Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

This page is for the original 2011 game. For the sequel to the 2022 game, see Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Subseries of Call of Duty
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare	2007
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2	2009
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3	2011
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered	2016
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2019
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered	2020
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II	2022
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III	2023

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS and shooter game in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series.

General information

Official Call of Duty series site

CallofDutyMaps - A detailed Website for all included multiplayer maps.

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		2 DVDs

Steam
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)		Also grants a Windows version.
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Mac App Store (unavailable)

All Windows versions require Steam DRM.

Various security vulnerabilities have been found with all Call of Duty games between Modern Warfare (2007) and Black Ops III, allowing hackers to remotely access, execute code on, and control user's PCs if they connect to the game's online modes.^[2]

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Content Collection 1	Contains Content Pack 1, 2 and 3.
Content Collection 2	Contains Content Pack 4 and 5.
Content Collection 3	Contains Content Pack 6, 7 (Spec Ops portion) and 8.
Content Collection 4	Contains Content Pack 7 (Multiplayer portion) and 9.

DLC for the game consists of 9 Content Packs (each combining 24 Content Drops). See the Wikipedia article for details.

Essential improvements

Utilities

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Multiple Profiles - allows user to hack in the feature of multiple profiles (managed in a utility external to the game).

Skip intro videos

Edit config file^[3]
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `config.cfg`. Change `seta intro "1"` to `seta intro "0"`. Save the file.

Preload shaders on level load

Edit config file^{[citation needed]}
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open `config.cfg`. Change `seta r_preloadShaders "0"` to `seta r_preloadShaders "1"`. Save the file.

Plutonium

An easy-to-install replacement launcher using dedicated servers for the game's online modes. Fixes the security vulnerabilities while also adding several enhancements:

A custom-built anticheat system
Aim Assist for controllers
Discord Rich Presence
Ultrawide monitor support
Custom card text

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\players2\*.cfg^{[Note 1]}
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/115300/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

config.cfg is for singleplayer, config_mp.cfg is for multiplayer.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\players2\save\^{[Note 1]}
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/115300/pfx/^{[Note 2]}

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Multiplayer and co-op only.

Video

General Video settings.

Advanced Video settings.

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Set Image Quality to Native (all other options including Extra are 720p upscaled) & use Flawless Widescreen/Widescreen Fixer.
Multi-monitor		Set Image Quality to Native (all other options including Extra are 720p upscaled) & use Flawless Widescreen/Widescreen Fixer.
Ultra-widescreen		Image is stretched. Set Image Quality to Native (all other options including Extra are 720p upscaled) & use Flawless Widescreen/Widescreen Fixer.
4K Ultra HD		Does not work with in-game fullscreen enabled.
Field of view (FOV)	65°; see Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)	Change `r_texFilterAnisoMin` and `r_texFilterAnisoMax` in the config files
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Up to 4x MSAA. Nvidia users can force SGSSAA in Nvidia Profile Inspector with the 0x000010C1 antialiasing compatibility flag.
High-fidelity upscaling	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS
120+ FPS	Multiplayer has a 91 FPS cap (use BetterCOD to fix).
High dynamic range display (HDR)	See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Ray tracing (RT)
Color blind mode	Set in Options; changes colors for player names.

Field of view (FOV)

List of FOV changers^{[citation needed]}
BetterCOD Call of Duty: SCZ FoV Changer FoV Changer by AgentRev

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		`cl_mouseAccel` in the config. Off by default.
Mouse sensitivity		`sensitivity` in the config.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Main Action key bindings.
Movement key bindings.
Look controls settings.

Audio

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Manually set up to 5.1.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation, link #1, patch for link #1, link #2.
Italian
Japanese				Only available in Japanese retail release. Retail CD Key gives subscription exclusive to single language.^[4]
Polish				Only available in Polish retail release. Retail CD Key gives subscription exclusive to single language.^[5]
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation available here.
Russian				Only available in Russian retail release. Patch for digital release here. Retail CD Key gives subscription exclusive to single language.^[6]
Spanish
Slovak				Fan translation available here.
Turkish				Fan VoiceOver

Network

Self-hosted servers are available through the Steam client's server browser or the in-game server browser found under the Servers menu.

