This page is for the original game client up to and including the v1.31.1 patch. For the v1.32.0 patch and above, see the 2020 reimagining Warcraft III: Reforged.
Key points
- With the release of Warcraft III: Reforged, Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne was updated to the classic mode of Reforged, with a merged Battle.net online multiplayer.
General information
- Official Blizzard Store Page For Warcraft III
- Official Battle.net "Classic" Games Support
- Mojo StormStout's Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Strategy Guide - Strategy and Game Guide by Blizzard
- Wowpedia - A huge wiki for everything Warcraft universe related
- maps.w3reforged.com/ - Warcraft III: Reforged Map Database
- Epicwar - Large Warcraft III Map Database
- HIVE - A Warcraft III Community Site (With a focus on modding, and a map database.)
Availability
Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
Retail |
|
SecuROM 4 DRM on Windows. Most copies pre-2007 install on all three operating systems. |
|
|
- The original version is no longer sold digitally as of November 2018 in favor of the remaster.
- If a retail copy is already owned, access to the classic version of Warcraft III: Reforged (which allows access to the original Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne campaign content as well as Reforged multiplayer) can be gained for free by entering the serial key here on Battle.net and then downloading the installer from here.
- With patch 1.21 the game no longer requires the CD to play.
DLC and expansion packs
Name |
Notes |
|
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne |
Product key needed for install. |
|
Essential improvements
Patches
Updating to the latest version requires the use of the "Warcraft III Launcher" program. Clicking on "Battle.net" in the main menu will automatically attempt to patch the game to the latest version, and will download and run the "Warcraft III Launcher."
- Updating to or installing the latest version requires the Battle.net App to be installed.
- Versions above 1.28 will automatically update to Warcraft III: Reforged "classic" the next time the game is launched. Versions at or below 1.28 will automatically update the next time Battle.net is chosen from the main menu.
- As of version 1.28, support for the Czech version of the game has been dropped,[citation needed] and new standalone patch installers are no longer provided by Blizzard.
- Official support for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 as well as Mac 10.10 and 10.11 was added with version 1.27a, though Mac 10.9 remains unsupported.
List of 1.27b Patches
- Version 1.27b is the most up-to-date standalone installer version for the retail release, as well as the the Czech release.[citation needed].
- The 1.27b patches for a specific language can be downloaded from Blizzard's FTP server using the links below, or from the PCGW download mirrors (Windows, Mac).
- Install the Reign of Chaos patch only if The Frozen Throne is not installed.
Patch Language
|
Reign of Chaos
|
The Frozen Throne Expansion
|
|
Spanish
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
Czech
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
Chinese - Simplified
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
Chinese - Traditional
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
German
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
English
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
French
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
Italian
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
Japanese
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
Korean
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
Polish
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
Russian
|
Windows, Mac
|
Windows, Mac
|
Game data
In-game general settings.
Configuration file(s) location
System |
Location |
Windows |
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III\ |
Mac OS (Classic) |
|
macOS (OS X) |
|
Save game data location
System |
Location |
Windows |
%USERPROFILE%\Saved Games\Warcraft III\ |
Mac OS (Classic) |
|
macOS (OS X) |
|
Saved games were migrated from <path-to-game>\Save
in patch 1.28.[1]
Video
In-game graphics settings.
Input
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
|
|
Surround sound |
|
|
Subtitles |
|
|
Closed captions |
|
|
Mute on focus lost |
|
|
EAX support |
|
EAX 2, Support removed with 1.30 update and replaced with software. |
Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
|
|
|
American English and British English available. |
Czech |
|
|
|
Retail only up to 1.27b; 1.28 and higher not supported.[citation needed] |
Simplified Chinese |
|
|
|
|
Traditional Chinese |
|
|
|
|
French |
|
|
|
|
German |
|
|
|
|
Hungarian |
|
|
|
Fan-made localization, supports 1.27b, http://huncraft.hu/warcraft3 |
Italian |
|
|
|
|
Korean |
|
|
|
|
Polish |
|
|
|
|
Russian |
|
|
|
|
Spanish |
|
|
|
|
VR support
3D modes |
State |
Notes |
vorpX |
| G3D User created game profile, (DGVoodoo2) see requirements in the vorpx forum profile introduction. |
Network
Multiplayer types
Ports
Protocol |
Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
TCP |
6112, 6113-6119 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
Issues fixed
This section may require
cleanup to meet basic
quality standards. The specific problem is:
Some of the fixes may not be relevant anymore as of Patch v1.27a. Confirmation is needed that this is the case. You can help by
modifying
the article. The
discussion page may contain useful suggestions.
