[MC-2071] Pausing the Game or opening any GUI in a nether portal does not work

Mod notice

The behaviour as it is now is intended. You can go through the options but nothing else.
– @unknown in this comment

Pausing in nether portals

What I expected to happen was...:
Paused the game, because in 1.3.2 i was able to pause it

What actually happened was...:
It didn't, and i continued going to the nether

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Make a nether portal
2. Enter it
3. ESC Pause the game

Linked issues

duplicates 1

MC-14051 JVM crashes in ig4dev32.dll / ig4dev64.dll (Broken Intel graphics driver for the "Mobile Intel 965 Express" graphics card) Resolved

is duplicated by 32

MC-5225 Can not use commands or chat in nether portals Resolved

MC-8971 Cannot enter console after exiting a nether portal if it is blocked off on the other side Resolved

MC-12507 Nether portal protects from typing to chat, exiting to menu, logging in on servers etc. Resolved

MC-15286 Unable to do anything in nether portal Resolved

MC-44107 Chest Menu Not Opening Resolved

27 more links

relates to 4

MC-15152 Standing in a nether portal and opening a chest will render the chest open until another chest is opened Resolved

MC-120513 The advancements overview can be opened while being in a nether portal Open

MC-35361 Inventory opening is detected while in Nether Portal Reopened

MC-202757 Nether Portals can keep players trapped Resolved

Comments 29

bner2008 2012-11-03T14:06:51Z

Why can't i pause the game??????

bner2008 2012-11-03T18:47:24Z

This is a Bug, i'm sure of it!When in 1.3.2 i could pause the game, i've just tested!

score 2012-11-04T04:39:00Z

This is a "feature" that's been in the game since portals have, but it is extremely annoying, prevents game pausing (and thus prevents disconnection from a server without using alt+f4), and is largely useless.
In preventing any GUI, it also prevents talking which means that if you get trapped in a portal on SMP, you can't even use /spawn or /tp or call for help.

Alex Campbell 2012-11-24T08:20:00Z

There used to be an item duplication bug that involved having a crafting table open while water pushed you into a nether portal. Notch's "fix" was to close all GUIs when in a nether portal.

bner2008 2012-11-25T20:06:48Z

I know that bug, but it wasn't working on 1.2.5, when i tested it, neither it was working on 1.3.2

19 more comments

bner2008 2012-11-25T20:07:56Z

So i don't think that it was removed because of that, or am i wrong?

Tails 2012-12-22T20:26:22Z

Adjusted title to include not being able to open any GUI.

Fenhl (Max Dominik Weber) 2013-11-22T14:33:41Z

I can't update the affected versions field, but yes, it still is an issue in snapshot 13w47d.

Itouch2 2014-02-22T22:29:48Z

Confirmed for 08a

Fenhl (Max Dominik Weber) 2014-02-23T03:59:07Z

On OS X, there is a workaround if you're in native fullscreen (see MC-40597): switching to a desktop or a different fullscreen app (at least using the touchpad gesture, other methods like keyboard shortcuts not tested) will activate the pause menu.

Fenhl (Max Dominik Weber) 2014-03-20T19:37:00Z

Affects snapshot 14w11b.

Martin Voth 2014-05-25T23:37:21Z

I don't want to be mean, but I think, this is absolutely no bug, since it could possibly be a workaround to prevent being stuck between dimensions? (I don't know, how to describe it in other words XD)
The game saves when hitting ESC. Maybe there's a problem, when relogging to a world inside of a portal? And maybe it's just annoying, because you would have to go back again.

I don't know, but it seems okay for me. (No bug, if you ask me)

Christopher Lane 2014-05-26T00:55:07Z

This must be a bug, I cannot see any issues that could occur from being able to open a GUI while in a portal.

This is a big issue for some players as it can result in them not being able to play on servers.
For example if there is a portal blocked off in some sort of protection such as spawn protection then players will get stuck in that portal and have no way of escaping.

Matt Enloe 2014-05-26T00:58:51Z

There is no other use-case where you are unable to pause the game, except for the actual loading of a world you are switching to. As the inability to pause is not replicated elsewhere and the limitation is not documented, it is logical to infer that it is a bug.

It may not be an inconvenience to you, but it is up to the developers to mark it "working as intended."

score 2014-05-26T02:06:50Z

Even if it were a limitation of the world saving mechanism (I very much doubt it), in my eyes this would make it more of a bug. What's saner: fix a bug in the save system, or disable pausing? (I don't think that is the issue, though, I just think it's a bad design decision)

CubeTheThird 2014-05-26T05:50:25Z

As indicated in previous comments, this was originally implemented to circumvent item duplication exploits. There as of yet as been any confirmation about this issue working as intended, or whether any changes to this behaviour will be made.

score 2014-05-26T17:20:53Z

In that case it should be removed - if that exploit is present in multiplayer servers, then a malicious user could just avoid this with a modified or unofficial client, and so fixing it in the client end is the wrong way to go about it. However I don't think the exploit exists any more.

kazblox 2014-05-27T02:12:37Z

Fix (MCP 1.7.2)

EntityPlayerSP.java

if (this.inPortal)
            {
                if (this.mc.currentScreen != null)
                {
                    //FIX. Remove this line.
                    //this.mc.displayGuiScreen((GuiScreen)null);
                }

kazblox 2014-07-29T21:29:22Z

When trying to do the old nether portal dupe trick with this fix.... It didn't work.

Crisis of fix side effects averted.

Bob Bobert 2014-07-30T18:36:53Z

I think this should be reopened. While you are now able to open the pause menu, you are still not able to open your inventory or the chat.

CubeTheThird 2014-07-30T21:41:06Z

@Bob, I am fairly certain that is intended.

Fenhl (Max Dominik Weber) 2014-07-31T04:35:28Z

@@unknown: It doesn't seem intended, and it is certainly not very usable. I think this issue should be reopened since part of what it says in the title isn't fixed, and it should be up to the devs to either fix it or mark it as intended.

Nathan Adams 2014-07-31T07:18:36Z

The behaviour as it is now is intended. You can go through the options but nothing else.

Wilker 2014-09-03T16:26:29Z

in the creative mode servers that don't have the nether enabled, some players can troll you with this :/

William Drum 2014-09-06T23:49:38Z

I too think this should be reopened, I got locked in a nether portal on a factions server and had to quit the server. But to be fair, this issue isn't really Mojang's problem since factions is a mod. That said, I still think you should be able to at least type while standing in a nether portal.

CubeTheThird 2014-09-07T04:25:06Z

Discussion about this, and other issues, can now be done using our new SubReddit.

Gabriel W 2015-11-15T14:53:56Z

@dinnerbone

Wrong, its not as it should be, you should be able to use at least CHAT, cos if you go to a portal quere both sides are obstructed and you cant break the block, since you have to get out and back in, you get stuck!

Nikony Brass 2019-07-20T07:57:38Z

this problem came back on me

Luke W 2021-01-12T01:00:22Z

I seriously hope Mojang reconsiders this being "intended" for other GUIs. This is the cause for numerous softlocks and does nothing but facilitate griefing (as you can trap a player in a nether portal with no way to access most of their items, or even call for help in chat). Whatever duplication bug it was meant to solve likely no longer happens, and even if it does, a proper fix should just be implemented.