Learning to build is one of those very frustrating experiences in the game especially if you aren’t yet using sims 4 build mode cheats. Building is tedious and every builder starts out by creating a fancy box with weird roofs and no personality.
Knowing and understand how to use the sims 4 build mode cheats is going to completely change your experience and help you have a smoother experience in build mode. Your houses are going to come together so much quicker and everything will look better with way less effort.
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The Sims 4 Build Mode Cheats Listed
Before we head in and go into each of the individual sims 4 build mode cheats I wanted to just have a simple chart with each of the cheats listed in a row for players who don’t need (or want) an explanation on how they work. You’ll find the cheat code and how to use them. Just be sure you enable your cheats before trying to use any of these.
| Cheat Code | What It Does |
|---|---|
| bb.enablefreebuild | Lets you build on locked lots (dorms, hospital, etc) |
| bb.showhiddenobjects | Unlocks the buy debug catalog of objects for you to build with |
| bb.showliveeditobjects | Unlocks objects that are in the world for you to use in builds (trees, fences, etc) |
| bb.ignoregameplayunlocksentitlement | Unlocks all objects that are unlocked by careers, aspirations, etc. |
| bb.moveobjects | Ignores rules for placement created by the game, allowing you to place objects wherever you’d like, great for clutter |
| [ or ] keys | Makes objects bigger or smaller |
| hold down alt while placing | Allows for free placement of objects outside the grid, and free rotation of objects |
| click shift + c while clicking a roof | Lets you manipulate roof shapes |
| FreeRealEstate On | Allows You To Buy ANY Home in The Game, Regardless of Price |
How to Enable Cheats
Before you can use any of these cheats you want to first enable cheats to make sure that they work properly. To do this you need to open up the cheat box with ctrl + shift + c on a computer, or by holding down all four triggers on console. Then you want to type testingcheats true and hit enter and this will enable cheats. To close the box you can hit the same buttons you hit to open it.
Individual Sims 4 Build Mode Cheats Explained
We can’t just talk about my favourite cheat codes without going into a bit of a deeper explanation about how they work, and how you can make them work for you. Each of these cheat codes gets a little confusing when you just see the name and the code so we’re going to talk about their uses, and how you should use them in your game.
Sims 4 Build Mode Cheats for Unlocking Items
Enable Free Build
There are a number of locked lots in The Sims 4 that you are unable to build on by just entering build mode like you’d do at home or at a community lot. These lots include the following:
- The Hospital from Get to Work
- The Police Station from Get to Work
- The Science Lab from Get to Work
- Planet Sixam
- Dorms from Discover University
If you want to build on these lots you are going to need to use the free build cheat to tell the game to let you enter build mode.
To use this cheat code you want to first enable cheats by opening the cheat box with ctrl + shift + c and typing in testingcheats true and hitting enter. Then type in bb.enablefreebuild and hit enter and you’ll be able to enter build mode on the locked lots and add anything you’d like.
Show Hidden Objects
There are a variety of objects that you aren’t able to access in the build catalog that you see all the time in the game. This includes things like cups, plates, cooking utensils, different seeds and other random items that you may want to gain access too.
Thankfully, you can use the buy debug cheat to find these kinds of items and even a cowplant berry in the debug catalog.
To use this cheat you need to first enable cheats and then you can type bb.showhiddenobjects into the cheat dialogue box and hit enter. Then, go into build mode and you can either use the search bar to search debug or go to the sorting function in the bottom right corner and choose debug under that menu to just show debug items.
Debug is extremely unorganized so it takes some serious patience to sort through, but there are numerous people who have sorted debug items into rooms on the gallery to make things easier for you to find.
If you are looking for a very specific item, you can also just search by the item but some things may not show up. For example, if you want to plant some strawberry plants you can search strawberry and it should show up.
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Live Edit Objects
When you are playing The Sims 4 you may often notice that there are trees, fences, cars, and many other things around the worlds and in the environment that you can’t access in the regular build catalog.
The objects that you see around the world are available in game but are locked behind the live edit cheat. There are hundreds of weird environment objects that you can access through it.