Running the game on Intel-based Macs
- Even with the patch, the map editor will not be compatible with Intel Macs
As of Patch v1.27a, the game can now be installed natively on Intel Macs without requiring PowerPC application support.
Windows NT Is Not Supported
Install the latest patch (v1.27a or above)
|
Windows Vista, 7, 8.1, and 10 Compatibility
- Official support for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 was added in Patch v1.27a.
- It has not been confirmed if the following issue(s) are still present.
If you can't connect to Battle.net, make sure that you have configured your firewall to allow Warcraft III access to the necessary ports. Windows Vista and above have security features in the Windows Firewall that block certain types of network connectivity by default. After starting the game, press Alt+Tab to switch to your desktop and acknowledge any Firewall popups. Depending on your router configuration, you may also need to set up port forwarding and/or UPnP with your router.
Black screen with audio for in-game cinematics
This problem is easily fixed on Windows 10, tested on 1.29. The problem is that blizzards video codec does not get properly registered during install, you can just register it yourself and it works fine. There is no need to download codec packs etc. like other fixes suggest. Simply type open cmd as administrator and type the following in, change the directory if you installed it somewhere other than the default location or it won't work!
regsvr32 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Warcraft III\blizzard.ax"[citation needed]
|
Alternative fix -
Disable blizzard codec : regsvr32 /u "C:\Program Files (x86)\Warcraft III\blizzard.ax"[citation needed]
|
Low performance in Wine
Force the game to run with OpenGL rendering[citation needed]
|
- See the API table for details.
|
Run the game in Windowed mode[citation needed]
|
Notes
- This fix has reportedly worked well on older Intel integrated GPUs.[citation needed]
|
Run the game at screen refresh rate
- Fullscreen mode defaults to 60 Hz, even if the screen refresh rate is set higher than that.
Set screen refresh rate in registry[3]
|
- Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III\Video .
- Double-click on
refreshrate and select Decimal.
- Change
60 to the screen refresh rate and click OK.
|
Set screen refresh rate with Special K[3]
|
- Install Special K by following the Special K Unofficial Guide. Manual local installation may work better.
- Start the game once and close it to allow the configuration file of Special K to be created.
- Open
<path-to-game>\d3d9.ini or %USERPROFILE%\Documents\My Mods\SpecialK\Profiles\Warcraft III.exe\SpecialK.ini depending on the installation method you used.
- Change
RefreshRate=-1 to RefreshRate=0 under [Render.FrameRate] .
|
Microstutter on modern machines
Use RivaTuner to limit the FPS to 64[4]
|
Enabling Vsync For Exclusive Full-screen Mode
Change The Vsync Registry Key
|
- Go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III\Video .
- Double-click on
vsync and select Decimal.
- Change the value to
1 and click OK.
- Run the game with the
-nativefullscr parameter.
|
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
9, 11 |
|
OpenGL |
2 |
Use the -opengl or -graphicsapi OpenGL2 command line argument to force OpenGL rendering in Windows. |
Shader Model support |
2 |
|
Executable | PPC | 16-bit |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows | | |
|
|
Support for later versions of Windows after XP was added in 2007. |
macOS (OS X) | | | |
|
Initially PowerPC-only until patch 1.21, which converted the game to a universal binary, but dropped Classic support in the process.
Later on in patch 1.27a, the game's app was made 64-bit to support 10.10+. |
Mac OS (Classic) | | | |
|
|
Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
Audio |
FMOD |
Dolby Surround, Miles Emulated 3D and Creative Labs EAX2before patch 1.30. |
Multiplayer |
Battle.net Classic |
Retail release users that wish to use Battle.net online multiplayer must update to the classic version of Reforged. |
System requirements
Windows | Mac OS (Classic) | macOS (OS X) |
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
98 |
2000, ME, XP |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Pentium II 400 MHz
| 600 MHz |
System memory (RAM) |
128 MB |
256 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
700 MB | |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia RIVA TNT 3dfx Voodoo 3 Intel i810 ATI Rage 128 8 MB of VRAM DirectX 8.1 compatible
| 32 MB of VRAM |
macOS (OS X) |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
10.3.9 to 10.6.8 | |
Processor (CPU) |
PowerPC G3 400 MHz
| 600 MHz |
System memory (RAM) |
128 MB |
256 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
700 MB | |
Video card (GPU) |
16 MB of VRAM
| 32 MB of VRAM |
References