Grand Theft Auto III
GTA 3 Cheats
GTA 3 cheats are typed straight into the game on PC — no console, no pause menu, just start typing during play. On controller they are button sequences entered in order, and the Definitive Edition kept almost all of them.
Use the platform switch on the table to see the form you need.
Do not save while a cheat is active. Several of these cannot be switched off without restarting the game, and the pedestrian cheats in particular are best treated as one-way.
GTA 3 Cheat Browser
Switch between the PC code and the controller sequences, and search by cheat name. PC codes are typed straight into the game with no console.
All 23 cheats, showing codes for PC
Health, Armour and Weapons
The survival set. All of these are instant and can be re-entered as often as you like.
| Cheat | Type while playingButton sequenceButton sequence |
|---|---|
| Full healthRefills the health bar completely. | R2 R2 L1 R1 Left Down Right Up Left Down Right UpRT RT LB RB Left Down Right Up Left Down Right Up |
| Full armourFills the armour bar to maximum. | R2 R2 L1 L2 Left Down Right Up Left Down Right UpRT RT LB LT Left Down Right Up Left Down Right UpOne of the two sources also lists TURTOISE as a working spelling. TORTOISE is the one both agree on. |
| All weaponsGives every weapon in the game with full ammunition. | R2 R2 L1 R2 Left Down Right Up Left Down Right UpRT RT LB RT Left Down Right Up Left Down Right Up |
| Add moneyAdds $250,000 to your total. | R2 R2 L1 L1 Left Down Right Up Left Down Right UpRT RT LB LB Left Down Right Up Left Down Right Up |
| Increased goreTurns on the exaggerated damage effects. | Not confirmed — see Why Some Rows Are Blank belowX LB B Down LB RB Y Right LB AThe PlayStation sequence could not be confirmed — the two sources printed different inputs, so it is left out rather than guessed. |
Wanted Level
Both directions. Neither is permanent — the level moves normally again afterwards.
| Cheat | Type while playingButton sequenceButton sequence |
|---|---|
| Clear wanted levelRemoves all stars and calls off the police. | R2 R2 L1 R2 Up Down Up Down Up DownRT RT LB RT Up Down Up Down Up Down |
| Raise wanted levelAdds stars and brings a heavier police response. | R2 R2 L1 R2 Left Right Left Right Left RightRT RT LB RT Left Right Left Right Left Right |
Vehicles and Driving
The flying-car code is the one GTA 3 is remembered for. It handles badly on purpose.
| Cheat | Type while playingButton sequenceButton sequence |
|---|---|
| Spawn Rhino tankDrops a tank next to you. | Circle Circle Circle Circle Circle Circle R1 L2 L1 Triangle Circle TriangleB B B B B B RB LT LB Y B Y |
| Flying vehicleLets the car you are driving take off and glide. | Right R2 Circle R1 L2 Down L1 R1Right RT B RB LT Down LB RB |
| Improved handlingSharper steering and grip, plus a hop with the horn button. | R1 L1 R2 L1 Left R1 R1 TriangleRB LB RT LB Left RB RB Y |
| Destroy all carsEvery vehicle on screen explodes at once. | Not confirmed — see Why Some Rows Are Blank belowLT RT LB RB LT RT Y X B Y LT LBThe two sources ended the PlayStation sequence differently, so it is not published. PC and Xbox are confirmed. |
| Invisible vehicleHides the bodywork of the car you are in, leaving the wheels. | Not confirmed — see Why Some Rows Are Blank belowLT LT X RT Y LB YOne source printed Xbox buttons in its PlayStation column, so that sequence is unusable and is left blank. |
World, Weather and Pedestrians
The chaos set. The pedestrian cheats in particular cannot be switched off once entered — only restarting the game clears them.
