If your quest log is jammed, your favorite weapon is broken, or a glitch has launched you into the Mojave sky, the PC version of Fallout: New Vegas has a built-in safety net. The developer console lets you bend the wasteland to your will, fix broken scripting flags, and test out wild builds without grinding for hours.
Pressing the tilde (~) key on your keyboard opens this text interface. From there, you can enter specific codes to heal your character, teleport across the map, or manipulate non-player characters. While purists prefer a vanilla playthrough, understanding how to use these tools properly saves hours of frustration when bugs interfere with your progress.
Opening the Console and Basic Rules
To bring up the command line, press the tilde key (~), usually located just below the Esc key and to the left of the number 1 on a standard QWERTY keyboard. Once pressed, the game pauses entirely, and a semi-transparent text box appears in the upper left corner of your screen.
Type your command and press Enter. If you make a typo, use the Backspace key or the up and down arrow keys to cycle through your previous command history.
Localization and Special Keyboard Layouts
Players using non-English keyboards often struggle because the operating system maps the tilde key differently. If pressing ~ doesn't work, try these alternative keys depending on your regional layout:
- French AZERTY keyboards: Press the
%orùkey. - German QWERTZ keyboards: Press the
^key located above the Tab key. - Nordic or UK keyboards: Use the quote key or the key directly beneath Esc.
If all else fails, you can temporarily change your Windows keyboard layout to United States English (ENG US) via the taskbar before launching the game.
Case Sensitivity and Formatting
Most commands in Fallout: New Vegas are case-insensitive, meaning you can type tcl or TCL with identical results. However, item IDs, quest IDs, and character names require exact formatting.
Spaces matter significantly. If a command requires a target, you must click on the object or person while the console is open so their reference ID appears at the top center of the screen. Typing an extra space or missing a punctuation mark results in a "Compiled script not saved" or "Script error" message.
Essential Utility and Bug-Fixing Commands
Bugs are a well-documented part of Obsidian Entertainment's classic RPG engine. Quests fail to update, companions vanish into thin air, and doors refuse to unlock. These utility commands resolve most progression blockers.
Overcoming Physics Glitches and Wall Stucks
When your character falls between rocks or gets wedged inside geometry, standard movement keys fail. The clipping command provides an immediate escape.
tcl
Typing tcl toggles collision off. Your character floats freely through walls, floors, and ceilings. Move yourself to a safe spot on solid ground, then type tcl again to restore normal physics. Failing to turn collision back on results in falling straight through the terrain as soon as gravity recalculates.
Rescuing Missing Companions
Boone, Cass, or Veronica frequently vanish during fast travel or intense combat encounters. If they fall through the game world or get stuck in a distant cell, you can summon them directly to your location.
First, look up your companion's base ID (for example, Craig Boone's base ID is 00096bce). Open the console and enter:
player.moveto 00096bce
Alternatively, if you want them to teleport to you, use the reference moving command instead after opening the console and clicking your companion's physical body. If they are completely gone, use:
00096bce.moveto player
This forces the game engine to recalculate their position right next to your current coordinates.
Fixing Broken Quests with Stage Settings
When a script fails to trigger, the quest remains locked in your Pip-Boy indefinitely. Instead of reloading an save from three hours prior, you can advance the quest stage manually.
You must first find the specific quest ID on the Fallout Wiki or similar databases. For instance, the main quest They Went That-a-Way uses the ID NVMain02. To advance it to the next active objective, type:
SetStage NVMain02 20
Numbers correspond to specific milestones within that quest file. Advancing past a bugged trigger lets you resume normal gameplay without losing your hard-earned progress.
Character Customization and Stats
If you want to respec your character build or test out high-level perks without grinding through hours of side content, the console offers deep control over your attributes, skills, and specializations.
Modifying S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Attributes
Your core statistics dictate everything from carry weight to dialogue options. To increase your Strength, Agility, or any other primary attribute, use the player modification prefix:
player.setav strength 10
Replace strength with perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, or luck, and substitute 10 with your desired numerical value. Keep in mind that setting stats above 10 yields diminishing returns due to how the game engine calculates skill checks.
