Wow Server Hosting
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 ‘
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.
Americas region realm list by datacenter – Wowpedia
1 Time zones
2 Chicago
3 Los Angeles
4 Australia
5 See also
6 External links
Realms in the Americas region are hosted for Blizzard in several datacenters across the United States and Australia. They are located in:
Chicago, Illinois (moved from Dallas, Texas in June 2010)
Los Angeles, California
Sydney, Australia (moved from Los Angeles on October 28, 2014)
While new players often wish to choose a realm matching their own time zone, those realms may actually be located far away from them. For example, some servers in Los Angeles have realms on US Eastern Time, and some servers in Chicago have realms on US Pacific Time. Instead, players may first wish to pick a datacenter to which they have good internet connectivity.
To that end, this is a list of US realms organized by datacenter, battlegroup, time zone, and realm type. Also included are the IP addresses of each realm server, and the IP address of the last hop from the player’s computer to the server when doing a traceroute.
If your server’s IP address is wrong, please feel free to update it.
Blizzard also has posted a list of IP addresses, which may not be up-to-date during the process of hooking up Connected Realms.
Time zones
The following tables have abbreviated time zones in an effort to conserve space. Those abbreviations and the full time zones are:
Abbr
Time zone
UTC offset
Relative times (refresh)
Winter
Summer
AU-ET
Australian eastern standard time
+10
+11
2021-10-08 4:56
BRT
Brasília time
-3
2021-10-07 15:56
US-ET
Eastern time zone (US)
-5
-4
2021-10-07 14:56
US-CT
Central time zone (US)
-6
2021-10-07 13:56
MX-CT
Zona Centro (MX)
US-MT
Mountain time zone (US)
-7
2021-10-07 12:56
US-PT
Pacific time zone (US)
-8
2021-10-07 11:56
Chicago
When doing a traceroute to servers in Chicago, please trace to the following IP address: 63. 240. 161. 189
Update: 09/22/2020
This seems to be labeled as “US Central” now under IP address: 24. 105. 62. 129
Rampage
Realm
Type
TZ
IP addr
Alexstrasza
PvE
199. 108. 49. 191
Alleria
199. 144
Blackhand
199. 155
Dalaran
199. 229
Dentarg
199. 160
Galakrond
Garona
199. 139
Ghostlands
199. 186
Goldrinn
199. 209
Hellscream
199. 148
Illidan
PvP
199. 170
Kael’thas
Khadgar
Kirin Tor
RP
199. 196
Nemesis
199. 212
Ravencrest
199. 203
Sentinels
Steamwheedle Cartel
Stormreaver
199. 176
Terokkar
Thrall
199. 239
Uldaman
Whisperwind
Zangarmarsh
Shadowburn
Agamaggan
199. 50. 92
Andorhal
199. 6
Archimonde
Azralon
199. 119
Azuremyst
199. 49
Baelgun
199. 116
Blackwing Lair
199. 44
Burning Legion
Coilfang
199. 28
Dalvengyr
Dark Iron
Deathwing
199. 1
Demon Soul
Dethecus
Detheroc
Doomhammer
Emerald Dream
RP-PvP
199. 55
Eredar
199. 38
Executus
Gnomeregan
199. 245
Gorefiend
Greymane
199. 33
Haomarush
Jaedenar
Kalecgos
Lethon
Lightninghoof
199. 60
Maelstrom
Moonrunner
Ravenholdt
199. 65
Sargeras
199. 251
Scilla
Shadowmoon
Shattered Halls
Shattered Hand
Spinebreaker
Staghelm
Tanaris
The Underbog
The Venture Co
Tol Barad
199. 126
Twisting Nether
Ursin
Wildhammer
Zuluhed
Ruin
Altar of Storms
199. 48. 83
Alterac Mountains
199. 157
Anetheron
Anvilmar
199. 105
Argent Dawn
199. 73
Arthas
199. 146
Azgalor
199. 77
Azshara
Balnazzar
Black Dragonflight
199. 173
Bleeding Hollow
199. 169
Blood Furnace
199. 152
Bloodhoof
199. 131
Dawnbringer
199. 99
Destromath
Durotan
199. 126
Duskwood
Elune
199. 136
Exodar
199. 120
Gallywix
199. 93
Gilneas
Gorgonnash
Grizzly Hills