| Cheat | Type while playingButton sequenceButton sequence |
|---|---|
| Clear weatherSets a bright, cloudless sky. | L1 L2 R1 R2 R2 R1 L2 TriangleLB LT RB RT RT RB LT Y |
| Cloudy weatherHeavy overcast. | L1 L2 R1 R2 R2 R1 L2 SquareLB LT RB RT RT RB LT X |
| Rainy weatherConstant rain and wet roads. | L1 L2 R1 R2 R2 R1 L2 CircleLB LT RB RT RT RB LT B |
| Foggy weatherThick fog with very short draw distance. | L1 L2 R1 R2 R2 R1 L2 XLB LT RB RT RT RB LT A |
| Speed up timeThe in-game clock runs faster. | Circle Circle Circle Square Square Square L1 Triangle Circle TriangleB B B X X X LB Y B Y |
| Slow motionSlows the whole game down. | Triangle Up Right Down Square R1 R2Y Up Right Down X RB RT |
| Fast motionSpeeds the whole game up. | Triangle Up Right Down Square L1 L2Y Up Right Down X LB LT |
| Pedestrians get weaponsArms everyone on the street. | R2 R1 Triangle X L2 L1 Up DownRT RB Y A LT LB Up DownCannot be turned off without restarting the game. Do not save afterwards. |
| Pedestrians riotEveryone on the street starts fighting each other. | Down Up Left Up X L2 L1 Up DownDown Up Left Up A RB RT LT LBPermanent for the session. Restarting the game is the only way back. |
| Pedestrians attack youThe whole city turns on you specifically. | Down Up Left Up X R1 R2 L1 L2Down Up Left Up A RB RT LB LTPermanent for the session. |
| Change outfitCycles Claude through the alternative costumes. | Right Down Left Up L1 L2 Up Left Down RightRight Down Left Up LB LT Up Left Down Right |
How to Enter GTA 3 Cheats
On PC you simply type the code while the game is running. There is no console to open and no text box to click into — the game is always listening. Capitals do not matter, and the code fires the moment the last letter lands. The one thing that stops it working is being in a cutscene or a menu, so wait until you have control of Claude.
On PlayStation and Xbox each cheat is a sequence of buttons pressed in order during normal gameplay. Speed matters less than order, but leaving a long gap between presses resets the sequence, so enter them at a steady pace rather than pausing to check the list halfway through.
The Definitive Edition changed the controller mapping rather than the codes. Sequences written for the original PlayStation triggers do not always land the same way on a modern pad, which is one of the reasons the button columns on cheat sites disagree with each other so often.
Why Some Rows Are Blank
Three PlayStation sequences on this page are deliberately empty: Destroy All Cars, Increased Gore and Invisible Vehicle. Their PC and Xbox forms are published because they were confirmed; the PlayStation forms were not.
The reason is worth stating plainly. Two independent full listings were compared row by row. Where they agreed, the sequence is here. Where they disagreed, the tie was only broken if one of the two matched both sources’ Xbox column — the Xbox sequence is the same inputs under different button names, so it works as a third opinion. For those three rows nothing resolved, and one of the sources had clearly pasted Xbox buttons into its PlayStation column, which makes it evidence of nothing.
A blank is the honest output there. Publishing the more popular guess is how a wrong button sequence ends up copied across fifty sites, and a wrong sequence in GTA 3 does not fail politely — it just does nothing while you wonder what you mistyped.
Cheats, Saving and Trophies
Most GTA 3 cheats cannot be turned off. There is no second entry that reverses them, so once the pedestrians are rioting they riot until you quit to the menu and reload. That is normal for a game of this age and is not a bug.
Because of that, saving while a cheat is active is the one genuinely risky thing you can do here. The effect can persist into the saved file, and in the worst case a save made during a cheat state is unreliable. Make a separate save before you start playing with these, and treat any cheating session as disposable.
On the Definitive Edition, cheats also block trophies and achievements. Enter them on a save you do not mind losing progress on rather than the one you are trying to complete the game with.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you enter cheats in GTA 3 on PC?
Type the code while playing. There is no console or text box — the game listens all the time. Capitalisation does not matter, and the cheat fires as soon as the last letter is typed. It will not register during a cutscene.
Do GTA 3 cheats work in the Definitive Edition?
Almost all of them do. The codes themselves were kept; what changed is the controller mapping, so button sequences written for the original hardware do not always translate exactly to a modern pad.
Can I turn a GTA 3 cheat off?
Mostly no. Very few have a reversing code, so a cheat stays active until you quit the game and reload. The pedestrian cheats in particular are effectively permanent for the session.
Is it safe to save after using a cheat?
No, and this is the one real warning for GTA 3. Cheat effects can persist into a saved file and a save made in a cheated state may not behave properly. Keep a separate save from before you started.
Why are some button sequences missing from your table?
Because two independent sources disagreed on them and nothing resolved the disagreement. Those three rows show their confirmed PC and Xbox forms and leave PlayStation blank rather than publishing a guess.