Stellaris Console Commands to Take Over The Galaxy in 2022

Stellaris was launched back in 2016 and even if you aren’t normally a fan of strategy games there is a good chance that you’ve heard of it.

The game is a relatively traditional real-time 4X grand strategy game.  The game takes place in the distant future during an alternate timeline.

Players take control of an alien population who are in the early steps of space exploration and have just invented faster than light travel.

From here players make decisions as to what kind of government they want to run and what they want their civilization to do as it expands to the stars.

Players normally start with just one planet and expand outwards.

Whilst it starts off pretty simple the game becomes more and more complicated pretty quickly.

Strategy games like Stellaris are a blast to play but there are some big downsides.

They are time-consuming. Playing a full campaign can take dozens of hours. The problem with this is that we don’t all have that much free time. 

Even worse,  a bad run of luck or some bad decision on your part can easily scuttle a promising campaign.

There is nothing worse than watching an empire you’ve spent weeks building implode.

Finally, strategy games like these often have a high learning curve. Especially for newbies.

Failing hours into a campaign because you missed one tutorial or failed to fully understand one minor sub-system sucks.

Luckily Stellaris has an absolute ton of cheats and console commands to help beginners out. Or to help veterans build their own game.

However with a game this complex even the Stellaris cheats can be confusing. Don’t worry though!

Our handy guide is here to hold your hand as you cheat your way to galactic power.

How do I Cheat in Stellaris?

Well, this depends on where you are playing the game.

Stellaris is available to play on both PC and consoles. The only problem is that cheats are only compatible with PC versions of the game.

Why?

Well, cheats in Stellaris are input via console commands. They’re not really cheat codes as we normally think of them.

Instead, they are debugging tools that the developers used when building and testing the game that has been left in. This is pretty standard practice when releasing PC games.

However, when developers release games on consoles access to these command prompt tools is nearly always restricted. 

This is partly because Microsoft and Sony don’t like users poking around in the software too much and probably also down to the fact that you need a keyboard to use the prompts anyway.

So, there are no Stellaris console edition cheats.

Firstly, either load up a new game or load a saved file you want to cheat on. Then press any of the below keys.

• `
• ~
• Shift and 2 at the same time
• Sift and 3
• ALT and 2 and 1

This will open up the Stellaris console. You use this to enter Stellaris commands which basically edit your game.

All you do is enter the correct Stellaris console commands.

Below you can find all the best commands along with an explanation of how they work.

So what are the codes?

There are 3 types of command code for Stellaris.

The most useful and the ones you’re probably here for are the cheats. These codes are primarily there to give you a leg up and an advantage against the AI. 

They can also be used to spawn major in-game events. This can help you speed-run the game’s story or allow you to see events you haven’t reached yet.

Second, are the testing commands. These are primarily there for use by developers, testers, and modders. There is an absolute boatload of these codes.

A lot of them are either very intimidating or of no use to the average player so we won’t be listing them all. However, we will list some that may be useful/ interesting.

Finally, there are the Tweaker GUI commands. These are used to spawn/despawn certain UI elements. Again not all of these will be useful for you but some may help you if you have a slower computer or want to save some time.

We haven’t included any of these codes since you probably won’t find them that useful and they can make your game a buggy-looking mess.

Cheats to Modify Your Empire

Our first bunch of Stellaris cheat codes are aimed at modifying your Empire in the game.

These codes can not just give you a leg up but allow you to roleplay your Empire the way you want.

These cheats include things like giving your Empire traditions and Ascensions perks to adding different ethics to your Empire.

You can even force others to join your Empire and assimilate them, a little like the Borg.

Finally, if you grow bored of your own Empire or it has become a lost cause you can even instantly take control of an AI Empire.

