Elden Ring’s Lands Between prevents players from pausing their game to avoid danger, but thankfully players have found a way around this. Here’s how players across all platforms can pause Elden Ring without the need for mods!
FromSoftware’s unforgiving games like to keep the pressure on the player throughout, keeping tension at a level most games simply can not achieve.
A more unorthodox method of doing this is by prohibiting you from pausing the game.
Despite not having a pause button, Elden Ring players have found a method that will still allow them to pause their game.
How Do You Pause Elden Ring Without Mods?
To pause Elden Ring without using mods, players will need to open up the Menu Explanation from the Inventory screen.
This workaround, discovered by YouTuber IronPineapple, works for both PC and Consoles, but the inputs for each vary a bit. Here’s how to do it depending on the platform you play Elden Ring on.
How To Pause Elden Ring on Keyboard (PC)
To pause Elden Ring on PC, players need to input the following:
- Once you are in the game, Press ‘Esc’ to bring up your Inventory Menu.
- From here, click on your Equipment.
- Once you’re on your Equipment screen, click ‘G’ to bring up the Help menu.
- From the Help menu, click on ‘Menu Explanation’
Your game will now be successfully paused. Although, if you’re on PC, then you also have the option to implement a mod to enable ‘Pause’ in Elden Ring!
How To Pause Elden Ring on Controller (PC, PS5, PS4 & Xbox)
If you are playing Elden Ring console or simply using a controller on a PC or console, then you will need to use the following inputs:
- First, once you are in the game, go to the Inventory screen.
- On both PlayStation and Xbox Controllers, this will be the ‘Options’ button.
- From here, select Equipment immediately by pressing the OK input.
- For PlayStation this will be ‘X’
- For Xbox this will be ‘A’
- Now, bring up the Help menu
- For PlayStation do this by pressing the Touchpad
- For Xbox do this by pressing the ‘Change View’ (the one with two tiny squares) button
- Once you’re in the Help menu, all you need to do is select the ‘Menu Explanation’ option using the ‘Ok’ input again.
And now you’ve successfully paused the game! This works at any time in Elden Ring and can even be used to pause any of the mandatory boss battles in Elden Ring.
Does Looking at the Map Pause Elden Ring?
No, unfortunately, looking at the Map will not stop your gameplay in Elden Ring. Players that are in mid-combat won’t even be able to bring up their map.
If you are on your map when an enemy approaches you, then you will be kicked off the screen and forced to defeat or run away from your enemy.
Why Doesn’t Elden Ring Let You Easily Pause the Game?
The inability to suspend Elden Ring is a design choice meant to emphasize the intensity of battles and force players to push through the challenges they face head-on.
FromSoftware is known for doing everything they can to add to the experience and challenge of its games. So it is common not to have a Pause button in any FromSoftware title.
Its game director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, has gone on to give an extensive interview on his views on difficulty and why he feels despite everything, Elden Ring is one of the most accessible games FromSoftware has ever made.
Given the obscure nature of this workaround, it’s fair to assume it may be an unintentional addition to the game. There is a chance we will see a patch for it in a future update.
Make sure you’ve got the best weapons for your Elden Ring build: