Schedule 1 sewer key: Every way to get it and what it unlocks

The sewers in Schedule 1 are an optional late‑game playground: fast travel, free loot, a hidden property, and a couple of hostile NPCs. None of it matters if you never find the Sewer Key.

The key is a single “master” item that opens all eight sewer entrances across Hyland Point, and it can exist in your save in up to three separate copies. You only need one to get underground, but the game supports several different ways to obtain it, from slow but reliable to outright cheating.

All intended ways to get the Sewer Key

The game supports three normal paths to a Sewer Key. They can all exist in the same save, but each save only has one world spawn location and one specific NPC who can carry it.

Method 1: Buy the Sewer Key from Jen Heard (late‑game, guaranteed)

Who: Jen Heard in Uptown.
Cost: $1,000.
Requirement: You must have Uptown unlocked and Jen at “friendly” satisfaction.

Step 1: Progress your main business until Uptown is available and Jen Heard is on your contact list. Build her satisfaction by selling to her consistently and avoiding bad batches or missed deliveries.

Step 2: Once she is friendly, speak to Jen during her working hours or wake her at home in the apartment block east of Hyland Medical during the night. A dialogue option appears that lets you purchase the Sewer Key for $1,000.

This is the most straightforward route but also the most restrictive, since it assumes near‑endgame progression and a stable cash flow.

Method 2: Steal the key from a specific NPC (anytime, more interactive)

One NPC in your world can be assigned a Sewer Key. That person is chosen when the save is created, and they come from a small internal list (names include characters like Cranky Frank, Jerry, Keith, Geraldine, and others mentioned in community hints).

You can either pickpocket this NPC while they are conscious or loot them after knocking them out or killing them.

Step 1: Reach the Warehouse so you can talk to Oscar. Ask him about the sewers. He can give one of two hint types: a broad area where the world‑spawn key sits, or a short description of the NPC who has the carried key (“the angry guy with the mohawk”, “the purple‑haired lady”, and similar lines).

Step 2: Once you have a description, deliberately seek that NPC out as a customer or in their usual hangouts. When you have them in front of you, check the pickpocket option. If you prefer force, incapacitate them and loot their body inventory.

Pickpocketing success is affected by the minigame bars. Drugs with the Sneaky effect make the bars larger and forgiving. A simple way to gain this effect is to mix any base drug with Paracetamol; mixes like Kush + Banana, Gdaddy Purple + Energy Drink + Paracetamol, or Cocaine/Meth + Paracetamol are commonly used because they add Sneaky without too many negative side effects.

Method 3: Find the world‑spawned key (anytime, exploration‑heavy)

Every save generates one Sewer Key dropped somewhere in the open world. The game chooses a single location from a pool of roughly 50 potential spots that span multiple districts, including Downtown, Northtown, and the graveyard.

Step 1: After you have access to the Warehouse, ask Oscar about the sewer key’s location. When he gives the “world” hint, he narrows the search down to a specific zone, which cuts the search area dramatically.

Step 2: Search that zone on foot. The key lies on the ground and emits a faint glow that is much easier to spot at night. Focus on corners, alleys, beside fences, and around notable landmarks in the hinted district.

Many players stumble on the key naturally while exploring or running deliveries, especially in the graveyard or near apartment blocks and car parks. Others treat it like a scavenger hunt and sweep a district grid‑style after dark.

Cheaty and debug ways to obtain the Sewer Key

Not every run needs a full scavenger hunt. If you are rebuilding a save or testing systems, the game exposes a few shortcuts.

Using the console command

The simplest option is a console command:

give sewerkey

Enter this while your save is loaded, and you immediately gain another copy of the Sewer Key.

Editing the Sewer.json file

When a new save is created, the game writes a Sewer.json file that stores two important numbers:

• One index (0–49) for the world‑spawn key location.
• One index (0–6) for which NPC carries the key.

By changing these numbers and reloading the save, you can force the key to appear at a known spot or on a known NPC. The broader community has mapped these indices to specific coordinates and to Oscar’s hint lines (for example, index 0 matching “the angry guy with the mohawk”, Genghis).

Always back up your save before editing and make sure the game is fully closed. Both numbers can be modified without breaking progression; the game simply treats them as the new truth for that world.

Where you can use the Sewer Key (all access points)

The Sewer Key opens every one of the eight entrances spread around Hyland Point. Once unlocked, these entrances stay usable for the rest of the save.

The tunnels form a rough loop beneath the city, with exits scattered across the map. Once you learn the layout, the sewers become a nighttime movement network that helps avoid street patrols. Police can follow you down, though, so ducking into a manhole is not an instant “get out of chase” card.

