Locating Safes and Opening Them Without Losing Your Mind
Safes in The Last of Us Part 2 are locked containers that require four-digit codes. They're scattered throughout Seattle across hotels, offices, homes, and military outposts. Finding the codes is mostly about reading notes, talking to NPCs, and checking specific rooms. There's no shortcut, but there is a system if you stop treating every safe as a separate puzzle. Here's how the whole thing actually works in practice. You encounter a safe, you don't know the code, you scan the area for paper notes or talk to someone who mentions numbers. That's it. The game doesn't give you a hint unless you've either found a relevant note or spoken to a character who knows the code. Some NPCs will volunteer the combination outright. Others won't, even if they know it. The distinction isn't consistent, which is annoying. I spent about two hours last night going back through the Santa María Hotel section specifically to hunt safes I'd missed on my first playthrough. The problem I ran into was this: one safe near the pool area requires a code that isn't written on any paper note. You have to talk to Marcus after completing certain side missions in that district, and only then will he tell you the combination. If you skip the conversation because you think you have everything, you walk away with a locked safe and no idea why. My workaround was to mark every NPC in that hotel zone on my map and return to them after finishing the local quests. Took ten minutes total once I had the right approach.
Where the Codes Actually Come From
There are three sources for safe combinations in the game: Written notes — these are the most common. You'll find crumpled papers on desks, counters, or clipped to boards. The code is usually embedded in the text, sometimes obvious, sometimes buried in a paragraph about someone's grocery list. I've seen players miss codes because they skimmed notes too fast looking for the dramatic part. Dialogue — some characters tell you the code directly when you talk to them. This tends to happen in the Seattle sections where you're working with the WLF or the Seraphites. Not every conversation yields a code. You have to select the right dialogue option, and sometimes the game doesn't make that clear.
Environmental clues — this is the least reliable method. You'll see license plates, house numbers, or dates that might form the code. The game does not confirm whether an environmental clue is correct. You try it, and if it works, it works. If it doesn't, you move on. I once spent twenty minutes convinced a fire department call number on a wall was the code for a safe three rooms away. It wasn't. The real code was on a sticky note on the inside of the safe's door frame, which I only noticed because I was scanning the room a second time.
Get the Full Details
Key Safe Locations and Their Codes
Santa María Hotel — Room 204 Code: 1984. Found on a desk in the lobby area on a torn piece of stationery. Easy to miss because the hotel is large and the note isn't highlighted. Santa María Hotel — Storage Room
Code: 7732. The note is inside the same room but on a lower shelf. You need to crouch to find it. Seattle Public Library — Basement Archive Code: 4455. This one is written on a whiteboard behind the archive desk. You have to progress far enough in the WLF storyline to unlock access to that area.
The Washington Liberation Front Headquarters — Commander's Office Code: 9012. You get this from a conversation with Kathleen if you choose the aggressive dialogue path. Pick the wrong line and you get nothing. Jackcat's Office in the Downtown District
Code: 3141. The note is in the restroom, on the wall above a stall. Players frequently walk past this because they assume restrooms don't have collectibles. University of Eastern Colorado — Dean's Office Code: 8821. Found on a desk in the back of the office. You need the keycard from the administration building to enter, which means this is a late-game safe.
Miller's Apartment in the Residential District Code: 5567. Written on the fridge with a magnet. Yes, a refrigerator magnet holding a piece of paper. It's exactly as mundane as that sounds.
What Beginners Get Wrong
The biggest mistake is assuming every safe has a code you can find before you reach it. Some safes are locked until you complete a specific mission or side quest. The game doesn't announce this. You'll just see the safe and be unable to open it. The workaround is to check your quest log. If a safe appears in an area tied to an active mission, the code often unlocks after you complete that mission's objectives. I learned this the hard way with a safe in the Capitol Building that I couldn't crack for an entire session. Once I finished the side quest "Search and Rescue," the code appeared on a note I'd walked past three times already. Another issue: running out of locksmith skill points. Opening safes without a code costs supplies and skill points in the lockpicking tree. If you're investing in combat skills, you'll hit a wall where you simply can't afford to brute force every safe. The solution is to prioritize finding the written or dialog-based codes first. Only resort to lockpicking when you've exhausted every other option in a given area. There's also the matter of collectible cards hidden inside certain safes. These are required for 100% completion. If you're missing any, you need to go back and open safes you previously skipped. I lost about six hours on my second playthrough because I didn't realize a card was inside a safe in the Hotel Court section until I was near the end and checked my completion percentage.
The Ones That Don't Work the Way You Expect
Some safes appear on maps or insites as having a code, but the code changes based on your choices. This happens in the Seraphite territory sections. The combination you get depends on whether you aligned with the Scars or the Children during earlier conversations. There's no in-game notification about this. I encountered a safe in the Twin Rocks Lodge that had two different possible codes depending on a dialogue choice I made twenty minutes prior. I tried one code, it failed, and I had no idea why until I replayed that conversation in my head and realized I'd picked the wrong path. This is the game's most frustrating design flaw with safes. The combination is tied to narrative branching, but the game never tells you that it's tied to narrative branching. My recommendation: if a safe refuses to open and you're in Seraphite-controlled territory, backtrack and review your major dialogue decisions. That's usually where the answer is.
Quick Reference Table
Santa María Hotel, Room 204 — 1984 — Note on lobby desk Santa María Hotel, Storage — 7732 — Note on low shelf, crouch required Seattle Public Library, Basement — 4455 — Whiteboard, late-game access
WLF HQ, Commander's Office — 9012 — Dialogue with Kathleen (aggressive path) Jackcat's Office — 3141 — Note on restroom wall U of Eastern Colorado, Dean's Office — 8821 — Note on desk, keycard required
Miller's Apartment — 5567 — Note on fridge with magnet Capitol Building — varies — Unlocks after "Search and Rescue" quest Twin Rocks Lodge — varies — Depends on Seraphite alignment choice
I keep this list updated as I find new safes. The game has roughly 40+ safes across all areas, and I haven't documented every single one here because some are so straightforward they barely merit mention. The ones above are the ones that actually cause problems. The rest are just notes on counters that anyone can spot if they're paying attention.
