Skip to main content

Can you disable messages in Elden Ring?

The Souls games have inspired tons of others to follow in their unique design footsteps. In the years since Dark Souls, we’ve seen a flood of games introduce stamina systems, slow, methodical combat, limited healing items that refill at checkpoints, layered level designs, and more. Some incorporate a few, iterate on others, and ignore some completely. The few systems that no one besides FromSoftware seems to take advantage of, though, are the more passive, asymmetrical multiplayer elements. The most notable being the unique message system that allows players to write messages in their world that show up in other people’s games to read.

Along with all the other standard multiplayer offerings, Elden Ring once again features a full messaging system players can interact with. These are meant to be small hints or guides, or just little community interactions with no real purpose, that make the world feel more connected, even when playing by yourself. However, this far into the Souls series, veterans and trolls have started taking pleasure in leaving less than helpful messages to try and fool new players. If you’re sick of messages promising an illusory wall ahead only to find a solid wall, or to “try jumping” at the edge of a cliff, and want to know if you can disable messages in Elden Ring, we have the answer.

Further reading

Can you disable messages in Elden Ring?

Player stands by a tall Erdtree in Elden Ring.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Even though most might be helpful, there are still hundreds of messages left littering the Lands Between in Elden Ring. Sometimes it can be a little much to stop every couple of feet to check a message to see if it has anything useful, and even worse if it sends you on a detour or into a trap. This is all intended as part of the community experience, for better or for worse, so the only way to disable messages will come at a slightly higher cost than you might hope.

If you want to disable messages in Elden Ring, the only way to do so is to completely turn off your online connection in the game. You don’t have to disconnect your console or PC from the internet — there’s a setting you can toggle — but it will also disable every other online element in the game. That includes bloodstains, summons, and invaders. As long as you’re fine with playing the game as a pure, single-player, isolated experience, here’s how to clean out those messages from your world.

From the Pause menu, select the System option. From here, tab over to the Network tab and scroll down to the Launch Setting toggle and switch it from Play Online to Play Offline. After restarting your game, you will now have no online functionality in Elden Ring, including messages. If you ever wanted to use messages, summons, or anything else requiring you to be online, you will have to go back into the settings and switch it back to Play Online again.

Hopefully, a future update will allow only messages to be disabled or limited while remaining online, but for now, this is the only solution.

Editors' Recommendations

Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox loves writing, games, and complaining about not having time to write and play games. He knows the names of more…
Elden Ring’s first DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is in development
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's key art.

Yes, Elden Ring is finally getting DLC. After over a year of speculation since the critically acclaimed game's launch, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is confirmed to be in development.
FromSoftware broke the news via its social media accounts for the game, simply affirming that Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree "is currently in development." No additional release window or story details were shared, but its Japanese website confirms the expansion will come to all of the same platforms as the base game, and the tweet does include one piece of concept art. In it, we see a darkened Erdtree in the distance as a mysterious girl on a horse rides toward it and some ruins. We don't know what any of this means just yet, but the key art appears to tease a darker tone and new character and reaffirm that Shadow of the Erdtree will take place in a massive open world. 
https://twitter.com/ELDENRING/status/1630478058103734274
Elden Ring was released on February 25, 2022, and it was met with critical acclaim and lots of Game of the Year awards (including Digital Trends' own) because of how FromSoftware adapted its classics Souls series formula into a game with a massive open world that rivaled The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As many previous FromSoftware games got DLC, fans were hoping that Elden Ring would get the same treatment.
Before now, we've mostly gotten small patches, with a Colosseum-adding update in December being the most notable. Although Shadow of the Erdtree doesn't have a release date, it's a relief for Elden Ring fans to now have some brand-new content to look forward to.
Elden Ring is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Shadow of the Erdtree does not have a release window yet. 

Read more
10 best Elden Ring mods
Multiple players look out over a landscape with the Elden Ring co-op mod.

It was thanks to modders that the original PC port of Dark Souls reached a stable and respectable state. Once the technical wrinkles were ironed out, modders turned to expanding and improving the game in numerous ways to keep the game feeling fresh. Years later, those same talented modders have moved on to the latest and largest FromSoftware title, Elden Ring. With plenty of time to learn the game, there are tons of mods out there that can not only fix nagging issues in the game but add entirely new ways to play. Here are some of the best mods out there for Elden Ring.
How to mod Elden Ring
Since Elden Ring is available on PC, that's where modding scene is most popular. However, if this is your first time modding a game, it might sound a little confusing. Thankfully, the process is very simple, and even this tutorial video can show you the basics of modding your game in under three minutes.
Seamless Co-op

Elden Ring uses a more advanced form of the summoning systems from the Dark Souls series, but still has limitations, most notably being partners being forced out of your game after every boss or death. The Seamless Co-op mod aims to make the entire game playable with a partner without any interruptions when players die, bosses are beaten, and no fog walls. It is still being worked on, but already works very well.
Elden Ring Ultimate Cheat Engine Table
Once you've beaten Elden Ring for your second, third, or eighth time, you may just want to see what you can do to break the game. The Elden Ring Ultimate Cheat Engine Table gives you the keys to the castle and lets you basically mod the game yourself to do things like create your own spells, spawn bosses, edit stats, use freecam, and tons more.
Elden Ring Item and Enemy Randomizer

Read more
Elden Ring, Modern Warfare II discounted in big PlayStation holiday sale
Four players fight in an Elden Ring colosseum.

PlayStation's annual holiday sale is now live offering discounts up to 75% off on a wide variety of games, old and new. The sale includes some of 2022's heavy hitters, from Elden Ring to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.

The sale is live right now and you can access it through the PlayStation Store on consoles or a web browser. There are 3,725 items on sale in total, though that list includes discounts on in-game currency for games like Grand Theft Auto V as well as special editions of games.

Read more