Ordinances are among the many new features added to Animal Crossing: New Horizons as part of the game’s free 2.0 update. New Leaf players will remember ordinances as special island features that influence the island’s daily functions. This guide will go over what ordinances are, how they work, and how to enact ordinances in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
How to Enact Ordinances
Ordinances must be enacted in New Horizons for their effects to be applied to your island. To enact an ordinance, head to Resident Services and speak to Isabelle. Select “Review island features” and then “Discuss ordinances” to choose which ordinance you’d like to enact. Enacting an ordinance costs 20,000 Bells and you will have to wait until the next day for the ordinance to go into effect. Only one ordinance can be enacted at a time.
What Ordinances Do
In New Horizons, ordinances are sets of rules that change or altar some aspect of daily island life. Some ordinances help you earn more Bells, while others change the times that shops are open on your island.
There are four ordinances in New Horizons:
- Beautiful Island Ordinance: Reduced weed growth, increased flower reproduction, and less trash in waterways.
- Early Bird Ordinance: Shops are open one hour earlier and residents are active one hour earlier.
- Able Sisters early bird hours: 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
- Nook’s Cranny early bird hours: 7:00 am -10:00 pm
- Night Owl Ordinance: Shops are open one hour later and residents are active one hour later.
- Able Sisters night owl hours: 9:00 am – 10:00 pm
- Nook’s Cranny night owl hours: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm
- Bell Boom Ordinance: Items cost more, but also sell for more.
Choosing the right ordinance for your island will depend on what your goals are. If you are want more hybrid flowers and less weeds to pick, then go for the Beautiful Island ordinance. If you tend to sell a lot of items and could use the extra Bells, then the Bell Boom ordinance should work in your favor. The minor scheduling changes offered by the Early Bird and Night Owl ordinances are admittedly a bit underwhelming. However, they may still be the quality of life change some players are looking for.
Check out our other Animal Crossing: New Horizons guides for more tips following the 2.0 update, including how to get wheat and sugarcane and how to cook food.