Command	What it does	Info needed	Example
activate_all_traditions	Activates all Traditions	None	activate_all_traditions
activate_ascension_perk	Gives you the specified ascension perk	Perk Id	activate_ascension_perk ap_mind_over_matter
activate_tradition	Gives you the specified tradition	Tradition Id	activate_tradition tr_prosperity_sct
effect country_add_ethic =	Add an ethic to player Empire	Ethic ID	effect country_add_ethic = ethic_spiritualist

effect country_remove_ethic =	Does the opposite, remove an ethic from the player empire	Ethic ID	effect country_remove_ethic = ethic_spiritualist
effect force_add_civic =	Forces chosen civic to join your Empire doesn’t work with incompatible civics	Civic ID	effect force_add_civic = civic_corporate_dominion
effect force_remove_civic =	The reverse removes a civic from your Empire	Civic ID	effect force_remove_civic = civic_meritocracy
effect shift_ethic =	Shift your Empire ethics	Ethic ID	effect shift_ethic = ethic_fanatic_spiritualist
force_integrate	Bring the chosen Empire into yours.	Target ID	force_integrate 1
play	Start playing as your chosen Empire	Empire ID	play 2
branchoffice	Take control of a planet branch office	–	branchoffice

Max Out your Empire

Now that you have your Empire set up just how you like it with the above Stellaris cheat codes it’s time to start growing your Empire.

To grow, expand and keep control of your Empire you’ll need resources. And a lot of them.

You can do this the hard way (grinding) or the easy way by using one of the following Stellaris console commands to just give yourself what you need. 

These include things like a Stellaris consumer goods cheat and spawning resources for your Empire. 

Or increasing your Empire’s firepower with the Stellaris add ship command.

Command	What it does	Info needed	Example
add_intel	Give yourself or another as much intel as you like	Target ID and amount	add_intel 1 10
add_relic	Gives any relic you like. Or write all rater thanf the ID to gain all the relics	Relic ID	add_relic r_unbidden_warlock
add_ship	Creates a fleet with one of the desired ships	Design ID	add_ship Avatar
alloys	Adds the required number of alloys	amount	alloys 500
cash	Get rich! Adds the specified amount of cash	amount	Cash 200
create_navy	Creates a fleet with your most recent designs using Naval Capacity	amount	create_navy 0.2
engineering	Adds the desired amount of engineering tech points	amount	Engineering 700
finish_research	Finish any and all active research	–	finish_research
finish_special_projects	Finish any current special projects	–	finish_special_projects
finish_terraform	Unsurprisingly, finishes any terraforming	–	finish_special_projects
food	Time for dinner. Adds food	amount	Food 500
influence	Gain chosen amount of influence	amount	influence 500
max_resources	Fill up all your resource storage	–	max_resources
minerals	Add chosen amount of minerals	amount	Minerals 500
physics	Gives you as many physics tech points as you desire	amount	physics 100
research_all_technologies	Instantly researches all non-repeatable technologies. Add 1 for space creatures as well as crisis techs, add a second number for a number of repeatable techs	amount	research_all_technologies 1 6
research_technology	Instantly research your chosen tech	Technology ID	research_technology tech_titans
resource	Gain chosen amount of chosen resource	Amount and resource ID	resource consumer_goods 1000
society	Adds society tech points	amount	society 500
colonize	Begins the colonization process of a selected planet using a copy of the pop using the ID given, only works on colonizable objects. Anything else won’t progress	colonizer pop ID	colonize 1
own	Steal anything! Take ownership or control of any selected fleet, base or planet you like. Either select or use the corresponding ID	Planet ID	own
unity	Gain chosen amount of unity	amount	unity 5000

Play God. Edit the Galaxy

If things still aren’t going your way, maybe it’s time to start playing God.

These next Stellaris cheat codes will allow you to alter the Galaxy around you.

This includes Stellaris console commands like Stellaris add resource to planet, to Stellaris change planet type. You can even change Stellaris planet class.  Yup these codes work as a Stellaris terraforming cheat!

There’s more!

You can even make changes to AI Empires – make them more or less of a threat for example by making use of the Stellaris trait points cheat for leaders.

