GTA PS2 Cheat Codes Cheats that help missions without breaking the map
Health, armor, weapons, and wanted clears — plus the San Andreas extras that still belong on a story slot.
Mission-friendly DualShock 2 codes restore what a failed attempt already cost you: health, armor, ammo, and a calm wanted level. They do not rewrite pedestrian brains, paint the traffic pink, or drop a tank on a checkpoint that expects a stallion. Use this page when you still intend to finish the single-player story on GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, Liberty City Stories, or Vice City Stories.
This is the practical half of the tier list. The other half is chaos cheats, which belong on a throwaway slot. Even the gentle codes on this page can disable trophies on later ports and can fail a script if you are effectively unkillable or sitting in a Rhino. Read the save-file warnings before you overwrite the file that holds 40 hours of story.
Enter every sequence in live play. Do not pause. Use the D-pad. If the confirmation sting never plays, slow down and follow how to enter cheats. Exact strings also sit in the cheat finder so you can compare one effect across discs.
What “mission-friendly” means here
A code is mission-friendly when it:
- Restores a bar or a wallet instead of changing AI.
- Can be left on without turning every sidewalk into a fistfight.
- Does not spawn a vehicle the mission script did not expect.
- Does not lock weather or time unless you know the next cutscene needs a specific sky.
Weapon sets, health, armor, wanted clears, the San Andreas $250,000 combo, San Andreas infinite ammo, Hitman weapon skills, and never hungry all pass that test for most story missions. Riot, pedestrians attack, chaos mode, flying cars, and destroy-all-cars fail it. Those live on the chaos page.
Friendly does not mean invisible. A wanted-clear mid-chase can skip a teaching moment. Infinite ammo can make a later port refuse a trophy. A tank is never friendly, even if you only wanted the cannon for one alley. Keep the Rhino on how to spawn a tank and off this list.
Health and armor
Health and armor are the codes you should learn first. GTA III uses two long R2, R2 openers: one for the red bar, one for the blue bar. Vice City splits them too: health uses Circle in the fourth slot, armor uses X. Vice City has no money cheat and no invincibility cheat on the original PlayStation 2 disc. If a list prints “god mode” next to Tommy, it is mixing PC words or Action Replay hex. Decode it on fake codes.
San Andreas is the odd one out in a helpful way. One DualShock 2 string restores health, fills armor, and adds $250,000. That is the pad version of the PC word people shout in comments. You can enter it again whenever a mission dumps you at a Pay ‘n’ Spray with a thin wallet. Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories keep health, armor, and cash as three short L1/R1 (or D-pad) strings. Use cash to buy armor at a spray shop if you would rather not touch a cheat mid-mission.
Near-infinite health in San Andreas is not on this friendly list. It is easy to treat it like invincibility, and some mission fail states check whether you can take damage. Stick to the refill combo.
Weapons without wrecking the script
Open the weapons page when you need the three-set split. GTA III gives every standard gun in one dump. Vice City and San Andreas use the familiar R1, R2, L1, R2 opener with a different tail for each tier. Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories use shorter face-button rhythms. Re-enter a set to refill ammo. That is cleaner than stacking San Andreas infinite ammo before you know you need it.
Do not walk into a stealth or melee mission with a rocket launcher because set 3 looked exciting. Some story beats fail if an explosion hits a character the script marked as essential. If a mission gives you a specific weapon on a table, use that weapon. The cheat is for the drive there and the retry after a wipe, not for rewriting the encounter.
Wanted stars, money, and San Andreas extras
A one-step wanted clear is mission-friendly. GTA III starts that clear with R2, R2. Vice City and San Andreas start with R1, R1, Circle, R2 and then Up, Down repeats. Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories prefer a never-wanted lock rather than a one-star shave. Use a lock when you are grinding collectibles. Use a clear when you only need to finish the current chase.
San Andreas money is bundled with health and armor, so it stays on this page. GTA III, Liberty City Stories, and Vice City Stories can drop $250,000 without a riot. Vice City cannot. Do not “fix” Vice City with a San Andreas string. Buy property, complete payphones, or replay taxi work instead.
San Andreas infinite ammo (L1, R1, Square, R1, Left, R2, R1, Left, Square, Down, L1, L1) is mission-friendly for long shootouts and still a trophy risk on later ports. Hitman skills (Down, Square, X, Left, R1, R2, Left, Down, Down, L1, L1, L1) skip the ammo-spent grind and make drive-bys less clumsy. Never hungry (Square, L2, R1, Triangle, Up, Square, L2, Up, X) stops the muscle-fat drain so a long session does not turn CJ into a slow walk. None of those three exist as built-in pad codes on Vice City or III.
The jetpack is S-tier on the main tier list and only partly mission-friendly. It is perfect for reaching a mountain collectible and terrible for a checkpoint that expects a bike. Leave it off story missions unless the objective is simply “get over there.”
What still fails a mission
Friendly codes fail missions when you ignore context.
- A full health bar does not save a mission that fails if a partner dies in the passenger seat.
- A wanted clear does not help if the script requires you to keep stars for a rampage-style beat.
- Weapons on your back can make a “go to the marker unarmed” scene refuse to start.
- Sitting in a tank, or remaining in god-like health from a near-invincible code, can prevent damage checks from resolving.
- Saving after a cheat can flag the file on later ports even if the effect looked harmless.
If a mission will not start after a combo, do not stack weather, handling, and another weapon set. Reload the clean slot. That is the whole point of the second save described in save-file warnings.
A short friendly loadout
- Copy the story save.
- Enter health and armor for the disc in the tray.
- Enter weapon set 1, then set 2 only if the next mission is a war.
- Clear stars after the shootout, not during a chase the mission asked you to survive.
- On San Andreas only, add the money combo, Hitman skills, or never hungry if the grind is the blocker.
- Leave riot, attack, chaos, flying cars, and the Rhino for the chaos slot.
Mission-friendly cheating is boring on purpose. The story still has to play. The city still has to look like the city. If you want Elvis on every corner, that is a different page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers for DualShock 2 codes, saves, and fake lists.
Which DualShock 2 cheats are safest during story missions?
Health, armor, weapon sets, and a one-step wanted clear. On San Andreas you can also use the $250,000 combo, infinite ammo, Hitman skills, and never hungry. Rankings sit on the tier list.
Can these codes still disable trophies?
Yes. Later PlayStation and Definitive Edition builds can treat any cheat as a trophy lock. Original PS2 discs have no trophies, but a cheated file can still feel “dirty” if you care about 100 percent. Read save-file warnings.
Why can a health cheat fail a mission?
Some scripts check whether you or a partner can take damage, or they fail if you arrive in the wrong vehicle. Near-invincible health and a Rhino are the usual culprits. Stay on refill codes, not god-mode lists.
Does Vice City get a mission-friendly money cheat?
No. PlayStation 2 Vice City never shipped a cash combo. Use the Vice City codes page for health, armor, and weapons, and ignore lists that paste San Andreas money into Tommy’s story.
Is infinite ammo safe for a 100 percent San Andreas file?
It will not usually brick the map, but it is a loud cheat. Keep it off the file you want to call clean, especially if you plan to move that save to a later port. Toggle it on a copy instead.
Where do riot and flying-car codes go?
On the chaos cheats page and a throwaway memory-card slot. They are the opposite of mission-friendly, even when they are funny.