The pause menu is one of Minecraft's multiple menu screens. Activated during gameplay, it provides a portal to configure game options, quit out of a world, and more.
This menu can be accessed anytime (when not in a GUI) by pausing the game with the Esc key by default.
Buttons[]
Java Edition[]
The pause screen in Java Edition.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Back to Game | Closes the pause menu and allows the player to continue playing Minecraft. |
| Advancements | Shows all of the advancements the player has and hasn't completed. |
| Statistics | Shows the player's statistics. |
| Give Feedback | Provides a link to the feedback site. |
| Report Bugs | Provides a link to the Java Edition page on bug tracker. |
| Options... | Opens the "options" menu, which can change the difficulty, controls, settings, resource packs, music, sounds, and more. |
| Open to LAN | Provides an option to allow players from the local network to play in this world. |
| Player Reporting | Used to report players for abusive messages. Note that it is only accessible in multiplayer worlds. |
| Save and Quit to Title | Saves the game's progress and goes back to the menu screen. |
Bedrock Edition[]
The pause screen in Bedrock Edition.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Resume Game | Closes the pause menu and allows the player to continue playing Minecraft. The pause menu does not actually pause the game; it continues running even in single-player mode. |
| Settings | Opens the Settings menu, which allows the player to configure controls, difficulty, sounds, and more. |
| Marketplace | Opens the Marketplace. |
| Save and Quit | Saves the game's progress and goes back to the menu screen. |
| Dressing Room (below player skin) | Allows the player to change their skin and access the character creator. |
| Feedback
(speech bubble icon, bottom left) |
Opens the Minecraft Feedback site. |
| Achievements
(potion icon, bottom left) |
Shows all of the achievements the player has and hasn't completed. |
Sounds[]
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Master Volume | When a menu button is clicked | ui | None | 0.25 | 1.0 | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sound | When a menu button is clicked | random | 0.2 | 1.0 |
History[]
| Java Edition Classic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0.13a | Added the pause menu, which, like today, could be opened by pressing ESC. | ||||
| 0.0.13a_03 | Added "Game menu" title. | ||||
| 0.0.14a |  Changed "Generate new level" to "Generate new level..." button. | ||||
| 0.0.23a |  Added "Options..." button.
| ||||
| Menu buttons now have a stone like texture. | |||||
| Java Edition Indev | |||||
| 20100206-1 | Pause menu now stops the game. | ||||
| Java Edition Infdev | |||||
| 20100327 |  Added "Change world..." and "Quit game" buttons.
| ||||
| Removed "Generate new level...", "Save level..", and "Load level.." buttons. | |||||
| 20100608 |  Changed background overlay. | ||||
| 20100624 |  Changed "Quit game" to "Save and quit to title.." button and background overlay.
| ||||
| Removed "Change world..." button. | |||||
| 20100629 |  Moved buttons closer to center and swapped "Back to game" and "Options..." buttons. | ||||
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||
| v1.0.9 |  The background overlay has now been darker. | ||||
| v1.0.12 | Changed "Save and quit to title.." to "Save and quit to title". | ||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.5 |  Added "Achievements" and "Statistics" buttons. | ||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.1 | 11w49a |  Changed "Back to game" to "Back to Game" and "Save and quit to title" to "Save and Quit to Title" buttons. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w18a | The "Saving level..." text no longer appears in the pause menu among several other features broken by this version.[check the code] | |||
| 12w25a |  Added "Open to LAN" button. | ||||
| 1.11 | 16w38a | Capitalized "Game menu" to "Game Menu" title. | |||
| 1.12 | 17w13a |  Changed "Achievements" to "Advancements" button. | |||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | Added the "Give Feedback" and "Report Bugs" buttons. | |||
| 1.19.1 | 22w24a | Added a "Player Reporting" button, which is only visible while on a server. | |||
| 1.19.3 | 22w43a |  Moved down title and buttons. | |||
| pre1 | Reverted 22w43a changes. | ||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.9.0 | beta 1.9.0.2 | Added "Feedback" button to the pause menu. | |||
| 1.17.30 | beta 1.17.30.20 | The feedback button now appears at the down left as an icon. | |||
| The options, achievements or invite button now appear besides the feedback button. | |||||
Gallery[]
Pocket Edition[]
Bedrock Edition[]
v0.16.0 alpha build 1 - 1.2.0.2
1.2.0.7 - 1.17.20.23
The current pause menu. 1.17.30.20 - v1.21.0
See also[]
References[]
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