Hartlepool had most of the possession, but there was an air of desperation about their attacks and they only rarely threatened.
Rotherham, meanwhile, had chances on the break, especially late in the game, but they too lacked the killer punch in front of goal.
On this form, neither side can expect to achieve anything more than mid-table safety this season, though the fans could fault nobody for their effort.
The problem was a lot of it went to waste.
Thomas Butler was Hartlepool's main threat and the nippy winger sent in long-range shots either side of half time that keeper Gary Montgomery did well to save.
He needed a second attempt to hold on to the second - a snap-shot from all of 30 yards - but recovered well.
His namesake in the Rotherham side, Martin, missed a sitter in the second half, while Michael Keane had a goal disallowed after a foul by a team-mate on a Hartlepool defender.
The home team made three substitutions in a nine-minute spell in the second half as manager Martin Scott brought on some of his young players, but it made little difference as Rotherham held on fairly comfortably.
In fact, had the Millers had any go about them, they might have realised the home team was struggling and gone for a win instead of just holding out for a draw, but by the time they noticed they could get three points instead of one, it was too late.
The closest they came late on was when Jon Otsemobor crossed from the right and Butler's diving header was finger-tipped over the bar by home keeper Dimi Konstantopoulos.