How to get onto rooftops and into the ocean in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Glitches are a fun byproduct of any game. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has its own host of unusual bugs and exploits. Recently, there was an item duplication glitch for certain sized items. Now there’s another in the same patch. Players found a way to walk in the ocean or on rooftops with this simple technique. Nintendo patches bugs like this quickly once they’re discovered, no matter how innocent. If you plan on using it do so at your own risk, and do so soon. 

The glitch was found by StephenPlays on YouTube and seems to need patch 1.2.0a. Using a bench, or another object of your choice, and a friend, players can glitch their character out of bounds. It’s not really useful for much other than some amusing photos. However, it can be used to stand on the fourth level of the map, which could mean more creative options for decor. 

To use the glitch, open your gates and have a friend waiting and ready. Line up a bench to your desired wall. This wall can be the edge of a cliff that you can’t reach normally, the ocean, or a wall of a building. Push the bench all the way to the wall and then move it back once. Each pull or push moves the bench one half step and it needs to be one half step from the wall to work. Once the bench is in place, put the other object down in front of it. Sit on the bench, face the object, and hold A. Let your friend know to arrive. 

When you get the notification your friend is on the way, your character will stop sitting and will be clipped into the bench. If you remain clipped into the bench after the small arrival cutscene, you know the glitch has worked. Walk towards the wall, cliff, or ocean and you’ll automatically be placed in an out of bounds area. 

Your friend might see something different from what you as the host see. If you’re on the museum, for instance, they might see you walking around inside it instead of on the rooftop. If you’re walking around in the ocean, they will see you walking on water. Why this works is unknown, but StephenPlays suggest the game isn’t sure where to put you when you try to walk into that half-step sized spot and puts you in the nearest “empty” space. 

Be careful: if you’re on top of a roof, you can fall. If you’re in the ocean or river, there’s nothing to do and you’ll need to call Rescue Services or end the online session before you can get back to land. If you used this glitch to reach the fourth level of a mountain, you won’t fall and the game will treat it as any other land: you can dig, place items, etc. You can get down using the ladder, as you would any other mountain, but you cannot get back up without using the glitch again. 

Have fun with this one before it’s patched. Decorate your island with the newfound ability to get to the highest points of the island or just take some fun pictures with your friends.