Glitch
A glitch is an error in a game's programming that causes unintended behavior under certain conditions. The following is a list of glitches in each game in the Animal Crossing series.
- Note that all glitch names are conjectural unless otherwise stated.
In Animal Crossing
Animal Island grass pattern inconsistency
If the pattern of the grass in the player's town is squares or circles, the grass pattern on Animal Island will erroneously be triangles upon the player's first visit. If the player enters and leaves the islander's hut, the grass pattern changes permanently to match that of the town.
Disappearing Redd
On Sale Day, if the player purchases all three items from Redd and leaves the acre, his tent disappears. Redd then appears in another acre in front of a signpost without his tent and when talked to, walks into the sign as though he is walking into the tent. He then appears in another acre, and the glitch can be repeated indefinitely until the end of the day.
Gracie on sign board
If prior to Gracie's arrival, a sign board is placed where she stands (one space east and two spaces south of a signpost), she will stand on top of the sign board. She cannot be spoken to until the sign board is taken down, after which she falls onto the ground and functions as normal.
Item duplication
Animal Island
If the player drops items on the ground on Animal Island and returns to the town while saving the island data to the Game Boy Advance, returns to the island after choosing "Another island" when prompted by Kapp'n, picks up any items, returns to the town without saving the island data, and returns to the island again using the initial Game Boy Advance data, the items the player initially dropped will appear, including those picked up on the previous visit.
Tables
This glitch only occurs if the player performs the newly made table glitch with the second floating item as a stereo or storage unit. If the player then exits and re-enters the room, then moves the storage unit or stereo—now on the bottom—one space in any direction, leaves and re-enters the room again, picks up the item on top, and leaves and re-enters again, the item that was picked up will reappear.[1]
Locked diary softlock
Timing a precise 
input when viewing another player's locked diary will cause the game to become softlocked. This happens due to the game requesting the warning submenu to show while it is still finishing fading out. The game must be reset to exit the softlock.
Turnips do not spoil
If the player drops turnips in the hut on Animal Island and does not copy the island data to the Game Boy Advance when returning to the town, the turnips will not spoil. Additionally, if turnips end up in the lost and found, which is possible if an NPC or building appears on top of dropped turnips, they will not spoil.
Out of bounds
If the player pushes a snowball to the beach's shoreline and drops an item in front of it, then walks toward the snowball and picks up the item, the snowball pushes then into the sea where they can walk around. Through this glitch, the player can walk through several sea acres that would never be seen in normal gameplay, and they can walk to Animal Island.[2] If the island is visited through this glitch, it will be in the same season as the town, as the boat ride with Kapp'n is what triggers the change to summer for the island.
If this glitch is done in Doubutsu no Mori e+ and the player visits the island for the first time, the game crashes, as the island is not loaded into the game's memory until the player visits it via Kapp'n's boat for the first time.
Preventing Franklin from changing hiding place
If, during the Harvest Festival, Franklin hides near a building and the player enters the building after giving him a knife and fork, he will remain in that spot instead of changing hiding places after the player exits the building and will accept more knife and fork sets.
Shining spot duplication
If the player digs up a shining spot in Acre F-5, saves and continues, resets the game, and travels to Animal Island and back, the shining spot reappears.
Sports Fair wrong warp
If, during a Sports Fair, the player enters the post office as one event ends and another begins (but before the announcement cutscene occurs), then pays off their home loan, upon exiting the post office their character model appears on its side partially in the ground, neither the debt-free nor Sports Fair transition cutscenes play, and one of several glitches occur:[3]
- If the post office is entered between two events (e.g. at 11:00 AM, between the gymnastics and foot race events), the player is warped to the location where the game was last saved. This is either outside the player's house, or, if the game has not been saved before, outside Tom Nook's store.
- If the player then enters the wishing well acre, the villagers who are participating in the Sports Fair stand still in their default positions and cannot be interacted with. Attempting to leave the acre crashes the game.
- If the player then enters and exits a building, both the debt-free and Sports Fair transition cutscenes play.
- If the post office is entered as an event starts and there is not currently an event occurring (e.g. at 9:00 AM, when the first event starts), the player is warped to the game's default map, which is a test map. The only way to leave the test map is by resetting the game.
- The player is warped to the acre in the test map that corresponds to the acre the post office is in in their town (e.g. if the post office is in acre A-1, the player is warped to acre A-1 of the test map). However, the test map does not contain acres A-4 or A-5, so if the post office in the player's town is in one of those acres, the game crashes instead of warping the player.
