Pokemon Scarlet and Violet geniuses discover exploit that can generate infinite Master Balls and other rare items just by altering the Nintendo Switch clock
Apr. 10, 2024The Item Printer just became even more broken
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Genius Pokemon players have somehow uncovered an RNG exploit in Scarlet and Violet that allows you to generate infinite rare items – including Master Balls – just by changing the date and time on your Nintendo Switch.
In case you were unfamiliar, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Indigo Disk DLC added the Item Printer – a handy feature which serves as an elaborate gacha machine which can produce things such as Pokeballs, evolution stones, and held items in exchange for materials and Blueberry Points. While this essentially already allowed players to acquire infinite amounts of the items available, the best ones are very rare, so there was never a guarantee you’d get many of what you wanted. However, this exploit changes that.
As highlighted by @Sibuna_Switch on Twitter, the RNG of the Item Printer is set based on the time and date on your Nintendo Switch. In simple terms, specific outcomes (such as generating five Master Balls at once) are guaranteed to occur at certain times – or seeds – so if you know what to change your system clock to after loading up your game, you can repeat the process as many times as you like. The community has been rallying to discover which of these seeds are worth using, and plenty have already been pulled together. In fact,Twitter user @Kaphoticshas even published a calculation tool to help discover seeds based on the items you want.
So, assuming that you have a seed to aim for, how do you actually pull this off? As outlined by @Sibuna_Switch, before getting started, you’ll want to make sure your Item Printer is upgraded to at least Ultra if you want to generate Pokeballs, or Master for regular items. Then, before proceeding to the item seeds you want to use, you’ll want to trigger a ball or item bonus – there are seeds for guaranteeing these, too.
If you’re ready to get started on landing on these seeds, you’ll want to start your game (close and re-open it if need be), and speak to the NPC next to the Item Printer, hovering over the “I want to print something” option. At that point, open your Nintendo Switch’s settings, and change the date and time. Before okaying it though, make sure you know the exact second you need for your seed, as the timer will begin counting up from zero as soon as you change the settings.
Quickly go back into your game, and make sure you press “I want to print” at a moment when the screen will fade to black at the precise time of your targeted seed. It’s been advised that depending on what Switch model you have and whether or not you own a digital copy of the game, you may have to press the button either one or two seconds early to account for delay. With that in mind, if it doesn’t work on the first attempt, you might just need to tweak your timing slightly.
Depending on the seed you use, you may need to repeat these steps to land on your target item seed after successfully getting your item bonus, but some allow you to immediately continue and still get excellent results, so make sure you know which one you’re using before you get started.
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Admittedly, it all sounds pretty complicated, and it’s not going to be something that every player will want to try – after all, some might want the thrill of not knowing what they’re going to get from the Item Printer, and that’s totally cool. However, it’s incredibly impressive that the community has figured this stuff out, and it doesn’t seem like they’re done with it yet, either.
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I’m one of GamesRadar+’s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield’s student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming’s news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you’re sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.
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