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How to tab out of Minecraft without pausing?

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  • 2 min read

Minecraft is one of the greatest action-adventure sandbox games ever to come out. The game is over a decade old now and still has a strong player base as well as support for every major platform. 

A lot of the game, however, can feel redundant, given you have to do the same thing repeatedly. If you’re XP farming or doing any sort of repetitive task, it’s good to be able just to leave Minecraft running in the background. However, as soon as you Alt-Tab out of the game, it automatically pauses. 

This article looks at how you can Alt-Tab out of Minecraft without pausing the game for both the Java and Bedrock editions. 

Also read: Minecraft launcher is currently not available in your account: 3 Fixes


Java Edition 

For the Java Edition, the simplest way of doing this is by modifying the options.txt file present in the game’s root folder. Once you find the file, look for the following entry

pauseOnLostFocus:true

Change the aforementioned flag to false, and Minecraft will stop pausing every time you Alt-Tab out of the game. Alternatively, you can also use the F3+P shortcut in-game to move to a different window without pausing. 


Bedrock Edition

Since the Bedrock edition handles files differently from the Java edition, the options.txt file for Bedrock doesn’t contain the same aforementioned flag. However, you can get around the issue in one of two ways. 

Opening a menu

If you Alt-Tab out of the game with an open menu, for example, your chat box or inventory, the game won’t pause even if you minimise it or switch to another window. Keep in mind, though, that this only works for single-player modes. 

How to tab out of Minecraft without pausing?

Hosting an SMP server

Hosting an SMP server and being the only person connected helps you switch out of the game without worrying about opening any menus before switching out or changing any files. Since the game is running on a multiplayer server, the in-game world continues to function as normal whether you’re in Minecraft or not. This also works for the Java edition of the game.

Also read: How to make animals upside down in Minecraft?

Yadullah Abidi

Yadullah Abidi

Yadullah is a Computer Science graduate who writes/edits/shoots/codes all things cybersecurity, gaming, and tech hardware. When he's not, he streams himself racing virtual cars. He's been writing and reporting on tech and cybersecurity with websites like Candid.Technology and MakeUseOf since 2018. You can contact him here: yadullahabidi@pm.me.

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