What is Time Travel in Animal Crossing?
Animal Crossing: New Horizons operates on a real-time clock, meaning in-game events and progression are tied to the actual date and time. However, players have discovered a way to manipulate this flow of time, known as “time traveling.” Time traveling in Animal Crossing involves manually altering your Nintendo Switch’s system clock to advance to the future or revisit the past within the game.
It’s important to clarify that time traveling is not a form of hacking or cheating. It’s a built-in game mechanic that leverages the Switch’s system settings. Furthermore, time traveling does not erase your progress. Whether you jump forward or backward, you retain all items, villagers, and island developments you’ve worked hard to achieve. Think of it as simply shifting the game’s clock, not rewinding your island’s story.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Time Travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Time traveling in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a straightforward process that requires adjusting your Nintendo Switch’s date and time settings. Here’s a detailed guide:
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Close Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Ensure your game is completely closed. You can do this by pressing the X button while on the game’s home screen and selecting “Close.” Alternatively, save your game by accessing the ‘Save Complete’ screen through the in-game menu and choosing ‘Save and End.’
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Access System Settings: From the Nintendo Switch HOME Menu, navigate to the “System Settings” icon (the gear icon).
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Navigate to Date and Time Settings: Scroll down in the System Settings menu and select “System,” then choose “Date and Time.”
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Disable Internet Synchronization: If “Synchronize Clock via internet” is turned ON, you need to disable it. This prevents the Switch from automatically correcting the time using the internet. Tap the option to toggle it OFF.
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Manually Adjust Date and Time: Now you can manually change the date and time. Select “Date and Time” again and adjust the date and time to your desired point in the future or past. Use the + and – buttons or the touch screen to make your adjustments.
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Return to Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Once you’ve set your desired date and time, return to the HOME Menu and relaunch Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game will now load with the new date and time you’ve set in your Switch settings.
Access Date and Time settings in Nintendo Switch System Menu to time travel in Animal Crossing
General Effects of Time Traveling: Forward and Backward
Time traveling, whether you’re leaping into the future or stepping back into the past, has both positive and negative consequences within Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Understanding these effects is crucial for managing your island and gameplay experience.
| Negative Effects | Positive Effects |
|---|---|
| * Open plots may fill: If you have empty housing plots on your island, time traveling forward can cause a random villager to move in automatically. | * Shop Restocks: All shop inventories, including Able Sisters, Nook’s Cranny, and Nook Shopping, will refresh, offering new items for purchase. |
| * Villagers may leave: Although less frequent in New Horizons than in previous Animal Crossing games, there’s a slight chance a villager might decide to move out if you time travel significantly forward. | * Redd’s Art Delivery: If you’ve purchased art from Redd, time traveling forward will trigger its delivery to your mailbox. |
| * Fossil Respawn: New fossils will spawn daily on your island, allowing you to continue your collection or sell them for Bells. | |
| * NPC Visitor Refresh: The cycle of special NPC visitors like Leif, Kicks, and CJ will reset, giving you another opportunity to interact with them and access their services. | |
| * Daily Recipe Bottle Respawn: The message bottle containing a daily DIY recipe will reappear on the beach, allowing you to collect another new recipe. |
Important Notes on Shop Restocks:
- Able Sisters Mannequins: The mannequins at Able Sisters will only update their displayed outfits when you time travel beyond the current week.
- Nook’s Cranny Limited Items: Certain special items in Nook’s Cranny, like limited-edition furniture, can only be purchased once per week. Buying them and then time traveling back to the same day within the same week will not restock them.
- Saharah’s Inventory: Saharah’s rug and wallpaper inventory remains consistent within the same week. To see a new selection, you must time travel into a new week.
