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Cheats & Console Commands: Sandbox, Dupes, Exploits Guide

Cheats in Oxygen Not Included are developer/debug tools and in-game exploits or bugs that let you bypass normal progression, duplicate items, alter world state, or otherwise get an unfair advantage. Use them for testing, creative base design, or to recover a broken save — note some are fixed by updates and enabling some modes disables achievements.

Official debug / sandbox modes

Sandbox mode (in-game option)

  • Unlocks all research and lets you place any building instantly without costing resources.
  • Allows creating/destroying solids, liquids and gases; spawning duplicants, critters, plants and objects.
  • Sandbox changes persist in the world but toggling sandbox off will reset research to the state when sandbox was first enabled (placed buildings and spawned items remain).
  • Activating sandbox disables achievement progress for that save.

Debug / main debug menu (Backspace)

  • Reveals fog of war and removes view limits.
  • Lets you "paint" solids, liquids and gases (replacing the current substance).
  • Copy/paste map regions with buildings (retains settings and contents) — duplicants are not copied.
  • Save map regions as templates to load later.
  • Useful for rapid prototyping and map edits.
  • Newly placed construction orders complete instantly and cost no materials.
  • Newly placed dig orders complete immediately (may require unpausing to show finished state).
  • All buildings are available regardless of research.
  • You can assign skills to duplicants regardless of prerequisites; skill points granted while this mode is active remain after toggling it off.
  • Researching a tech will instantly complete it and all prerequisites while the mode is active; completed state persists after disabling.

Duplicant spawn / debug duplicants (Ctrl+F2, spawn tools)

  • Spawn duplicants with random interests and traits for testing.
  • In debug you can also grant duplicants skills without needing skill points.

Use these debug modes for testing or building without limits. They are intended for developers and advanced users; turning them on may produce unintended interactions. Enabling some debug modes will prevent achievements.

Common exploits and duplication tricks

These are bugs or behavior players have historically used; some have been fixed in patches. They can still appear in older versions or specific updates.

Printing Pod / Care Package exploits

  • Saving and reloading while the Printing Pod is ready will reroll and present a new selection of duplicants, blueprints, or care packages. Use this to shuffle until you get desired outcomes.
  • Care package duplication: during the care package delivery animation there is a brief window where both the care package object and the delivered item exist. Saving and reloading during this window keeps the delivered item while the pod restarts the delivery, allowing repeated deliveries of the same item. This can be chained to duplicate items. (Note: this exploit has been fixed in some updates.)

Steam Vent / Pressure compression exploit

  • Placing a Steam Vent partially submerged in a small puddle of liquid (less than the overpressure threshold in the vent tile) lets the vent compress gas beyond normal pressure limits. Requirements:
    • The vent tile must contain less than the vent's overpressure amount (if that amount is reached the vent overpressures and stops).
    • The puddle must be at least two tiles wide so liquid can be displaced when gas is released.
    • If liquid cannot be pushed out, the engine will delete the liquid and the exploit will cease.
  • This allows effectively infinite gas storage in a small area by repeatedly firing the vent into the puddle.

Container / ejection duplication (Nuclear Waste)

  • Some liquids (e.g., Nuclear Waste) have exhibited spontaneous ejection behavior from containers that failed to remove the original, causing duplication. The duplicated quantity per event has been observed in the tens of grams range. This behavior has persisted across updates in some versions; disposal or regulated handling reduces runaway accumulation.

Care package timing and save/load

  • General rule: any world object/animation that has overlapping instances during a delivery or spawn animation can sometimes be duplicated by saving and reloading at the precise moment both items exist.

Building and world exploits

Rocket / Spacefarer Module interior expansion

  • Rocket modules (Spacefarer Modules) occupy small building footprints but their module interiors are larger. Building Spacefarer Modules inside your base can effectively expand usable interior space because:
    • A Spacefarer Module occupies 5x4 tiles externally but has an interior of 10x8 tiles (more usable tiles than its external footprint).
    • The module shell is insulated and acts as a backwall; it cannot be deconstructed by duplicants but can be destroyed by other means (for example, extreme melting), allowing access to a much larger map area if exploited.
  • Careful: destroying module shell tiles may require very high temperatures (melting Steel/Diamond) and will heat the surroundings; module hatch tiles typically remain at base temperature unless modified.

Construction through indestructible walls / background

  • The game's rocket/space backgrounds can act as barriers that prevent gas loss to the vacuum; players have exploited how these boundaries interact with backwalls and Drywall to expand or access otherwise locked tiles. These techniques depend heavily on exact tile types and have changed across updates.

Miscellaneous useful bugs / behaviors

  • Printing Pod reroll: repeatedly save/reload while pod is active to cycle blueprints/duplicant selections.
  • Some objects spawn with fixed temperatures (example: certain generated consumables spawn at an ideal temperature).
  • Pips can be manipulated to plant multiple seeds on the same tile under certain conditions.
  • Some automation/time-based sensors are imprecise at very long durations or high cycle counts — take care when measuring long intervals.

Risks, patching, and responsible use

  • Many exploits are patched over time. If an exploit is important to your playstyle, test it on your current version before relying on it.
  • Enabling sandbox or debug modes disables achievements for that save.
  • Some exploits can corrupt saves or create unstable conditions (infinite gas/duplicated hazardous liquids). Keep backups of saves before attempting aggressive exploits.
  • Use duplication and instant-build methods sparingly if you want gameplay challenge; they are primarily tools for testing, creative building, or recovery.

This page documents commonly used cheats, debug tools, and recurring exploits — not guaranteed to work in every version. When precision numbers are not provided here, the behavior is qualitative or version-dependent; test on your build before use.

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