diff --git a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/action/llm-actions.ts b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/action/llm-actions.ts
index df5e1a9cf..d2a9a8a33 100644
--- a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/action/llm-actions.ts
+++ b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/action/llm-actions.ts
@@ -39,13 +39,12 @@ export const actionsList: Action[] = [
   },
   {
     name: 'giveUp',
-    description: 'Admit you are currently stuck and pause autonomous retries for a cooldown window.',
+    description: 'Admit you are currently stuck and halt all autonomous processing until a player speaks to you again.',
     execution: 'sync',
     schema: z.object({
       reason: z.string().min(1).describe('Short explanation of why you are stuck.'),
-      cooldown_seconds: z.number().int().min(10).max(600).default(45).describe('How long to pause retries before re-evaluating.'),
     }),
-    perform: () => (reason: string, cooldown_seconds: number): string => `Gave up for ${cooldown_seconds}s: ${reason}`,
+    perform: () => (reason: string): string => `Gave up: ${reason}. Halted until player input.`,
   },
   {
     name: 'skip',
diff --git a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.test.ts b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.test.ts
index 105336427..58efcc105 100644
--- a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.test.ts
+++ b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.test.ts
@@ -103,7 +103,6 @@ function createGiveUpAction() {
     execution: 'sync',
     schema: z.object({
       reason: z.string(),
-      cooldown_seconds: z.number(),
     }),
     perform: () => () => 'gave up',
   } as any
@@ -324,7 +323,6 @@ inv;
       errorTurnCount: 3,
       recentTurnIds: [7, 6, 5, 4, 3],
       recentErrorSummary: ['turn=7 repl_error: parse failed'],
-      suggestedCooldownSeconds: 45,
       triggeredAtTurnId: 8,
     }
 
@@ -339,7 +337,7 @@ inv;
   })
 
   it('clears error-burst guard when giveUp and chat both succeed in one turn', async () => {
-    const deps: any = createDeps('await giveUp({ reason: "stuck", cooldown_seconds: 45 }); await chat("I got stuck after repeated errors.")')
+    const deps: any = createDeps('await giveUp({ reason: "stuck" }); await chat("I got stuck after repeated errors.")')
     deps.taskExecutor.getAvailableActions = vi.fn(() => [createGiveUpAction(), createChatAction()])
     deps.taskExecutor.executeActionWithResult = vi.fn(async (action: any) => action.tool === 'giveUp' ? 'gave up' : 'chat sent')
 
@@ -350,7 +348,6 @@ inv;
       errorTurnCount: 3,
       recentTurnIds: [7, 6, 5, 4, 3],
       recentErrorSummary: ['turn=7 repl_error: parse failed'],
-      suggestedCooldownSeconds: 45,
       triggeredAtTurnId: 8,
     }
 
diff --git a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.ts b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.ts
index 41d13ee3e..d20a49e67 100644
--- a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.ts
+++ b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/brain.ts
@@ -184,7 +184,6 @@ interface ErrorBurstGuardState {
   errorTurnCount: number
   recentTurnIds: number[]
   recentErrorSummary: string[]
-  suggestedCooldownSeconds: number
   triggeredAtTurnId: number
 }
 
@@ -224,7 +223,6 @@ const NO_ACTION_STAGNATION_REPEAT_LIMIT = 2
 const ERROR_BURST_GUARD_SOURCE_ID = 'brain:error_burst_guard'
 const ERROR_BURST_THRESHOLD = 3
 const ERROR_BURST_WINDOW_TURNS = 5
-const ERROR_BURST_COOLDOWN_SECONDS = 45
 
 function getEventPriority(event: BotEvent): number {
   if (event.type === 'perception') {
@@ -250,7 +248,7 @@ export class Brain {
   private isProcessing = false
   private isReplEvaluating = false
   private currentCancellationToken: CancellationToken | undefined
-  private giveUpUntil = 0
+  private givenUp = false
   private giveUpReason: string | undefined
   private lastContextView: string | undefined
   private lastReplOutcome: ReplOutcomeSummary | undefined
@@ -322,14 +320,12 @@ export class Brain {
       }
 
       if (action.tool === 'giveUp') {
-        const secondsRaw = Number(action.params?.cooldown_seconds ?? 45)
-        const cooldownSeconds = Number.isFinite(secondsRaw) ? Math.min(600, Math.max(10, Math.floor(secondsRaw))) : 45
-        this.giveUpUntil = Date.now() + cooldownSeconds * 1000
+        this.givenUp = true
         this.giveUpReason = typeof action.params?.reason === 'string' ? action.params.reason : undefined
 