To use this cheat you want to first enable cheats by opening up the cheat box with ctrl + shift + c on your keyboard, then typing in testingcheats true and hitting enter.
Then you want to use the cheat bb.showliveeditobjects and hit enter. You can then go through the debug sort function to find these objects.
Unlock Gameplay Objects
There are quite a few objects in the game that are locked and unavailable to us unless you earn them. These include things that are unlocked when sims reach certain milestones in careers, or other milestones. These items are awesome and can be really helpful in the game for turning on emotional auras for example.
Thankfully, there is a cheat where you can unlock all of these objects to use in your builds. First, you want to hit ctrl + shift + c on your keyboard and then type in testingcheats true to enable all cheats.
Then type in bb.ignoregameplayunlocksentitlement and hit enter. This is one of the weirdest and longest cheats in the game, but its a good one!
Item Manipulation Cheats
Move Objects
This cheat is a must know for any simmer who wishes to become a good builder and it’s my most used cheat in The Sims 4. The Move Objects cheat has been in the game for decades and lets you place objects in spots that the game would normally not allow.
You will need to turn on this cheat before you can alt place objects in most cases, and sometimes even if you are just trying to resize objects, so always enable move objects before trying anything else.
To use this cheat you must first make sure you’ve enabled cheats and then type bb.moveobjects on into your cheat dialogue box and hit enter. Then you should be able to hold down alt and put objects wherever you’d like, or combine multiple pieces of furniture to make sectional couches, mega tables, or more interesting wardrobes.
It is important to note that in most cases using move objects can cause some serious routing issues and gameplay problems, so make sure you play test your builds when creating them.
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Raising and Lowering Objects
When you have bb.moveobjects on enabled in the game you are also able to lift objects up and down to play things on top of beds, couches, tables, and more which is super helpful for decorating.
To do this you can hit the 9 key on the keyboard to raise an item and the 0 key to lower the item. You cannot lower deeper than the floor, but you are able to raise things up pretty high. This can be used for mirrors as well!
Resizing Items
Sometimes when building something in The Sims 4 you’ll notice that an object just isn’t the right size. Some are too large, some are too small and you just can’t get it right.
Thankfully, you can use the [ and ] keys on your keyboard to make an object larger or smaller, almost indefinitely.
However, there are some limitations to this. You shouldn’t use it on things like windows, doors, or functional items because there will be some visual issues. There can be animation issues if you use it on objects your sims will use.
It works best on objects that are purely decorative, like paintings, plants, and landscaping.
Alt Placing Objects
If you have an object in build mode that you want to move just slightly or rotate you should know how to alt place objects. What you do is pick up the object, then hold down alt and move the object, it will allow you to change its direction or move it into a middle spot on the grid.
Roof Manipulation
If you want to make a roof an interesting shape instead of just on a simple angle, you need to know how to manipulate roofs. To do this you want to hit shift + c while you have the roof selected and two small balls are going to appear on the side of the roof. You can click these and alter the shape of the roof from this point to make it more interesting!
Free Real Estate Cheat
When you first start with a new family in The Sims 4 you get 20,000 for the first sim, and an additional 2,000 simoleons for every other sim. Sometimes, this just isn’t enough to get a house nice enough for your sim so you may want to enable free real estate so you don’t need to pay for your new home.
To use this cheat you want to first enable cheats with testingcheats true and when you are moving a sim in for the first time, or moving a family you have already played in you can open the cheat box and type in freerealestate on and hit enter. The dialogue box will let you know if the cheat worked.
Then all houses that are available will turn green and you can move into any of them without having to pay for them, letting you keep your money to spend at your own discretion.
Final Thoughts on Sims 4 Build Mode Cheats
Building is one of those things in The Sims 4 that is just so much fun compared to how the systems functioned in older games. It was so hard to build in The Sims 3 and practically impossible in The Sims 2. We have so many more options for sims 4 build mode cheats and so much more we can do with these houses to truly customize them.
Being able to use cheats like enabling free build, free placing items, unlocking live edit environmental objects and having free real estate is amazing and we honestly can’t live without these cheats anymore. Happy Playing!
