You’re standing in a dimly lit hallway. Rain is lashing against the windows of the Raccoon City Police Department. Your flashlight flickers over a cold, steel dial on a locker. You know there’s shotgun ammo or maybe a hip pouch inside, but you don't have the note. This is the classic Resident Evil 2 experience. It’s a game built on the tension of having exactly one bullet fewer than you need.
Finding every Resident Evil 2 code isn't just about completionism. It’s survival.
Honestly, the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 changed enough from the 1998 original to keep veterans guessing. If you’re playing the "A" scenario, the solutions feel natural. If you’re on "Scenario B," the game assumes you’re already a pro and hides the answers in more devious spots. Most people get frustrated because they think the codes are randomized. They aren't. Whether you're playing as Leon S. Kennedy or Claire Redfield, the numbers stay the same, even if the rewards differ slightly.
The RCPD Lockers and the Art of the Three-Letter Dial
The RPD is a deathtrap. It’s also a giant puzzle box. You’ll run into these vertical lockers that require a three-letter code. Usually, you find the solution scrawled on a whiteboard or tucked into a discarded film roll, but when a Mr. X is stomping down the corridor behind you, nobody has time to go back to the darkroom to develop photos.
Let's look at the Third Floor Locker. It’s right near that terrifying hole in the wall. The code is DCM. Inside, Leon gets some magnum ammo, which you'll desperately need for the boss fights later. Claire gets submachine gun rounds.
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Then there’s the shower room on the second floor. It’s misty, loud, and smells like copper. The locker there uses the code CAP.
Wait.
There is a third one. It’s in the Upper Storage Room in the Sewers. That code is SZF. Getting to this one is a pain because the sewers are arguably the most annoying part of the game. You're dodging G-Adults that look like giant, sentient tumors. Is it worth the ammo? Always. In a survival horror game, skipping a locker is basically a slow-motion suicide.
Why Resident Evil 2 Code Design Still Works Today
Capcom didn't just throw numbers at a wall. The developers at the R&D Division 1 used codes to control the "pacing" of your resource management. When you find a safe, your brain does a quick risk-reward calculation. "Do I stay here and try to crack this while a zombie beats on the door, or do I run?"
The safes are more complex than the lockers. You have to rotate the dial Left, Right, and then Left again. If you mess up the direction once, the whole thing fails. It's tactile. It feels heavy.
Take the West Office Safe on the first floor. This is usually the first one players find. The combination is Left 9, Right 15, Left 7. Inside is a Hip Pouch. In the world of Resident Evil, two extra inventory slots are worth more than gold. You can carry an extra herb and a grenade. That’s the difference between a "Game Over" screen and making it to the next save room.
The Waiting Room Safe and the Secret of the Stars Office
A lot of players miss the safe in the Waiting Room on the second floor. It’s tucked behind a desk. Most people are too busy looking at the giant painting or worrying about the hallway outside. The code is Left 6, Right 2, Left 11.
Then you have the lockers in the West Office. Not the safe—the desks. Leon’s "Welcome" desk is locked by two separate padlocks. His "kind" coworkers locked his desk as a prank on his first day. Talk about a toxic workplace. To open it, you need to know the first names of his fellow officers.
On the left side, use NED. On the right side, use MRG.
Inside? An extended magazine for Leon's Matilda handgun or a speed loader for Claire's revolver. It changes the way the game feels. Suddenly, you aren't reloading every three seconds. You feel a tiny bit more powerful, right until the game throws a Licker at you to remind you who’s boss.
Dealing with the Portable Safes
These are the worst. Seriously.
The Portable Safes don't have a fixed code. You find them in the Linen Room or the Locker Room, and they look like small grey boxes with eight buttons in a circle. You have to press them in a sequence that lights up the lamps in a counter-clockwise circle.
Since the sequence is randomized for every single playthrough, a guide can't give you the "answer." You just have to sit there with a piece of paper and track the numbers. 1-5-4-3-2-8-6-7... or whatever yours happens to be. Cracking both of them gives you the spare keys for the keypad in the Safety Deposit Room. This is how you get the combat knife and, more importantly, the final pouch or weapon upgrade.
The Greenhouse Laboratory: A Different Kind of Code
Once you hit the NEST (the underground Umbrella lab), the game stops using dials and starts using symbols. It looks like weird Tetris blocks or cuneiform script.
In the Greenhouse Control Room, you have to input codes into a large terminal to unlock the Nutrient Synthesis machine and the ladder to the basement.
For the "A" Scenario, the ladder code looks like a giant "Z" shape, a square with a line, and two more symbols. The Drug Testing Lab code is similar. But here is the thing: if you are playing Scenario B (the "2nd Run"), these codes change completely.
Scenario A Greenhouse Codes:
- Ladder: 3123 (using the symbol keypad positions)
- Drug Lab: 2067 (using the symbol keypad positions)
Scenario B Greenhouse Codes:
- Ladder: 2048
- Drug Lab: 5831
If you don't input these correctly, you're stuck in the lab while the "Ivies"—those horrifying plant-zombies—slowly stalk you. Fire is your only friend there. Use it.
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The Nuance of the 1998 Original vs. Remake
It is worth noting that if you are playing the 1998 classic (maybe on an emulator or the GOG re-release), the codes are totally different. Back then, things were simpler but also weirder. You had to find "Internal Security" cards or register fingerprints.
In the remake, Capcom leaned into the "Escape Room" aesthetic. It makes the world feel more grounded. Every Resident Evil 2 code you find is usually attached to a piece of environmental storytelling. A note from a dying officer, a memo from a frustrated janitor—it adds flavor. It makes Raccoon City feel like a place where people actually lived before everything went to hell.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Sewers Safe
There is a safe in the Treatment Pool Room. It's right there in plain sight. Most people think the code is hidden in some complex puzzle involving the chess plugs.
Nope.
The code is literally written in chalk on the side of the safe itself. Or rather, on the side of the frame. It’s Left 2, Right 12, Left 8.
I’ve seen streamers spend twenty minutes looking for a file that doesn't exist because they didn't just tilt their camera to the side. It's a classic Resident Evil troll move. The developers know you’re overthinking it. They want you to feel smart, but they also want to humble you.
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Taking Action: Your Survival Checklist
If you're currently mid-run, stop and check your inventory. Do you have the Diamond Key? The Heart Key? If you’re playing Leon, you’ll never find the Heart Key. That’s Claire-exclusive. This trips up so many people.
- Prioritize the West Office Safe. The hip pouch is the most important item in the first three hours of the game. Do not leave the RPD without it.
- Save your ammo. You don't need to kill every zombie. If you open a locker and get magnum rounds, save them for "G" (William Birkin).
- Check the map. If a room is red, there is still an item there. Often, it's a code you haven't used or a locker you walked past. When the room turns blue, you've cleared it.
- Note the Scenario. If you are on your second playthrough (Scenario B), the solutions for the Greenhouse symbols and the statue puzzles change. The locker and safe codes, however, remain identical to Scenario A.
Don't just rush. The beauty of Resident Evil 2 is in the details. The codes are the keys to the kingdom, or at least the keys to a slightly less painful death at the hands of a Tyrant. Grab the loot, reload your weapon, and get out of the city.
The next step is simple. Head to the STARS office on the second floor. There is a computer there that requires a USB dongle (hidden in a jewelry box). This is the key to the Lightning Hawk or the MQ-11. Without it, the final act of the game is going to be a nightmare. Grab that badge, find the code, and keep moving. Raccoon City doesn't wait for anyone.