We've all been there. You’re sixty hours into a survival run, your power armor is shredded, and you’re exactly one piece of adhesive short of making the repairs you need to cross the Glowing Sea. It’s annoying. It's actually worse than annoying—it's a momentum killer. That's usually when the temptation to open the console and start hunting for Fallout 4 item codes kicks in. Honestly, using cheats in a Bethesda game isn't even "cheating" in the traditional sense; it’s more like acting as your own personal dungeon master. You’re just fixing a balance issue or bypassing a grind that stopped being fun three DLCs ago.
The thing is, people usually make this way harder than it needs to be. They go scrolling through massive, poorly formatted wikis or sketchy forum posts from 2015 looking for a specific ID. You don't need a 50-page spreadsheet. You just need to know the syntax and how to use the help command effectively.
Why You Should Stop Memorizing Long ID Lists
Look, your brain has better things to do than remember that "0000000f" is caps. Okay, maybe that one is easy. But what about the specific ID for a "Left Arm of the T-60 Power Armor" or a "Stunted Yao Guai Meat"? It's a mess.
The most important tool in your arsenal isn't a list of Fallout 4 item codes; it's the help command. If you hit the tilde (~) key and type help "adhesive" 4, the game literally tells you what the code is. The quotes are vital if the item has a space in the name. The "4" at the end tells the console to filter for items. It's fast. It’s built-in. It saves you from alt-tabbing and potentially crashing your game, which we all know Fallout 4 loves to do when you're switching windows too often.
Bethesda’s Creation Engine is a strange beast. Every single object in the Commonwealth—from the largest skyscraper in Diamond City to the smallest bent tin can in a raider outpost—is assigned a FormID. These are eight-digit hexadecimal codes. If you're looking at an item in the world, you can even open the console and click it with your mouse to see its ID pop up at the top of the screen. Just be careful; sometimes you'll accidentally select the "fog" or a "lighting layer" instead of the chest you're trying to unlock.
Common Materials and How to Spawn Them
Sometimes you just want the basics. Building settlements is fun until you realize you need five thousand units of wood and steel to make a decent wall. To get these, you use the command player.additem [ID] [Amount].
If you need the essentials, here is the raw data you're probably looking for. Steel is 000731a4. Wood is 000731a3. If you’re deep into high-tech crafting, Circuitry is 0006907b and Nuclear Material is 0006907d. Adhesive, the literal glue holding the Commonwealth together, is 001bf72e.
Don't go overboard. If you spawn 100,000 units of something, it might just clip through the floor or, worse, cause a physics explosion that sends your frame rate into the single digits. Moderation is key. Usually, 500 or 1,000 of a resource is more than enough to finish a build without making the game feel totally pointless.
Dealing with DLC Item Codes
This is where things get tricky. If you're playing Far Harbor or Nuka-World, the Fallout 4 item codes for those expansions aren't universal. They change depending on your "load order."
The first two digits of a DLC item's ID correspond to its position in your mod list. If Far Harbor is the third DLC in your list, its items will start with 03. If it's the sixth, they'll start with 06. This is why copying a code directly from a website often results in an "item not found" error.
The easiest fix? Use that help command I mentioned earlier. If you’re looking for a Lever Action Rifle from Far Harbor, type help "lever action" 4. The console will return the code with the correct starting digits for your specific installation. It’s foolproof. It handles the math so you don't have to.
Weapon and Armor IDs You Might Actually Use
Let’s be real: you aren't here for the Pipe Pistols. You want the heavy hitters.
The Fat Man launcher is 000bd56f. The Minigun is 0001f669. If you’re more of a "Deliverer" fan, that unique 10mm pistol is 000dc8e7.
Armor is a bit more granular. Each piece of a set—chest, left arm, right leg—has its own code. Combat Armor is a staple for mid-game players. The Combat Armor Chest Piece is 0011d2c3. If you’re looking for the Sturdy or Heavy variants, those are actually modifications applied to the base item, which is a whole different level of console command wizardry.
- Open the console.
- Type
player.additem 0011d2c3 1. - You now have the base chest piece.
- If you want to add "Legendary" effects, you have to select the item and use the
amodcommand.
For example, if you want an "Instigating" weapon, you'd drop the weapon, open the console, click it, and type attachmod 001e1752. Boom. Now it does double damage to targets at full health. It's a bit tedious, but it allows for total customization that the base game’s RNG (random number generation) usually denies you.
The Risks of Console Commands
I'd be lying if I said this was totally safe. Bethesda games are held together with digital duct tape.
Using Fallout 4 item codes to bypass quests can break scripts. If you spawn a quest item before the game tells you to find it, the NPC might not recognize you have it. You'll be standing there with the "Mechanical Menace" component in your hand while Ada stares at you blankly.
Always save before you go crazy with the console. A "hard save," not an autosave or a quicksave. If the game starts stuttering or a quest refuses to progress, you’ll want a clean point to return to.
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There’s also the "God Mode" issue. Typing tgm makes you invincible and gives you infinite ammo. It sounds great, but it usually kills the tension of the game within twenty minutes. If there’s no risk, there’s no reward. I generally suggest using item codes to fix annoyances—like missing crafting materials—rather than removing the challenge entirely.
Surprising Items You Can Spawn
Did you know you can spawn NPCs? It's not strictly an "item code," but it uses the same system. If you want a Deathclaw to spice up a settlement raid, you use player.placeatme 0001db4c. Just... maybe don't do that inside your player home.
You can also spawn "Shipments." These are the pieces of paper you buy from vendors that weigh nothing but contain 25 or 50 of a resource. The Shipment of Screws (25) is 001ec663. This is actually much cleaner than spawning 25 individual desk fans and globes. It keeps your inventory tidy and feels a little less like you're breaking reality.
Practical Steps for Success
If you’re ready to start using these codes, here is the workflow that works best to avoid bugs.
First, identify exactly what you need. Is it a base material, a specific weapon, or a quest-related object?
Second, use the help command. Don't rely on external sites if you can avoid it. Type help "item name" 4 and look for the entry labeled "WEAP," "ARMO," or "MISC."
Third, use player.additem [ID] [Quantity]. Stick to reasonable numbers.
Fourth, check your work. Did the item appear? Does it work? If it’s a weapon, does it have ammo? You can find ammo codes the same way—help "5.56" 4 will give you the ID for 5.56mm rounds (0001f278).
Finally, and this is the big one, keep a "cheat log" if you're doing complex stuff. If you're modifying weapons with amod or removetool, it's easy to lose track of what you've changed.
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The console is a tool. In a game as massive and occasionally broken as Fallout 4, it’s a necessary tool. Whether you're fixing a bugged quest or just tired of looking for ceramic, knowing how to handle these codes turns you from a frustrated player into a master of the wasteland. Go build that mega-settlement. You've earned it.