Pause

Pause is a building-state that halts activity for many structures across a settlement. When a building is set to Pause, it stops its normal operations: constructions stop progressing, production and service functions pause, and inhabitants may be affected. Pause is used to temporarily disable buildings without demolishing them, useful for rerouting resources, conserving power, or preventing unwanted behaviors.

Buildings and systems commonly affected by Pause include incomplete construction sites, all Power structures (including Water Wheels), all Housing (notably Folktail housing — paused housing will be vacated and not occupied), Mechanical Fluid Pump and Deep Mechanical Fluid Pump, Control Tower, and Tribute to Ingenuity. Pausing a construction site prevents further building progress. Pausing power generation or other power-dependent buildings stops them producing or consuming power. Paused buildings can still be supplied or emptied by haulers in some cases: haulers may continue to deliver required materials to certain paused constructions and may also remove unused Goods (both inputs and outputs) from paused buildings.

Practical notes and interactions:

• Use Pause to stop a building quickly when you need to conserve resources (for example, pause Water Wheels to avoid overproduction or to prevent downstream machines from running).
• Pausing housing will cause residents to vacate; this can be used to free up beavers for other tasks or to prevent Folktails from moving in during sensitive periods.
• Pausing an unfinished construction halts its progress but does not prevent haulers from bringing or removing materials; plan storage and hauler routes accordingly to avoid wasting carried Goods.
• Some control and special buildings (Control Tower, Tribute to Ingenuity) obey Pause and will stop providing their effects while paused.
• Remember to unpause buildings when you want them to resume; paused power or pumps can cause cascades of halted production elsewhere in your settlement.