All Ordinances & what they do in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Meg Bethany Koepp
animal crossing new horizons stretching

With the 2.0 update comes new content, including Island Ordinances. Here’s how they work in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

After months of silence and a lack of fresh content, Nintendo revealed that several new additions would be arriving in New Horizons in the 2.0 update on November 5, 2021, including never-before-seen villagers, mechanics like cooking, and more.

Ordinances are also returning, first seen in New Leaf on the 3DS. Here’s everything you need to know about them in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, including what each one does.

Ordinances in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

ordinances in animal crossing new horizons
There are multiple to choose from, all with their own changes.

In short, Island Ordinances affect the way your town operates. They range from changing your stores’ opening and closing time, to making your economy stronger. They’re essentially Nintendo’s way of catering to multiple playstyles and making sure people who work full-time in real life, for example, can still get the most out of the game.

Here’s every Ordinance in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and what each one does:

  • Early Bird – Shops open and close earlier and villagers wake up sooner
  • Night Owl – Shops open and close later and villagers go to bed later
  • Beautiful Island – Flowers don’t wilt, less weeds appear, cockroaches never spawn, and it gives a higher hybrid flower chance
  • Bell Boom – You get more Bells when selling items and lowers the cost of purchases

To implement or change an Ordinance, speak to Isabelle in your Resident Services building. In New Leaf, they cost 20,000 Bells to enact so it’s presumed it’ll be similar in New Horizons.


And there you have it! All you need to know about Island Ordinances in Animal Crossing. Looking for more tips and tricks covering all things New Horizons? Take a look at our other guides:

5 of the funniest villager catchphrases | Gift guide for villagers | How to get Iron Nuggets fast | How to stop villagers moving out | Terraforming ideas | How to get the Shell Arch

Sign up to Dexerto for free and receive:
Fewer Ads|Dark Mode|Deals in Gaming, TV and Movies, and Tech