         try {
           const reason = this.giveUpReason ? `: ${this.giveUpReason}` : ''
-          bot.bot.chat(`[debug] Giving up for ${cooldownSeconds}s${reason}`)
+          bot.bot.chat(`[debug] Gave up${reason}. Waiting for player input.`)
         }
         catch (err) {
           this.deps.logger.withError(err as Error).warn('Brain: Failed to announce giveUp to chat')
@@ -414,7 +410,7 @@ export class Brain {
     queueLength: number
     actionQueue: ActionQueueSnapshot
     turnCounter: number
-    giveUpUntil: number
+    givenUp: boolean
     paused: boolean
     contextView: string | undefined
     conversationHistory: Message[]
@@ -425,7 +421,7 @@ export class Brain {
       queueLength: this.queue.length,
       actionQueue: this.getActionQueueSnapshot(),
       turnCounter: this.turnCounter,
-      giveUpUntil: this.giveUpUntil,
+      givenUp: this.givenUp,
       paused: this.paused,
       contextView: this.lastContextView,
       conversationHistory: this.cloneMessages(this.conversationHistory),
@@ -803,7 +799,6 @@ export class Brain {
       errorTurnCount: errorTurnIds.length,
       recentTurnIds,
       recentErrorSummary,
-      suggestedCooldownSeconds: ERROR_BURST_COOLDOWN_SECONDS,
       triggeredAtTurnId: turnId,
     }
 
@@ -1981,14 +1976,13 @@ export class Brain {
       // Note: We don't update this.lastContextView here; caller does it after building message
     }
 
-    if (this.giveUpUntil > Date.now()) {
-      const remainingSec = Math.max(0, Math.ceil((this.giveUpUntil - Date.now()) / 1000))
-      parts.push(`[STATE] giveUp active (${remainingSec}s left). reason=${this.giveUpReason ?? 'unknown'}`)
+    if (this.givenUp) {
+      parts.push(`[STATE] giveUp active (halted until player input). reason=${this.giveUpReason ?? 'unknown'}`)
     }
 
     if (this.errorBurstGuardState) {
       const guard = this.errorBurstGuardState
-      parts.push(`[ERROR_BURST_GUARD] active. errors=${guard.errorTurnCount}/${guard.windowTurns}; threshold=${guard.threshold}; cooldown=${guard.suggestedCooldownSeconds}s`)
+      parts.push(`[ERROR_BURST_GUARD] active. errors=${guard.errorTurnCount}/${guard.windowTurns}; threshold=${guard.threshold}`)
       if (guard.recentErrorSummary.length > 0) {
         const condensed = guard.recentErrorSummary
           .slice(0, 3)
@@ -1996,7 +1990,7 @@ export class Brain {
           .join(' || ')
         parts.push(`[ERROR_BURST_GUARD] recent=${condensed}`)
       }
-      parts.push(`[MANDATORY] Too many recent errors. This turn must include BOTH: await giveUp({ reason: "...", cooldown_seconds: ${guard.suggestedCooldownSeconds} }) and await chat({ message: "...", feedback: false }). Explain what failed and what you will do next.`)
+      parts.push(`[MANDATORY] Too many recent errors. This turn must include BOTH: await giveUp({ reason: "..." }) and await chat({ message: "...", feedback: false }). Explain what failed and what you will do next.`)
     }
 
     if (this.lastReplOutcome) {
@@ -2023,7 +2017,7 @@ export class Brain {
   }
 
   private shouldSuppressDuringGiveUp(event: BotEvent): boolean {
-    if (Date.now() >= this.giveUpUntil)
+    if (!this.givenUp)
       return false
 
     if (event.source.type === 'system' && event.source.id === ERROR_BURST_GUARD_SOURCE_ID)
@@ -2037,7 +2031,7 @@ export class Brain {
   }
 
   private resumeFromGiveUpIfNeeded(event: BotEvent): void {
-    if (Date.now() >= this.giveUpUntil)
+    if (!this.givenUp)
       return
 
     if (event.type !== 'perception')
@@ -2047,7 +2041,7 @@ export class Brain {
     if (signal.type !== 'chat_message')
       return
 
