Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.
Warnings
- This game requires a constant internet connection for all game modes.
World of Warcraft is a third-person MMORPG made by Blizzard Entertainment. The game is set in the Warcraft series of games, and is the first game released in the series not to be a RTS game.
The game was released November 23, 2004 in North America. In the week of launch, Realm (server) capacity could not meet player demand resulting in queues and latency.[1] Over the years, Blizzard opened new servers to meet demand[2] as player numbers reached 12 million in October 2010. However, a declining player population resulted in a Connected Realms feature which results in virtual server merges on September 10, 2013.[3]
The engine has seen several changes, most notably the original 32-bit client ran DirectX 9/11 which was deprecated in favour of a 64-bit client that ran only DirectX 11/12 on July 1, 2018 with the Battle for Azeroth patch, which also dropped support for 'exclusive fullscreen' mode.[4][5][6]
World of Warcraft has had several expansion packs which added new content. World of Warcraft Classic, a new game mode based on 'vanilla' or pre-The Burning Crusade content was released August 26, 2019.
AddOns are the primary method of modding the game, which extends the game's interface providing communication tools, maps, statistics, minigames, etc. AddOns can be found on websites such as WoW Interface and CurseForge and often need updating every time the game is patched. The game also has a history of extensive communities based in 'private' or emulated servers, which are against Blizzard's Terms of Service, a famous example of which was a server called Nostalrius which was shut down on April 10, 2016.
General information
- Blizzard Watch "WoW" Category - A news site dedicated to all Blizzard Entertainment news.
- Wowpedia - A huge wiki for everything World of Warcraft related. Also handles anything Warcraft universe related.
- Wowhead - An expansive database on anything that can be found or used in-game. Has a clean interface.
- Statista - A ranking on the distribution of characters across EU and U.S. realms. Other statistics on World of Warcraft accessible.
- Curse and WoWInterface are both great addon sources.
Availability
Source |
DRM |
Notes |
Keys |
OS |
Retail |
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Expansions are available on DVDs. |
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Battle.net |
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First 20 levels are free-to-play. Subscription includes all available expansions (except for the latest expansion). |
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- All versions require Battle.net DRM and a constant internet connection for all game modes.
- The playable characters from all expansions are available (except for the latest expansion), even if the player has not bought any expansion packs.
Starter Edition
The World of Warcraft Starter Edition is a free but limited version of World of Warcraft.
- Characters can be created and leveled up to 20, and professions to 100.
- Each character can earn up to 1000 Gold.
- Cannot access expansion zones or quests, join guilds, hold Pet Battles, or use the Auction House.
- All achievements and progress carry over to the full version.
Monetization
Type |
Notes |
Subscription
| To play beyond Starter Edition limitations, a subscription is required as a real money purchase in 1, 3 and 6 month increments. The subscription includes access to World of Warcraft and WoW Classic. Subscription time can be earned in-game via the WoW Token. |
DLC and expansion packs
Name |
Notes |
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The Burning Crusade |
Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game. |
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Wrath of the Lich King |
Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game. |
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Cataclysm |
Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game. |
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Mists of Pandaria |
Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game. |
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Warlords of Draenor |
Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game. |
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Legion |
Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game. |
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Battle for Azeroth |
Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game. |
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Shadowlands |
Available for free. Included with all full versions of the game. |
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Dragonflight |
Can be bought from the Battle.net store. |
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Microtransactions
Type |
Notes |
Boost
| Level boosts, e.g. Level 50 Character Boost.[7] |
Cosmetic
| Cosmetics like mounts and pets are real money purchases.[8] |
Currency
| WoW Token was introduced March 5, 2015, and is a real money purchase which can be traded in-game or redeemed for added subscription time or Blizzard Balance which is credit for the Blizzard Store.[9] |
Free-to-grind
| Because WoW Tokens can be redeemed for Blizzard Balance it makes it technically possible to achieve all microtransactions through grinding in-game Gold. |
Infinite spend
| The shop updates frequently with new unlocks and cosmetics, and the existence of WoW Tokens means that there is no practical limit to how much can be spent on the game in addition to subscription costs. |
Unlock
| Unlocks include race change, character transfer, faction change, name change, guild services, etc.[10] |
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
- Progress and stats are saved automatically by Battle.net
Video
In-game general graphics settings.
In-game advanced graphics settings.
Enable color blind mode[14]
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- Go to Menu, then Interface.
- Choose Accessibility, then enable color blind mode.
