Once you start taking 12 hours plus jobs in ETS2, your character will start yawning and closing their eyes when you drive continuously for 10 hours. You will shut down and see an occasional blackout when you push it past 11 hours.
At this time, the rest meter will be all red. It keeps track of how long you have before sleeping. The fuller it is, the closer you are to maxing out your awake time.
The rest meter is this bed with a sleeping guy icon between the Fuel icon and Message Icon
You can get detailed info on how much time you have until you sleep on the trip info menu within Trip advisor.
You bring up this section by pressing F7 (or the shown key in your game if you modified key bindings)
To replenish, you will have to find a rest area (denoted by a bed on the map) and drive there,
Park at the correct spot
Switch off your engine
Hit enter to sleep.
Don’t worry if the keys to press in the games’ prompts differ. They will vary depending on your key bindings. The basic idea is: Drive to the correct parking spot, Switch off the Engine, and Sleep.
The rest will last for 9 hours (just a couple of seconds in real life), and you will wake up with your sleep meter fully replenished and grey.
Plan Your Rests in Advance
If I have a job that will take over 10 hours, I always pop up the map (by pressing the default shortcut M on the keyboard. If you changed your key binding, use your specific one for Maps), zoom in, and identify rest areas on my route.
I will then add waypoints to a spot and keep on guessing until I get a spot that is around 9 hours away from my current location. In this example, I had a short job so I will show you how toying with different sleep spots changes hours. Be careful not to choose a sleep spot on the opposite side of a dual carriage way. You will unnecessarily add time to your trip.
This way, I’ll never get caught off guard with no resting area nearby.
Does Taking the Ferry Give You Rest?
Yes, taking the ferry lets you sleep. You will gain sleep or rest hours that are equivalent to the ferry trip duration. If your route takes you through a ferry and you can get to the ferry before your sleep is due, please make sure you select a resting spot after the ferry ride to avoid wasting valuable time.
Why Can’t I Get the Rest Dialog When in a Rest Area?
You won’t get the Rest prompt when parked wrong in a resting area. I found that the best way to always get the prompt is ensuring the entire tractor (head section) of the truck is in the marked-out resting spot.
If you choose an area where the whole truck and trailer can’t fit (for instance, angle parking), drive in forward and avoid reverse parking. Align the truck perfectly, and you will get the prompt.
How to Disable Sleep in ETS2
While fatigue makes Euro Truck Simulator 2 more realistic, it could be a bother if you only want to haul cargo and maximize profits.
Luckily, you can disable it in the settings menu.
- Go to the pause menu
- Click on options then select Gameplay in the ensuing menu
- Uncheck fatigue simulation
