Chances are that you’ve probably killed at least a few hundred people in your travels across Tamriel since the release of Skyrim: Special Edition last month. You probably also thought that once those bodies were looted for gold and lockpicks, they simply disappeared into Oblivion never to return.
But it turns out, that’s not at all what happens — at least, not for most characters who die at some point in the game. Instead of simply disappearing forever, these lifeless bodies get sent to a rather grisly room called the “Dead Body Cleanup Cell”.
This is a hidden room in Skyrim that can only be accessed via console commands. With a surreal purple and green color palate, this eerily cross-shaped cell has four doorways at the end of each corridor, but no actual doors. Should you step through one of these gaping thresholds, you’ll simply get ported back to the center of the death room.
Pretty much any character — especially NPCs you can interact with — who gets killed in some fashion will end up in this room, their bodies piled up in the center. You can resurrect some of these NPCs if you have the means, but mostly it’s just a gruesome holding cell.
Still…if you want to check it out, here’s how you can do it.
How to Get Into The Dead Body Cleanup Cell
Like I said earlier, the only way to reach this cell is to use console commands.
If you’re playing on PC, all you need to do is press your ~ button and it’ll bring up the console. From here, you can input a number of codes to tell the game what to do. While some folks use this to exploit infinite gold or turn on God Mode, we’re going to use it to teleport.
There are two ways to do this. The first is using a “move player” command. The second involves using “center on cell” commands. Here’s the breakdown for each method.
Using “Move Player” Commands
The move player command will teleport you to any NPC you choose. As such, it’s worth noting that this method will only work if you’re trying to teleport to a NPC that’s already dead. Otherwise, you’ll just end up somewhere else in Skyrim.
The first step is to find the NPC’s RefID. Let’s say you finally get fed up with Lydia’s snide remarks and bodyblocks, and kill her in a fit of rage. Her RefID is 000A2C94. Once you open the console command screen, you’ll combine her RefID with the “move player” command as follows:
player.moveto 000A2C94
So long as you’ve put it in properly, you should teleport to wherever Lydia is. And if she’s dead, then it’ll take you right to the Cleanup Cell where her body is being held.
Using “Center on Cell” Commands
Center on cell commands will put your character smack dab in the middle of whatever cell you choose to name. While the “move player” commands rely on a specific character actually being in the cell we’re trying to go to, this one doesn’t have any such conditions.
All you have to do is type in the following command:
coc WIDeadBodyCleanupCell
And boom! You’re in an open-air crypt. Creepy.
Using this method is known to cause Skyrim to crash, so make sure you save before you try it out.
What About Console Players?
Sorry, folks. But this is likely a PC-only adventure. There is currently no way for regular console players to access the command interface. Some players have reported that plugging a keyboard into your console and hitting the ~ key will work, but we can’t 100% confirm that it’s true.
There is apparently a very complicated way to turn your Xbox controller into a functional keyboard, but the steps required are too numerous and complex to list here. But if you want to give it a shot, you can check out the instructions for how to do so. Just keep in mind that they’re only for the Xbox 360, so Xbox One and all PlayStation players will probably just have to go without.
That’s all there is to it!
Enjoy your time in the dead body museum. Whenever you finally decide to leave (which we’re betting will be pretty much immediately), all you have to do is use either of the console commands above to teleport right back out of there.
Just make sure none of them follow you…
Did you know this hidden room existed? Planning to visit it anytime soon? Let us know in the comments!
