Pause menu

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.

Features[]

Pausing the game[]

When a player enters the pause menu, the game completely freezes until the player returns back to game. In Bedrock Edition, it only works on singleplayer mode worlds.

Buttons[]

Java Edition[]

18w43a menuscreen — 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[]

Minecraft Screenshot 2022.08.07 - 14.18.44.28 — 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[]

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	None	Master Volume	When a menu button is clicked	`ui.button.click`	None	0.25	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Sound	When a menu button is clicked	`random.click`	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.
0.0.23a		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.
20100327		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.
20100624		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]}
1.3.1	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.
1.19.3	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.
1.17.30	beta 1.17.30.20	The options, achievements or invite button now appear besides the feedback button.
1.21.60	1.21.60.21	Added an ability to pause the game in singleplayer mode worlds when a player enters the pause menu. Currently, it is only available in beta and preview.
1.21.70		Ability to pause the game in singleplayer mode worlds when a player enters the pause menu is now available and no longer exclusive to preview.