Debug Content

This is a sub-page of Proto:Plants vs. Zombies (Windows, Mac OS X).

Debug builds and other current prototype builds of the game have unique functions that are not present in other final versions of the game. The first known debug build was the Japanese distribution, being the first ever Game of the Year release. The build was considered a RELEASE version, according to the title of the executable window. Despite the name, running the game makes it act like it's the original product, suggesting it was an oversight, but the functions below prove otherwise.

Debugging Material#

Cheat Keys#

This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically: Figure out what what internal frame the credits keys do, additionally, you can spawn zombies in the zen garden, why isn't this documented?

The following developer cheat keys can be used nearly everywhere after enabling framework debug keys. Most are the exact same as Journey to the West. Zombie spawns effect random lane targets. These would make it a little tough to activate Tree of Wisdom commands. Non-retail framework debug keys are excluded since they would still work on the final version.

Key	In-game	Main Menu	Money display/Award	Zen Garden	Music Video/Credits	Shop	Minigames
a	Spawns a Flag Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	Plants a random Plant fully grown in a random location, only effects the main garden.	Jumps to 1:52	No effect.	No effect.
A	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
b	Spawns a Bungee Zombie. On Dr. Zomboss, sets Bungee to 0, making Dr. Zomboss use Bungee Zombies or an RV as this is randomized. Has no effect in Beghouled and Beghouled Twist.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect. On Tree of Wisdom, plays the next dialog.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
B	Temporarily clears Fog for 22 seconds (2200 frames).	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
c	Spawns a Conehead Zombie.	Completes the game with minimal unlocks temporarily, your save will look like this: `Unlocked Minigames: True Unlocked Puzzle: True Unlocked Survival: True Unlocked Almanac: True Unlocked Zen Garden: True`	No effect.	Adds 1 Chocolate to your balance.	No effect.	Unlocks all pages of the shop, also showing the page buttons.	Temporarily unlocks all Minigames in the specific section.
C	Spawns a Catapult Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	Does the exact same as "c".	No effect.	No effect.	Does the exact same as "c".
d	Spawns a Dog Walker Zombie in the 0.1.1.1014 build. In Dr. Zomboss's Revenge, 10000 damage to him, even when not vulnerable.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	Jumps to 2:23	No effect.	No effect.
D	Spawns a Digger Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
e	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	Jumps to 1:23	No effect.	No effect.
E	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
f	Spawns a Propeller Zombie in the 0.1.1.1014 build. The 'f' most likely stands for flying	No effect.	No effect.	Does proper actions to a random plant that needs it, no effects if no plants exist nor need fertilizing, ignores resources limits, on the Tree of Wisdom, the Wisdom Food also applies.	Jumps to 2:26	No effect.	No effect.
F	Spawns a Balloon Zombie. The 'F' most likely stands for flying	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
g	Spawns a Garguantuar. In Zombotany 1/2, spawns a Gatling Pea Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect. On Tree of Wisdom, grows the tree one feet without spending Plant Food.	Jumps to 2:37	No effect.	No effect.
G	Spawns a Giga Garguantuar.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
h	Spawns a Buckethead Zombie. On Dr. Zomboss, sets Head to 0, making him vulnerable.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
H	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
i	Spawns a Zomboni.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
I	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
j	Spawns a Jack-In-The-Box Zombie. In Zombotany 1/2, spawns a Jalapeno Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
J	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
l	Activates the Level Selector cheat.	The final release added this debug key to lock the game as a Trial. Unsets a debug flag for locking the game under a trial, you must restart the game to disable.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	Locks the game as a Trial. (Must restart the game to disable)	No effect.
L	Spawns a Ladder Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
m	Spawns a Disco Zombie. "m" likely stands for music, or Michael Jackson, whom the zombie's design is based on 1.	No effect.	No effect.	Plants a Marigold in a random location.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
M	Sets the Music Burst flag to play horde versions of the music temporarily.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
n	Spawns a Snorkel Zombie, can only done on Pool or Fog.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	Pauses the scrolling credits.	No effect.	No effect.
N	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
o	Spawns a Football Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
O	Enables the Free Planting Cheat and spawns Flower Pots in this formation: `1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0` No effect on I, Zombie levels.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
p	Spawns a Pole Vaulting Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
P	Spawns a Pogo Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
q	Spawns Threepeaters on all lanes with Lily Pads and Flower Pots when needed + goes ahead 20 internal game waves (2 waves), also enables the Free Planting Cheat. In Vasebreaker, breaks all Vases too. In I, Zombie levels, spawns a Football Zombie on the following lanes in this formation: `0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0` In Survival Endless, spawns a Gatling Pea, Torchwood, Split Pea, and Gloom Shrooms, automatically awaken, all protected by Pumpkins, on the following lanes in this formation: `1 1 1 1 1 2 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 0 0`	No effect.	No effect.	Spawns Threepeaters in all lanes and the top left corner in the 0.1.1.1014 build, it's wise to not interact with them. In the 0.9.9.1029 build and beyond, replaces the Threepeaters with Lily Pads.	Jumps to 0:58	No effect.	No effect.
Q	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
