How to make Minecraft not pause when you alt-tab
On Java Edition, hold F3 and press P in a world: Minecraft stops pausing when you alt-tab, and the change lasts across restarts. That fixes the pause, but not the rest of playing beside another screen: fullscreen still minimizes when you click your other monitor, the game can open on the wrong screen, and the cursor drifts off it. Second Screen Gaming handles those for Minecraft at every launch.
Keep Minecraft running on its own screen
Turn the pause off with F3+P first, since Minecraft's own toggle is the cleanest fix for it. Then, with Minecraft windowed, Second Screen Gaming takes care of the setup around it:
- Run borderless on a chosen screen puts Minecraft on the monitor you pick at every launch and fills it, so clicking your other screen no longer minimizes it.
- Keep the mouse on this screen holds the cursor on Minecraft's monitor while you play and frees it the moment you alt-tab.
- No background throttling stops Windows slowing the game down while you work on the other screen.
Open the app with Minecraft running to see what that version can take.
Why Minecraft pauses when you alt-tab
Minecraft pauses on purpose when its window loses focus, so a singleplayer world is safe while you look away. Both editions let you turn that off. On Java Edition the setting is called pause on lost focus.
Java Edition: press F3+P
In a world, hold F3 and press P. This toggles pause on lost focus, and the game saves the change in its options, so it lasts across restarts. Press F3+P again to turn the pause back on.
From then on, clicking your other monitor or alt-tabbing leaves the game running instead of opening the pause menu. Singleplayer worlds keep simulating, so mobs, crops and furnaces carry on while you look away.
Opening your inventory or a chest before you tab out is often said to avoid the pause menu too, but the toggle is the reliable fix.
Or change it in options.txt
The same setting lives in Minecraft's options file. Close the game first, since Minecraft rewrites the file on exit.
- Press Windows key + R, type
%APPDATA%\.minecraftand press Enter. - Open
options.txtin Notepad. - Find
pauseOnLostFocus:trueand change it topauseOnLostFocus:false.
Modpack launchers keep a separate .minecraft folder for each instance, so edit the file in that instance's folder.
Keep it at full speed in the background
Turning off the pause does not stop Minecraft lowering its frame rate. Since 1.21.2, Video Settings has Reduce FPS when. On its default, AFK, a game with no input for a minute drops to 30 frames per second, then to 10 after a few more minutes. Watching a farm on your second screen counts as no input, so set it to Minimized to keep the full frame rate while the game stays in view.
Windows can also slow a game in the background on its own: see how to keep a game running when tabbed out.
Bedrock Edition
Bedrock pauses singleplayer when you switch to another window. Open Settings, General, and under Pause turn off Show Pause Menu on Focus Lost. Realms and multiplayer worlds never pause.
Common questions
How do I keep Minecraft running when tabbed out?
Press F3+P on Java Edition, or turn off Show Pause Menu on Focus Lost on Bedrock, then set Reduce FPS when to Minimized so the game keeps its frame rate. Playing borderless on its own screen stops fullscreen minimizing it when you click away.
Does Minecraft pause in multiplayer when I alt-tab?
The server never pauses, so the world carries on either way. What you see is the pause menu on your own screen, and F3+P turns that off too.
Does F3+P work on every Java version?
It has been the pause toggle for a long time, so older versions and modpacks have it as well. If a mod remaps F3 shortcuts, change pauseOnLostFocus in options.txt instead.
Why is Minecraft so slow when I'm not playing?
Usually the Reduce FPS when setting above. With it on AFK, an idle game drops to 30 frames per second after a minute, even while it is in front of you.