Villagers out of bounds
For a short period of time after being hit with a net, villagers can pass through invisible walls, allowing them to be pushed into bodies of water, onto holes, and on top of buildings.[4]
Walking on tables
If the player runs into a table and quickly places an item down in front of it, they will float above the item and can walk onto the table.[1]
Newly made table
If the player drops a furniture item while standing on a table, the item appears floating above the table. If the player then picks up the table they are standing on, a furniture item can be dropped on top of the item that was floating above the table, regardless of if that item can normally function as a table. If the player leaves and re-enters the room, the items swap places.[1]
In Wild World
Birthday party crash
The game may crash after the player gives a villager a present at their birthday party. This occurs due to an error that results in the game not choosing a line for the villager to say after receiving their present.[5]
Town hall locked letter crash
In certain copies of the game or if the player's system is not set to the correct date, when opening a letter from the town hall (usually the one pertaining to the interest earned in the player's Bell account), the game does not open it but instead crashes, and since the letter is new, it cannot be thrown away until it is read, therefore locking the letter in the inventory until the player hard-resets the town or simply sets the system to the correct time.
Gulliver's UFO softlock
If the player shoots Gulliver's UFO with a slingshot and a villager's house occupies the signpost it would normally land on, the crash landing noise plays, but the screen does not fade out, softlocking the game. This glitch only occurs in the 1.0 revisions of the Japanese and North American versions of the game, as it was fixed in cartridge version 1.1.
Lazy villager items
If a lazy villager attempts to give an item to the player while their pockets are full, he will say he cannot give them the item; however, in his next line, he will act as though he did give the player the item.[5]
No Mr. Resetti
If the player turns the game off without saving and Pete arrives with a letter from Nintendo via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection the next time they load their save, Mr. Resetti does not appear.
No point specials or spotlight items
Point specials and spotlight items do not appear in Tom Nook's store until a second human player moves to town.
Town bell sound
If the player saves while the town bells are ringing at the top of an hour, the bells continue ringing as the game is saving.
Turnips do not spoil
If turnips are placed on a table or in the lost and found, they will not spoil.
Walking through tables
In multiplayer, if the player places an item such as fruit, a tool, or a shell on a table in their house, then another player walks in, the table will not appear, allowing them to walk where it would be. From the first player's perspective, the second player will be walking through the table. This glitch is fixed when the visiting player exits and re-enters the room.
Duplicate Bells
Using a cardboard box, two Bell coins, and a Bell bag of any denomination, the player can duplicate the Bell bag.
In City Folk
Get on top of windmill
If the player runs into one of the bottom corners of the windmill during online multiplayer, they can get on top of it.[6] Due to the discontinuation of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in 2014, this glitch is no longer possible to perform.
Item duplication
If the player visits another player's town, drops items on the ground, then returns to the gate and when Copper is connecting to Nintendo WFC, resets the game, when they load their save, the items dropped reappear in their pockets while still being on the ground in the other player's town. Due to the discontinuation of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in 2014, this glitch is no longer possible to perform.
Out of bounds in museum
If the player runs into the sign for The Roost in the museum from above during online multiplayer, they may be pushed through the museum wall.[7] Due to the discontinuation of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection in 2014, this glitch is no longer possible to perform.
Watering can
If the player uses a watering can and presses 
, the watering can does not produce a sound.
In New Leaf
ABD balance reset
In the Welcome amiibo update, if the mayor sells their town to Tom Nook, any non-mayor players with Bells deposited at the ABD will have their balances remain when second, third, or fourth players move into the new town. Additionally, the balances remain even if the players are deleted; any new players will have the balance from the first town's player.
Cannot dig up sapling
If a sapling or cedar sapling is planted on the last tile between the shore and the water, it cannot be dug up.
Invisible bench
If a bench public works project is under construction, villagers may sit on the construction zone before the bench is actually built.
Merge with villager
If a villager is on the north edge of a river and the player digs holes to the north, west, and east of them, then uses an out of bounds glitch to get into the river and walk directly south of the villager, if they save and continue, they will appear on the land occupying the same space as the villager. This glitch ends when the player fills in one of the holes.
No heavy snow during Fishing Tourney
If a Fishing Tourney falls on December 10, the heavy snow that is normally scripted to occur on that day will not occur; despite this, snow still appears on the ground the next day.
No music
If the player takes Katie to the train station and waits until 6 AM, then goes outside, no music will play until Katie is separated from the player or the player enters a different area.
Out of bounds
Out of bounds glitches in New Leaf allow the player to go on top of buildings, on the train tracks, on the cliffs at the edges of the town, and into rivers and ponds. If the player uses an out of bounds glitch to go into the sea, they will swim as if they were wearing a wet suit. There are two out of bounds glitches.
Net
If the player holds 
while a net is equipped while moving extremely slowly, they can pass over barriers.[8]
Tripping into a river
If the player digs two holes next to each other on the diagonal part of a river, then buries an item in one, stands between the two, and digs up the item, they will be standing between the two holes. If they then trip by either having a bad fortune or wearing the King Tut Mask, they will fall into the river, where they can walk around. This glitch was patched in the Welcome amiibo update.[8]
Tweeter/Beans
If the player uses a tweeter or beans while another player is pushing them against a barrier, they will be pushed through the barrier.