Specific Effects of Time Traveling Forward
Moving forward in time in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is akin to simply waiting for real-time to pass. Here’s a breakdown of the specific effects:
| Negative Effects | Positive Effects |
|---|---|
| * Weed and Flower Growth: Weeds will spawn and flowers will spread and potentially crossbreed more rapidly. | * Building Completion: Any ongoing construction projects, such as house upgrades, building construction, or villager move-ins, will be completed instantly. |
| * Cockroach Infestation: If you time travel forward by a month or more without playing, cockroaches may appear in your home. | * Resource Refresh: Rocks and trees on your island will reset their daily resources, allowing you to gather more materials like stone, wood, and iron nuggets. |
| * Bedhead Hair: Time traveling a month or more forward without playing can result in your character having “bedhead” hair the next time you play. | * Mail Delivery: Any pending mail, including gifts from villagers or online orders, will be delivered to your mailbox. |
| * Villager Dialogue Changes: Villagers might comment on your absence or the sudden passage of time if you make a significant jump forward. | * Turnip Price Trends Unaffected: Time traveling forward within the week will not alter the current turnip price trend on your island. |
| * Turnip Spoilage: Crucially, turnips will spoil if you time travel past 5:00 AM on the Sunday following their purchase. Always sell your turnips before time traveling forward across a Sunday morning. |
Specific Effects of Time Traveling Backward
Time traveling backward in Animal Crossing: New Horizons simulates returning to a previous day in the game’s timeline. Here’s what to expect:
| Negative Effects | Neutral Effects |
|---|---|
| * Turnip Spoilage: Similar to forward time travel across a Sunday, turnips will immediately spoil if you time travel backward. | * No “New Day” Progression: Time traveling backward does not trigger the game to recognize it as a “new day” for daily progression purposes. |
| * Turnip Price Reset: Time traveling backward will reset your current turnip price trend, and prices will fluctuate again. | * No Building Completion: Construction projects, upgrades, and villager move-ins will not be completed by time traveling backward. They remain in their state from the day you traveled back to. |
| * Watered Flowers Revert: Flowers that were watered will lose their “watered” effect and will not grow or crossbreed during the “rewound” time. | * Shop Stock Remains: Shop inventories (Nook’s Cranny, Able Sisters) will be the same as they were on the first visit to that day in the current week, unless you travel back into a previous week. |
| * ABD Chain Reset: If you were building up a consecutive daily bonus at the ABD (Automatic Bell Dispenser), time traveling backward can reset this streak. | * Resource Nodes Unchanged: Rocks and trees will not refresh their resources when time traveling backward within the same day. |
| * Villager Move-in/Out Advancement: Villager move-in and move-out timelines can be affected, potentially advancing their schedules. | * No Mail Delivery: Mail will not be delivered when time traveling backward to a previous day. |
Time Travel and Other Games on Your Switch
Changing the system time for Animal Crossing: New Horizons will generally not affect other games on your Nintendo Switch unless those games also rely on the system clock and are launched while the time is altered. Most games are not affected, but it’s something to be mindful of if you play other time-sensitive games.
Time Travel and Villager Invitations
Wondering if you need to wait after inviting a villager to your island or after your villager is invited to someone else’s island before time traveling? The answer is no. You can time travel immediately after inviting a villager or having your villager invited to another island without any issues.
Time Traveling to Experience Past Events
Yes! Since the 2.0.0 update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, all past events from previous years are now unlocked and permanently available. This means you can time travel to any date in the game’s history to participate in events you may have missed or want to experience again. This includes seasonal Nook Stop items.
Player Birthdays: Keep in mind that player birthdays in Animal Crossing can only be celebrated once per in-game year. Time traveling back to the same birthday date in the same year will not re-trigger the birthday event. You must time travel to a birthday in a future or past year to experience it again.
Decorated Cedar Trees During Festive Season
If you’ve time traveled to the Festive Season (winter holidays) in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and your cedar trees aren’t decorated, ensure you’ve time traveled forward into the season, not backward. Also, make sure you actually have cedar trees planted on your island, as only cedar trees are decorated during this time.
Farming NPC Visitors with Time Travel
Time travel can be used to “farm” interactions with specific NPC visitors to your island. Here’s how:
Weekday NPC (excluding Monday):
- If a desired NPC is visiting on a weekday (Tuesday – Sunday), toggle your Switch’s date back and forth between the current day (when the NPC is present) and a day when they are not.
- To collect rewards from NPCs who send gifts via mail (like letters from villagers after completing tasks), be sure to time travel forward one day to receive the mail.
Monday NPC:
- If you want to farm a Monday NPC (like Daisy Mae selling turnips), time travel forward one day to Tuesday.
- Then, time travel back to Monday (after 5:00 AM in-game time, which is when the new day starts in Animal Crossing). This will reset the Monday NPC’s appearance.
Villager Move-Outs and Excessive Time Travel
A common concern among players is whether villagers will move out unexpectedly if they time travel too much. In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, villagers will not move out without your explicit permission. This is a change from earlier Animal Crossing games. You don’t need to worry about losing villagers due to time travel.
Friendship Points and Time Travel
Will time traveling negatively impact your relationships with villagers? No, time travel does not decrease friendship points with villagers. They might have some dialogue expressing confusion if you make a large time jump forward, but it does not affect your friendship levels.
Developer Awareness and Consequences of Time Travel
Data mining has revealed a game variable called isTimeSly which tracks whether a player has time traveled. However, there is no evidence to suggest that the developers of Animal Crossing: New Horizons disapprove of or punish time traveling. There are no in-game penalties or negative consequences implemented by Nintendo for time travelers. Ultimately, it’s your game, and you are free to play it in whatever way you find most enjoyable, including time travel.
BCAT and NTP Unlocks: Time-Locked Content
BCAT (Broadcast Content Aggregation Tool) and NTP (Network Time Protocol) unlocks are technical terms referring to flags within the game that are flipped when the actual real-world date of a planned event or content release arrives. These are collectively known as “time-locks.”
- BCAT Unlocks: These usually unlock events and append a letter (e.g., ‘c’) to the game version number on the title screen (e.g.,
1.6.0 c). - NTP Unlocks: These typically unlock seasonal Nook Shopping items and do not visibly change anything on the title screen.
Important Note: As of the 2.0.0 update, it’s likely that BCAT and NTP unlocks are no longer actively used for content releases, as all past content is now permanently unlocked. Manual unlocking of these flags (without time travel) would require hacking your Nintendo Switch.
This comprehensive guide should equip you with all the knowledge you need to confidently time travel in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and understand its various effects! Happy time traveling!