r	Spawns ambush Zombies, only works on stages with them. "r" likely means rise. In Dr. Zomboss's Revenge, make him throw an RV, if he is exposed, immediately makes him immune before doing so.	No effect.	No effect.	Makes Plants ready for actions.	Jumps to 1:32	No effect.	No effect.
R	Spawns a Dolphin Rider Zombie, only works on Pool or Fog. "R" likely means Rider.			No effect.			No effect.
s	Spawns a Screen Door Shield Zombie. On Dr. Zomboss, sets Stomp to 0, allowing him to Stomp nearby plants. In Zombotany 1/2, spawns a Squash Zombie.			Wakes up Stinky, if unowned, unlocks him, takes effect after reloading the scene.	Jumps to 2:09		No effect.
S	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
t	Spawns a Bobsled Zombie Team with an Ice Trail prepared for them. In Zombotany 1/2, spawns a Tall Nut Zombie. Be careful on using it on 1-2 and especially 1-1 as the game can try to spawn one in an inexistent column, crashing the game.				Jumps to 1:43		No effect.
T	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
u	Sets the spawn counter to 0 to force Zomboss to spawn a Zombie in Dr. Zomboss' Revenge.	Unlocks nearly everything available and saves your game, your save will look like this: Adventure Completions: 2 Coins: 50000 + Current value Has Used Cheat Keys: True Unlocked Minigames: True Unlocked Puzzle: True Unlocked Survival: True Home Lawn Security: True Nobel Peas Prize: True Zombologist: True Challenge Records: Beaten I, Zombie Endless: 20 Survival: Endless: 20 Survival: Day Endless: 20 (Unused) Survival: Night Endless: 20 (Unused) Survival: Fog Endless: 20 (Unused) Survival: Roof Endless: 20 (Unused) All Shop Pages Unlocked: True Plant Almanac Completed: True Zombie Almanac Completed: True Unlocked Zen Garden: True					No effect.
U	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
v	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
V	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
w	Spawns a Newspaper Zombie. In Zombotany 1/2, spawns a Wall Nut Zombie.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	Jumps to 1:14	No effect.	No effect.
W	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
x	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
X	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
y	Spawns a Zombie Yeti.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
Y	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
z	Toggles Debug Displays.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
Z	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
<	Loads the options dialog, you really can't pause the game?	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
Shift	Shows what is inside all Vases.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
Space	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
/	Goes ahead one internal game wave.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
?	Goes ahead one internal game wave.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
!	Wins two flags. On Last Stand or modes with only one flag, this does the exact same thing as "+".	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
@	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
#	No effect. On Survival, removes all Zombies, adds 5 flags and sets the win flag. On Survival Endless, adds 12 flags.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
$	Adds $1000 to your current balance (100 internally) and shows your currency count if in-game. Plays the checkbox click sound.	No effect.	Same as In-game.	Same as In-game.	No effect.	Same as In-game.	No effect.
%	Toggles 3D-Acceleration. What's wrong? You can't use the framework debug key?	No effect.	Same as In-game.	Same as In-game.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
]	No effect.			Allows you to change the Plant in the wheelbarrow.			No effect.
^	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
&	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
*	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
(	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
)	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
Escape	See Tod Mode.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
0	Adds 100 Sun to your current balance.	No effect.	Adds 500000 coins (50,000 in game logic).	Sets the Tree of Wisdom height value to 1, when on the Tree of Wisdom tab.	No effect.	Adds 50,000 coins (500,000 in game logic).	No effect.
1	"Squashes" all Plants in all lanes. Versions 0.9.9.1029 and beyond changed it to delete the plant on the first spot on the first lane.	No effect.	No effect.	Sets the Tree of Wisdom height value to 10, when on the Tree of Wisdom tab.	Jumps to the beginning of the first phase (frame 0 internally).	No effect.	No effect.
2	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	Sets the Tree of Wisdom height value to 20, when on the Tree of Wisdom tab.	Jumps to the 21 seconds of the first phase (frame 105 internally)	No effect.	No effect.
3	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	Sets the Tree of Wisdom height value to 30, when on the Tree of Wisdom tab.	Jumps to the 25 seconds of the first phase (frame 125 internally)	No effect.	No effect.
4	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	Sets the Tree of Wisdom height value to 40, when on the Tree of Wisdom tab.	Jumps to 0:39	No effect.	No effect.
5	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	Sets the Tree of Wisdom height value to 50, when on the Tree of Wisdom tab.	Jumps to 0:43	No effect.	No effect.
6	Speeds up game logic, another use sets proper logic speed.	No effect.	No effect.	Sets the Tree of Wisdom height value to 99, when on the Tree of Wisdom tab.	Jumps to 0:49	No effect.	No effect.
7	Slows down game logic, another use sets proper logic speed.	No effect.	No effect.	Sets the Tree of Wisdom height value to 499, when on the Tree of Wisdom tab.	Jumps to 0:52	No effect.	No effect.
8	Activates the Free Planting Cheat, allowing you to place any Plant, even upgraded variants, nearly everywhere without spending sun nor having cooldown.	No effect.	No effect.	Sets the Tree of Wisdom height value to 999, when on the Tree of Wisdom tab.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
9	Maximizes your sun count at 9990.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
-	Removes 100 Sun from your current balance.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.	No effect.
+	Same as "!".	No effect.	No effect.	Adds one random plant sprout, only effects the main garden.	No effect	No effect.	No effect.

