What is the leave penalty in Elden Ring Nightreign?

Even though Elden Ring: Nightreign can be played solo, the real heart of the experience lies in its online co-op mode. You’ll want to stick together as a team to have a greater chance at defeating the foes scattered across the land of Limveld.

Sometimes, your team members just aren’t worth spending 40 minutes with, and it’s reasonable to be tempted to leave mid-run. But what happens if you pull the plug on a disastrous expedition? Here’s how you’re penalized for leaving an active expedition in Elden Ring: Nightreign.

Leave penalty in Elden Ring: Nightreign

If you leave an active expedition in Elden Ring: Nightreign, you may be penalized for an unspecified duration and will not be able to access matchmaking until the penalty period is over.

That said, my experience with trying to get penalized was unsuccessful. For the sake of this guide and science, I abandoned three different consecutive sessions and was warned about being penalized every single time. However, despite the warnings, I was able to continue matchmaking without a hitch.

So, while there is definitely a penalty system in place, it isn’t exactly that strict, or even consistent. There are reports of users being restricted from matchmaking for around 10-15 minutes, but like I said, I was safe despite breaking the law several times.

I don’t recommend leaving every other session, but if you’re struggling to communicate or just can’t be bothered, there isn’t any major harm in leaving a session.

Also, from what I can tell, if you’re thrown out of a session due to a technical error, it doesn’t count as a penalty in Elden Ring: Nightreign.

Can you rejoin a session after leaving in Elden Ring: Nightreign?

Yes, if you leave a session in Elden Ring: Nightreign, you’ll be given the option to rejoin it from the main menu after you hit continue.

If you cancel at this point, you’ll return to the Roundtable Hold and start a new session. If the session you left is unavailable, you’ll be sent to the Roundtable Hold as well.

Overall, the punishment for leaving a session in Elden Ring: Nightreign isn’t exactly a big concern. You might be timed out for a few minutes, but it isn’t something to lose sleep over. From Software might increase the penalty severity in a later patch because the wording is still pretty vague, and there is room for increasing the penalty duration if it becomes a widespread problem.

That said, I don’t think it’s their main concern at the moment. If you do feel like leaving a session, though, maybe throw in an emote before exiting. Nothing like a random gesture to show how much this betrayal means to you.