The player on the railroad tracks as a result of an out of bounds glitch
A player out of bounds near the entrance to the HH Showcase
Stuck villager
A villager can get stuck on the wall of the cliff,[clarification needed] where they will walk in place until the player leaves the area.
Fall below the map
If the player goes out of bounds at the train tracks, then walks off of the back of the bridge over the sea, they will fall beneath the map and can walk around. The only way to return above ground is to save the game.
Underground bug catch
If the player walks to the beach while underground and catches a bug, as long as is repeatedly pressed, they will continue to catch the same bug over and over until their pockets are full.
Kappins Island Date Glitch
If you go to kappins island, and then open animal crossing new leaf the next day, then go back to the main island, the date will be the same as when the player went to kappins island.
In New Horizons
Claude's DIY workbenches
Prior to either version 1.4.0 or 1.4.1,[9] if Claude crafted, his house would contain two DIY workbenches clipping into each other.[10]
Clip into items and bodies of water
If the player climbs up or down a cliff while a flat furniture item (such as the unfinished puzzle) is placed where they will climb up or down to, the player will stand on top of it and can walk into items or bodies of water adjacent to the item. This glitch was discovered in version 1.10.0.[11]
Fourth-level present
If the player shoots down a balloon while it is above the inaccessible fourth level of the island, the present will land on it and will be unobtainable. This glitch works as of version 1.7.0.[12]
Happy Home Paradise save corruption
During version 2.0.0, if the player had unlocked the ability to remodel villagers' homes and tries to remodel one while their airport gate is open before manually saving or leaving the house (which autosaves the game) then their save data would become corrupted. This glitch could be prevented if the player force closed the game without exiting the villager's house or saving. This was fixed with version 2.0.1.
Invisible clumps of weeds
If the player plants a clump of weeds between 12 AM and 5 AM on the last day of a season, it will be invisible until 5 AM. This glitch works as of version 1.7.0.[12]
Item duplication
Prior to version 1.1.1,[13] if two players stood next to an item placed on a 1.0×1.0 surface, with one player repeatedly rotating the surface and the other picking up the item on top, the item would go into the player's pockets while still remaining on the surface.
Villager floating up cliff
If a tree stump is positioned on the edge of a cliff, a villager walking on the lower level may sit on the stump, floating up the cliff to reach it. This glitch works as of version 1.10.0.[14]
Portia out of bounds
During version 2.0.0, if Portia was cooking in her house, she would be out of bounds. This was fixed with version 2.0.1.
Multiplayer freeze glitch
Sometimes, when a player repeatedly tries to come to an island the player is visiting, and the departure animation does not show, the player might get frozen in place until they force quit the game. Animations will still play.
Furniture placing animation not playing
The animation of an item being placed as furniture may not play if there are too many furniture items placed in a single area; in this case, the item simply spawns in with no animation.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nintendo Hound (April 5, 2011). "Animal Crossing Walking On Table + Duplicate Items Glitch". YouTube.
- ↑ A+Start (December 15, 2015). "Animal Crossing (Gamecube) Glitches - 12 Days of Glitchmas - Day 3". YouTube.
- ↑ Hunter R. (October 13, 2023). "Paying Off Your Debt Breaks Animal Crossing...". YouTube. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ↑ HoleInOneLuigi (April 29, 2013). "Animal Crossing: Floating Animal Glitch". YouTube.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 MysterMask (January 31, 2007). "Animal Crossing: Wild World - Glitch FAQ". GameFAQs.
- ↑ ACCFWifiMoments (July 28, 2009). "Getting on the Windmill in Less Than 20 Seconds in Animal Crossing: City Folk". YouTube.
- ↑ jvgsjeff (April 25, 2010). "Animal Crossing: City Folk - Museum Glitch". YouTube.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 A+Start (December 24, 2019). "Animal Crossing New Leaf - Glitchmas 2019 - Episode 5". YouTube.
- ↑ "Did they stealth fix claude's house? #AnimalCrossing #ACNH #NintendoSwitch" @Gargomon251 on X (formerly Twitter) (August 13, 2020). Archived from the original on August 13, 2020.
- ↑ @CandyShyBat on X (formerly Twitter) (July 24, 2020). Archived from the original on July 25, 2020.
- ↑ Crossing Channel (May 12, 2021). "Animal Crossing New Horizons - HOW TO SWIM IN RIVERS (New Glitch 1.10 Update)". YouTube. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Glitches". Animal Crossing: New Horizons FAQ. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
- ↑ Justin (March 2020). "Version 1.1.1 of Animal Crossing: New Horizons released, fixes item duplication glitch". Animal Crossing World.
- ↑ @JuniperMeg on X (formerly Twitter) (June 4, 2021). Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
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