because the game checks them.
Showing 32 of 32
Add gold
Adds gold to your stockpile.
Resources
Sources report the amount as 1,000 and as 10,000, which looks like a difference between the original release and Definitive Edition.
Add food
Adds food to your stockpile.
Resources
The apostrophe is part of the code.
Add wood
Adds wood to your stockpile.
Resources
Add stone
Adds stone to your stockpile.
Resources
Add every resource
Adds 100,000 of all four resources at once.
Resources
Raise population cap
Increases every player’s population cap by 1,000.
Resources
Share team income
Distributes each player’s resource income across the whole team.
Resources
Reveal the map
Shows the whole map. Enter again to switch it off.
Map
Remove fog of war
Clears the fog. Also a toggle.
Map
Instant everything
Building, research, gathering and training all complete immediately.
Game
A toggle. This is the single most useful cheat in the game for testing a build order.
Free technologies
Every technology costs nothing.
Game
Repeatable research
All technologies can be researched 256 times over.
Game
Hide the interface
Removes the UI for screenshots. A toggle.
Game
Control nature
Gives you command of the map’s wildlife.
Game
Win instantly
Ends the match in your favour.
Match
Lose instantly
Resigns the match.
Match
Defeat yourself
Destroys your own civilisation.
Match
Kill all opponents
Every other player is defeated.
Match
Defeat one opponent
Defeats the numbered player.
Match
Replace the number with the player slot, from 1 to 8.
Shelby Cobra
Spawns a car that fires bullets.
Cheat units
Cheat units appear at your Town Centre. Without one, nothing spawns however many times you type the code.
Photon Man
Spawns a laser-armed trooper.
Cheat units
Saboteur
Spawns a suicide bomber unit.
Cheat units
VMDL
Spawns the VMDL cheat unit.
Cheat units
Furious the Monkey Boy
Spawns a very fast melee unit.
Cheat units
Alfred the Alpaca
Spawns the alpaca unit.
Cheat units
Sharkatzor
Spawns the Sharkatzor unit.
Cheat units
Penguin
Spawns a penguin unit.
Cheat units
The apostrophe is part of the code.
Flaming camels
Turns all your camels into flaming ones.
Transforms
Villagers to monks
Every villager you own becomes a monk.
Transforms
Infantry to Teutonic Knights
Replaces all infantry with Elite Teutonic Knights.
Transforms
Mangudai to Genghis Khan
Works in the Genghis Khan campaign.
Transforms
Stormy Dogs
Turns every bird on the map into a flying dog.
Transforms
How to Enter Cheats
Press Enter during a game to open the chat box, type the code, and press Enter again. Codes are not case sensitive, and several contain spaces and apostrophes that are part of the code — cheese steak jimmy’s will not work without its apostrophe.
Cheats have to be allowed before the match starts. In a lobby that is the Allow Cheats setting; in single player it is on by default in skirmishes and the scenario editor.
Some codes are toggles rather than one-shot effects. marco, polo, aegis and noui all switch off again if you enter them a second time, which is easy to miss and occasionally the explanation for a cheat that appears to have stopped working.
Cheat Units and the Town Centre Rule
The unit codes spawn their unit at your Town Centre, and that is the whole rule: with no Town Centre standing, nothing appears no matter how many times you type the code. It is the most common reason a cheat unit code seems dead.
The units themselves are a mix of joke and genuinely powerful. how do you turn this on gives you a Shelby Cobra that fires bullets and will comfortably win a match on its own. photon man is a laser trooper from the original game. to smithereens produces a Saboteur, which does exactly what the name suggests.
A second group transforms units you already own rather than adding new ones. flemish reformation turns every villager into a monk, put on your capes replaces your infantry with Elite Teutonic Knights, and cameleon sets your camels on fire. These need units to transform, so they are as dependent on the state of your army as the spawn codes are on your Town Centre.
What Cheating Costs
Entering any code disables achievements for that session. In Definitive Edition it goes further: using a cheat in a single-player scenario also forfeits the medal for it, and campaign-related achievements go with it.
Cheats are disabled outright in ranked and unranked multiplayer. They work in single-player skirmishes against the AI, in the scenario editor while testing, and in campaign missions — and nowhere else.
One disagreement between sources is worth flagging rather than hiding. The resource codes give either 1,000 or 10,000 of their resource depending on which listing you read, which looks like a difference between the original release and Definitive Edition. Both figures are widely published, so this page names the effect and not the number.
aegis is the one worth knowing even if you never cheat in a real match. It makes building, research, gathering and training instant, which turns the scenario editor into a usable place to test a build order or a unit matchup without waiting out the economy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you enter cheats in Age of Empires 2?
Press Enter during a game to open the chat box, type the code and press Enter again. Codes are not case sensitive, but spaces and apostrophes are part of the code and must be typed.
Do Age of Empires 2 cheats disable achievements?
Yes. Entering any code disables achievements for that session, and in Definitive Edition it also forfeits the medal for a single-player scenario along with campaign achievements.
Do cheats work in multiplayer?
No. Cheats are disabled in all multiplayer modes, ranked and unranked. They work in single-player skirmishes, the scenario editor and campaign missions only.
Why is my cheat unit not appearing?
Cheat units spawn at your Town Centre. If you have no Town Centre standing, nothing appears however many times you enter the code.
How much do the resource cheats give?
Sources disagree — some list 1,000 and others 10,000, which appears to be a difference between the original release and Definitive Edition. Rather than pick one, this page states what each code does and leaves the figure out.
What is the best Age of Empires 2 cheat?
aegis, for anyone testing rather than playing. It makes building, research, gathering and training instant, which turns the scenario editor into a practical place to try a build order without waiting out the economy.