by Hartmann at
Rockstar's kicked off January 2026 with one of those stealthy GTA Online background updates you only notice after the fact. No big download, no splash screen, just a lobby that suddenly feels a little less lawless. If you've been hopping between public sessions lately, you'll know why people are talking: the worst "can't-touch-me" tricks were getting out of hand, and even regular grinders were getting dragged into the chaos. A lot of players only care about staying afloat and keeping their bank moving, so it makes sense that GTA 5 Money searches are trending again right alongside the patch chatter.
The headline fix is the crackdown on god mode setups tied to the RC Bandito and certain Nightclub delivery vehicles. For weeks it's been the same story: you roll up to an objective, start a fair fight, then realise the other guy's health bar is basically a suggestion. It doesn't just ruin PvP; it wrecks freemode events, sales, even random hangouts because you're stuck dealing with someone who can't be punished. With these specific exploits shut down server-side, lobbies should feel more normal again, and you won't have to second-guess every gunfight you get pulled into.
Rockstar also went straight for the mansion-era money loops. The Mansion Driveway Dupe and the Office Garage Dupe were the kind of tricks that spread fast because they were simple and didn't require much skill, just repetition. Now they're patched, which means the usual late-night "one more dupe run" crowd is out of luck. They also fixed that awkward progression bug where players could grab mansion trophies and plaques without earning them properly. It's annoying if you were halfway through cheesing it, sure, but it puts value back into those unlocks for the people actually finishing the requirements.
Not everything here is about stopping cheaters. The Lunar New Year race voting screen bug is finally dealt with, so you're not sitting in that weird in-between state where nobody can move on. And Rockstar disabling ragdoll physics in missions like "Home Sweet Home" and the Mansion Raid Adversary Mode is a bigger deal than it sounds. Those physics glitches could throw you into a fail state for no good reason, or just make the mission feel like it's fighting you. Cutting that randomness should make runs cleaner and way less frustrating.
Online reactions are split, as always. Plenty of legit players are happy because griefers lost their favourite crutches, while glitch hunters are already mourning the "fun" exploits that got swept up in the cleanup. Coming right after the 1.55 title update, this feels like Rockstar doing damage control and trying to keep sessions stable before they hype the next big thing. And for players who'd rather spend their time actually playing than chasing broken methods, services like RSVSR can be appealing for sourcing game currency or items without living in exploit threads all week.
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