The Complete Guide to Taking a Shit In Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is not only a massive open-world video game, but the most immersive we have ever seen. Beyond just playing missions, you need to manage your character Arthur Morgan’s health and appearance in a variety of ways.

In addition to eating, sleeping, and grooming, you need to make sure that Arthur takes a shit when necessary. The basics of the system are laid out in an early mission with Hosea titled, “A King and His Throne.”

Similar to your health, stamina, and dead eye, your bowels core is displayed as a 💩 symbol surrounded by an outer ring. The central core represents how much Arthur’s bowels can hold at a given time. The outer ring is a meter indicating how much he has to shit right now. The act of taking a shit simply requires you to smash the X button (PS3 Triangle) until your shit meter is empty.

But before you do that, you need to find a place to shit. If you’re in a town, you can pay to take a shit at most hotels or saloons (usually 5 cents). At a hotel, for an additional 25 cents, you can pay to have a lady of the night or a stableboy come in and wipe for you. In camp, you can upgrade Uncle’s Tent to add a privy.

It gets a little more tricky if you’re out in the wilderness. Yes, you can simply pop a squat by the side of the trail, but you do run a risk of being attacked by raccoons. You may also be spotted by any passersby, who will then be marked as a witness with a red blip on your mini-map. If you don’t deal with a witness quickly, they will tell others about what you did. Depending on the severity of your shit, that could lead to a posse of Lawmen coming your way or a bounty being put on your head.

Shitting in public will also lower your Honor Rank, similar to stealing from or murdering innocent people. If your Honor Rank dips too low, you will be unwelcome in certain businesses and charged a higher price for goods and services. The NPC townsfolk will also begin to react differently, avoiding you and saying things like “that’s the man who took a shit just outside Emerald Ranch."

If you take a shit in an especially egregious location, such as a church or living room, you will immediately receive a high wanted level and be surrounded. You better pull your pants up quickly and be ready to fight your way out.

Your best bet is to hold your shit until you can use an actual toilet, and if you manage your bowel core, this shouldn’t be too difficult. You can purchase items from General Stores, such as high-fiber foods and laxatives, which help you manage your bowels. You can also craft herbal remedies from plants you discover in the wilderness by visiting a pharmacist or trapper.

If you don’t regularly empty Arthur’s bowels or if you eat too much spicy food, you can develop a variety of problems, from constipation to irritable bowel syndrome. And yes, if you develop IBS or if you simply let your bowels fill all the way to the maximum, you will shit your pants.

Once you’ve soiled yourself, you have a couple of options. You could simply throw your pants away; however if you haven’t packed a backup pair in the saddlebags on your horse, this will require you to ride around in your underwear until you get back to camp. Riding too long in your underwear can lead to Saddle Ass, which we’ll deal with in another post.

Your other options are to wash your pants in a nearby river or stream, or to drop them off at the Chinese Laundry in Saint Denis or Blackwater.

At this point, you’re probably wondering if Arthur Morgan can fart. The answer is yes.

From time to time, your bowel core will simply turn into a question mark. This indicates that Arthur has to fart… or at least he thinks it’s a fart. The outer ring on the meter now indicates how certain Arthur is that it is actually a fart.

You can tap X to let it rip, and if it was a fart, your meter will drop back to zero. Otherwise, you can hold LT to clench, but you’ll have to continue to hold LT until you can reach a toilet or a secluded area. We recommend clenching anytime Arthur is less than 75% certain that it’s a fart.

If you guess wrong or get unlucky and Arthur sharts, it’s back to a nearby stream or Chinese Laundry to clean up.

And there you have it: A simple guide to how to take a shit in Red Dead Redemption 2. Next time, we’ll explain what to do when your horse has to take a shit, which is far more complicated.