Want to dazzle your friends with your technical prowess while checking

out the profitability of a vending machine route? Read on. Most Coke
machines built since the late 1990s can be "hacked" with a simple
access code. Once you enter the code, you can find out all kinds of
information about the machine's sales.

Steps

1. Find a Coke machine that has an LED screen. The small screen
will typically scroll a message such as "Ice Cold Cokes." If the
machine's LED display simply displays the price, the steps below
may not work.
2. Enter the access code by using the drink selection buttons. The
default access code is 4, 2, 3, 1, but the buttons aren't numbered.
They will either say nothing or have pictures of "Coke, "Diet Coke,"
"Sprite," and other Coca-Cola products on them.

o If the buttons are in a column, button 1 is the top one. Button

2 is the second one from the top, and so on.
o If they are in a grid or other format, button 1 is the top left
one. Button 2 is the one directly to the right of that, and so
on.
3. Scroll through the menu to find out information about the machine.
Once you enter the correct access code, the message on the LED
screen will change. Typically it will say "EROR," but on some
machines it may simply display a number. Use the buttons to
navigate the menu.

o Press button 1 at any time to return to the previous menu or

to exit the menu to go back to normal mode.
o Press button 2 to scroll up through the selections.
o Press button 3 to scroll down through the selections.
 o Press button 4 to select the displayed menu option.

Example Menu Options

1. EROR: This menu option displays error messages for the machine,
including problems that occurred with the refrigeration system, the
vending mechanism, the bill changer, and the bill validator. To see
error messages, press the select button (button 4) when the
display shows EROR, and then scroll through to see specific
errors. Select an individual error to see more details. Generally if
only one type of error has occurred you won't be able to scroll
through other error options.
2. CASH: This option allows you to see the machine's total historical
cash intake, as well as the resettable cash counted for each drink
selection. Press the select button when the the LED display shows
CASH. This will show you the historical cash counted by the
machine. Note that it will include fractions of a dollar, such that if it
displays 1352425, the historical cash count is $13,524.25. Use the
scroll buttons (2 or 3) to navigate to the cash counts for each slot
(each beverage selection). The number displayed will show first the
slot number and then the revenue for that slot number since the
last time the counter was reset. In some machines, it will be
preceded by the letters CA or SL (for "slot").
3. SALE: This option allows you to see the machine's historical total
number of sales, as well as the resettable number of sales for each
drink selection. It works like the CASH menu above, except that the
numbers displayed reflect the number of beverages sold.
4. RTN: Sometimes labeled EXIT, this option allows you to exit the
menu completely and return the machine to normal mode. Press
the select button to exit.

Alternate Menu

On machines with two panels of six buttons on each side, the same 4-2-
3-1 code will access the Electronic Counter for the machine. After
accessing this menu, press 1 to see the total lifetime sales, 2 for the total
lifetime items sold, 3 for a breakdown of items sold of each selection, 4
for a breakdown of cash generated for each selection, and 5 for the
machine's internal temperature. After a while without input, the machine
will return to the normal menu.
Tips

• This only works for Coke machines, which may sell products such
as Barq's Root Beer, Sprite, Dasani, Evian, Fanta, Fresca,
Frutopia, Powerade, Hi-C, Minute Maid, Nestea, Odwalla, Mr. Pibb,
Planet Java, Power Ade, Seagram's Ginger Ale, Simply Orange,
Sparkletts, or Tab in addition to Coke and Diet Coke.
• In general, these are the only options you can access without
having the door unlocked and open. Different machines may list
these options in somewhat different formats, so experiment a bit to
learn what each new one does.
• If you need to exit the menu quickly (i.e. when you just can't wait
another second to buy an ice cold Coke) press the change (coin
return) button. This will normally quit the menu.
• On some machines, holding the coin return button will display the
machine's inner temperature.
• Vending machine owners or service people have the option to
change the access sequence from 4231 to some other combination
of buttons, but they rarely do. This is probably because having one
code makes it easier for anyone to service all the machines along a
route. It may also be because the information you can access
through the external menu with the door closed is limited and fairly
harmless.
• There are several videos available on the internet that show people
using this hack. Many claim to be able to change prices or get a
free drink, but the videos don't actually show them doing so.
• In order to get to the same menu in a machine that sells Pepsi
products, simply enter 1,3,2,4. All the menu options with be the
same. (This does not seem to work on all Pepsi machines)
• This might also work on some Coke vending machines that have a
numeric keypad instead of buttons for specific drinks. Enter in the
Coke code as usual, and you'll get to the sales menu!

Warnings

• This may be illegal in some jurisdictions, and it will generally be

frowned upon by store staff or machine service people, so exercise
caution when trying it out, and be sure to follow any applicable laws
in your jurisdiction.
• Don't do this if there's a line behind you, as people get upset
waiting for you.
• You might waste your time doing this, as Coca-Cola has distributed
new firmware to their vendors that would render these instructions
unusable.