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How do you die of drowning in The Sims 4?

Death by Drowning

A Sim whose Energy or Hunger runs out while swimming drowns. Safe: Servo, Vampire, Mermaid, pregnant Sims.

In The Sims 4, a Sim dies of drowning when their Energy or Hunger need runs out while swimming. This death comes with the Base game and has a tuning ID of 103,599. To cause it, keep your Sim in the water until either of those two needs hits empty.

Drowning is a certain death, which means it does not rely on random chance. As soon as Energy or Hunger bottoms out in the water, the death sequence starts. It affects Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder Sims.

  • CertainBase game

How to make it happen

  1. Keep the Sim swimming until their Energy runs out.
  2. Running out of Hunger in the water drowns them too.

How to avoid it

  1. Get the Sim out of the water before Energy or Hunger runs out.
  2. Mermaids and vampires can't drown.
  3. Type sims.fill_all_commodities (with testingcheats on) to fill every need.

The game never lets this death happen to: Servo, Vampire, Mermaid, pregnant Sims.

These moodlets stop it before the end: Death-Proof, Total Immortal, Feeling Grim, Grimness Intensifies, Grim Overload, Grimbucha'd.

The ghost

A Sim who dies this way becomes a ghost with the trait Death by Drowning. The game gives each death type its own ghost trait.

Every ghost type and its powers are on the ghosts page. See also: Mermaids in The Sims 4.

To bring the ghost back to life with a cheat, type traits.remove_trait trait_ghost_Drown. Removing its last ghost trait makes the Sim alive again.

To stop your Sims from dying at all, type death.toggle false (what death.toggle does).

How drowning kills a Sim in play

Your Sim enters the water to swim. While they remain in the water, you let their Energy need or their Hunger need drop completely. Keeping them swimming until Energy empties is the main method, though starving in the water causes drowning too.

Because this death is certain, the game uses no random roll and sets no countdown timer. There is also no special warning state specific to drowning before it happens. When either need runs out during a swim, the Sim drowns right away.

Who is safe from drowning and how to survive

To avoid drowning during normal play, direct your Sim out of the water before Energy or Hunger runs out. Vampire and Mermaid Sims are completely immune and cannot drown. Sims below the Child age group also do not appear on the list of affected ages.

Several specific conditions save a Sim from dying this way. These include Death-Proof, Total Immortal, Feeling Grim, Grimness Intensifies, Grim Overload, and Grimbucha'd. If a Sim has one of these protections, they survive.

You can also use cheats in Live mode to save a swimming Sim. Open the cheat console with Ctrl + Shift + C on PC or Cmd + Shift + C on Mac. Type testingcheats true, then use the cheat that fills every need, or enter death.toggle false to stop every death that runs through a death interaction.

The drowning ghost and bringing your Sim back

When a Sim dies in the water, they turn into a ghost with the Death by Drowning trait. Note that while the death toggle cheat stops death interactions, it does not stop a Sim from turning into a ghost by other means.

If you add this ghost to your household, you can bring the Sim back to life with a cheat. Open the cheat console in Live mode and type traits.remove_trait trait_ghost_Drown. Removing this ghost trait restores the Sim to life.

Questions

How do you make a Sim drown in The Sims 4?

Put your Sim in the water and keep them swimming until their Energy or Hunger need runs out completely. Once either need hits empty in the water, the Sim drowns.

Can Mermaids or Vampires drown in The Sims 4?

No, Mermaids and Vampires are immune to Death by Drowning. They cannot drown even if their needs drop in the water.

Can children drown in The Sims 4?

Yes, Child Sims can die from drowning. This death affects Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder Sims.

How do you revive a Sim who died of drowning?

Make sure the ghost is in your household, then open the cheat console in Live mode. Enter traits.remove_trait trait_ghost_Drown to remove the ghost trait and bring the Sim back to life.

Is Death by Drowning in the Base game?

Yes, Death by Drowning is part of The Sims 4 Base game. You do not need any extra packs for a Sim to drown.

Other ways to die