Within the tunnels themselves, you’ll also find shrooms growing in dim corners on floors and walls, plus the locked Maintenance Office that hides the Sewer King.

How to open the Sewer King’s Maintenance Office

Deep inside the sewers is a red door covered in graffiti with a keypad next to it. Behind that keypad is the Maintenance Office, also referred to as the throne room. This room is both a unique property and the lair of the Sewer King.

The game hints that on any keypad, the most heavily used button tends to be worn down. On the door’s keypad, the “1” key stands out as the worn button.

Step 1: Stand at the keypad next to the graffiti‑covered red door and interact to bring up the code input.

Step 2: Enter 1111. The keypad accepts this code and unlocks the door, triggering the encounter with the Sewer King.

Bring a weapon before you do this. The King is fast and aggressive, and the fight starts as soon as the door opens.

How to beat the Sewer King and loot the throne room

The Sewer King is a hostile NPC styled with purple underwear, a red jacket, a foil crown, and a chain. He charges the player as soon as you step through the door.

He hits hard but does not have boss‑level health. A few shots from a pistol or rifle, or several swings from a baseball bat or machete, are enough to drop him. Many players farm guns from cops topside specifically to make this encounter trivial.

Once he is down, fully loot him. His inventory can include:

• The unique, equipable Trash Crown hat.
• Some cash.

Important: The Trash Crown is a one‑of‑a‑kind cosmetic. If you fail to loot it before leaving or if the body despawns, it becomes unobtainable in that save without using the give trashcrown command.

Inside the room you also gain access to:

• The Garbage Throne furniture item, which can be picked up and placed elsewhere.
• A bed and save spot.
• A faucet for water.
• Storage in the form of a medium rack, plastic table, file cabinet, trash can, and lamps.
• Loose items including standard quality meth, acid, red phosphorus, and gasoline.

The Maintenance Office becomes a free property on your phone called the “Sewer office” or Maintenance Office. It functions like an underground stash house: you can sleep, save, store inventory, and even grow crops thanks to the water source. You cannot currently assign staff or schedule deliveries here because there are no loading docks.

For many runs, this room becomes an ideal hidden lab and storage space, especially for darker activities like meth cooking or, depending on future updates, underground mushroom cultivation.

How the Sewer Goblin works (and why you want meth)

Roaming the tunnels is the Sewer Goblin, a thin, sickly‑looking figure with greenish skin and ragged underwear. He is treated as a special encounter rather than a fixed landmark.

The Goblin behavior follows a few rules:

• He appears after you have spent some time wandering in the sewers, not instantly on entry.
• He is hostile and can kill you if you are unarmed or low on health.
• He is effectively invulnerable in the sense that he cannot be permanently killed; blows only have a chance to make him flee down a corridor.

There are two main ways to deal with him.

Option 1: Fight him off repeatedly

Step 1: Enter the sewers with a decent melee weapon such as a bat or machete. Watch your health bar so you are not caught weak.

Step 2: When the Goblin rushes you, swing or shoot until he staggers and scurries away. Each hit has a chance to make him retreat. He can return later on the same night or on future visits.

This approach works, but turns the sewers into a recurring combat annoyance.

Option 2: Bribe him with meth so he leaves you alone

The Goblin has one favorite thing: meth. If you enter the tunnels carrying at least one bag of meth and actively hold it when he approaches, you can effectively pacify him.

Step 1: Before heading underground, make sure you have at least one unit of meth in your inventory. If you cannot cook yet, meth can also be obtained from dealer camping or certain encounters once you are far enough along.

Step 2: When the Goblin appears, switch to the meth in your hand instead of a weapon. He will approach without instantly attacking as long as he sees the drug.

Step 3: Let him take a single pack of meth. After grabbing it, he sprints away down the tunnel and despawns around a corner. Once this has happened, he stops bothering you for that run and, in practice, is treated as pacified for future visits.

Players who forget to bring meth are forced into combat. If you kill him in that situation, he will still be alive again on a later day; the “peaceful” solution requires handing over meth at least once.

When it makes sense to chase the Sewer Key

From a progression standpoint, you can technically get the key at any time via pickpocketing or a lucky world spawn. The Jen route naturally pushes you toward late‑game because of the Uptown and friendship requirements.

The sewers are most practical once you:

• Have Warehouse access, so Oscar’s hints and meth production are available.
• Own at least one reliable weapon from the Warehouse or disarmed cops.
• Want alternative nighttime routes to move product without constant police attention.

At that point, the tunnels become a smart investment: you gain a hidden base, extra loot, fast travel‑like routing under the city, and a weird little Goblin whose loyalty can be bought for a single bag of meth.