You’ve been there. You are thirty hours into a survival run, your power armor is shredded, and you realize you are exactly one screw short of a critical upgrade. Or maybe you're building a massive settlement at Starlight Drive-In and you just ran out of wood for the thousandth time. Searching for a specific Fallout 4 item ID becomes a reflex for most PC players because, honestly, the scrap grind can be exhausting.
The console command system in Bethesda games is basically a second language.
If you hit that tilde key (~), you open up a world of possibilities, but you also open up the risk of glitching your game into oblivion. Most people think finding an ID is just about looking at a wiki list. It’s not. It’s about understanding how the game’s engine actually handles data, especially once you start adding DLCs like Far Harbor or Nuka-World into the mix. If you try to spawn an item from a mod or an expansion using a generic ID you found on a forum from 2015, it probably won’t work.
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Why the "XX" in a Fallout 4 Item ID Matters
The most common mistake people make is ignoring the first two digits.
When you look up an ID for something in the base game, like a Stimpack (00023736) or a Bobby Pin (0000000a), the leading zeros are straightforward. However, the moment you install a DLC, those first two numbers change based on your load order. This is why a guide might tell you a Lever Action Rifle ID starts with "03," but for you, it actually starts with "06."
Basically, the game assigns a hex code to every plugin. The base game (Fallout4.esm) is always 00. Everything after that—Automattron, Wasteland Workshop, Far Harbor—gets stacked in the order they load.
If you’re hunting for a Fallout 4 item ID for something unique like Acid or Adhesive, you’re usually safe with the standard codes. But for items added in expansions, you have to look at your specific load order in a mod manager or use the help command in-game to see what those first two digits should be. It’s a bit of a headache at first, but it saves you from typing "item not found" errors for twenty minutes.
Using the Help Command Like a Pro
Forget alt-tabbing to a browser every five seconds.
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The most efficient way to find any Fallout 4 item ID is to use the internal help function. You just type help "item name" 4 into the console. The quotes are non-negotiable if the item name has a space. If you just type help leather left arm 4, the game gets confused and tries to find everything related to "leather."
When you use the quotes, the game spits out a list of every record containing that string. You’ll see "ARMO" for armor, "WEAP" for weapons, and "ALCH" for consumables. The code next to those entries is your winner.
Sometimes the list is too long to read. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll through the console history. It’s a tiny detail that a lot of players miss, leading them to believe the item they want isn’t in the database. It is; you just scrolled past it.
The Danger of Spawning Quest Items
We’ve all been tempted to bypass a buggy quest by just spawning the item we need.
Don't do it.
Spawning a quest-specific Fallout 4 item ID doesn't always trigger the script associated with picking that item up. For instance, if you spawn Kellogg’s House Key instead of finding it, the quest "Getting a Clue" might not advance. The game expects you to interact with the physical object in the world, not just have the ID present in your inventory.
If you’re stuck, it’s almost always better to use setstage commands for the quest itself rather than trying to brute-force it with item IDs. You’ll save yourself from a "broken" save file that refuses to let you finish the main story three weeks later.
Common IDs You Probably Need Right Now
Let’s be real: you’re probably here for the crafting materials. Scavenging is part of the charm, but sometimes you just want to finish your house. Here are the heavy hitters for base materials that haven't changed since launch:
- Adhesive: 001bf72e
- Aluminum: 0006907a
- Circuitry: 0006907b
- Copper: 0006907c
- Fiber Optics: 0006907d
- Oil: 001bf732
- Screw: 00069081
- Nuclear Material: 00069086
To add these, you use the command player.additem [ID] [Amount]. If you want 500 screws, you type player.additem 00069081 500. Simple.
Interestingly, you don’t actually need the leading zeros. Typing player.additem 69081 500 works exactly the same way. The engine is smart enough to fill in the blanks, which is a nice time-saver when you’re in a flow.
The "Case of the Missing ID" in Survival Mode
Survival mode disables the console by default.
This is Bethesda's way of forcing "purity," but it’s a nightmare when a legendary enemy falls through the floor or a key item glitches out of existence. To use a Fallout 4 item ID in Survival, you’ll need a mod like "Survival Console Enable" or "Unlimited Survival Mode."
A lot of purists argue that using IDs ruins the tension. Maybe. But losing a 40-hour save because a quest item despawned isn't "tension"—it’s a bad time. Having the console as a backup for bug fixes is almost a requirement for a smooth playthrough.
Legendary Effects and the "Attach" System
One of the coolest, and most complex, ways to use a Fallout 4 item ID is to manually create legendary gear. You don't just spawn a "Two Shot" rifle. You spawn a normal rifle, drop it on the ground, click it while the console is open, and then use the amod command with the specific ID for the legendary effect.
For example, the ID for the "Instigating" effect (double damage if the target is at full health) is 001f1048.
It feels like cheating because, well, it is. But if you’ve spent 200 hours farming legendary Ghouls and never saw a single Explosive Combat Shotgun, I don't think anyone would blame you for taking matters into your own hands. Just remember that some effects don't play nice with certain weapons. Putting a "Freezing" effect on a Flamer usually results in some very confused game logic.
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Actionable Steps for Managing Your Game
- Check your Load Order: Before looking up DLC items, open your launcher or mod manager. Note the position of the DLC. If Far Harbor is 03 in your list, replace the "XX" in any ID you find online with 03.
- Clean Up Your Inventory: If you’ve been spawning a lot of items, your save file size will grow. This can eventually lead to longer load times or "save bloat." Try to only spawn what you actually need for the moment.
- Use the "Inv" Command: If you want to know the ID of an item you already have (maybe to give one to a companion), drop it in a container, open the console, click the container, and type
showinventory. This lists every Fallout 4 item ID currently inside that box. - Back Up Your Save: Always, always save your game before messing with console commands. It takes five seconds and prevents a permanent headache if you accidentally delete your floor or spawn 10,000 watermelons by mistake.
Working with IDs is ultimately about taking control of a game that can sometimes feel a bit unpolished. Whether you're fixing a bug, bypassing a tedious grind, or just experimenting with weird weapon combinations, knowing how to navigate the internal database makes the Commonwealth a much more manageable place to survive.