Learn how to fix cheats when they still work after being disabled through our DS troubleshooting guide.
Whether you’re just unlocking rare items and maxing out your stats or going crazy by warping space and time, cheat codes can level up your experience in playing Pokemon games.
However, cheats are known to cause errors, glitches, and crashes in Pokemon games. One of the most common issues is being unable to remove the effects of cheats even after disabling them, and this happens in many Pokemon DS games and even in Pokemon DS rom hacks.
Also see: Best Pokemon DS ROM Hacks.
In this guide, I’ll teach you how to fix this problem, why it happens, and how to avoid it in the future. Let’s go!
More from Pokemoncoders:
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- How to Use Cheats in Pokemon Games on DeSmuME Emulator
- How to Fix Shiny Pokemon Name Glitch When Using Cheats
Table of Contents
The Lingering Cheat Issue
The lingering cheat problem is one that’s faced by many Trainers. I first encountered this issue when playing Pokemon Platinum.
I always loved the blue spot on shiny Staraptor’s head, so I used the Encounter Shiny Pokemon Cheat.
After catching a shiny Starly, I didn’t want any more shiny Pokemon, so I decided to disable the cheat. But my next encounter was still a shiny, and so was the next.
This issue can also happen with item-related cheats and miscellaneous cheats, such as walk through walls.
Perhaps you used a cheat to get infinite Rare Candies or walk through walls, but when you disable it, the effect doesn’t go away. Maybe your items are still maxed out, or your character keeps ing through objects, ruining your gameplay experience.
If this sounds familiar, don’t worry! This is a common issue, and thankfully, it’s easy to fix in most cases.
Why Cheats Can Persist After Being Turned Off
Cheats, whether used through Action Replay devices or emulator cheat systems, work by injecting modified codes into the game. These codes temporarily alter the game’s instructions to produce the desired effects.
But sometimes, some cheats can actually make changes to the game’s save file or memory, leading to lingering effects even after disabling them. Here are some examples:
- Save File Changes: Cheats that modify items, Pokemon stats, or any data regarding your progress write those changes directly into the save file. For instance, the 999 Rare Candies and Master Balls you added through cheats are now part of your saved data, even if you disable the cheat.
- Memory Overrides: On the other hand, cheats that modify gameplay mechanics such as the infinite HP/PP cheat, Shiny encounters cheat, and wild Pokemon modifier, can sometimes remain active because they rewrite portions of the game’s temporary memory. Even if you disable the cheat, the game may continue to follow those altered instructions until its memory is reset.
- Unintended Side Effects: Since cheats heavily alter the game’s instructions, they can cause unintended issues such as flickering or buggy objects. This usually happens due to poorly coded cheat codes.
Potential Consequences of Lingering Cheats
If not addressed properly, cheats that aren’t disabled correctly can ruin your experience or even your entire progress and save file.
- Gameplay Issues: Lingering cheats can create game-breaking issues such as being stuck in walls or being unable to go out of buildings. Your game can also crash entirely or give you a black screen. These issues can make it impossible to progress further in the game.
- Corrupted Save Files and Pokemon: Cheats that perform save file changes can corrupt your saved file if not disabled properly. You may face issues like your Pokemon not obeying you despite having enough badges, or they can appear as “bad eggs,” which are unusable in battles. In the worst cases, you may lose your entire save file.
How to Fix Cheats Still Working After Being Disabled in DS Emulators
The consequences might sound scary and irreversible, but the actual lingering cheats issue is quite easy to solve. Let me teach you how.
Fix #1: Turning Cheats Off Completely
The first and most simple fix is making sure the cheats are fully disabled. Depending on your device, the process can be different:
- Action Replay: Go to the cheat menu, and on your Action Replay device, uncheck or delete the active cheat codes. Then, save your changes and reboot your DS. Ensure that there are no cheats reactivated when restarting your game.
- Emulators (DeSmuME, MelonDS, etc.): Navigate to the cheats menu of your emulator. Delete the cheat codes you want to disable and save your changes. After that, save in-game and restart your emulator.
When to Use: For most cases, this should be the simple fix to your cheat problem. Any lingering cheats should stop working if you disabled them properly, saved your game progress, and restarted your device.
Fix #2: Resetting Game Memory
If the previous step didn’t work, you should proceed to clear the game’s memory manually to remove any lingering effects.
- Soft Reset: This is my favorite fix to lingering cheats as it is the quickest, and I don’t even have to close my emulator. A soft reset restarts the game and resets temporary memory. It is done by pressing a combination of buttons (usually L + R + Start + Select), for emulators press Ctrl+R. If you don’t know how to do it on your device or emulator, you can simply look it up online.
- Hard Reset: In other words, turn your DS or emulator off completely. Close it, then open it again. This is the most effective method, as it completely refreshes the game’s memory.
When to Use: A soft reset is the quickest fix and works for minor lingering cheats such as unlimited PP and HP, while a hard reset or memory clear is done with more persistent problems.
Fix #3: Restoring Save File
If a cheat has permanently altered your save file, such as unlimited items or Pokemon stats, you can restore a clean save file if you want to maintain a clean game.
- Emulators: This method is easier if you are using emulators since they have multiple save slots. Simply disable the cheat, restart your emulator, and load an old save slot where you haven’t enabled the cheat yet.
- DS: DS s might just have to restart the game if they want a clean playthrough. For physical cartridges, you need tools like NDS Adapter Plus to extract your save data. But if you have a backup clean save file, you can just restore that.
When to Use: This is a last resort if you have completely ruined your game or save file and made progress impossible. You can do this as well if you want to maintain a clean and legitimate save file without traces of cheating.
How to Prevent Lingering Cheats Issue
Now that you know how to fix it, how can you prevent this issue with cheats in the future?
Here are some tips:
- Use Trusted Cheats Only: Nowadays there are tons of cheat providers for Pokemon games. While most of them appear to work, some cheats are actually poorly coded, and these are the #1 culprit in cheat-related issues and errors. To avoid them, make sure to only use tested and proven cheats from sites like Pokemoncoders.
- Use In-Game Saving Only, Not Save States: Many emulators offer a save state feature that allows players to save multiple game states. While useful in some situations, it can also cause issues in the long run.
- Always Back Up Saves: Whether you’re facing issues with cheats or not, always having a backup of your save is a great habit for any Pokemon trainer. This gives you a failsafe in case something goes wrong. So before using any cheat, make sure you save to another slot or create a clean save without any cheats first.
- Don’t Use Too Many Cheats at Once: Turning on too many cheats at the same time can cause conflicts and errors in the game’s memory. That’s why you should limit the use of cheats to prevent issues in the future. I usually enable 3-4 cheats max and rarely have any problems.
Conclusion
Codes can be quite annoying if they ruin your experience while playing DS games.
But with this guide, you can now use them without worrying too much that they will linger on your save files after disabling them.
Have you also encountered this issue before? Share your experience in the comments section below!
