Can you pause the game in Elden Ring?

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If you’ve been playing any Elden Ring since the game came out a few weeks ago, you’ve probably noticed that entering the game’s menus doesn’t actually pause the game. The world lives on and enemies will still attack you as you navigate the menus.

That is unless you use this little trick that Twitter user Iron Pineapple revealed earlier this week. Apparently, you can pause the outside world by using a little trick inside of the game’s menu.

It works like this: When you want to pause Elden Ring completely, start by opening the menu with the start button and heading to inventory.

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Then, press the back or select button on your controller and scroll down to the “Menu Explanation” option. If you open that menu, the world around you will pause.

guess what, Elden Ring DOES have a pause button

just open "Menu Explanation" while on the inventory screen

this isn't a meme, it actually works lmao pic.twitter.com/0tNLFaWwC7

— Iron Pineapple (@IronPineapple_) March 8, 2022

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I went in and tested this method myself. Sure enough, entering the “Menu Explantation” screen completely paused Elden Ring for me. I was in the middle of being attacked by a giant crab, but entering this menu stopped the action completely.

It’s unclear if this is an intended pause feature within the game. Additionally, we’re not sure what happens when you try to pause the game with this method during multiplayer play. If it does work, then this is most likely a bug.

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But, if you’re still enjoying the game, know that you can pause the game to take a break using this method. For now at least, as this could be a bug that gets patched in a future version of Elden Ring.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.