Level Selector Cheat#

If you press l with cheat mode enabled, you can enter a level selector mode, this way you can go to any level by typing 1-3, 2-4, etc. If you were to type an invalid level such as 3-11, it would simply go to 4-1. Currently this is the easiest way to get access to the hidden 6-1 level.

You can also go to minigames this way, by typing C1-69. typing C43 crashes the game as this is the level ID of the Zen Garden.

After you defeat zomboss you unlock the "remixed" adventure mode where Crazy Dave automatically chooses what a few of your plants will be. You can access this by typing F as a prefix. I.E. if you wanted to go the the remixed 1-6 you would type F1-6.

Level ID table	CX0	CX1	CX2	CX3	CX4	CX5	CX6	CX7	CX8	CX9
C0X	Goes to your current level in adventure mode.	Survival: Day	Survival: Night	Survival: Pool	Survival: Fog	Survival: Roof	Survival: Day (Hard)	Survival: Night (Hard)	Survival: Pool (Hard)	Survival: Roof (Endless)
C1X	Survival: Roof (Hard)	Survival: Day (Endless)	Survival: Night (Endless)	Survival: (Endless)	Survival: Fog (Endless)	Survival: Roof (Endless)	ZomBotany	Beghouled	Slot Machine	It's Raining Seeds
C2X	Wall-nut Bowling	Beghouled Twist	Seeing Stars	Zombiquarium	Invisi-ghoul	Big Trouble Little Zombie	Portal Combat	Column Like You See 'Em	Bobsled Bananza	Zombie Nimble Zombie Quick
C3X	Whack a Zombie	Pogo Party	Zombotany 2	Wall-nut Bowling 2	Last Stand	Dr. Zomboss's Revenge	Art Challenge Wall-nut	Sunny Day	Unsodded	Big Time
C4X	Art Challenge Sunflower	Air Raid	Ice Level	Zen Garden (Crashes)	High Gravity	Grave Danger	Can You Dig It?	Dark Stormy Night	Bungee Blitz	Squirrel
C5X	Vasebreaker	To the Left	Third Vase	Chain Reaction	M is for Metal	Scary Potter	Hokey Pokey	Another Chain Reaction	Ace of Vase	Vasebreaker Endless
C6X	I, Zombie	I, Zombie Too	Can you Dig It?	Totally Nuts	Dead Zeppelin	Me Smash	ZomBoogie	Give Me The Brain	All your brainz r belong to us	I, Zombie Endless

On the Game Of The Year edition, C50 is the Tree of Wisdom, meaning everything is offset forwards by 1. Additionally, the cutscene that appears when you reach the end of the demo version is C71, alongside the intro that starts at the beginning of the game at C72.

Tod Mode#

Likely named after Tod Semple, one of the key programmers of the game. When booted with -tod, the following are triggered and applied:

Asks to start SexyCache.exe, likely an internal tool.
Enables debug keys for the framework, which are also enabled for the base game.
Seed selection includes a new option called Debug Play, choosing random plants then immediately starting, this can also be used with CTRL-[.
CTRL-C can be pressed in game with debug keys, crashing the game with a Noncountable Exception, sending this message as the reason:

Crash !!!!

The majority of cutscenes can be skipped by clicking or pressing Escape, Enter or Space when they are played.
Limbo Page is enabled on bootup.
The game immediately loads to the current level of Adventure Mode after the loading screen, you can override it with s for Survival, p for Puzzle, z for Zen Garden, c for Minigames.

There is a program that automatically opens the game in -tod mode, it can be found here

Elsewhere#

-tod Works on: 0.1.1.1014, 0.9.9.1029
-tod Does not work on: 1.0.0.1051, 1.2.0.1065
Crash dumps are triggered after a crash happens, having a minidump file titled GameMiniDump, as a MDMP, as well as saves the frame the game crashes and with an image of the frame the game crashed called CrashScreenShot as a JPEG.
Various logs are outputted to a log.txt file, please note this is encoded in UTF-8 and characters that are Japanese like on Japanese builds won't be written correctly.