Voice chat settings.

In-game Chat bindings.

In-game Dedicated Server options.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play
Online play		18

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting		Use `iw5mp_server.exe` (configure it on `server.cfg`).
Direct IP		Go to the Multiplayer launch options and add `+connect` followed by the IP.

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP	3074
UDP	3074

This game does not support Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.

VR support

3D modes	GG3D	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
TriDef 3D
iZ3D
vorpX	G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Devices
3RD Space Gaming Vest
Novint Falcon

Issues fixed

A small tweak guide is available at PC Gamer

Black screen on startup

With some users, a black screen will display on start-up, though game music can be heard in the background. This is caused by a collision with the Mumble voice client.

Within Mumble, be sure to disable the in-game overlay^{[citation needed]}

PC crashing/freezing in-game

Reinstall DirectX^{[citation needed]}
Run `<path-to-game>\redist\directx\dxsetup.exe`.

Disable Steam Community^{[citation needed]}
Open Steam. Right click on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and select Properties. Disable Steam Community In-Game.

Game freezes during the intro video

Possible fixes^{[citation needed]}
Verify the integrity of your Steam game cache. Update DirectX and GPU drivers. Delete `ModernWarfare3.bik` in `<path-to-game>`.

Game crashes/freezes on startup

Possible fixes^{[citation needed]}
Close RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS). Try closing MSI Afterburner, also.

Crash to desktop

Possible fixes^{[citation needed]}

If the game randomly crashes on launch, ensure or try the following:

Update DirectX and GPU drivers.
Turn off SLI / Crossfire.
Use only one GPU first (turn the other one off via your graphics control panel).
Disable anti-aliasing and filtering.
Disable V-sync.
Disable background applications; turn off the anti-virus software.

Turn down sound acceleration (Windows XP)^{[citation needed]}
Go to Control Panel → Sounds and Audio Devices → Volume → Speaker settings Select Advanced. Open the Performance tab. Reduce sound hardware acceleration to basic, the 2nd notch from the left.

DirectX error while loading

Change texture quality to automatic in video settings^{[citation needed]}

Cannot install

This is a Microsoft Visual C++ bug.

If seeing 2 instances of Microsoft C++, uninstall both of them^{[citation needed]}

Notes

There are also a couple workarounds online if you don't want to uninstall them.

Failed to run install script

This is a common issue with Windows 7.

Instructions^{[citation needed]}
Locate `setup.exe` for the game on the install disc and run it as administrator. In Steam right click on COD: Modern Warfare 3. Insert Disc 1 into your DVD drive and close Steam (File → Exit Steam). Go to Start and type `C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe -install D:`. Press okay and continue with the installation.

Audio issues

Disable communications activity sound reduction^{[citation needed]}
Open the Start screen/Start menu, type `mmsys.cpl` and press `↵ Enter`. Go to the Communications tab. Choose Do nothing. Click OK to save your changes.

Multi-monitor issues

Possible fixes^{[citation needed]}
Unplug other monitors and play on single screen. Try playing in windowed mode.

Nvidia Optimus

Game uses integrated graphics card on laptop^{[citation needed]}
Open the Nvidia Control Panel. Open 3D Settings on the left hand side under "Select a task...". Select Manage 3D Settings. Click Program Settings tab. Under "1" Select a program, click add, and navigate to the game's executable location. Under "2" Select High-performance NVIDIA processor. Click `Apply` and launch the game.

Fuzzy textures

Set Image Quality to "Native", as "Extra" up-scales the textures resulting in poor image quality^[7]

DirectX 9 compatibility with older video cards

Instructions^{[citation needed]}
Append the game laucher with `-dx9` to force DirectX 9 compatibility mode. Set `"seta rRendererPreference "Shader model 2.0""` in the player config for single player or multi-player respectively: `<path-to-game>\players2\config.cfg` `<path-to-game>\players2\config_mp.cfg`

Mouse jumping/skipping

Possible fixes^{[citation needed]}
Shut down any software used for the mouse. Also try a lower polling rate if the mouse has this function. Turn off FRAPS.