199. 141
Gul’dan
Lothar
Madoran
Magtheridon
Malfurion
199. 90
Mannoroth
Medivh
Nazjatar
Skullcrusher
Stormrage
199. 109
The Forgotten Coast
The Scryers
Thunderlord
Trollbane
Undermine
Warsong
Ysera
Ysondre
Zul’jin
199. 114
Vindication
Aerie Peak
199. 47
Aggramar
199. 36
Area 52
199. 190
Arygos
199. 237
Auchindoun
199. 249
Blade’s Edge
199. 42
Burning Blade
199. 178
Cho’gall
Drakkari
199. 32
Earthen Ring
199. 242
Eonar
199. 221
Fizzcrank
Icecrown
199. 27
Kargath
199. 232
Kel’Thuzad
199. 4
Laughing Skull
Lightning’s Blade
Llane
Mal’Ganis
199. 216
Malygos
Norgannon
Onyxia
Quel’Thalas
199. 58
Ragnaros
199. 52
Thunderhorn
Turalyon
199. 226
Velen
Los Angeles
When doing a traceroute to servers in Los Angeles, please trace to the following IP address: 12. 129. 209. 68
This seems to be labeled as “US West” now under IP address: 137. 221. 2
Bloodlust
Blackrock
12. 254. 188
Farstriders
12. 194
Frostwolf
12. 176
Kil’jaeden
12. 184
Kilrogg
12. 162
Nazgrel
12. 222
Nesingwary
Proudmoore
12. 168
Quel’dorei
12. 226
Sen’jin
Silver Hand
Thorium Brotherhood
Tichondrius
12. 192
Vashj
Vek’nilash
Winterhoof
Vengeance
Aegwynn
12. 230
Anub’arak
12. 238
Bladefist
12. 255. 20
Bonechewer
Chromaggus
Crushridge
Daggerspine
Eitrigg
12. 33
Garithos
Garrosh
12. 48
Gurubashi
Hakkar
Hyjal
12. 29
Korgath
12. 16
Kul Tiras
Misha
12. 36
Muradin
12. 40
Nathrezim
Nordrassil
Rexxar
Runetotem
12. 52
Shu’halo
Smolderthorn
Uther
Cyclone
Antonidas
12. 223. 24
Azjol-Nerub
12. 49
Bloodscalp
12. 36
Boulderfist
Bronzebeard
12. 29
Cairne
12. 52
Cenarius
12. 4
Cenarion Circle
12. 46
Darkspear
12. 40
Draenor
12. 20
Dragonblight
12. 16
Draka
12. 13
Dunemaul
Echo Isles
Fenris
Khaz Modan
Lightbringer
12. 222. 241
Maiev
Perenolde
Shandris
Sisters of Elune
Stonemaul
Suramar
Uldum
Wyrmrest Accord
12. 10
Reckoning
Akama
12. 219
Arathor
12. 202
Blackwater Raiders
12. 158
Borean Tundra
12. 222
Darrowmere
12. 186
Dragonmaw
Drak’Tharon
12. 166
Drak’thul
12. 182
Drenden
Eldre’Thalas
12. 150
Feathermoon
12. 33
Firetree
Frostmane
12. 170
Hydraxis
12. 195
Korialstrasz
Malorne
Mok’Nathal
12. 226
Moon Guard
12. 210
Mug’thol
Ner’zhul
Rivendare
Scarlet Crusade
Shadow Council
Shadowsong
Silvermoon
Skywall
Spirestone
Stormscale
Terenas
Tortheldrin
Windrunner
Beta realms
Beta Leveling Realm 01
12. 228. 172
Beta Leveling Realm 02
12. 176
Level 100 PvP
12. 181
Australia
Realms physically located in Australia were opened on October 28, 2014. For matchups only involving players on Oceanic realms, instances (like battlegrounds or raids) will also be physically located in Australia. However, should matchups involve players on non-Oceanic realms, instances will be physically located on whichever server is closest to the leader.
When doing a traceroute to Oceanic realms, please trace to the following address: 103. 4. 115. 248
This seems to be labeled as “Oceania” now under same IP address as above.
Aman’Thul
103. 32
Barthilas
103. 37
Caelestrasz
103. 28
Dath’Remar
103. 48
Dreadmaul
103. 40
Frostmourne
103. 44
Khaz’goroth
Nagrand
Thaurissan
Gundrak
103. 53
Jubei’Thos
Saurfang
103. 57
See also
Europe region realm list by datacenter
Connected Realms
Realms list
US Realms Timeline
External links
Frequently Asked Questions about wow server hosting
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
Where are World of Warcraft servers hosted?
They are located in: Chicago, Illinois (moved from Dallas, Texas in June 2010) Los Angeles, California. Sydney, Australia (moved from Los Angeles on October 28, 2014)
Does WoW run on AWS?
WoW seems to be using Amazon AWS now.Apr 19, 2020
