Cheats are fine until they quietly disable something you cared about, which is why the consequences matter.
Short answer
They work in single-player only. Anything promising the same online is a scam or a ban waiting to happen.
- Save manually before using anything irreversible.
- Re-enter the same code to toggle an effect off.
- Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.
War Thunder models more of the vehicle than it tells you about, and the grind punishes guessing. Case and spacing matter more than the lists suggest. Console entry uses button sequences with tight timing, and mistiming reads as a broken code.
Codes that no longer work
The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. A code that softlocks a mission is a known risk in more than one of these games. Achievement locking is usually per-save rather than per-account, but not always. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional.
Codes typically do not persist through a reload, which surprises people who use them for convenience. Anything that requires downloading a program is not a cheat code. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about.
What you give up
Some effects stack in ways the developers did not intend and the game does not handle gracefully. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.
- Never enter anything into an online mode.
- Enter codes exactly, including spacing.
- Write down what you changed, so you can undo exactly one thing if it goes sideways.
- Ignore any list that asks you to install something first.
- Expect achievements to lock for that save file.
- Region and platform change more than people expect, so confirm both.
Anything promising online effects
The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work.
A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice.
What each one actually does
Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.
If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.
How to enter them
War Thunder is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you. Everything below is framed around the current state of War Thunder rather than a launch-week impression.
Where people go wrong
- Downloading a helper tool for something the game already does in its own menu.
- Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.
- Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
War Thunder FAQ
Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?
No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.
Do the effects save?
Rarely. Most reset when you reload, which makes them convenience rather than permanent change.
Does this work the same on console and PC?
The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.
How long does this take?
Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.
Bookmark it if you like, but honestly, once you have done it once you will not need to come back.