Following the same path as the critically acclaimed Dark Souls games, Elden Ring features invasions as one of its multiplayer components that some of you might be looking to stop or prevent.
Invasions come in different forms but all of them see the invasion of the game world of a player. So, you can invade the game of another human player to either kill or help them, and vice versa.
In addition to these PvP invasions in Elden Ring, there are also NPC invasions where you have to fight AI-controlled invaders for bonus rewards.
Not many players like to be disturbed by such PvP elements. Hence, here is how you can stop invasions in your Elden Ring game to ensure that your journey across The Lands Between is smooth.
How to stop Invasions in Elden Ring
Since there are two different types of invaders in Elden Ring, i.e. NPC invaders and other players, we need to look at the methods to turn off both of them separately.
NPC invaders can be encountered from time to time as you explore the Lands Between. These encounters often occur around important areas like special Sights of Graces or areas holding some special items. While you cannot turn them off, you do have the option to run away from them, which will make them disappear.
This will, however, prevent access to the loot they were guarding, but you will eventually have to face the invasion head-on if you want to access that particular area or its resources.
While you can turn off NPC invaders in Elden Ring, there is one simple way to turn off PVP invasions.
Play Elden Ring in offline mode
Player vs Player (PvP) invasions only occur when you are playing in the online mode, i.e. in a co-op session. However, this doesn’t mean that you will always get invaded though.
When you are playing in the default online mode, there are two different ways you can get invaded. The first of these is quite obvious – by inviting someone or accepting the invitation for a PvP session/duel. In that case, an invasion by other players is guaranteed because that is the main purpose.
Even if you haven’t invited someone to your world for a duel and are just exploring together, other players can still enter your world and invade you unsuspectingly. This is why shifting to offline mode works best to turn off or stop PvP invasions in Elden Ring.
To shift to offline mode, you must follow the steps given below:
- Navigate to the “System” tab on the Main Menu.
- Scroll over to the “Networking” tab (globe icon).
- Navigate to the fifth option named “Launch Setting”
- Set this as “Play Offline”
- Launch the game again
Once you have completed all the steps and relaunched the game, you will start in offline mode. This means that Co-op will be disabled, and although you may not be able to play with your friends, you won’t get invaded either.
Note that this is true only for PvP invasions as you cannot turn off NPC invasions in Elden Ring. You can only avoid NPC invasions by fleeing.
Avoid summoning other players
If you do not want to shift to offline mode and still don’t want to get invaded, then there is also another way to do that. For that, you will have to avoid co-op and always have to play in solo mode.
This means that you must not summon anyone in your world or join other worlds. Playing solo whilst you are connected to the internet will not see PvP invasions, as they only occur if you are playing co-op.
Summoning other players or joining them (essentially playing co-op) means that you have granted other, seemingly uninvited players access as well. What this means is that the door is open for any other player to come into your world and invade you.
If you keep getting invaded in Elden Ring (PvP in particular), then that means that you are playing co-op, i.e. you must have summoned someone, and the door is open for other players to join. Typically in a PvP invasion, you cannot know if anyone else has joined your world unless you get attacked by them.
That is not the case for NPC invasions though. Whenever an NPC invades you, you are notified via a prompt. If the NPC is on horseback, your Torrent will automatically despawn.
All in all, even if you do not shift to offline mode, you can still prevent an invasion by not playing co-op entirely, which is basically the same as playing solo off the internet.
The downside to this is that you cannot call in your friends to play with you or help you with some of the toughest bosses in the game – but that is a downside you have to take if you do not want to get invaded.
While you can still get invaded this way, there is one thing you can do to make the invasion a bit easier – and that is by using a White Cipher Ring.
Activate the White Cipher Ring
If you are at the point where disabling co-op as a whole is out of the question and you still don’t want to get invaded, then the White Cipher Ring is the best thing to use to stop invasions in Elden Ring.
Your best bet is to keep the White Cipher Ring active at all times whilst you are playing co-op. This multiplayer item automatically requests the summon of another world’s Hunter to help you with the invasion. This summon isn’t always guaranteed, which is why it is best to keep it activated at all times.
Even if you do not have it activated beforehand, you can still do it once you are invaded.
You can buy White Cipher Rings from the Twin Maiden Husks. They are located at the Roundtable Hold and will sell the rings to you for 1,000 Runes each.
Can you disable PvP in Elden Ring?
Unfortunately, you cannot disable PvP in Elden Ring. While you can shift to the offline mode or play solo as a whole, playing co-op essentially means that you will always have PvP enabled. You cannot avoid that in any way, whether you are playing with a friend or with a random person.
If you don’t want PvP, then you must shift to offline mode and play solo – or avoid summoning or joining other players entirely – can’t have PvP when there are no other players to fight with. Not only will this prevent PvP, but also invasions from other players.
Can you disable NPC invasions in Elden Ring?
You cannot disable NPC invasions in Elden Ring either. While you could work your way around getting invaded by other players, an NPC invasion is guaranteed regardless of whether you are playing in solo mode or offline mode.
The only thing you can do to avoid an NPC invasion is to hop onto your Torrent and flee the area of invasion. Going far enough will render the invasion over, but it can start again when you head over to that area after – which means that to access that particular area, the invasion is inevitable.
