Switch it off, keep the configuration
Inside Claude Code, open /mcp, select the server and toggle it off, or type /mcp disable <server>. Claude Code stops connecting to it but keeps it listed as disabled, so you can turn it back on later. The on/off state is stored per project in ~/.claude.json. (Anthropic: MCP)
Remove it completely
claude mcp list # see every server and its scope
claude mcp remove <name> # delete it from its configA server added at local or user scope lives in ~/.claude.json; a project server lives in the project's .mcp.json, which you can also edit by hand.
Project servers from .mcp.json: approval is a separate switch
The first time Claude Code sees servers in a project's .mcp.json, it asks whether to approve them. Your answers are stored as enabledMcpjsonServers and disabledMcpjsonServers in your settings. Anthropic's docs are explicit that these approval lists are unrelated to the on/off toggle above — a server can be approved and still switched off.
| You want to | Do this | Where it's stored |
|---|---|---|
| Pause a server | /mcp → toggle off, or /mcp disable <server> | ~/.claude.json, per project |
| Delete a server | claude mcp remove <name> | Its own config file |
| Refuse a project's server | Decline it when asked, or list it in disabledMcpjsonServers | Settings file |
Find the server you can't find
If a server keeps appearing, it may be defined somewhere you haven't looked: a .mcp.json in a parent folder, your user config, or a plugin that ships one. claude mcp list shows the scope of each.
From a sidebar instead
Claude Code Manager's MCP tab lists every server with the file it comes from and a switch beside it, so you can pause several at once without opening a settings file. It writes the same state Claude Code reads.