RELIABLE COMMAND BUFFER OVERFLOW

At the mission "Goalpost" after emerging from the parking lot area, go through the building on the right with the broken glass, and stay in there until the end of the offices, and it will auto save^{[citation needed]}

"Steam Error – 55: This game is currently unavailable. Please try again at another time" error

Restart Steam or the computer^{[citation needed]}

"DLC content is required. Required map ... is missing or damaged." error

Possible fixes^{[citation needed]}
Make sure both the single player and multi player versions of the game are installed. Verify integrity of game cache. If the problem persists, reinstall the game while the anti-virus is turned off.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)			32-bit required.^[8]^[9]

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System	7.0w
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.8x
Multiplayer	DemonWare

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000+	Intel Pentium Dual Core E6600 3.06 GHz AMD Phenom X3 8750
System memory (RAM)	2 GB	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	16 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT ATI Radeon X1950 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support	Nvidia GeForce 210 ATI Radeon HD 3650 1 GB of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9.0c compatible

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.9.2	10.12
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i3 2.2 GHz
System memory (RAM)	4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	13 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 640M ATI Radeon HD 4850 Intel Iris 512 MB of VRAM

The following chipsets are unsupported by the OS X version: ATI Radeon HD 2000 series, ATI Radeon HD 6490M, 6630M, 3870, Nvidia GeForce 9000 series, Nvidia GeForce 320M, 330M, Intel HD 3000, 4000, 5000

Hard drive volumes formatted as Mac OS Extended (Case Sensitive) are not supported.

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/115300/.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (115300) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - last accessed on 2023-06-19
↑ CVE-2018-20817 exploit - last accessed on 2023-11-13
↑ Verified by User:Tecc on 2023-09-09
↑ SteamDB: Every depot associated with Japanese Retail Product Key - last accessed on 17 May 2023
↑ SteamDB: Every depot associated with Polish Retail Product Key - last accessed on 17 May 2023
↑ SteamDB: Every depot associated with Russian Retail Product Key - last accessed on 17 May 2023
↑ Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2024-07-14
↑ MacOS Catalina, 64-bit, 32-bit, and related Questions – Aspyr Support - last accessed on 9 June 2023
↑ Green Man Gaming - last accessed on 28 April 2024

[gamedir-4] 1.0 ^1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Proton_path_note-5] 2.0 ^2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/115300/.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (115300) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[3] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[4] Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/115300/.

[5] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[6] The app ID (115300) may differ in some cases.

[7] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[8] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - last accessed on 2023-06-19

[2] CVE-2018-20817 exploit - last accessed on 2023-11-13

[3] Verified by User:Tecc on 2023-09-09

[6] SteamDB: Every depot associated with Japanese Retail Product Key - last accessed on 17 May 2023

[7] SteamDB: Every depot associated with Polish Retail Product Key - last accessed on 17 May 2023

[8] SteamDB: Every depot associated with Russian Retail Product Key - last accessed on 17 May 2023

[9] Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2024-07-14

[10] MacOS Catalina, 64-bit, 32-bit, and related Questions – Aspyr Support - last accessed on 9 June 2023

[11] Green Man Gaming - last accessed on 28 April 2024

[1]

[2]

[3]

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

Developers

	Infinity Ward
	Sledgehammer Games
Multiplayer	Raven Software
macOS (OS X)	Aspyr Media
Publishers
	Activision
OS X	Aspyr Media
Russia	Noviy Disk^[1]
Engines
	IW 5.0
Release dates
Windows	November 8, 2011
macOS (OS X)	May 20, 2014
Reception
Metacritic	78
IGDB	89
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Shooter
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Europe, Contemporary
Series	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare