How the lockpick minigame works
There is one bar and one key. Every press of E pushes the bar up by a fixed amount. Whenever you are not pressing, the bar falls — and it never stops falling, so the only way to make progress is to press faster than it drains. Fill the bar and the phase is done; the bar resets and the next phase begins with a faster drain. Three phases, and the clock runs from your first press to the moment the third bar fills.
The drain is fixed within a phase and steps up at each one: the second phase drains about half again as fast as the first, and the third more than twice as fast. There is nothing else to it — no momentum, no rhythm, no timing window. The bar only ever knows two things: how often you are pressing right now, and which phase you are in.
This is the 5.0 ATM crowbar minigame as players describe it: three timed phases, a mash input, and resistance that fights harder each phase. It is a sustained press-rate test, and the third phase is where most people find out what their real rate is.
Benchmento is not affiliated with Rockstar Games, NoPixel or any roleplay server. These are original implementations built from descriptions of how the minigames work, for practice in the browser.
What counts as a fast bypass
| Time | Standing |
|---|---|
| Under 5.5s | Exceptional |
| 5.5 – 7s | Fast |
| 7 – 9s | Solid |
| 9 – 16s | About average |
| 16 – 30s | Losing to phase three |
| Over 30s | Below the drain rate |
Each press is worth nine percent of the bar. Phase three drains sixty-six percent a second, so it takes a touch over seven presses a second just to hold still there. Eight a second crawls through it in about twenty seconds; ten a second clears the whole run in under eight; twelve in about five. The drain is the whole difficulty, and the third phase is where it is set to bite.
How to bypass faster
- Never stop pressing. The bar falls the instant you do, and on phase three it can lose a third of itself in the time it takes to glance at the timer. Every pause is paid back with interest.
- Do not watch the bar. It tells you where you are, not what to do, and what to do is always the same. Watch it only long enough to see the phase change.
- Use two fingers on desktop. Alternating on the E key or the space bar roughly doubles a sustainable press rate. On a phone, tap with two thumbs.
- Do not ease off when a phase completes. The bar resets to zero and the drain steps up in the same instant. If your rate dips at the boundary you start the harder phase already behind.
- Find your phase-three rate first. Run it once at full effort and note whether the third bar climbs, holds or falls. That is the number to train, and the first two phases will take care of themselves.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the NoPixel 5.0 ATM lockpick?
It is an independent recreation built from descriptions of how the 5.0 ATM crowbar minigame plays: three phases, a mash input, and a bar that fights back harder each phase. It is not connected to any server and is not affiliated with Rockstar Games or NoPixel.
What key do I press?
E or the space bar on a keyboard, or tap the ring on a touchscreen. Every press adds the same amount, so the key does not matter; the rate does.
Why does the bar fall while I am still pressing?
Because it always falls, and on the later phases it falls fast. If your presses are not landing faster than it drains, it goes down even while you are pressing. The fix is a higher rate, not a harder press.
Can I fail it?
No. There is no time limit and the bar cannot break. If your rate is below the drain on phase three, the bar simply will not climb, and the run stretches out until you either speed up or give up. A slow run just produces a slow time.
Does this help with the real minigame?
It trains the one thing the real one rewards: a press rate you can sustain through three phases without dropping it at the transitions. It does not replicate any server's exact numbers.