Idle framerate reduction increases CPU usage, power consumption, and clock speed when the CPU is being lightly loaded

Summary:

The “Lower framerate when controller is disconnected” option (currently misnamed; see MCPE-235087 for related context) reduces the game’s framerate to 10 FPS after a period of inactivity—1 minute with the Pause menu open, or 15 minutes with it closed. The intended purpose of this behavior is to reduce system power consumption while the player is idle.

While this behavior functions as expected for the GPU, it does not for the CPU when it is being lightly loaded. Instead of reducing CPU usage, the option causes CPU usage, clock speed, and power consumption to increase. For example, my CPU power draw rises from approximately 8 W to 30 W, which is a substantial increase.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Launch Minecraft.

2. Navigate to Settings > General.

3. Enable “Lower framerate when controller is disconnected”.

4. Open a Flat world.

5. Open the Pause menu and remain idle for 1 minute.

6. Monitor system power usage using tools such as Task Manager, RivaTuner Statistics Server, or HWiNFO.

Observed Results:

After idling for 1 minute, GPU usage, clock speed, and power consumption decrease as expected. However, CPU usage, clock speed, and power consumption increase. CPU temperature also increases.

Expected Results:

CPU usage, clock speed, and power consumption should decrease alongside the GPU, resulting in an overall reduction in system power usage while idling.