EU5 Console Commands: Every Cheat Worth Knowing
Europa Universalis V ships with a full debug console — disabled by default — that can hand you money, win sieges, switch you to any country on the map, or fire any event in the game. The official wiki lists well over two hundred commands, but most of them are developer tooling: mesh importers, shader editors, profilers. This page is the player’s cut: how to switch the console on, the rules it plays by, and every command you’d actually reach for in a campaign, sorted by what you’re trying to do.
Enabling the console
On Steam: right-click Europa Universalis V in your library → Properties
→ Launch Options → add -debug_mode → launch the game.
Without Steam (Windows): go to your EU5 install’s binaries folder,
create a shortcut to eu5.exe, open the shortcut’s Properties, and append
-debug_mode to the Target field (so it ends ...\eu5.exe" -debug_mode).
Launch through that shortcut.
Opening it in game: press ` (backtick on QWERTY). Other layouts use Shift+2, Shift+3, §, ~, ^, °, or ²; if nothing works, try Alt+C or Shift+Alt+C.
Quality of life: Tab autocompletes a partial command (or lists matches), and the up/down arrows cycle your command history. Debug mode also enables Ctrl+click on a country to take control of it and Ctrl+Alt+click on a state to take that state — no typing needed.
The cost: debug mode disables achievements for the session and the console never works in Ironman. To get achievements back, remove the launch option, disable mods, restart, and check that the checksum shown in the main-menu corner matches the current patch.
Money, manpower, and the meters
Most of these take an optional amount after the command — cash 100000
gives 100k ducats; plain cash gives a standard infusion.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
cash | Adds ducats |
Manpower / Sailors | Adds manpower / sailors |
Stability | Adds stability |
Inflation | Adds inflation — use a negative amount to reduce it |
WarExhaustion | Adds war exhaustion — negative works here too |
Prestige | Adds prestige |
GovernmentPower | Adds government power |
ArmyTradition / NavyTradition | Adds army / navy tradition |
add_research | Adds research progress |
diplomats | Adds diplomatic actions |
Religion-specific meters use the same pattern: Karma,
ReligiousInfluence, Purity, Honor, Doom, Harmony and friends each
add their currency if your religion uses it.
Cheat toggles
Enter once to switch on, again to switch off. While active, several of these apply to AI nations as well — leave InstantConstruction running and the whole world builds instantly.
| Command | Effect while on |
|---|---|
YesMan | AI accepts your diplomatic proposals |
InstantConstruction | Buildings finish instantly |
InstantSiege | Sieges resolve instantly |
InstantWar | Instant war declarations |
InstantMove | Units move instantly |
InstantCasusBelli | CB fabrication is instant |
InstantExploration / InstantConquistadors | Instant voyages |
InstantMission | Missions complete instantly |
RemoveFogOfWar | Reveals the map view |
ByPassRequirements | Ignores requirements checks |
NoRandom | Removes randomness from rolls |
no_peace_deals | Blocks AI peace deals |
Country, war, and conquest
| Command | Parameters | What it does |
|---|---|---|
tag | country tag | Switch to playing that country |
t | name prefix | Switch by country name (unique prefix is enough) |
observe | — | Enter observer mode |
annex | tag | You annex the target outright |
start_annex | tag | Begins an annexation process |
conquer / conquer_province / conquer_area / conquer_region / conquer_country | id/tag | Transfers ownership at the chosen scale |
occupy_location … occupy_country | id/tag | Occupation (wartime) at the chosen scale |
win_siege | location | Instantly wins the siege there |
cb | tag | Gives you a casus belli on the target |
declarewar | tag | Target declares… or you on them (attacker defaults to you) |
war_on_player | tag | Target declares war on you |
add_core | location | Cores a location |
kill_all_units / resupply_all_units / damage_all_units | tag | Army-wide effects on the target |
give_units | tag | Gives your selected unit away |
Diplomacy and subjects
| Command | Parameters | What it does |
|---|---|---|
opinion | tag, amount | Improves their opinion of you |
trust / favor | tag, amount | Adds trust / favors |
spy | tag, amount | Adds spies to your network there |
make_subject | subject type, tag | Turns the target into your subject |
create_pu | tag | Personal union under you |
form_union | tag | Forms a union with the target |
lend | tag, amount, interest, months | Lends money on your terms |
antagonism | [location,] value | Adjusts antagonism (community reports say lowering it needs the amount as the final plain-number argument) |
Internal affairs, religion, and progress
| Command | Parameters | What it does |
|---|---|---|
estate_satisfaction | estate type, progress | Adds satisfaction to an estate |
estate_gold | estate type, gold | Adds gold to an estate |
parliament_issue / end_parliament_issue | issue | Sets / successfully ends a parliament issue |
religion / culture | key | Changes your state religion / culture |
convert | location | Converts all pops there to your state religion |
integrate_all | — | Integrates all provinces |
research | advance | Researches one specific advance |
research_all | — | Researches everything |
add_institution_progress | institution, location, amount | Pushes an institution |
embrace_all | — | Embraces all active institutions |
policy | policy | Changes a policy |
set_societal_value | value, number | Sets a societal value |
One estate-command gotcha from community testing: the estate argument uses
the internal estate type, not the flavor name your country displays — if
estate_satisfaction rejects your country’s localized estate name, check
the base type naming in the game files or tab-complete the argument.
