Stellaris Console Commands: The Stellaris cheats you’ll need

Stellaris is Paradox Interactive’s space-themed 4X (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) title. The game sees players assume the government of an alien (or human) race as they make their first steps into the stars. As the game progresses, you’ll eventually scout distant solar systems, mine asteroids, and settle on various planets in the name of your galactic empire. Though, if you’re not playing the game in Ironman mode, you can open up the console and input Stellaris console commands to your heart’s content.

Firstly, you’ll need to know how to open the Stellaris console. While you are in-game, press the tilde key, aka the “`” key (typically found under the escape on most keyboards). Alternatively, SHIFT-ALT-C works if your keyboard is from another planet. If you have played any other Paradox Interactive title, such as Hearts of Iron IV, then you’ll already know how this works.

Once the Stellaris console command window is open, you can begin typing any of the cheats below into the input box. There are hundreds of them, with many requiring specific event IDs or empire IDs to work. These though are for more meta event stuff and not entirely useful to the everyday player.

The major Stellaris console commands that you’ll be using are the ones that are the easiest to use and will give you the most immediate benefits. Be aware that some of the console commands require you to pull specific trait, event, or other item names to work. In most scenarios, you can press the TAB key to find a list of names of the variables you’ll want to input while in the console. If you need more advanced IDs check out the extensive list over on the Stellaris Wiki page.

General Console Commands

Name	Effect	Example
alloys	Adds a number of Alloy units. (Note that resource adding defaults to 5000 units).	alloys 150
cash	Adds Energy Credits to spend.	cash 350
colonize	Begins to colonize a planet using the traits of another planet’s population.	colonize 1
communications	Establishes communications with every empire in your galaxy.	communications
create_megastructure	Creates a Megastructure in the star system your camera is focused on. Press tab to reveal mega structure names.	create_megastructure gateway_final
damage	All ships in the selected fleet take damage equal to the value given.	Damage 1500
election	Starts a ruler election (if your government type supports elections).	election
end_senate_session	Passes / fails the currently voted resolution.	end_senate-session
engineering	Adds Engineering tech points based on an input value. (This defaults to 5000 if no value is entered.)	engineering 300
finish _research	Finishes all active research	finish _research
finish_special_projects	Finishes all special projects	finish_special_projects
food	Add Food units to your empire. (Defaults to 5000.)	food 1200
force_integrate	Integrates [target] empire into the player’s empire	force_integrate 2
force_senate_vote	Ends the current senate recess	end_senate_session
free_government	Toggles the allowing of government change without time limit.	free_government
free_policies	Toggles allowing player to change policies without restriction, including policies previously disabled.	free_policies
grow_pops	Adds growing pops to the selected planet. If no value is selected then the Stellaris cheat defaults to 1	grow_pops 10
influence	Adds a desired amount of Influence. 5000 is the default value.	influence 500
instant_build	Toggles the ability to instantly finish build projects – for ALL players. (Toggle while paused to avoid AIs instantly constructing projects.)	instant_build
intel	Gives sight of the entire galaxy.	intel
invincible	Player ships will stop taking damage.	invincible
max_resources	Fills all resource storage units based on current storage capacity.	max_resources
minerals	Adds Minerals to your galactic empire. (Defaults to 5000.)	minerals 500
observe	Switches to observer mode. The AI will take control of your empire if you remain in observer mode. Use the play command to revert control.	observe
physics	Adds Physics tech points(default 5000 value).	physics 240
play	Returns control of your empire from observer mode	play

 

Add

Name	Effect	Example
add_anomaly	Adds an anomaly id to the selected celestial body	add_anomaly life_asteroid_category
add_intel	Adds an amount of intel on the selected target. This Stellaris cheat defaults at 10. See Stellaris IDs for targeting specific external characters	add_intel 3 150
add_opinion	Increases the empire’s Opinion of a targeted empire by a chosen amount. The cheat defaults to 40.	add_opinion 2 5 500
add_relic	Assigns a relic to your empire. Note: writing all instead of an ID grants all relics in one go. The same relic can be added multiple times.	add_relic r_unbidden_warlock
add_ship	Creates a fleet with one ship of the selected ship’s design ID. Remember to press TAB for ship ID names. Spawned Juggernauts are not able to build, upgrade or repair other vessels. That would be too easy.	add_ship Avatar
add_spynetwork_value	Adds a specified amount of Infiltration to the target. Work out how much is in progress by checking the interaction.	add_spynetwork_value 4 200
add_trait_leader	Adds a Trait to a leader. Entering only the leader ID reveals all trait IDs for that class.	add_trait_leader 1 leader_trait_gale_speed
add_trait_species	Adds a Trait to a species. See trait IDs on the Stellaris console commands web page	add_trait_species 5 intelligent
effect _add_building	Adds a building to the targeted planet. Planet unique buildings will eventually despawn.	effect add_building = building_fe_dome
effect add_deposit =	Adds a resource deposit or planetary feature to the selected celestial body	effect add_deposit = d_arid_highlands
effect add_district =	Adds a district to the targeted planet	effect add_district = district_city
effect add_planet_devastation =	Adds a Devastation value to the selected celestial body. Note: negative values will lower it.	effect add_planet_devastation = 10
effect country_add_ethic =	Adds an ethic trait to the player empire. Note: using more than 3 ethic points will remove the lowest attraction ethics	effect country_add_ethic = ethic_spiritualist
effect country_remove_ethic =	Removes an Ethic from the player empire	effect country_remove_ethic = ethic_militarist
effect create_archaeological_site =	Adds an archaeological site to the selected planet. Use create_archaeological_site, enter “random” to create a random archeological site.	effect create_archaeological_site = lithoids_digsite
effect force_add_civic =	Adds a civic trait to the player empire.	effect force_add_civic = civic_corporate_dominion
effect force_remove_civic =	Removes a civic trait from the player empire.	effect force_remove_civic = civic_meritocracy
effect remove_modifier =	Removes a modifier from the selected planet, or an empire.	effect remove_modifier = holy_planet
effect shift_ethic =	Shifts the player empire’s ethics to the selected trait	effect shift_ethic = ethic_fanatic_spiritualist

 

Conclusion

The above Stellaris console commands should be enough to be getting along with. Remember to press the TAB key for a quick reference specific to your selected in-game command (if available). If you want to facilitate a much deeper or more compelling story for your star empire, focusing on in-game events, remember to check the Paradox Wiki for the relevant IDs to activate them.

This concludes all the major Stellaris console commands you need to know. If there are any more Stellaris cheats worth sharing, let us know in the comments below.