Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) Guides

How To Set Island Ordinances & What They Do

Island Ordinances are a new feature that allows you to change fundamental rules of your island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons after Version 2.0! Learn how to change ordinances and what they do in this guide.

Newly introduced in the massive Version 2.0 Update released on November 3rd, you’ll need to have your copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons fully updated to set an Island Ordinances.

What Are Island Ordinances?

By enacting Ordinances on your island, you can adjust some of the ‘rules’ that villagers or shops follow to better suit your personal Animal Crossing: New Horizons playstyle!

For example, if you’re a player who tends to stay up and play later in the night, the Night Owl island ordinance can adjust the hours of shops and villagers making them available at later hours.

How To Set & Change Island Ordinances

It’s super easy to set your Island Ordinance for the first time, or switch it later if you change your mind! You’ll need to have experienced your first K.K. Slider concert to unlock the feature.

To set your an Island Ordinance in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, talk to Isabelle at the counter inside of Resident Services. Select the ‘Review Island Features‘ option, and then select the ‘Discuss Ordinances‘ option. You’ll need to pay a fee of 20,000 Bells to set or change an Island Ordinance.

Four Types of Island Ordinances

There are four different types of Island Ordinances you can choose from in Animal Crossing: New Horizons with Version 2.0! In the list below, you can learn what each option does for your island.

Beautiful Island Ordinance: According to Isabelle, the Beautiful Island Ordinance will ‘ask folks to pitch in with weeding, watering flowers, and clearing trash from our waters.’

In more technical terms, this ordinance cuts the spread of weeds by about half and adds a high chance of flower breeding even when not watered.

Early Bird Ordinance: According to Isabelle, the Early Bird Ordinance will ‘ask residents to be more active in the morning and our businesses to open earlier.’

In particular, shops like Nook’s Cranny will open 2 hours earlier in the morning than without an ordinance.

Night Owl Ordinance: According to Isabelle, the Night Owl Ordinance will ‘boost nightlife by asking folks to stay up later. We’d also have island businesses extend their hours.’

In particular, shops like Nook’s Cranny will remain open for 1 extra hour later  in the evening than without an ordinance.

Bell Boom Ordinance: According to Isabelle, the Bell Boom Ordinance will ’cause the cost of goods on the islands to go up, but so would the amount folks get from selling!’

In more technical terms, this ordinance increases item prices by 20%, but also increases item sell prices by 20% as well.

Special thanks to asteriation for some datamined information used in this article.