November 4, 2025: We updated this guide as Stray is included in the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for November 2025.
The Stray safe code is something you'll find out about once you start exploring The Slums, as you should soon stumble across an abandoned lockbox that's been left down a litter-strewn alleyway. Attached to this safe is the Mysterious Password digicode, and while that may sound useful you'll quickly realize that neither B-12 or the locals in the area can decipher it, so instead you have to locate the particular individual with the knowledge to reveal the safe code.
To speed up this process I've done the investigation work for you, to provide a walkthrough for how to read the Safe's Mysterious Password and get the Stray safe code. As you go forward, keep in mind that each part of this process is independent, so if you'd prefer to just get on with things then you can skip ahead to immediately enter the Stray safe code and open it, after which the Mysterious Password item will simply vanish from your inventory. Well, it's not like you need it anymore.
Where to find the Stray safe in The Slums
Once you've arrived in The Slums and have spoken to the Guardian, face the garage full of meditating robots and then go left down the stairs. Head past Morusque the musician, then look in the alleyway to the left of the shutter blocking the entrance to the sewers. Here you'll find the Stray safe code attached to the unit, but when you examine the Safe's Mysterious Password item you'll see it says "follows the numbers" then a binary code that you can't decipher. Don't overlook one of the Stray energy drink locations from the vending machine opposite this alley, as they're important for unlocking collectibles.
Show the Safe's Mysterious Password item to any of the robots around town and they'll tell you that it's a very old binary code and only a real geek can read this, so as with the Stray Notebooks you'll need to find a specific person who fits the bill to process it and reveal its meaning.
How to read the Safe's Mysterious Password in Stray
The geek who can read the Safe's Mysterious Password is inside Elliot Programming, and you can find this building by translating the signs around The Slums or following the one with strings of binary code on it. When you reach to entrance to Elliot Programming, marked with more binary code, use the interact prompt to perform a Stray Scratch the door and after a brief period of 'knocking' you'll be allowed in. Head upstairs and meet Elliot then show him the Safe's Mysterious Password item, which he will quickly decode as reading "DUFER BAR" – if you find he's shaking and unable to work you may need to use the Stray Poncho first.
How to get the Stray safe code
Armed with the decoded password, head to the nearby bar with the luminous red signs – when you exit Elliot Programming via the window you'll see it straight ahead of you. Inside you'll find a DUFER BAR neon sign at the end of the bar, so hop up next to it then interact with the picture hanging above. That will shortly fall off the wall, revealing the Stray safe code written behind it: 1283. Make sure you collect one of the Stray Memories while you're in this building by scanning the bowl of food on the table at the top of the stairs.
Now all you need to do is return to the device in the alleyway and enter the Stray safe code 1283, the mysterious password that opens the digicode. Your reward is discovering one of the eight Stray Sheet Music locations, so hand that over to Morusque and you'll get to hear him perform another of his tunes, as well as moving one step closer to being able to collect all Badges in Stray by adding the Music pin to your set.
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