By
Abby Lee Hood,Angie Harvey,Janet Garcia,+154 more
updated
Welcome to IGN's Animal Crossing: New Horizons Ordinance guide! This page includes everything you need to know about enacting one of the four island ordinances: Early Bird, Night Owl, Beautiful Island, and Bell Boom. Each of them allows you to change various villager behaviors.
Learn more about each ACNH ordinance, including specific ordinance hours, price changes with the Bell Boom, and how to cancel an ordinance below.
Click or tap here to skip straight to each Island Ordinance effect.
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Island Ordinances first appeared in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. As Mayor, players could choose ordinances that changed villagers' behaviors or made your town more beautiful. In New Horizons, the return of ordinances is similar and allows you to customize your play style.
How to Enact Ordinances
When you're ready to enact an Island Ordinance, visit Isabelle in Resident Services. If you don't have the building version of Resident Services yet be sure to visit our guide on How to Upgrade Resident Services before continuing. You must also have Animal Crossing updated to at least Ver. 2.0.0.
Sit down to chat with Isabelle. Then select the following:
- Review island features.
- Discuss ordinances.
At this point, Isabelle will inform you of any currently active ordinances. Enacting an ordinance costs 20,000 Bells, so be prepared for this hefty collaboration and filing fee!
How Island Ordinances Impact Your Island
You can see how each of the ordinances affects your island in the chart below. For reference, Nook's Cranny is typically open from 8 AM - 10 PM and Able Sisters is open from 9 AM to 9 PM.
| ORDINANCE NAME | ORDINANCE EFFECT |
|---|---|
| Beautiful Island Ordinance | Villagers will assist in clearing weeds, watering flowers, and clearing trash from the water. The Beautiful Island Ordinance could be especially helpful if you plan to do a lot of fishing and don't want to deal with tossing trash. |
| Early Bird Ordinance | Early Bird Hours: Villagers wake up earlier. With the Early Bird Ordinance Nook's Cranny is open from 7 AM - 10 PM and Able Sisters is open from 8 AM - 9 PM. |
| Night Owl Ordinance | Night Owl Hours: Villagers stay up later. With the Night Owl Ordinance Nook's Cranny is open from 8 AM - 11 PM and Able Sisters is open from 9 AM - 10 PM. |
| Bell Boom Ordinance | Items cost more but sell for more at shops. To get down to the math, you'll earn an extra 20% for all items you sell. Items at Nook's Cranny and Able Sisters will cost an extra 20%. Strategically, you should only enact the Bell Boom Ordinance if you're planning on selling enough to make back more than you paid for the ordinance and don't plan on buying much. Note that coffee from The Roost and items from Visitors do not increase in price. |
After you've chosen an ordinance it'll go into effect the following day.
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Ordinances do not affect locations or vendors not on your island. For example, shops on Harv's Island will stay open later if you have the Night Owl Ordinance.
You can check which ordinance you have active by sitting back down with Isabelle at Resident Services and choosing the Discuss Ordinance option again. She won't charge you if all you want to do is see which is active. If you want to cancel an ordinance, however, that's a different story.
Island Ordinances do not affect any of the shops on Harv's Island. They only work on your island.
How to Remove an Ordinance
If you don't like your ordinance or want to remove it for another reason, you can change or remove an ordinance by speaking to Isabelle in Resident Services. You'll need to have at least 20,000 Bells in your pocket to reach the option.
Once in the menu, you'll see a fourth option for "Drop our ordinance." Choosing this will charge you 20,000 Bells. Be sure you really don't want the ordinance or would instead prefer to have a different ordinance in effect!
Check out the following guides for more help with new features from the big 2.0 Update:
- Surprise New Features in the 2.0 Update
- How to Get the Storage Shed
- Harv's Island Shopping Plaza
- How to Get the Donation Box and How It Works
- Gyroid List and Guide
- How to Get Wheat
Up Next: Home Storage
Top Guide Sections
- Beginner's Guide and Tips
- Bug Guide: Bugs List, Sell Price, and Bug Catching Tips
- Fish Guide: Fish List, Sell Price, and Fishing Tips
- Sea Creatures Guide: Sea Creature List, Sell Price
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In This Guide
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Nintendo
Related Guides
OverviewBeginner's Guide and TipsBug Guide: Bugs List, Sell Price, and Bug Catching TipsFish Guide: Fish List, Sell Price, and Fishing Tips
