Cease-fire

The act of "Ceasing fire" or "Standing down" was introduced in the first Halo game. This allowed gamers who were involved in making movies or Machinima able to act as if they were in a holstering position.



Halo: Combat Evolved
Firstly introduced in the game, the concept of ceasing fire was not taken as it were of no use. When Red vs Blue series came online in the internet, it was widely accepted for gamers who started making videos. Within the game, this can be done by moving the viewpoint downwards. Although the user is facing to the ground, other players will see the user in a normal position.

In Halo: Combat Evolved, using a M6D Pistol or a Plasma Pistol would make a nicer appearance. Using a Needler sometimes bends the left arm inwards along with the MA5B.



Halo 2
Seeing that Red vs Blue helped in the Halo franchise, Bungie added a neat feature where the player could simply cease fire or lower their weapon by just holding down on the D-Pad.

In Halo 2, not all weapons can be put into ready position such as dual-wield weapons, Rockets and Energy Swords.



Halo 3
In Halo 3, the feature is still within the game but rather in a button combination. The player can cease fire by pressing the following at the very same time: Keep holding the combination together for 3 seconds and the weapon on your HUD will disappear. Most weapons will go down into the cease fire position, but some will have little or no change, like the Energy Sword, Gravity hammer, Brute Shot, Sentinel Beam, Plasma Cannon, Machine gun turret, and Flamethrower. Though it will work on the Rocket Launcher, Fuel Rod cannon, Spartan Laser, and duel-wielded weapons, but the player will hold them in an unnatural way.
 * Left Bumper
 * Right Bumper
 * A
 * Left Thumbstick
 * D-PAD DOWN

The player would not be able to see his/her weapon but other players would. Also if you cease-fire in Forge upon returning to player mode your weapon will be off your HUD, but you can also fire or throw grenades without your weapon coming up onto your screen (your gun disappears. It is a bit like Blind on Halo 2 when you see the shots.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: This does not work on Xbox Live due to the possibility of exploits, according to Bungie.

Trivia

 * The Cease Fire position in Halo 3 was first performed in public by Red vs Blue members.
 * Using the Cease Fire position on any weapon that it works on then switching to the Energy Sword will cause the user to see the sword as having a shimmery transparent aura, however other players would see it appear as normal.