Adjusting Skills and Experience Points
If you need a specific skill like Lockpick or Science at a higher level to access a terminal or safe, you can adjust individual skill points directly.
player.setav science 75
If you want to level up your character quickly to access higher-tier perks, you can grant yourself experience points directly:
player.addperk
Wait, perks use a different syntax. To add an experience boost or manipulate level scaling, modify your experience total using:
player.modav experience 5000
This instantly grants experience points, triggering level-up prompts so you can allocate skill points and select new perks the traditional way.
Combat, Survival, and God Mode
The Mojave wasteland is hostile, featuring Deathclaws, Cazadores, and hostile Legion assassins waiting around every corner. When you want to experiment with combat mechanics or bypass a frustrating difficulty spike, these commands change the rules of engagement.
Invulnerability and Infinite Ammo
Toggling god mode keeps your health bar full, eliminates radiation damage, grants infinite ammunition, and prevents your weapons from degrading.
tgm
Typing tgm toggles this state on and off. It is the single most popular command for testing weapon damage thresholds or exploring dangerous high-level areas early in a playthrough.
Manipulating Time Speed
Combat in Fallout: New Vegas runs at a standard speed coefficient. If you want to experience frantic firefights in slow motion or speed up travel across flat desert stretches, adjust the game time scale:
set timescale to 10
The default value in the game is 30. Setting it lower slows down the passage of day and night cycles, giving you more daylight hours to explore. Setting it to 1 matches real-world time pacing.
Resurrecting Fallen NPCs
Accidentally shooting an important merchant or quest-giver breaks your save file unless you have a recent backup. If you kill someone vital by mistake, open the console, click on their corpse so their reference ID appears, and type:
resurrect
The character stands back up with their inventory intact. This solves accidental collateral damage during chaotic street fights in New Vegas or Freeside.
Item Generation and Economy Management
Caps and rare crafting materials gate your progression during the early stages of the game. Generating items through the console requires knowing the unique hex item code for each object.
Spawning Weapons, Armor, and Caps
To add items directly to your inventory, use the player.additem command followed by the item's hex ID and the desired quantity. For example, to give yourself 1,000 Bottle Caps:
player.additem 0000000F 1000
Hex codes for weapons and armor vary depending on which downloadable content (DLC) packs you have installed, because load order shifts the first two digits of the item ID. Always verify your specific load order index using a mod manager like Nexus Mods before spawning complex items.
Managing Inventory Weight Limits
Running out of inventory space forces you to walk at a snail's pace back to the nearest merchant. Instead of dropping your favorite heavy weapons, modify your maximum carry capacity:
player.modav carryweight 500
This permanently increases your load limit, allowing you to harvest every piece of scrap metal, pre-war book, and weapon variant in the wasteland without encumbrance penalties.
Common Mistakes and Console Pitfalls
Using the developer console is powerful, but it can easily corrupt your save files if handled carelessly. Keep these operational limits in mind:
- Achievements disabled: Using certain commands like
tclortgmdoes not automatically disable achievements in the PC version of New Vegas, but saving your game while certain scripts are broken can permanently lock out quest achievements. - Overwriting saves: Never save your game while standing inside solid walls or while a quest script is actively bugged. Clean up your positioning before saving.
- Targeting errors: Always double-check which NPC or object is highlighted at the top of the console screen before running targeting commands like
killorresurrect. Accidentally targeting a nearby faction leader alters your reputation permanently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do console commands disable achievements in Fallout New Vegas?
Unlike many modern titles, Fallout: New Vegas does not disable Steam achievements when you use console commands during a session. However, relying on them too heavily can break quest triggers, preventing achievement unlocks tied to story progression.
How do I find the item ID for a specific modded weapon?
Type help "Item Name" 4 into the console. The game outputs a list of matching item IDs, weapon stats, and object types corresponding to your search query, making it easy to find codes for items added by community mods.
Why does my console command say "Compiled script not saved"?
This error occurs when you type a command that requires a target (like an NPC or container) without actually clicking on that object in the game world first. Close the console, click the target so its ID appears on screen, and try again.
Can I use console commands on the Xbox or PlayStation versions?
No. The developer console is strictly a feature of the PC version. Console ports on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 lack a text input interface, meaning console commands cannot be accessed on those systems.