Events, disasters, and the world
| Command | Parameters | What it does |
|---|---|---|
event | event id, target | Fires an event |
disaster | disaster key | Activates a disaster |
situation | situation key | Activates a situation |
age | age tag | Changes the age |
change_date | year | Changes the date |
tick_day | days | Advances time by N days |
population | location | Changes a location’s population |
change_control | location, 0–1 | Sets control there |
change_devastation | location, 0–1 | Sets devastation |
colonize / colonize_and_finish / finish_colony / finish_all_colonies | location | Colony shortcuts |
discover / discover_area | key or all | Reveals locations / areas |
weather | location, type | Spawns weather (yes, including tornadoes) |
famine | — | Wipes food stockpiles everywhere — for science |
Characters
| Command | Parameters | What it does |
|---|---|---|
add_trait / add_random_trait | trait / id | Adds a trait to the ruler / a character |
set_adm / set_dip / set_mil | id, ability | Sets a character’s abilities |
create_character | male/female, kind | Creates a character |
kill_character | id | Removes a character |
impregnate / give_birth | id | Dynasty management, the blunt way |
Utility
help (all commands or one command’s docs), helplog (dumps every command
with descriptions to game.log), version, time, save / load,
observe, screenshot, clear, Camera.Goto <location> to jump the
camera, and debug_mode itself to toggle debug off from inside the console
— note you can’t re-enable it in-session once closed.
Sources checked
The command table above is a curated subset of the official wiki’s full
list, which is generated from the game’s own helplog output — the closest
thing to file-verified a command list gets. The wiki page was last edited in
March 2026 and carries a pre-release verification tag on some sections, so
commands added by 1.3 may not appear yet; we re-verify this page each major
patch. Activation steps and achievement behavior were cross-checked against
multiple current community guides. Argument quirks (negative amounts, estate
type names) are community-reported.
Frequently asked
Do console commands disable achievements?
Yes. Enabling debug mode turns off achievements for that session. To restore them, disable all mods, remove -debug_mode from your launch options, restart, and confirm the checksum in the main menu's corner matches the current patch.
Can I use the console in Ironman?
No. The console is only available in non-Ironman games while debug mode is active.
The console won't open — which key is it?
It depends on keyboard layout. Try ` (backtick), Shift+2, Shift+3, §, ~, ^, °, or ². If none work, Alt+C or Shift+Alt+C usually does.
How do I see every command in the game?
Type help in the console for the full list, help <command> for one command's description, or helplog to dump every command with descriptions into game.log in your Documents folder.
Can commands take negative numbers?
The currency-style commands accept amounts, and community testing confirms negatives work where reducing makes sense — Inflation and WarExhaustion being the classic uses. Some values are clamped; if a negative is rejected, the argument parser expects a plain number last.
Can I turn a cheat toggle off?
Most toggles (YesMan, InstantConstruction, and so on) switch off when you enter the command again. A few effects only clear after reloading the save or restarting. Note that many Instant-toggles apply to AI nations too while active.
Sources checked
Command list transcribed from the official wiki table (itself generated from the game's helplog dump), page last edited March 2026 and tagged pre-release in places. Commands added in 1.3 may be missing until our next verification pass; activation steps confirmed against multiple current community guides.
- EU5 Wiki: Console commands (full table, generated from the game's helplog output) wiki-verified
- Community activation guides (Steam guide + independent sites), cross-checked for Steam/GOG steps and achievement behavior community