How To Setup A Wow Server

Setting Up a World of Warcraft Server [Step-by-Step Guide]

If you’re a World of Warcraft player, then you’ve probably wondered what it would be like to play on your own server. World of Warcraft is an incredibly popular roleplaying game that’s enjoyed by millions of gamers around the globe. Private servers can emulate the experience of an online game, but they allow you to change certain aspects of the gameplay for your own enjoyment. Below we’re going to show you how you can create a private WOW server that you can play on. Let’s get to it! What is a Private Server? At the core a private server refers to any server that’s privately owned. Most private servers will allow you to play a version of the game that’s different than those commonly played on the official metimes you just really want to play an older version of the game, or include certain character or gameplay modifications, or even include custom items in regular gameplay. A private server allows you to create a custom-tailored gaming experience specifically tailored to your ivate servers can also allow you to play games that aren’t offered in your region of the world, or even play discontinued versions of the game. These kinds of servers are very widespread. Keep in mind that creating a private WOW server is in a legal grey area, and you should by no means charge for the server, or include to Setup a WOW Private ServerThe steps below will help you install your very own private World of Warcraft server. However, before you jump in you’ll need to install a program called AC Web Ultimate Repack. You can choose the repack that works best for you. You’ll also want to install the Microsoft Framework 2. 0 Service Pack, which you can install from this you have those installed we can move forward with setting up your very own server. Special thanks to Instructables for the configuration help. 1. Map DataYou’ll need to collect the Map Data from your existing WOW install. If you don’t have the game downloaded to your computer, then you’ll need to do this now. You can access the download from your existing WOW up the WOW folder and locate the file titled ‘maps’. Now you’ll need to go to ‘C:/AC Web Ultimate Repack/ Tools/Map Extractor enUS’ and copy the ‘maps’ folder and the ‘’ to the folder. Then, run the ‘’ program. 2. Logon Database Configuration Now you’ll need to find the file called ‘’, open it, and find the area that begins with, ‘LogonDatabase Hostname=’, make sure you change the information, so it looks like the text below:LogonDatabase Hostname = “127. 0. 1”
Username = “root”
Password = “ascent”
Name = “logon”
Port = “3306”
Type = “1”3. Configure Ascent RealmsNavigate to the file called ‘’, and locate the portion that starts with ‘4. Configure Your WorldThis is the fun part where you’ll be able to customize certain elements of your world. To get started with this navigate to the file, ‘’ this file open you can then adjust the values under the ‘

