Animal Crossing: New Horizons Ordinances Guide - How To Enact Ordinances And What They Do (2024)

By Chris Pereira on November 4, 2021 at 7:53AM PDT

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Among the many additions in the big new Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2.0 update are ordinances. These return from previous entries in the series, and like in those games, they allow you to exert some additional control over the way your island works. While they still have some restrictions like only being able to use one at a time, they can help you to earn some extra money, make your island look nicer, or improve the odds that stuff will be happening at the time of day that you usually play.

But how do you enact ordinances, and which ones are available? Read on for a full breakdown of how they work and how to get started.

How do you enact an ordinance?

Putting an ordinance into effect is a fairly simple process, although there are some rules around them that you should be aware of. To get started, talk to Isabelle at the Resident Services building and select the "review island features" dialogue option. From there, you can choose "discuss ordinances" and then select the one you want to enact. It's as simple as that.

However, enacting an ordinance will cost you a fee of 20,000 bells, and it'll take a day for it to go into effect. You can also only have one active at a time, and once you start the process, you can't change your mind. Presumably, once the ordinance goes into effect, you'll then be able to shift to another if you so wish; we're working to verify that and will report back once we know more.

What do the ordinances do?

The four ordinances are fairly self-explanatory, with Isabelle offering a rundown on the basics of what to expect by activating each one. We'll be looking to nail down the specifics on what each one does (such as exactly how much more money Boom Bell gets you or the business hours for Early Bird/Night Owl), but for now, here's an overview of what to expect.

Beautiful Island

With Beautiful Island, human players will no longer be the only ones in charge of beautifying your island. While villagers won't suddenly start putting up furniture outside, they will pick weeds, water flowers, and clear trash from the nearby waters (helping to ensure the time you spend fishing results in you actually getting fish). Of course, there are some potential downsides to go along with this: You may already have more flowers than you want, and watering them will only cause more to grow. Or you may have a use for weeds or trash that you fish up, in which case you might be better off choosing a different ordinance.

Early Bird

Early bird turns everyone on the island into just that: an early riser. For players who like to jump into the game during the early morning hours, you'll see villagers doing their thing earlier in the day, and businesses will also open earlier than they normally would.

Night Owl

Night Owl works similarly at the other end of the spectrum: Your villagers will stay up later and businesses will be open later into the night, letting you pay a visit to them late at night.

Bell Boom

Bell Boom increases the value of everything on the island. That means prices for things you buy will be higher, but you'll also make more money on everything you sell. Selling turnips on the stalk market may still be the best route to radically increasing the size of your wallet, but Bell Boom should help you easily refill your coffers on the regular.

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