How to Edit Relationships in Sims 4: Friendship, Romance, and Beyond

Relationships are the backbone of any Sims story. Whether you want two Sims to be instant best friends, sworn enemies, or deeply in love — The Sims 4 gives you several ways to shape those connections. But the method that works best depends heavily on how you play, what you have installed, and how much control you want.

What "Editing Relationships" Actually Means in Sims 4

In The Sims 4, every relationship between two Sims is tracked on two separate meters:

• Friendship score — ranges from -100 (enemies) to +100 (best friends)
• Romance score — ranges from 0 to +100 (soulmates)

These scores determine which social interactions are available, how Sims react to each other, and what relationship status labels appear (Acquaintance, Friend, Enemy, Romantic Interest, Partner, etc.).

"Editing" a relationship means changing those scores directly — either through gameplay or by bypassing the normal social grind entirely.

Method 1: Using the In-Game Cheat Console 🎮

The most widely used approach is the relationship cheat, which works on the base game without any mods.

To open the cheat console:

• PC/Mac: Ctrl + Shift + C
• Console: All four shoulder buttons simultaneously

Then type testingcheats true and press Enter. You'll see a confirmation message.

The core relationship cheat syntax is:

ModifyRelationship [YourSimFirstName] [YourSimLastName] [TargetSimFirstName] [TargetSimLastName] [Value] [RelationshipType] 

Relationship type strings you'll use most often:

Example: To max out friendship between two Sims named Maya Johnson and Chris Park:

ModifyRelationship Maya Johnson Chris Park 100 LTR_Friendship_Main 

Use a negative value (like -100) to push the relationship into enemy territory. The value you enter adds to or subtracts from the current score — it doesn't set an absolute number, so if the score is already at 50, adding 100 caps it at the maximum.

Method 2: Shift-Click Cheats for Faster Editing

With testingcheats true active, you can Shift+Click on a Sim to access a quick relationship menu. One option lets you set your active Sim's relationship to that Sim as either friends or enemies in a single click — no typing required.

This is faster for casual use but gives you less precision than the console command. You can't fine-tune the exact score or adjust romance independently this way.

Method 3: Using MCCC (MC Command Center) Mod

For players who want a graphical interface and deeper control, MC Command Center (commonly called MCCC) is the go-to mod. It's one of the most downloaded Sims 4 mods available and adds a relationship editor accessible directly through Sim interaction menus.

With MCCC, you can:

• View and edit exact relationship scores for any two Sims
• Set relationship types (friends, enemies, romantic partners) without cheats
• Manage relationship bits — the smaller flags like "Hot and Cold," "Awkward Friends," or "Lovebirds" that modify how Sims interact
• Edit relationships between Sims who aren't currently on the same lot

Relationship bits are worth understanding separately — they're overlays on top of the main score that change tone and available interactions. Cheats alone can't always remove or add these bits cleanly, which is where MCCC becomes more useful than the base-game console.

Method 4: CAS (Create-a-Sim) Family Relationships

If you're building a household from scratch, you can set family relationships directly in Create-a-Sim by clicking the relationship icon between Sims in the same household. This covers:

• Spouses / Romantic Partners
• Siblings
• Parent / Child
• Grandparent / Grandchild

These are structural family relationships — separate from the friendship and romance meters. A Sim can be set as a sibling in CAS but still have a low friendship score once gameplay starts.

Variables That Change What Works for You

The right method isn't universal. Several factors shape which approach fits your situation:

Playstyle — If you're a storyteller who wants precise control over relationship dynamics mid-save, MCCC gives you far more granularity than base-game cheats. If you just want two Sims to stop being strangers quickly, Shift+Click is enough.

Mods and expansions installed — Some expansion packs introduce their own relationship types (like sentiments from Snowy Escape or family dynamics from Growing Together). Base-game cheats may not touch these. MCCC and dedicated mods often update to cover them.

Platform — PC and Mac players have full mod and cheat access. Console players (PlayStation, Xbox) can use the cheat console but cannot install mods, which means MCCC and similar tools aren't available. Console players are limited to the Shift+Click method and typed cheats.

Sentiment system — Introduced in a later update, sentiments are short-term emotional memories that override relationship scores in some interactions. A Sim with a max friendship score but a strong negative sentiment may still react poorly. Editing the main relationship meters won't automatically clear bad sentiments.

Household vs. off-lot Sims — Base-game cheats work on Sims in the same lot or household most reliably. Editing relationships between Sims on different lots, or between played and unplayed households, is where MCCC tends to be more reliable.

The Gap That Gameplay Creates

Understanding which levers exist — cheat console, Shift+Click, MCCC, CAS — is only part of the picture. What those tools can actually reach depends on which packs you own, which platform you're on, whether you're running mods, and what kind of relationship state you're trying to create or undo. A player on console editing a base-game friendship is in a very different position than a PC player trying to untangle sentiment flags between two NPC Sims three saves deep. The mechanics are consistent — but your specific save, setup, and goal determine which combination of tools will actually get you where you're trying to go.