For the last few years in Baldur’s Gate (in the few moments that I’ve had a chance to play it) I have activated the cheats (or debug mode). This gives me access to the entire game inventory to equip my character accordingly and a better chance to survive the adventure—I have never yet completed Baldur’s Gate, despite owning it since about 1999 (I still own my original copy on five CD-ROMs).
Having just reinstalled my PC, I was disappointed to discover that the old way of activating cheat mode (by editing baldur.ini) had changed. This is how I managed it today (on Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, with OneDrive installed).
Activate cheat / debug mode
- Locate the folder at Documents > Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition. On my desktop PC this was in the default Windows 10 Documents folder within OneDrive; on my laptop it is in C:\users\<username>\Documents. It will depend on how your computer was set up.
- In a text editor open the file Baldur.lua.
- Add the line SetPrivateProfileString('Program Options','Debug Mode','1').
- Save and close the file.
Now when you run the game, you can enter the game console by pressing Ctrl + Spacebar. It looks like this, at the bottom of the screen:
This allows you to enter codes that generate items, amongst other things. For instance this code allows generates a set of Ankheg Plate Mail armour for your current character:
C:CreateItem("PLAT06")
The older versions of Baldur’s Gate used the code CLUAConsole: but this has now been shortened to a single, uppercase C: followed by a colon.
Thanks to a tip from Craig in the comments. If you want to create multiple instances of the same item, add a comma and a number, e.g.
C:CreateItem("AROW01",200)
will create 200 arrows.
Voivod the fighter
Here’s how my intrepid fighter character started his adventure in Candlekeep:
Download the cheat codes
Feel free to download my full list of cheat codes, arranged by type (clothing, jewellery, weapons, magic, and miscellaneous).
You can look up what each item is on the Baldur’s Gate Wiki.
Updated
2020-07-08 Updated article to remove introduction and get straight to the how-to section. Added tip from Craig in the comments about adding multiple items at once.
2020-03-17 Updated cheat codes document to include instructions on how to activate cheats.
2017-04-17 Updated the location of Baldur.lua as it was in two different locations on two PCs running Windows 10. It depends, I guess, on whether Windows 10 is told to use OneDrive as the default save location.
It wants to save the .lua as an .rtf
Not sure how to counter this.
With what application are you editing the document? I recommend using a text editor such as Notepad, rather than Microsoft Word or other word processing application.
If you’re using a text editor that doesn’t recognize programming languages, it will try to save it as a “normal” text file instead of a .lua file. If you use a program like Notepad++ (which is free), it will properly format the file as a .lua file and save it as .lua
I should also mention that there is a difference between a “text editor” and a “source code editor” (as I like to call them). Most text editors will not format a .lua file correctly as it doesn’t always have the capability of recognizing a programming language. This can also cause issues when saving your changes.
is there a way to gain multiple items at once? Arrows, etc?
Hi Larry, not that I know of but I’m no expert on this. Certainly, whenever I’ve done this I’ve had to add the items one-by-one.
If you enter ,[number] after the item it will create that many. For example C:CreateItem(“SCRL75”,5) creates 5 Identify Scrolls
The link to the list of items for the cheat codes isn’t quite complete. For example, it doesn’t have all the pantaloons as there are 2 more you can get. If you collect all 3 and then go to the right armor forger they can make into an suit of armor that essentially turns you into the D&D version of iron man. 🙂
I found a file called Baldur.ini – Notepad and added the lines in that. I’m not too computer savvy and trying to figure this out.
The game crashed….deleted what I added and, thankfully, it started up fine. I’m going to keep trying to figure this out. 🙂
I think I figured it out…WOO HOOOO!
Thanks for this, I also just like to play and it gets really boring when you get stuck on one baddie. (I try not to use the cheats but sometimes you just need a little help).
I also still have my original disks from a long time ago and I love being able to play again as I don’t have a machine to run them on anymore.
I hear rumors of a BG 3 so really looking forward to that.
Thanks again and happy gaming!
You’re welcome. Baldur’s Gate III is more than a rumour, see their website for a (slightly disturbing) trailer and more information: https://baldursgate3.game/.
Ok so I downloaded BGEE from GOG.com…
I found the Lua file added the cheat debug code and…… nada. Won’t bring up the bar at the bottom to type in cheat items code. Aaargh. What am I doing wrong??? Help!
