Is there Render Setting to Prevent PC Suspend?

Question

I'm rendering using Blender 3.1 on Windows 7. In this thread here someone claimed that the render will continue until its done but apparently for me the render process gets interrupted because sleep/suspend mode kicks in after 30 minutes which is my pc's sleep/suspend setting. Is there a Blender setting that overrides or prevents it from going into sleep/suspend mode while it is actively rendering? Currently the only solution is to change the PC setting to NEVER go to sleep. Is this my only option?

Answer 1

Here is the full answer (or a possible answer to this question):

Open a terminal (cmd.exe) and enter the following command:

powercfg -list

This lists the available energy saving plans:

Existing Power Schemes (* Active)
-----------------------------------
Power Scheme GUID: 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e  (Balanced) *
Power Scheme GUID: 8bdc3948-bdcd-4cfc-ba6d-31df32bfc85d  (Smart Game Boost Power Plan)
Power Scheme GUID: 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c  (High performance)
Power Scheme GUID: a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a  (Power saver)

Then create a text file with the following content (Replace the values in this example with your own!):

@echo off

:: Replace the GUID with plan you want to use for Blender
powercfg -setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c

:: Start Blender (Replace the path with your blender.exe)
"C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 3.1\blender.exe"

:: Restore original plan once Blender is closed
powercfg -setactive 381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e

Save this file with the file name extension .bat (not .txt!)

This file is a batch file that basically contains nothing more than a series of commands that are executed in the terminal.

Whenever you start Blender with this file, your power plan will be temporarily changed and the PC should not go to sleep.

By the way, you can also create your own power saving plans by defining your own plan in the Control Panel and the Power Options.