Are WoW Private Servers Legal? – Zremax

Whether Private Servers for World of Warcraft is legal, is a question that gets asked a lot. The reason is that there’s no simple answer for it, as it’s a bit of a grey zone to host a WoW Server. But players playing on a WoW Server (not retail) have not been punished so far. There is also no indications that it will give laws problems in the future either, to be playing on Private Servers. We will elaborate below. For the server owners (the people behind – running the wow servers), it’s however another story.
Do players get punished for playing on a Private Server?
When playing on World of Warcraft, you’re paying for a monthly subscription, and there’s an end user license agreement. With the fanservers for wow, it’s a different story, as it’s free to play. But don’t worry, as a player, you do not get in any legal trouble or any sort of court case. The reason being that it’s not illegal for players to be playing on WoW Private Servers. It’s against Blizzard’s EULA and ToS, but it’s not offending any law that can get you in trouble. As a player, this means that you should lay low on advertising that you’re playing on a private server. That is only relevant, if you have a retail account, as Blizzard may terminate your account, if you talk about fanservers while playing retail. But besides from that, there’s nothing illegal about playing on one. This means that gamers are not the ones getting in trouble.
Keep in mind that it has been reported that people have gotten complains from their ISP’s when downloading the client for World of Warcraft, on older versions of the game. Therefore, we always recommend using a VPN when downloading the client, but besides from that – you’re good to go. When you want to play on WoW Servers, you must have a game client in order to get ingame.
Do server owners get punished for running a World of Warcraft server?
That is where things get a little complicated. Hosting a WoW Private Server is technically a copyright infringement, involving server software by developers and server owners. You also use the client files, and that’s a violation. This means that Blizzard can file a complaint to the server-owners (or more realistically, to the host provider where the game is hosted at). This usually happens through an email. The reason being that Blizzard owns the rights reserved to World of Warcraft. But in general, many hosting providers take these DMCA reports for private servers very lightly, especially if they are not US based. Some of the biggest servers run on hosts that are located in Europe, for example OVH – being in France, and they have not been closed down. They have certainly received copyright infringements from Blizzard related companies, but have ignored them. The copyright laws are also different for each country. And Blizzard/the trading mark companies, have not done anything further.
In other words, it’s very normal that Blizzard file copyright complains towards the hosting provider running the particular WoW Server they are ‘targeting’. But it’s very unlikely that Blizzard takes the next step, in case their emails are being ignored. It has only happened with the private server called WoW-Scape, which resulted in a law-suit, but the owner was also US origin based. WoWScape was also a wow server, that Blizzard took in court case, and was judged to pay a lot of money as a fee. But historically, there have not been any other court cases. This includes court cases for server owners, nor for people reverse engineering the game client, touching the database data or the server code involving World of Warcraft.
How can the popular servers stay up without getting closed?
The reason is that the owners of the WoW Servers (and the host company they use) simply ignore Blizzard’s copyright complains, and Blizzard don’t proceed after that. The reason why Blizzard, who has made the game World of Warcraft, does not take further actions is something you can question. The main reason is however that it’s extremely resource heavy, as it will require a law-suit, and a lot of money to proceed such a case. As you might know, a lot of things get pirated nowadays’ (software, movies.. etc), and it’s not that easy to get rid of. The case is not different for Private Servers. Simply because some countries don’t follow the same copyright rules as the US, making it very complicated for Blizzard to proceed. This way, it’s easier for server owners running wow servers, to prevent court cases, and that is basically the reason why Private Servers continue to exist.
At Zremax, we personally believe that this won’t change. A WoW Private Server will continue to run just like now, and blizzard won’t take further actions other than ‘scare letters’ through emails. It’s too resource heavy for them to go after wow servers, and the whole scene is just a very grey area. Perhaps, Private Servers even promote some people to get back to Retail, when gamers are tired of playing on the fanservers. Several countries (Iceland, Russia etc. ) take copy issues more lightly than for example the US. This way the server owners can bypass the copyright law, and continue to run their wow server, even though it’s a private server.
Is it ethical to play and host a Private Server?
World of Warcraft has existed since 2004 officially, and have gone through several expansions. If you think about it, that ‘s a very long time. Some of the game versions were liked more than others. But they have one thing in common. Gamers miss certain expansions. And there’s no way to get back playing at them officially, if you want to follow Blizzard’s EULA. It’s however possible, by playing on Private Servers, as you will be able to log into wow servers that aren’t necessarily on the latest patch.
Whether it’s ethical to be playing World of Warcraft on private servers, is a very subjective question. Some people follow the law in every way they can, and care a lot about Blizzard’s EULA and ToS. Other gamers and people running the private servers for World of Warcraft, may not care as much about it. Either that, or the itch to get back into old wow expansions weights heavier. Either way, it’s a subjective question and can only be answered by the individual. At Zremax, we have seen people who disgraces private servers, but also people who love both World of Warcraft and also private servers.
Conclusion
Playing on the fanservers, which are also known as Private Servers for World of Warcraft are not illegal for players. But it does go against Blizzard’s ToS and Blizzard EULA. Therefore, you should watch out for your account when playing on a Private Server and stay anonymous. Don’t use the same email on retail, as on Private Servers, when you sign up for an account. Running and owning a wow server is a grey area, but can be argued to be illegal as running a private server is a copyright infringement. Private Servers definitely also go against blizzard’s eula and Terms of Service. But closing the private servers is not as easy, as it may sound. It’s likely not worth it for Blizzard, to be closing the wow private servers, because it’s resource heavy. You could also argue that you would want Blizzard to focus on making World of Warcraft even better as a game, instead of focusing on going against Private Servers. If Blizzard make their game good enough, maybe Private WoW Servers might even die out by themselves, naturally.

