wow-midnight-server

Connecting the Client — step by step (EN)

Point a retail 12.0.7.68974 client at your server. This page is deliberately concrete: it separates what you change on the server from what you change in the client.

Русский

TL;DR — what actually changes in the client

You do not edit game data. You only:

  1. Make sure the client is exactly build 68974 — see CLIENT.md.
  2. Drop Arctium Game Launcher.exe in the install root (beside _retail_).
  3. Add one line to _retail_\WTF\Config.wtf: SET portal "YOUR_SERVER_IP".
  4. Launch through Arctium (not the Blizzard app).

That’s it. Everything else is server-side.

Server-side prerequisites (do these first)

In bnetserver.conf:

; The address the CLIENT will reach (public IP or LAN IP of the server)
LoginREST.ExternalAddress = YOUR_SERVER_IP
LoginREST.LocalAddress    = YOUR_SERVER_IP
LoginREST.Port            = 8081

In the auth database, the realm the client sees comes from the realmlist table (not a realmlist.wtf):

UPDATE realmlist
SET address = 'YOUR_SERVER_IP', localAddress = 'YOUR_SERVER_IP', port = 8085
WHERE id = 1;

Make sure these ports are open to the client: 8081 (REST login), 1119 (bnet), 8085 (world).

Create an account (worldserver console). It must be a Battle.net account, and the name must be an email address — a retail client logs in through Battle.net:

bnetaccount create you@example.com yourpassword

That prints the linked game account it created for you, named <id>#1. Grant GM rights on that name, not on the email:

bnetaccount listgameaccounts you@example.com
account set gmlevel 1#1 3 -1

Do not use account create here. It makes a plain game account with no Battle.net link, which the client cannot log in with. TrinityCore is explicit about it: account create refuses any name containing @ and tells you to use the bnet commands, while bnetaccount create requires one.

Or let a script do all of it, including the GM level:

SOAP_USER='1#1' SOAP_PASS='...' scripts/create-account.sh -e you@example.com -p yourpassword -g 3

Client-side changes (the part you asked about)

1. Match the build — 68974

The client build must equal the server’s world-DB build. A mismatched build fails at login every time. CLIENT.md covers obtaining the client and what to do when the live build no longer matches your server — or just run scripts/setup-client.ps1, which checks the build before downloading and sets the portal.

2. Add the Arctium launcher

Copy Arctium Game Launcher.exe into the install root — beside _retail_, Data and .build.info, not inside _retail_ next to Wow.exe. This is the single most common setup mistake.

WoW_Midnight\
├── Data\
├── _retail_\Wow.exe
└── Arctium Game Launcher.exe      <- here

Arctium patches the running client in memory so it:

No game file is permanently modified.

3. Set the portal — one line in Config.wtf

Open _retail_\WTF\Config.wtf (note the _retail_ prefix — there is no Config.wtf at the install root) and add, or edit if it is already present:

SET portal "YOUR_SERVER_IP"

The file is a flat list of SET key "value" lines in no particular order. Add yours on its own line; leave the graphics settings alone.

Optional, if you want to force locale / skip the launcher update check:

SET textLocale "enUS"
SET audioLocale "enUS"

portal is the only required client edit. It tells the client which Battle.net host to talk to — your bnetserver.

4. Launch through Arctium

Run Arctium, not Battle.net.exe. It starts the patched client and shows the Battle.net login screen pointed at your server.

5. Log in

  1. Enter the email address + password of the Battle.net account you created with bnetaccount create.
  2. Pick the realm.
  3. You’re in.

Why login “spins” — and how to fix it fast

Modern retail login goes through the HTTP REST dev-certificate path (port 8081), not the old realmlist.wtf. 95% of stuck logins are one of these:

Symptom Cause Fix
Stuck “Connecting” / “Authenticating” REST endpoint 8081 unreachable, or portal wrong Verify LoginREST.ExternalAddress + port 8081 open; check SET portal
“Version mismatch” / bounced at login Client build ≠ 68974 Reinstall/repin the client to 68974
Realm list empty realmlist.address wrong or worldserver (8085) down Fix the realmlist row; confirm 8085 is listening
Certificate/handshake error Arctium not used, or cert not trusted Always launch via Arctium
In game, but a character has no quests Data/quest-chain gap See FIXES.md

In-game companion bots

See FEATURES.md.

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