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this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.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.
Key points
- Mod friendly (mods pertain to UI addons)
- Very active community
- Runs well on low-end machines
- Expansions must be bought to play in active endgame areas and activities
- Requires a monthly subscription fee
General information
- Official Blizzard community site for US
- Official Blizzard community site for EU
- 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 The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor and Legion expansions. |
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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, even if the player has not bought any expansion packs.
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 |
Can be bought from the Battle.net store. |
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Version differences
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 10 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.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
- Progress and stats are saved automatically by Battle.net
Video settings
In-game general graphics settings.
In-game advanced graphics settings.
Template:Video settings
Enable color blind mode[1]
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- Go to Menu, then Interface.
- Choose Accessibility, then enable color blind mode.
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Input settings
Template:Input settings
Audio settings
Template:Audio settings
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 |
3724, 1119 |
UDP |
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).
- 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 2017. |
OpenGL |
2 |
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Metal support |
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Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
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macOS (OS X) | |
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Visual enhancements
Increase graphical settings further than the sliders allow[citation needed]
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/console farclip 1300
/console horizonfarclip 2112
/console groundeffectdensity 256
/console groundeffectdist 140
/console smallcull 0
/console skycloudlod 3
Notes
- A comparison of each setting is shown in this video.
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DirectX 11 Rendering
- DirectX 11 can significantly boost performance in some scenarios.
Enable DirectX 11[2]
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Requirements:
- A DirectX 10, 10.1, 11 or 12-compliant graphics card
- Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7/8
- Windows Vista without Service Pack 2 will be able to run the API, but it will only use shader model 4.0.
- Right-click on the shortcut you use to start WoW and select "Properties".
- You should see a target line in the new window that is already highlighted.
- Add
-d3d11 to the end of the Target.
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gxTextureCacheSize
gxTextureCacheSize[3]
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- This tweak seems to improve peformance for some. Only works when running d3d9ex.
- The default value of '0' lets the game handle the cache size. ~70-75% of your VRAM tends to be the best value
- Ingame type
/console gxTextureCacheSize <VALUE in MB>
- Restart the game for change to take affect.
Alternatively,
- Edit
World of Warcraft\WTF\Config.wtf
- Add
SET gxTextureCacheSize <VALUE in MB>
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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.[4]
- According to the policy, "failure to abide by them [these rules] may result in measures up to and including taking formal legal action."[4]
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
.toc file is not reloaded when the UI is reloaded; if changes are made to it, the game must be closed to the desktop before those changes can take effect.
- 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 64-bit |
8.1 64-bit, 10 64-bit |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core i5-760 AMD FX-8100 |
Intel Core i7-4770 AMD FX-8310 |
System memory (RAM) |
4 GB (8 GB for Intel HD Graphics 530) |
8 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
70 GB |
70 GB (SDD) |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 AMD Radeon HD 7850 Intel HD Graphics 530 2 GB of VRAM
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 AMD Radeon R9 280 4 GB of VRAM |
Other |
Minimum resolution of 1024x768. Broadband internet connection | |
- At the game's launch, the game also supported Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP as supported operating systems. 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[5].
- A 64-bit system is required.
macOS (OS X) |
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Minimum |
Recommended |
Operating system (OS) |
10.12 |
10.13 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core i5-760
| Intel Core i7-4770 |
System memory (RAM) |
4 GB |
8 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
70 GB |
70 GB (SDD) |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce GT 750M AMD Radeon R9 M290 Intel HD Graphics 530 2 GB of VRAM
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 AMD Radeon R9 M395X 4 GB of VRAM |
Other |
Minimum resolution of 1024x768. Broadband internet connection | |
- PowerPC Mac support was dropped with patch 4.0.1.
Notes
References