Beginner’s Guide to Setting up a Private WoW Server

World of Warcraft is one of the most popular Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) and has enjoyed top status as the most-played MMORPGs on the list of many young gamers. In fact, it isn’t much of a stretch to say that World of Warcraft made MMORPGs a mainstream video games genre.
Like all online games, a game of World of Warcraft needs to be hosted on a server so that players can stay online 24×7 and conveniently join and leave anytime they want. First-time players can always join one of the game’s dedicated servers for a more-or-less seamless experience. However, if you’re an experienced player looking for something more challenging, consider setting up your own private server.
Why use a private server?
Private servers let you customise the game by modifying gameplay rules and adding mod features that drastically enhance the overall multiplayer gaming experience. You can also choose to play an older version of the game—a feature often requested by more experienced players. Another important point to keep in mind is that private WoW servers are not always 100% legal. The developers, Blizzard, regularly send takedown notices to private servers that get too popular for their own good or start charging players money to play—a huge breach of the game’s EULA. However, as long as you use the private server to play with a close group of friends, you shouldn’t have to worry about it being taken down.
Now, you must be asking yourself, “how difficult is it to setup a private WoW server”? Once you download the right tools, you can get a private WoW server up and running in minutes by following the seven easy steps listed below. Credits to the good folks at Instructables for their detailed guide.
List of things you’ll need to setup a private WOW server:
Step 1
Make sure you have the following software installed:
[1] World of Warcraft
[2] AC Web Ultimate Repack
[3] Microsoft Framework 2. 0 Service Pack
Step 2
First, go to the AC Web Ultimate Repack ‘Maps Extractor’ directory (default location: ‘C:/AC Web Ultimate Repack/Tools/Map Extractor enUS’). From here, copy the ‘maps’ folder and the ‘’ file and paste it in the WoW directory (default location: ‘C:/Program Files/World of Warcraft’).
Step 3
Now, run ‘’ and wait for the tool to finish fetching the map data. Once the tool is done running, copy the ‘maps’ folder and paste it in the AC Web Ultimate Repack ‘Maps Extractor’ directory (default location: ‘C:/AC Web Ultimate Repack/Server/Ascent)
Step 4
Open the ‘’ file with a text editor (Notepad should suffice). Search for a section with text that reads as follows:

If this is exactly how the text looks in the config file on your system, then you’re good to go. Else, modify the values to match those shown above.
Step 5
Open the ‘’ file with a text editor. Search for a section with text that reads as follows:

If the values in the file differ from those given here, go ahead and modify them accordingly.
Similarly, search for:

And change the values if required.
Step 6
Finally, you can play around with the ‘’ and configure various gameplay elements. Search for the section that starts with ‘Frequently Asked Questions about how to setup a wow server

Is it legal to host a WoW server?

Hosting a WoW Private Server is technically a copyright infringement, involving server software by developers and server owners. You also use the client files, and that’s a violation. … They have certainly received copyright infringements from Blizzard related companies, but have ignored them.Jan 29, 2021

How do private servers work in WoW?

Private servers let you customise the game by modifying gameplay rules and adding mod features that drastically enhance the overall multiplayer gaming experience. You can also choose to play an older version of the game—a feature often requested by more experienced players.Sep 4, 2017

How do you make a 3.3 5 private server?

How do I create one?Click on the Servers tab on the game’s details page.If this feature has been turned on, you will see a section entitled Private Servers. … To create a new one, click the Create Private Server button.Give your new server a name.More items…