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Input
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
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Master, sound, music, ambience, dialog. A selected number of optional sounds can also be fully disabled |
Surround sound |
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5.1 and 7.1[15] |
Subtitles |
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Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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EAX support |
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EAX 3.[16] XP compatibility mode is also required from Vista onwards (besides DirectSound3D restoration).[17]
- 64-bit build is unsupported.
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Royalty free audio |
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Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
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EnUS, enGB, enCN, enTW available. |
Simplified Chinese |
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Traditional Chinese |
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French |
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German |
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Italian |
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Korean |
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Brazilian Portuguese |
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Russian |
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Spanish |
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Latin American Spanish |
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Network
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Ports
Protocol |
Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
TCP |
80, 3724, 1119 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
VR support
Issues fixed
Windowed mode (OS X)
OS X - Windowed mode[citation needed]
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- The window size can sometimes not be changed by dragging after entering windowed mode.
- Open World of Warcraft
- Disable all add-ons at the character screen
- Enter the game
- Enter windowed mode (
command+m or command+enter )
- Force quit the game
- Relaunch it as normal
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FPS performance issues (OS X)
OS X - FPS performance issues[citation needed]
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- World of Warcraft might run sluggishly on older-model Macs despite having the required specs.
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Sound issue (OS X)
OS X - Sound issue[citation needed]
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- If the machine overheats during gameplay, the sound can become distorted, which causes the framerate to fall dramatically.
- This issue only seems to occur on older MacBooks (PowerBook series, early MacBook series).
- Shut off the sound by going into the settings and removing Master volume.
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Mature Filter Options Not Saving
Force a save to the server side[citation needed]
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- Open the options menu.
- Change the setting (whether on or off).
- Run
/reload to force settings save.
- Use Alt+F4 to forcibly close the game.
- Re-open the game and the new setting should be saved properly.
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World of Warcraft unable to run after using Xbox app
Turn off your Game DVR on Xbox app[citation needed]
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- Open the Xbox app (search for Xbox and you'll find it).
- Click the settings button that looks like a gear. It's at the row of buttons on the left of the screen, all the way on the bottom.
- Click "Game DVR" on the top of the screen.
- Turn the Game DVR off.
- This should let you play World of Warcraft again.
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Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
11, 12 |
Previously contained Direct3D 9 and 10 modes until January 2018. Direct3D 12 is available for both Windows 7 and 10, but only on cards supporting Tier 3 resource binding.[19] |
Software renderer |
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Run the game with the -allowSoftwareRenderer command line parameter. |
Metal support |
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Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit | ARM |
Notes |
Windows |
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Only the 64-bit client is supported as of patch 8.0.1 for both classic and retail. One Shadowlands test realm for native ARM was reported to exist as of May 2021.[18] |
macOS (OS X) | |
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PowerPC support was dropped in October 2010 with patch 4.0.1. 32-bit support was dropped in January 2018 with patch 8.0.1. ARM support was added in November 2020. |
Command[20] |
Description
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-help (or -h) |
Displays the help message window
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-version (or -v) |
Displays the build number
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-windowed |
Runs the game in windowed mode
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-fullscreen |
Runs the game in borderless windowed mode
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-console |
Enables the in-game console (called by default by ~)
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-d3d11 |
Forces Gx to use the DirectX 11 API (as of version 4.0.1)
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-d3d11legacy |
Forces Gx to use the legacy DirectX 11 API (as of version 8.1.5)
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-d3d12 |
Forces Gx to use the DirectX 12 API (as of version 8.1.5)
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-config [filename] |
Overrides the default configuration file with a specified one
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-[width]x[height] |
Sets custom resolution (obsolete)
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-metal |
Runs the game using Metal
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-opengl (or -ogl41) |
Runs the game using OpenGL (4.1) (obsolete)
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-allowSoftwareRenderer |
Runs the game using a software renderer
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-nosound |
Disables game audio
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Addons
- World of Warcraft's UI is developed via Lua scripting, and XML data.
- AddOns are essentially mods, files to add to the installation folder that can improve interaction with the game.
- AddOns are generally self-contained User Interface (UI) modification components. However, some AddOns can be dependent on other AddOns to work, and some AddOns are actually collections of other AddOns. Some are built on libraries such as Sea or Ace. There is no size restriction on AddOns; some can grow to be quite massive.
Blizzard's AddOn Policy
- With the release of Patch 3.1, Blizzard Entertainment introduced a new UI AddOn development policy.[21]
- According to the policy, "failure to abide by them [these rules] may result in measures up to and including taking formal legal action."[21]
AddOn Policy[citation needed]
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- AddOns must be free of charge.
