How To Play Tarkov Offline & Practice Mode - Games Finder (2024)

Last Updated on January 8, 2024 by Samuel Franklin

The Tarkov offline and practice modes offers an invaluable training ground for new EFT players to test weapons, fight Scavs, gain map knowledge, adjust your settings and learn other core game mechanics. In this guide I’ll provide instructions for how to play Tarkov offline, tips to maximise this practice mode and answer common questions.

The Tarkov offline practice game mode often goes unnoticed or underappreciated by the new player and serves as the perfect method to practice without fear of your losing your loot or the threat from experienced EFT players. While this mode does not allow you to keep loot or experience gained the knowledge you develop will still help your account progress. While offline mode started as a solo only experience players with the Edge of Darkness (EoD) game version can play with their friends through a co-operative practice mode instead. As an experienced PMC with thousands of raids I’ve used Tarkov offline mode extensively to develop my game knowledge, test equipment loadouts and sometimes take a break from the harsh PvP combat with my favourite offline tips and exercises included below.

Table of Contents:
– How To Play Offline Mode In Tarkov
– Offline and Practice Mode Options Explained
– Offline Tips and Exercises

How To Play Offline Mode In Tarkov

Creating an offline mode raid allows players to create their own personalised raid which does not take place on the game servers which means it is for solo play only with no progression saved.

1. Launch Escape From Tarkov and click “Escape From Tarkov” on the main menu.
   
2. Select your PMC character (make sure they have any equipment you want to bring into the offline raid) and click Next.
   
3. Select the map and time you want to play, all maps are available for offline mode although players will still need a Labs keycard to enter Labs (this will not be consumed in offline mode though) and click Next.
   
4. On the offline raid test mode screen click the “Enable OFFLINE mode for this raid” which will unlock several customisable options and click Next. More information on each of these options will be detailed further below.
   
5. Click ready on the confirmation screen and you’ll load into an offline raid.
   
6. Edge of Darkness (EoD) account holders will have additional options that allow for a co-operative practice mode instead which is hosted on the actual Tarkov servers. Progress is still not retained in this mode and it is sometimes disabled due to the server load.

Offline and Practice Mode Options Explained

As pictured above the offline mode mode in Escape From Tarkov has many customisable options to tailor the raid to your particular objective which are explained below:

• Random weather conditions: Changes the weather on the map to random which impacts visibility and rain. If not selected your offline mode will mimic the current weather of the server.
• Random time: Allows you to randomly change the time of the raid. Given the option to select two different raid times this is rarely useful for offline mode.
• Enable PvE: The most important setting in offline mode which activates AI bots (Scavs) in your raid.
• AI Difficulty: Gives players the ability to customise the difficulty of the AI that spawn. As online will give you the same experience as an online raid (approximately equivalent to medium with a blend of Scav difficulties) with hard and impossible offering a higher than average challenge. In addition to powerful AI the impossible setting improves Scav equipment by giving them grenades consistently.
• AI Amount: Changes the amount of Scavs that spawn with as online again being approximately medium. Note that Horde mode spawns a significant number of Scavs and on larger maps you will need a significant computer CPU to run this option given offline uses your own computer rather than servers.
• Enable Bosses: Activates the map specific boss and their minions, this is a 100% spawn chance option in offline mode.
• Scav War: Makes AI Scavs shoot each other in your offline raid which can give your raid an element of realism as you’ll hear distant gun shots although isn’t useful for practice.
• Tagged and Cursed: Activates the tagged and cursed mechanic which means Scavs will actively hunt the player aggressively and know their general location. This is the same mechanic used in online raids when players enter with no items.

Offline mode with friends has been available since patch 12.12.30 (June 2022) and is limited to Edge of Darkness edition players currently and retains the offline limitations which means you cannot keep loot or experience. When playing the co-operative practice mode the following extra options are available to help players play with friends, test mechanics or create Tarkov content:

• Players spawn: Allows modifications to players spawning to either spawn together or separately which can create a co-operative or PvP focus.
• Disable water and energy consumption: Removes the need for players to consume water or food to allow for longer raids.
• Free Camera: Gives a free camera option to help players create Tarkov content.
• Opened Doors: Doors start opened instead of closed.
• Weather Conditions: Allows players to set specific weather conditions for Tarkov content creation.
• Time of day: Set specific times of day.
• Time flow: Changes the flow of time speed from daytime to night time.
• Health: Change health values of players
• Disable overload/leg stamina/arm stamina: Removes weight overload and other stamina systems.
• Silent bots: Makes all Scavs silent.
• Boss pick: Allows players to choose specific bosses.
• Friendly Scavs: Turns Scavs to friendly.

Escape From Tarkov Offline Practice Tips

Using offline mode effectively is a fantastic opportunity for new and intermediate players to improve their Tarkov gameplay and something I’ve personally used regularly on my path to obtaining the Kappa Secure Container. Here are some practice methods for EFT offline mode from beginner to advanced:

Map and extract knowledge: The most obvious use of offline mode in Tarkov is learning the map locations and how to extract. I recommend new players start here and don’t activate PvE at first so you can focus on learning a map with the help of a map tool on your phone or second screen. To make running around larger maps easier you can purchase SJ6 stimulants if you have unlocked the flea market as well.

AI combat practice: Once you understand the maps players can enable PvE to start fighting against Scavs and becoming familiar with their spawn locations and how to fight in each of these areas. This is also a great way to test specific guns and ammunition combinations and with ample medical supplies you can spend a long time in raid.

Boss challenge: Once players are confident with the map and fighting regular Scavs you can challenge yourself to fight the various map bosses who are more difficult than your average Scav and have unique mechanics attached. Alternatively, you can fight the Rogues on Lighthouse or the Raiders on Reserve which also offer a different challenge to your standard Scav.

Horde Factory: For the ultimate challenge players can turn on horde AI amount and pair it with Factory to see how long you can survive the onslaught from Scavs as you try to survive the full raid timer. For more difficulty players can increase the AI difficulty, activate tagged and cursed or simply enter with basic armour and other gear.