Hi Brad, I wonder if the gog.com version is the same as the original CD version which has a different hack to initiate cheat codes. Try this:
Baldur.inifile in your Baldur’s Gate directory.Cheats=1under the[Game Options]entry.Cheats:Midas()which gives you 500 gold.I hope that works for you. Please let me know.
for latest version it is baldur.lua
line also different
it is SetPrivateProfileString(‘Program Options’,’Debug Mode’,’1′)
and you you don’t need to write CLUAConsole: in console
just C:
HI Gareth,
I have a Windows 10 machine and the 5 BG2 CDs . I have tried a lot of ways in the .ini modifications and still unable to get this to work. Plus when I did install the game it still asks me for disc 2 so thinking I got twisted up somehow.
Love this game as a relaxing time, but like others sometimes need a little help to “enjoy” it.
Any thoughts out there? thanks all!
Is there a code for bags like gem bags, scroll bags, potion bags, etc?
I haven’t tested these but I found the following on the Beamdog forums (for the Enhanced Edition, replace CLUAConsole: with a simple C:).
CLUAConsole:CreateItem(“bag02”) | Gem Bag – Neera has it. She is in Beregost.
CLUAConsole:CreateItem(“bag03”) | Scroll Case – Quest reward from Firebead Elvenhair in Beregost (added in patch 1.0.2011 )
CLUAConsole:CreateItem(“bag05”) | Ammo Belt – NOT IN THE GAME
CLUAConsole:CreateItem(“bag06”) | Potion Case – Thalantyr in High Hedge sells it for circa 200 gold
CLUAConsole:CreateItem(“bag31”) | Bag of Holding – NOT IN THE GAME
Thanks for writing this all up! One thing I noticed just now, if you fire up the console after launching from GOG, there is a “GODBOW” button when you press it you get a shortbow giving you -20 AC and a bow that does 99 damage per hit. Can’t wait to use this on Sarevok who I could not defeat even on easy mode.
I cant get the commands to work……the window pops up and I can add gold, xp, and the godbow. and apparently travel anywhere.
But typing in the commands doesn’t do squat…
[string “c:createitem(“book04″)”]:1 : attempt to call method ‘createitem’ (a nil value)
any thoughts?
I am playing/bought baldurs gate we from steam, and have added the cheat codes to the .lua file, and it still won’t bring up the bar at the bottom of the game when running it. I’ve triple checked that I’m entering the right script, it’s in “notepad” and I’m hitting ctl + space bar. All that happens is I pause the game. Any help would be awesome
Hi there,
Thanks for the info. I have tried this procedure with the BGEE that I got from Steam, but the lua file continues to be over-written back to the original state every time I start the game. Do you have any advice?
Thanks,
Thomas
Hit CTRL and spacebar
You’ll get a little blank text box at the bottom of your screen. You type codes in there. For the Steam EE version, here’s the format:
C:CreateItem(“ITEMNAME”)
C:CreateItem(“ITEMNAME”,number of items)
So you can do this:
C:CreateItem(“POTN08”)
C:CreateItem(“POTN08”,120)
Also there are these:
C:AddGold(“100000”)
C:CreateCreature(“Neera”)
Lists of codes:
http://www.gameboomers.com/wtcheats/pcBb/Baldur1.htm
If you’ve found this guide, and you’re still having problems getting the game to accept your changes to the .LUA file, the solution that worked for me was to literally type out Gareth’s command
Add the line:
SetPrivateProfileString(‘Program Options’,’Debug Mode’,’1′)
and not, I say again NOT copy and paste.
Once I typed it myself, BOOM 18/00 Strength and damn the rules!
Estou com o mesmo problemas, fiz tudo correto,mas, quando o abro o jogo e executo o comando Ctrl + space simplesmente pausa o jogo, não abre a caixa de diálogo. o jogo foi baixado no steam, jogo por lá.
Hi Gareth,
I’m hoping you can help me. I followed the instructions that you have list here in your blog (thanks for that) but even after I typed the string SetPrivateProfileString(‘Program Options’,’Debug Mode’,’1′) into the balder.1ua file (using Notepad++), I still cannot get the debug console to appear in-game. Ctrl+Space simply pauses and resumes my game. I’m using the Steam version on my PC. Is there a specific place in the .1ua file that I need to place the string?
Hi Andy, I’ve just checked my
Baldur.luafile and I haveSetPrivateProfileString('Program Options','Debug Mode','1')on line 39. I suspect that it does not matter on which line it appears. Be sure to check that the line does not use smart quotes but straight ones. Maybe copy the previous line and edit the values to ensure that it has straight quotes. Does that help?