Cheats are powerful and—depending on the cheat—really fun. They can autofill needs, unlock exciting stuff in the catalog, make your sim super rich, and so much more. The downside is memorizing and typing them all out. What if we could automate some of those cheats?
Behold: mailbox cheats! Developers will often tie certain cheats to common objects for ease of access in testing, and in the Sims 4 the mailbox is one of the most common items you can find. While it may not give you access to every cheat in the game, there are several mailbox cheats that will let you make significant changes to the game with just a few clicks, saving you time and aggravation.
The Basics: Vanilla Mailbox Cheats
Right: Some of the cheats available when you shift-click the Mailbox
Before you can access the mailbox cheats, be sure to turn on testingcheats. If you don’t, the game won’t know that you’re trying to use cheats!
Base Game Mailbox Cheats
Once you’ve enabled cheats, hold down shift + click the mailbox and you will see a new menu with a few options:
Reset Object (Debug) is an option you will see on nearly every item you shift + click on throughout the entire game. As the name suggests, this will reset the object or sim, which can be useful if a character or object gets stuck, malfunctions, or otherwise needs to be restored to its default state. You’ll likely never need to reset the mailbox itself, but it’s good knowledge to have for other items in the game.
Alter Needs… gives you the option to enable, disable, or completely fill the needs of either your entire household or the entire world! It works just like the needs cheat but affects multiple sims at once to save time.
Utilities allows you to add or subtract power and water production/consumption from the household in small, medium, or large chunks. If household bills are eating away at your funds or if you need a reason to excuse a large consumption of power, this mailbox cheat will get you there.
Set As Head literally sets the mailbox (or whatever object you’ve clicked on & selected this option for) as your sim’s head.
Why is this an option? No clue.
Is it fun anyway? Yes.
Eco Lifestyle Mailbox Cheats
Eco Lifestyle added new ways for sims to interact with their neighborhoods, and as such there are additional options that can be accessed via mailbox cheats if you have this expansion pack:
Give Sim Influence+15 will give the active sim 15 influence points which can be used towards voting on Neighborhood Action Plans (NAPs).
Instant Enact Neighborhood Action Plan (Cheat) allows you to immediately pass NAPs without all that silly Influence building and voting. Who needs democracy when you’re literally the god of your sims’ universe?
Instant Repeal Neighborhood Action Plan (Cheat) lets you immediately disable annoying NAPs like Sharing is Caring and Roughhousing Encouraged. What kind of sim votes to pass such things?!
Motherlode, rosebud, kaching, and awesome money cheats for your game here (get them simoleons rolling in)! Or watch the clip below!
Upgrades: Modded Mailbox Cheats
Sometimes mod creators will add their own options to the mailbox based on the mods they’ve created. We certainly can’t cover every option added by every mod, but here are some examples.
In the above image you can see that I have a few additional options for making gameplay more convenient, such as Request Service that allows me to spawn all sorts of NPCs like the Repair Service, Nanny, Butler, and more. There’s also an automated version of the Create Friends (Cheat) which lets us use the cheat without having to type it in manually.
If you use mods you should give the mailbox a shift + click and see if you have any other cool cheats hiding in the cheat menu. If you create mods, consider adding mailbox cheats to your next creation or mod update!
Bonus Mailboxes with Debug & Live edit Cheats
This isn’t a cheat related to the typical household mailbox, but it might come in handy for builders out there!
If you have Nifty Knitting and enable the Debug Cheat you gain access to the Cozy Knitted Mailbox that came with that pack, which is typically locked behind the knitting mechanic. It costs §0 so it’s a great way to add a little charm to a build you’re trying to keep a tight budget on!
If you have Island Living and use the Live Edit cheat* you can find a decorative row of mailboxes in Decorations→Misc which you can use to add some flair & flavor to any multi-family or fake apartment-type builds you want to create!
*With testingcheats on, enter the cheat bb.showliveeditobjects
Tip: Debug and Live Edit mode are both easily unlocked with the Better BuildBuy and T.O.O.L. mods, no cheat codes required!
Closing Thoughts
The mailbox might seem like an unassuming little object that exists in the game because it has to, but it can be pretty nifty if you use cheats and mods! Whether you’re looking to streamline some of your favorite cheats, get shortcuts to mod effects, or just want to add more options to your game catalog, there’s a mailbox cheat to suit your needs. Hopefully you learned something new today, and happy simming!
Your Author: Hi! I'm Nicole
SnootySims @ Patreon
Discuss with the SnootySims-Community:
What are your thoughts on this post? We'd absolutely love to hear your opinion! Feel free to drop a comment and share your thoughts. If you happen to spot a broken link or notice any outdated mods or custom content, please give us a heads up. We're a small team of Sims enthusiasts doing our best, and sometimes, we might miss a little hiccup. Your feedback means the world to us, and we appreciate your support immensely. Thank you a bunch! 🌈🎮