Visiting other people's islands is a fantastic way to exchange recipes, make trades, socialize with friends, and generally have fun. It can also be used to find meteor showers and items for sale that aren't currently on your own island. However, thanks to some unacceptable behavior, many players have found themselves shutting down their islands in order to preserve them.

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Since Animal Crossing: New Horizons can be more fun with friends we've put together some etiquette tips that can help you be a good island visitor. If you play nicely when people are kind enough to extend invites to you, then you're more likely to be invited back, or even added to the best friends list. Here are our top do's and don't of island etiquette.

10 Do: Greet Your Host

It's polite to greet your host. Even if you can't see them as soon as you arrive, any messages you send will show up in the chat log. Saying hello shows that you appreciate the invitation and want to acknowledge it.

Often long conversations aren't expected and many players are happy to let others wander around while they do other things but opening islands does limit that island's player, preventing them from doing certain actions, so saying hello is a small way of recognizing this.

9 Don't: Shake Trees

Casually shaking trees seems like a minor thing to do but it can inconvenience the player whose island it is. This is because you can end up messing up their resource collecting system.

Trees can contain useful items, including furniture and twigs, and are also home to bugs. They are also something that takes time to remove all the resources from each day, especially if you have a lot. Shaking them early can mean valuable bugs vanish before the island owner has a chance to catch them.

8 Do: Ask Before Taking Items

Many players have systems in place for others to grab useful items. These can be DIY exchange points, fruit stalls, or trade areas. However, there are many different ways of doing this so it's always polite to ask first and check that islander's rules.

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Asking before taking things also applies to weeds and other low-value items. While weeding seems helpful, weeds can be used in several crafting items, including hedge fences so sometimes players are growing and collecting them for this purpose. Asking takes seconds so make sure you do it.

7 Don't: Run Over Or Pick Flowers

You'll often find an island with a beautiful flower garden. These can take a long time to carefully craft and many are designed to breed valuable hybrids. As such anyone running through the flowers can really upset a host.

Picking flowers is even worse as you can stop hybrids from forming by picking the plants needed to make them grow. Basically, if it isn't your garden then treat it with respect and look but don't touch.

6 Do: Ask If Plants Need Watering

If you want to help maintain someone's garden, often seen as an easy way to thank them, then ask about watering plants. Some players may leave signs up indicating thirsty flowers but others may not.

Asking what needs a watering can allow you to save a player time and watering cans, giving a little something back. Just be careful as you go not to pick the flowers or trample the garden!

5 Don't: Move Items

It is of no consequence if you think something is out of line or would look better elsewhere. You do not mess with another player's island design. Most items can be moved but it doesn't mean you should move them.

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If you start moving things around expect your host to get very irate. Many players are incredibly particular about their designs and don't want unsolicited advice or "help."

4 Do: Bring Things To Exchange

It's a nice gesture if you bring things to exchange. Especially if someone else's island is in its infancy then bringing along some non-native fruit and some of those elusive iron nuggets can really help them get going.

Duplicate DIY recipes, flowers, and duplicate furniture or fossils are also great items to pass on if you can. Why not pack a few and see if you can find a helpful trade? It will benefit both of you.

3 Don't: Steal Items

This should be obvious but sadly it really isn't. Some players still seem to think that stealing rare or high-value items especially is a great idea. Here's the thing, it's a lose lose situation. All you are doing is encouraging a player to keep the gates closed and stopping yourself and others from benefitting.

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It's also entirely unnecessary. Items can be cataloged easily and then you can get them for yourself, it will just cost you a few nook miles, which are easy enough to collect. Don't ruin things for everyone else to save a little currency.

2 Do: Ask If You Can Catalog Things

Cataloging is a great way to expand your nook store selection. All it involves is you picking up an item then dropping it back down on the ground for your friend to put back. The act of doing this means it will then show up in your nook store on your own island.

You'll be able to purchase it as usual through the guest services ATM and receive it in the mail. If you're polite and ask about cataloging a friend may even bring items from their home outside for you, allowing you to further increase your store choice.

1 Don't: Be Disrespectful

This rule is at the top of the list as really it's the only one that matters. Don't be disrespectful. Opening your Animal Crossing island is a risk for players, especially if it's open to strangers via dodo code shared on social media. Don't be the person that spoils it.

If you're about to do something that you'd hate someone to do to you then quite simply, don't do it. Say hello, ask for permission if unsure, be polite, and have fun. It's really that simple.

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