Yes, You Can Pause Elden Ring Without Mods (For Now)

Fans have discovered an Elden Ring cheat where they can pause the game without having to use a mod at all. As there is no way to halt the game without enemies slashing you to pieces, this should provide some welcome relief. This exploit has yet to be patched, but given how frequently FromSoftware has been updating Elden Ring for stability issues and framerate stuttering, don’t be surprised to find it removed in short time.

How to pause Elden Ring without mods

As revealed by @IronPineapple_ on Twitter, all you need to do is to enter the inventory screen and then press the “Menu Explanation” while on the screen. And surprisingly, it actually works. Yes, it’s technically cheating to use an in-game exploit like this, but as one user commented in the Tweet: “As a parent of two I absolutely needed this.”

Of course, using any sort of pause function — through mods or otherwise — goes counter to the intention for the difficulty of the game which has already been designed to be difficult but not stressful. There are plenty of safe areas where you can wait and take a breather outside combat. Producer Yasuhiro Kitao has explained that the horse in Elden Ring is indeed meant to provide a stress-free way to traverse The Lands Between. So long as you are deliberate and are well-prepared, you can defeat most bosses with enough precision and a bit of luck.

If you do decide to mod Elden Ring with a PC mod that allows you to pause the game, do be first assured that you deactivate the game’s Easy Anti-Cheat software and follow the instructions carefully if you want to turn it on or off. When turned off, you will not be able to access any online component in Elden Ring.

In other news, Elden Ring’s coliseums point to future DLC, Battlefield 2042 has finally received a scoreboard in an update, and a God of War TV series is in production and currently in negotiations with Amazon Prime Video.