As part of Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 2.0, you can now go talk to Isabelle and enact ordinances to customize your island. They’re not free, however, and she only explains what they do in general.
Like us, you probably want specifics. We’ve put together this New Horizons ordinances guide so you can figure out which one is best for you!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Ordinances
There are four total ordinances. Every time you want to enact one, it’ll cost you 20,000 Bells. While there’s no fee to cancel one, keep in mind that changes won’t take effect until the following day — that includes both starting and ending ordinances. Plan ahead!
- Beautiful Island: Villagers help with weeding and watering flowers. Removes trash from the waters.
- Early Bird: Buildings open earlier in the day.
- Night Owl: Buildings stay open later at night.
- Bell Boom: Cost of goods goes up (both buying and selling).
But what do these actually do? How much effect does Bell Boom have on prices? Let’s dig in.
Beautiful Island Ordinance
If you have trouble keeping up with your island, this is a good pick for you.
- Villagers are more likely to pick weeds and water flowers.
- Weeds take longer to grow.
- Hybrid flowers are more likely to grow.
- Trash is completely removed from the water for fishing.
That’s all we’ve confirmed so far. In previous games, however, the ordinance also did this:
- Time traveling doesn’t cause weeds to grow.
- Cockroaches will no longer spawn.
- Flowers are unable to die.
Needless to say: if you’re a time traveler, this might be the ordinance you want to try.
Early Bird Ordinance
If you can only play Animal Crossing in the early hours before shops have opened, you might want to choose the Early Bird Ordinance.
This causes villagers to wake up and stores to open one hour earlier. It does not appear to shift things earlier, so villagers won’t go to bed sooner. Instead, it just adds extra time in the morning.
- Nook’s Cranny: Open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Able Sisters: Open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Normal Villagers: Awake between 5 a.m. and 12 a.m.
- Peppy Villagers: Awake between 6 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.
- Snooty Villagers: Awake between 7:30 a.m. and 2:30 a.m.
- Sisterly Villagers: Awake between 8:30 a.m. and a.m.
- Lazy Villagers: Awake between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
- Jock Villagers: Awake between 5:30 a.m. and 12:30 a.m.
- Smug Villagers: Awake between 6 a.m. and 2 a.m.
- Cranky Villagers: Awake between 8 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.
Night Owl Ordinance
Take everything from Early Bird and shift it later into the night instead of in the morning. Importantly, this ordinance likely keeps shops open until almost midnight! Much more appropriate for weekend gaming. You’ll even get some company in the early morning hours before the villagers finally go to sleep.
- Nook’s Cranny: Open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
- Able Sisters: Open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Normal Villagers: Awake between 6 a.m. and 1 a.m.
- Peppy Villagers: Awake between 7 a.m. and 2:30 a.m.
- Snooty Villagers: Awake between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m.
- Sisterly Villagers: Awake between 9:30 a.m. and 4 a.m.
- Lazy Villagers: Awake between 8 a.m. and 12 a.m.
- Jock Villagers: Awake between 6:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.
- Smug Villagers: Awake between 7 a.m. and 3 a.m.
- Cranky Villagers: Awake between 9 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.
Bell Boom Ordinance
If you’re a big seller on your island, constantly turning over fruit, vegetables, shells, and the like, Bell Boom is probably a good choice for you. Keep in mind, however, that this isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme. While this ordinance increases the selling cost of everything you have, it also makes everything in the shops and stores more expensive. If you’re selling more than buying, great! But if you’re only logging in to check what’s in stores, you may want to switch this one off for the time being.
In previous games, this ordinance caused everything to be worth 1.2 times its default value. An item that costs 1,000 Bells would now cost 1,200 Bells. It’s not a ton, but it does add up fast!
Keep in mind that this does not affect turnip prices and selling values. No games to be played here!