- AddOn code must be completely visible.
- AddOns must not negatively impact World of Warcraft realms or other players.
- AddOns may not include advertisements.
- AddOns may not solicit donations.
- AddOns must not contain offensive or objectionable material.
- AddOns must abide by World of Warcraft ToU and EULA.
- Blizzard Entertainment has the right to disable AddOn functionality as it sees fit.
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Creating an AddOn
Creating an AddOn[citation needed]
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- Create a new directory in
Interface\AddOns . The name of this directory is important, as it is what other AddOns use to refer to this AddOn in dependencies. Using version numbers in this directory name is not recommended, as other AddOns may "break" when the version is changed.
- Create a
.toc file. .toc is short for "table of contents". A functioning AddOn will need a file named <YourAddOnDirectoryName>.toc in "Interface\AddOns\YourAddOnDirectoryName\ ".
- Add the following required elements to the file: an interface keyword with a correct interface number and the name(s) of one or more files to load.
- Blizzard requests that at least these five client-recognized tag lines must be included.
## Interface: <API_LatestInterface>
## Title: My Add On
## Version: 1.0.0
## Notes: A short description of my AddOn
## Author: Your name or memorable descriptor (e.g. LuckyLuke)
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<API_LatestInterface> is the current interface number.
- Do not have any extra spaces at the end of the line with the filename specified. The extra space is taken as part of the filename and will cause the AddOn to fail to load silently.
- The interface number in the
.toc file must match the current build or the AddOn will not be loaded/active, unless the user has explicitly told the game to load out-of-date Addons. If the .toc file declares an interface number prior to 2.0.0 (i.e. pre-The Burning Crusade), the AddOn can not be loaded, regardless of the load-out-of-date AddOns setting.
- If a Bindings.xml file is included, it does not have to be included in the
.toc list of files to load, as the game loads this file automatically. This file is used to set key bindings specific to the AddOn.
- Please check out The TOC Format for a more detailed list of other keywords in the
.toc file.
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Troubleshooting an AddOn
"Interface action failed" error[citation needed]
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- As of Patch 2.3, if the message "Interface action failed because of an AddOn" appears, an AddOn interfered with the Blizzard UI in some way.
- Enter the following into chat:
/console taintLog 1 .
- Restart the game and try to reproduce it.
- If the issue is reproduced, quit the game and search through the file
Logs\taint.log for the word blocked and mail the log to the author of the AddOn listed there.
- Turn off logging by entering the following into chat:
/console taintLog 0 .
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System requirements
Windows |
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Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
7 |
10 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core i5-3450 AMD FX-8300 |
Intel Core i7-6700K AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
System memory (RAM) |
4 GB (8 GB for Intel HD Graphics series) |
8 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
100 GB |
100 GB (SDD) |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 AMD Radeon RX 560 Intel HD Graphics 630 2 GB of VRAM
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 8 GB of VRAM |
Other |
Minimum resolution of 1024x768. Broadband internet connection | |
- The original system requirements were as follows: 98/2000/ME/XP, Intel Pentium 3 800 MHz or AMD Duron 800 MHz, 256 MB RAM, a 32 MB 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting, such as an NVIDIA Geforce FX 5700 class card or above, a DirectX compatible sound card, and 4 GB hard drive space. The manual stated that you will have to install DirectX 9.0c to properly run World of Warcraft.
- 98 and ME support were dropped with the 2.2.3 patch in October 2007, 2000 support was dropped with the 4.0.1 patch in 2010, and XP support was dropped shortly before the 8.0.1 patch at the start of 2018, along with Windows Vista.[22]
- 32-bit support was retired in 2018.
macOS (OS X) |
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Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
10.13 |
11 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core i5-4670 Apple M1 |
Intel Core i7-6700k |
System memory (RAM) |
4 GB |
8 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
100 GB |
100 GB (SDD) |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce GT 750M AMD Radeon R9 M290 Intel UHD 630 2 GB of VRAM
| AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 8 GB of VRAM |
Other |
Minimum resolution of 1024x768. Broadband internet connection | |
- The original system requirements were as follows: Mac OS X 10.3.5, 933 MHz G4/G5, 512 MB RAM, an ATI or NVIDIA graphics processor with 32MB VRAM, and 4GB hard drive space
- PowerPC Mac support was dropped with patch 4.0.1.
Notes
References