Curfew

For a related concept in The Sims 2, see Sneak Out.

Curfew is a feature in The Sims 3 and The Sims 4: Parenthood that is given to children and teenagers to remind them that they need to go home.

The Sims 3

A teen Sim getting caught after curfew

The notification that appears one hour before the child curfew begins.

The notification that appears one hour before the teen curfew begins.

In The Sims 3, a child's curfew is 10:00 PM and a teen's is 11:00 PM. Curfew can't be disabled in any legitimate way, but it does not apply if the child or teen is accompanied by a young adult, adult, or elder. This allows objects such as tents to be used.

Teens will be brought home by the police if they stay out past their curfew. If children stay out past their curfew, they will not be brought home by the police; instead, they will automatically go home or to the nearest adult family member. This action cannot be canceled.

If Generations is installed and a child or teen has the rebellious trait, the chance of the police rounding the child / teen up is significantly lower.

The Curfew Disabler mod changes the way the curfew feature works. It is only available for The Sims 3 for Windows and Mac OS X.

When a teenager is out during curfew, it gives the pertaining moodlet until a police officer catches the Sim or the teen goes home. When he is caught, he cannot run away from the officer (unless using the testingcheatsenabled true cheat and deleting the officer, Windows and Mac OS X only) and the Sim gets a negative moodlet and a scolding from an adult (that is able to be canceled) on the home lot.

To prevent getting caught by the curfew, use the "go here with..." action to have teens and children visit a community lot with an adult family member, and try not to stray to lots where it is more difficult for the adult to follow. This is useful when a Sim is trying to gain collectibles or is fishing away from home. If a Sim is at the graveyard mourning a dead family member, he or she doesn't get the positive moodlet for being out after curfew and won't be rounded up while mourning. As soon as the Sim stops mourning, he or she can be rounded up.

In The Sims 3 for console and Generations, children can violate curfew in the same fashion as teenagers.

The Sims 4: Parenthood

In The Sims 4: Parenthood, parents can choose when a family's curfew begins on the bulletin board, with the available options being 7:00 PM, 9:00 PM, or 11:00 PM. On the bulletin board is a clock that will change its color depending on how close the curfew time is. Yellow indicates that children and teens are clear from curfew, orange indicates that it's almost curfew, and red meaning that it's past curfew. Curfew lasts until 6:00 AM the next day. Adults can also completely remove curfew, but cannot do so when it's in effect.

If a child or teen is not at their home lot around 20 minutes before the curfew starts, one of their caregivers will send them a text to come back home. The child can ignore this warning without any consequences, unless the player does so.

If a Sim breaks curfew, their responsibility character value will gradually decrease. Their social interactions also become stealthy, though there is no change in gameplay. If the Sim gets caught, the parent will have the choice on if, when, and how to confront the violator. There are no police NPCs to take Sims back home.

Trivia

• In The Sims 2, The Sims 4 (without the Parenthood game pack), and The Sims Stories, teens and children do not have a curfew and there were no time limits for how long they could be on community lots alone.
  • This might be due to The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories handling time in a different manner to The Sims 3. Time on the home lot pauses in The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories, making it difficult to accurately draw up a curfew. However, time passes on all lots in The Sims 3.
• In The Sims 3, children and teens caught violating curfew will be grounded if Generations is installed.