-    this.giveUpUntil = 0
+    this.givenUp = false
     this.giveUpReason = undefined
   }
 }
diff --git a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/patterns/catalog.ts b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/patterns/catalog.ts
index ca161a098..22004b565 100644
--- a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/patterns/catalog.ts
+++ b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/patterns/catalog.ts
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ export const PATTERN_CATALOG: PatternCard[] = [
     ],
     code: [
       'if (noActionBudget.remaining <= 0) {',
-      '  await giveUp({ reason: "No verified target found for requested task", cooldown_seconds: 45 });',
+      '  await giveUp({ reason: "No verified target found for requested task" });',
       '}',
     ].join('\n'),
     tags: ['no-action', 'budget', 'giveUp', 'stagnation'],
diff --git a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/prompts/brain-prompt.md b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/prompts/brain-prompt.md
index d4a9c5c04..a64efd15d 100644
--- a/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/prompts/brain-prompt.md
+++ b/services/minecraft/src/cognitive/conscious/prompts/brain-prompt.md
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ Heuristic composition examples (encouraged):
   - `actionQueue.counts` / `actionQueue.capacity`: current usage and hard limits.
   - `actionQueue.recent`: recently finished/failed/cancelled control actions.
 - `noActionBudget`: current eval-only follow-up budget state (`remaining`, `default`, `max`).
-- `errorBurstGuard`: repeated-error guard state when active (`threshold`, `windowTurns`, `errorTurnCount`, `recentErrorSummary`, `suggestedCooldownSeconds`), otherwise `null`.
+- `errorBurstGuard`: repeated-error guard state when active (`threshold`, `windowTurns`, `errorTurnCount`, `recentErrorSummary`), otherwise `null`.
 
 Examples:
 - `const recentErrors = llmLog.query().errors().latest(5).list()`
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ Value-first rule (mandatory for read -> action flows):
 - For explicit user tasks (e.g. "get X", "craft Y", "go to Z"), do not stay in repeated evaluation-only turns.
 - After a small number of evaluation turns, the next turn must either:
   - call at least one action/chat tool toward completion, or
-  - call `giveUp({ reason, cooldown_seconds })` with a concrete blocker, or
+  - call `giveUp({ reason })` with a concrete blocker, or
   - explicitly increase no-action budget for this scenario via `setNoActionBudget(n)`.
 - Example (read -> chat report):
   - Turn A: `const inv = query.inventory().summary(); inv`
@@ -212,8 +212,8 @@ Common patterns:
 - For read->chat/report tasks, always prefer:
   - Turn A: `const value = ...; value`
   - Turn B: construct tool params/messages from confirmed returned value.
-- If you hit repeated failures with no progress, call `await giveUp({ reason, cooldown_seconds })` once instead of retry-spamming.
-- If `[ERROR_BURST_GUARD]` appears, treat it as mandatory safety policy for this turn: call `giveUp(...)` and send one concise `chat(...)` explanation of what failed.
+- If you hit repeated failures with no progress, call `await giveUp({ reason })` once instead of retry-spamming.
+- If `[ERROR_BURST_GUARD]` appears, treat it as mandatory safety policy for this turn: call `giveUp({ reason })` and send one concise `chat(...)` explanation of what failed.
 - Treat `query.gaze()` results as a weak hint, not a command. Never move solely because someone looked somewhere unless they also gave a clear instruction.
 - Use `followPlayer` to set idle auto-follow and `clearFollowTarget` before independent exploration.
 - Some relocation actions (for example `goToCoordinate`) automatically detach auto-follow so exploration does not keep snapping back.
diff --git a/services/minecraft/src/debug/mcp-repl-server.test.ts b/services/minecraft/src/debug/mcp-repl-server.test.ts
index dd94360f3..df3a36aa3 100644
--- a/services/minecraft/src/debug/mcp-repl-server.test.ts
+++ b/services/minecraft/src/debug/mcp-repl-server.test.ts
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ describe('mcpReplServer', () => {
         isProcessing: false,
         queueLength: 0,
         turnCounter: 1,
-        giveUpUntil: 0,
+        givenUp: false,
         paused: false,
         contextView: 'test context',
         conversationHistory: [],
diff --git a/services/minecraft/src/debug/mcp-repl-server.ts b/services/minecraft/src/debug/mcp-repl-server.ts
index 0bbc5a405..04e49a914 100644
--- a/services/minecraft/src/debug/mcp-repl-server.ts
+++ b/services/minecraft/src/debug/mcp-repl-server.ts
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ export class McpReplServer {
               processing: snapshot.isProcessing,
               queueLength: snapshot.queueLength,
               turn: snapshot.turnCounter,
-              giveUpUntil: snapshot.giveUpUntil,
+              givenUp: snapshot.givenUp,
               paused: snapshot.paused,
             }, null, 2),
             mimeType: 'application/json',