How to Cheat in Europa Universalis V (And Not Feel Bad About It)

Because sometimes, you just want to paint the map without those pesky "peasant revolts" getting in the way.

Look, I love a 100-hour grand strategy slog as much as the next guy. But sometimes, I just want to see what happens if my tiny, one-province nation suddenly has infinite money and all of France. This is a sandbox, dammit, and I want to play with the sand.

That's where cheating comes in. It's not really cheating if it's for... uh... "testing purposes." So, here's my quick guide to enabling god mode and getting to the fun part.

How to Activate the Console

First, you can't just open the console. You have to tell the game you're a "developer" by launching it in debug mode. It's easy.

On Steam:

1. In your Steam Library, right-click on Europa Universalis V.

2. Select Properties.

3. In the Launch Options box, paste in -debug_mode (without the quotation marks).

4. Close the window and launch your game.

On GOG or other non-Steam versions:

1. Go to where your eu5.exe file is located (for example, C:\GOG Galaxy\Europa Universalis V\binaries).

2. Right-click on eu5.exe and select Create shortcut.

3. Right-click on that new shortcut and choose Properties.

4. In the Target field, go to the very end of the text (outside the existing quotation marks). Add a space and then type -debug_mode.

5. From now on, you must launch the game using this shortcut to have cheats enabled.

Once you're in the game, just press the tilde key (~ or \) to open the console. It's that little key in the top-left of your keyboard, right under Esc.

The Good Stuff: My Favorite Console Commands

Now, you could sift through hundreds of useless developer commands for 3dstats and audio.cpu_info, but why? I've pulled together my "must-have" list of cheats for when you just want to get straight to the "world conquest" part.

Just type the command and hit Enter. For any command that needs a [CountryTag], that's the three-letter code for a country (like FRA for France or TUR for the Ottomans). In debug mode, you can just hover over a country to see its tag.

The "God Mode" Cheats (Resources & Stability)

This is the stuff you'll be using every five minutes. The commands for money, manpower, and keeping your nation from imploding.

Command	What It Does (My Take)
cash	Gives you a pile of cash. The default is 5,000. You can also type cash [amount] to get a specific number.
Manpower	Gives you 50,000 manpower. Type Manpower [amount] for more or less.
Sailors	Gives you 5,000 sailors. Use Sailors [amount] for a custom number.
Stability	Gives you +1 Stability. Keep typing it to max out.
Prestige	Gives you +5 Prestige.
WarExhaustion	Lowers your War Exhaustion. Type WarExhaustion [negative_amount] to reduce it by a lot.
GovernmentPower	Gives you 100 Government Power (or a custom amount).
imperial_authority	Gives you 10 Imperial Authority. For when you need to pass that HRE reform now.

War & Conquest Cheats

For when you're tired of fabricating claims and waiting for sieges to end.

Command	What It Does (My Take)
annex []	Instantly annexes the specified country. This is the big one. Type annex FRA and France is just... yours.
conquer []	Instantly conquers a specific location. You can find the location ID in debug mode.
conquer_area []	Instantly conquers an entire area.
win_siege []	Instantly wins the siege at the target location. No more waiting!
ArmyTradition	Gives you 100 Army Tradition. Use ArmyTradition [amount] for a custom value.
NavyTradition	Gives you 100 Navy Tradition.
discover [/ all]	Removes the fog of war from a specific location, or just type discover all to see the whole world.

Diplomacy & Internal Management

Tired of that coalition? Need to speed up your tech? These are the ones you want.

Command	What It Does (My Take)
opinion [ ]	Adds opinion from the target country towards you. Example: opinion FRA 100.
trust [ ]	Adds trust with the target country.
favor [ ]	Gives you favors with the target country.
add_core []	Adds a core to the specified location.
add_institution_progress []	Adds progress to embracing the oldest unembraced institution in your capital.
add_research []	Gives you research progress.

That's really all you need. Now go forth and create the monstrous, ahistorical empire of your dreams. Just don't blame me when you get bored in 20 minutes because you've annexed the entire world.