How to make your own WoW Private Server

Have you always dreamed about having your own GM WoW Private Server for solo play or with your friends, family, or as LAN? Perhaps, you don’t know how to create the server and set it up? We’ve made a detailed and useful guide to help you get started on exactly what you need, and we’ve made sure to make it user friendly.

Setting up your own WoW Private Server

This guide is well suited if you want a server that you can either play on alone, with your family, friends, or the local community. We do not recommend this for a “big” and public private server. The reason is simply due to the requirements. If you need to make an official private server, it is much more advanced, and you will also need basic coding knowledge (or know people who do). That is however not necessary if you just want a World of Warcraft GM Server for yourself/lan/friends.

Step 1:

Let’s get started making your own free WoW server!

You need to download a wow repack for your server. A World of Warcraft Repack is basically a “simplified” version of your own server, making it much easier to set up. This means that you will not have to compile the original source code, no need to set up all the programs and dependencies as you would else wise. When downloading a repack, you use another person’s “work”, which has been pre-compiled and been packed for you. With a WoW Repack, you will only need to download the files, open them in the right order, and you’re (almost) ready to call yourself a GM on your server.

Step 2:

Finding a good WoW Repack

As you’ve recently learned, you will need to download a wow repack. If you’re into the newer Expansions, you can grab a Shadowlands Repack. But let me inform you already, there are hundreds of different ones to choose from, and the quality varies a lot. Due to that, we have made an article on the Best WoW Repacks for each Expansion. We suggest checking it out if you need inspiration.
Keep in mind there are repacks for each expansion/version of the game, so make sure to decide what version of the game you want your own private server to have.

Step 3.

Setting up your own WoW Repack

We now assume you’ve decided the version you want to play on, and found a repack you want to use, perhaps based on our article about it.
The next step is to set it up. In this case, we will be basing the setup on the famous Cataclysm Repack from Emucoach. If you went with another repack, then no problems. It’s a very similar process, so you can follow along either way.

Step 3.1. Download the WoW Repack files

Visit the topic related to the repack, and find the download link section. Download the following:

• Vmaps
• MMAPS
• Maps
• DBC
• _Server (Database) folder
• Release folder

That is basically similar for all WoW repacks. You need the data files, which “controls” the in-game appearance such as the map and models, and then you need the database for creatures and so forth.

Step 3.2. Extracting the game files

After downloading, you need to un-extract them to your disk. You can choose where. The Vmaps, MMAPS, Maps, and DBC should however be extracted into the same folder as the “Release” folder, because they need to be “linked” together.

Step 3.3. Opening the WoW files in the right order.

Now, you will need to open the files in a certain order, or it will not run. Start by opening MySQL.bat from the _Server (Database) folder, and then you can run worldserver.exe and authserver.exe, which are found in the Release folder.

If you did everything correctly, it will now take around a minute to load up the .exe files you just opened. Now, you basically have your own running World of Warcraft Private Server. Cool right?

If you’re a visual person, Emucoach has a Youtube (video) guide on how to set up the their repack.

Step 3.4.

Logging in to your own home WoW Private Server

Of course,  you want to be capable of playing too. Therefore, you need a WoW Private Server Client, in order to open the game. Click on our article, and find the game version that matches your repack, and download it.

Step 3.5. Change your realmlist.wtf file to work on your local server

After downloading, you will need to modify a file called Realmlist.wtf file, in order to play locally. Find it by opening the Client file, Data, enGB or enUS and open the file.
Now download everything inside it, and change it to:
set realmlist 127.0.0.1. Close and save the file afterward.

Step 3.6.

Launching the game to your free GM World of Warcraft Server

Now you’re actually ready to go. Launch the client by opening the file: WoW.exe, and let it load.
Afterward, you will of course need an account to log in. To do so, open up the already running worldserver.exe, and type this in the console:
account create yourusername yourpassword yourpassword
Now, let’s promote it to a GM so you can have your own GM WoW Private Server. Type this in the console, to do so:
account set gmlevel 3 -1 yourusername

After doing so, you are capable of logging in, and you also have GM powers now! This means you have access to a lot of exciting commands, such as changing your level, adding yourself gear/item, modifying your gold and so much more. There are hundreds of in-game commands available as GM on a WoW Private Server. Because of that, we have compiled you with a list of WoW GM commands.

Conclusion

Setting up and making your own WoW Private Server is really not that advanced. It’s mostly about finding a good WoW Repack that you can use alone, together with your friend, or with a LAN community. When you have completed our guide, you can play on your very own WoW Server for free.