Command	What it does	Info needed	Example
add_anomaly	Adds the desired anomaly	Anomaly Id	add_anomaly life_asteroid_category
add_pops	The selected planet will gain the desired amount of species population	Species Id and amount	add_pops 0 5
add_trait_leader	Adds the desired trait to the chosen leader	Leader Id and trait Id
add_trait_species	Add a specific trait to a species	Species Id and trait Id	add_trait_species 5 intelligent
build_pops	Adds the desired number of robot population to the chosen planet. BUT only works if the Empire can build robots.	amount	build_pops 3
create_megastructure	Spawns a megastructure in the current system	megastructure ID	create_megastructure gateway_final
effect add_building =	Adds chosen building to selected planet	Building ID	effect add_building = building_fe_dome
effect add_deposit =	Adds chosen resource deposit or planetary feature to selected body	Deposit ID	effect add_deposit = d_arid_highlands
effect add_district =	Adds a chosen district to selected  planet	district ID	effect add_district = district_city
effect add_planet_devastation =	Adds an amount of devastation to your selected body. Use a negative number to undo devastation	amount	effect add_planet_devastation = 10
grow_pops	Adds [amount] of growing pops to selected planet,	amount	grow_pops 10
planet_class	Play God and change the selected celestial body into another	Planet class ID	planet_class pc_arid
planet_happiness	Make a planet happier	amount	planet_happiness 25
planet_size	Make a planet bigger or smaller	size	planet_size 30
remove_trait_leader	Takes away a trait from a chosen leader	Leader ID and trait ID	remove_trait_leader 1 leader_trait_gale_speed
remove_trait_species	Take away a trait from a species	Species ID and trait ID	remove_trait_species 5 intelligent
skills	Adds [amount] of skill levels to every leader under player control, default 1	[amount]	skills 10

Become a Political Mastermind

Finished playing God?

This is a grand strategy game. This means you’re going to need some political savvy if you don’t want to spend the entire game at war. 

Convincing, cajoling, and bribing other Empires to follow your lead can be a total pain.

So why not use some Stellaris cheat codes to bend them to your will?

These next Stellaris console commands are all about making the AI do what YOU want for a change.

Command	What it does	Info needed	Example
add_opinion	Make another Empire like another Empire more.	Source Empire ID Target Empire ID and amount	add_opinion 1 0 100
election	Get democratic and start an election	–	election
federation_add_experience	Adds desired amount of XP to the Federation	amount	federation_add_experience 1200
federation_add_cohesion	Work together! Adds more cohesion to the Federation	amount	federation_add_cohesion 10
federation_add_cohesion_speed	Give the Federation’s cohesion a monthly boost	amount	federation_add_cohesion_speed 10
federation_examine_leader	Causes a succession within the Federation	–	federation_examine_leader
unlock_edicts	Unlocks all edicts	–	unlock_edicts
minor_artifacts	Gain as many minor artifacts as you like	amount	minor_artifacts 5
menace	Dennis the Menace! Gain as much menace as you like	amount	menace 1000
imperial_authority	Add as much imperial authority as you like.	amount	imperial_authority 20
add_spynetwork_value	Increases infiltration progress on your desired target	Target Id and amount	add_spynetwork_value 1 100
debug_yesmen	Mind control! AI empires will always say yes to your proposals	–	debug_yesmen

Gameplay Codes

Finally, we come to the last handful of Stellaris cheat codes. These are codes that didn’t fit into the previous categories but are still useful. 

You can think of them as Stellaris hacks.

These Stellaris console commands do things like switching off the AI entirely, starting events, or even making your ships invincible. 

Command	What it does	Info needed	Example
ai	Use to toggle AI on and off	–	ai
communications	Establishes communications with every  empire	–	communications
event	Start chosen event, you can select planets manually but ship events require a ship ID	Event and target ID	event anomaly.1 0
instant_build	Toggles instantly finishing constructions and upgrades but it works for the enemy too. Only use when paused	–	instant_build
intel	Open your eyes! Now you can see the entire Galaxy	–	intel
invincible	Your ships will be invulnerable to damage	–	invincible
observe	Sit back and watch the gameplay itself	–	observe
survey	Instantly survey all planets. But only works if you have at least one science ship	–	survey
techupdate	Re-rolls the currently available tech choices	–	techupdate

Stellaris Testing commands 

The next round of Stellaris console commands aren’t really Stellaris cheats. 

