there are technically no "cheats" in the game as it is your experience and you do whatever you want with it. but as luckyparsnip said, if you join a game with mods and they are against it, you could be booted for that. always respect people's rules!
i'll always encourage people to play vanilla first and then get mods after they've played much of the game, since they can add a lot more. but really it's not because there is one way to play the game, it's just that using shortcuts or mods to give you endgame stuff can take a lot of the thrill out of the game. but, if you want to do that, hey, it's your game and it might bring you more enjoyment otherwise