How do you stop maven from trying to access http://repo.maven.apache.org?

All pom files inherit from the maven super POM http://maven.apache.org/ref/3.0.4/maven-model-builder/super-pom.html which contains this entry:

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>central</id>
        <name>Central Repository</name>
        <url>http://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2</url>
        <layout>default</layout>
        <snapshots>
            <enabled>false</enabled>
        </snapshots>
    </repository>
</repositories>

Try setting this in your pom (with <id>central</id>):

<repositories>
    <repository>
        <id>central</id>
        <url>http://repo.dev.bloomberg.com/content/groups/public</url>
        <releases>
            <enabled>false</enabled>
        </releases>
    </repository>
</repositories>

<pluginRepositories>
    <pluginRepository>
        <id>central</id>
        <url>http://repo.dev.bloomberg.com/content/groups/public</url>
        <releases>
            <enabled>false</enabled>
        </releases>
    </pluginRepository>
</pluginRepositories>

Overriding the central repository

How it works:

Most organizations will need to set up one or more shared repositories, since not everyone can deploy, or simply download from the central Maven repository.To publish releases for use across different environments within their network, organization's will typically want to set up what is referred to as an internal repository.

When using this repositories for your projects, there are two choices: use it as a mirror, or have it override the central repository. You would use it as a mirror if it is intended to be a copy of the central repository exclusively, and if it's acceptable to have developers configure this in their settings. Or like in this case that you want to prevent access to the central repository for greater control, to configure the repository from the project level instead of in each user's settings, or to include your own artifacts in the same repository, you should override the central repository.

Also, Is very important to have in mind, at this point, the resolution process conducted by the maven dependencies, which have two main blocks settings for repositories:

1. related to the decencies will be listed within us ;
2. related to plugins that will be added within the nodes or used during the life cycle.

The Solution:

As an object oriented framework Maven has all POMs have an implicit parent the Super POM. Under its definitions lay down both dependencies and plugins first resolver repositories configurations:

<repositories>
    <repository>
      <id>central</id>
      <name>Maven Repository Switchboard</name>
      <layout>default</layout>
      <url>http://repo1.maven.org/maven2</url>
      <snapshots>
        <enabled>false</enabled>
      </snapshots>
    </repository>
  </repositories>

  <pluginRepositories>
    <pluginRepository>
      <id>central</id>
      <name>Maven Plugin Repository</name>
      <url>http://repo1.maven.org/maven2</url>
      <layout>default</layout>
      <snapshots>
        <enabled>false</enabled>
      </snapshots>
      <releases>
        <updatePolicy>never</updatePolicy>
      </releases>
    </pluginRepository>
  </pluginRepositories> 

To override the central repository with your internal repository, you must define a repository in a settings file and/or POM that uses the identifier central (<id>central</id>). Usually, this must be defined as both a regular repository and a plugin repository to ensure all access is consistent. For example:

<repositories>
    <repository>
      <id>central</id>
      <name>Maven Repository Switchboard</name>
      <layout>default</layout>
      <url>http://repo.dev.bloomberg.com/content/groups/public</url>
      <snapshots>
        <enabled>false</enabled>
      </snapshots>
    </repository>
  </repositories>

  <pluginRepositories>
    <pluginRepository>
      <id>central</id>
      <name>Maven Plugin Repository</name>
      <url>http://repo.dev.bloomberg.com/content/groups/public</url>
      <layout>default</layout>
      <snapshots>
        <enabled>true</enabled>
      </snapshots>
      <releases>
        <updatePolicy>never</updatePolicy>
      </releases>
    </pluginRepository>
  </pluginRepositories> 

Related link: Coderwall - Stopping maven from trying to access its Central Repository