Instead, they are codes that you can just use to experiment with the game. 

There’s actually a lot of these codes out there but the ones below are the most interesting/user-friendly.

Each Stellaris console command in this list was originally meant for dev use so they can get pretty wild.

Command	What it does	Info needed
advanced_galaxy	Simulates an advanced Galaxy full of high-end Empires etc.	–
attackallfleets	Makes all player fleets target all other fleets	–
berserk_ai	AI is set to maximum aggression	–
contact	First contact with all empires	–
crash	Crash the game	–
debug_stats	Show game performance like FPS etc.	–
dump_ai_build_plan	See the future! Shows what AI will build next	–
factions.spawnall	Welcome to the party! Spawns every faction in the game	–
fast_forward	Speed up time and jump ahead by a certain amount of days	Amount of days
kill_country	Kills current empire	–
kill_leader	Kills chosen leader	Leader ID
kill_ruler	Kills your current ruler	–
mature_galaxy	Skips time ahead 100 years	–
peace_on_player	Chosen country will offer you peace	–
rnadom_ruler	Kills your country ruler and gives you a new random one	–

Stellaris tech ID etc. The debug tool is your friend

Now that you know how to open up the command prompt window and input cheats you might think you’re ready to start inputting some codes.

Not so Easy!

A lot of cheats in Stellaris require you to input the specific ID codes for the game’s assets.

For example, when giving yourself certain techs, you’ll need their specific Stellaris technology ID.

Sometimes these are obvious.

For example, there is a cheat that spawns resources. The ID for food? It’s just-food. 

So to spawn 5 food you would just type resource food 5

Simple!

How about if you need to give yourself some living metal?

Its code id isn’t so obvious. It’s sr_living_metal

Want to modify an empire or its behavior? You’ll need its ID code. 

Want to spawn a specific megastructure? You need the Stellaris megastructure ID.

Now of course you can find ID lists for Stellaris on the internet. But they won’t have everything, and they can be very long. 

Specific species, empire, population, and leader IDs are unique to each saved game Meaning they vary from game to game.

So, the only way to find them is through the magical debug tool.

Just type debugtooltip into the command window.

Then just hover over your chosen species within the species menu to find its ID.

Similarly, leader Ids are found by hovering over a leader within the empire or leader’s menus.

For an Empire ID,  there are two options available to you. Either hover over the relevant flag in the contacts menu or over an Empire’s border on the galaxy map.

Ship IDs are found by moving your cursor over the ship within the fleet window.

Finally, population IDs are found by doing the same in the planet population tab.

So, without the debug tool, many of the cheats above are essentially useless. It’s your best friend!

Is there a Stellaris Cheat Engine?

Yes, there are some cheat engines for Stellaris.

Recifense is the most popular and can be downloaded here.

However, to be honest there is very little point in installing one.

The developers of the game were generous enough to leave the Stellaris console commands in the game.

So, using a cheat engine doesn’t really do anything these codes don’t already do.

Furthermore, since there hasn’t been much demand for a ​​cheat engine Stellaris, the engines which do exist are pretty buggy.

Compared to most cheat engines they are incredibly fiddly to install and will only work on certain older versions of the game.

I had a play around with a couple of them and either found the instructions incredibly confusing or just flat out couldn’t get them to run at all.

In short just stick to the above Stellaris codes.

Conclusion

Stellaris console commands can seem intimidating at first but don’t let them get you down. You’ll find that the Stellaris cheats you use most slowly becoming second nature and you’ll stop having to look them up.

For the rest, just make sure to keep this window saved so you can find the relevant code nice and quickly. Hopefully, the fact we ordered them by type will help you.

The great thing about these Stellaris cheat codes is that they were put there by the developers themselves for testing, so you know they work.

Even if you don’t want to cheat, many of these console commands for Stellaris can just be used to experiment, or even make the game more challenging if you’re a masochist. 

FAQs