Chat is the primary form of text-based communications in World of Warcraft. It is usually initiated by pressing Enter or pressing "/" to get to a command line. Voice Chat was released in Patch 2.2 along with the Chat Channels pane in the Socials window.
Specifying chat channels uses slash commands. See below for basic chat channel info.
- Additional notes
- Player characters from opposing factions can only use /s, /y, or /e (say, yell, or emote) channels to communicate and all messages will be seen by the opposing faction will appear in the faction language of the speaking character, except through emotes.
- In most chat channels except the /# channels (the /2 Trade channel supports this now), you can shift-click an item to insert its name into the chat message in a clickable form that will show the item's description and stats. You can also shift-click an item name in brackets ([]), like [World Enlarger], from another chat channel into your current chat channel.
- You can also shift-click a quest from your Quest Log to insert its name into the chat message in a clickable form. Or you can Apple Key and click on the quest and it will insert the objectives of the quest into the chat. (This second feature appears to work only for the Mac).
- A profanity filter is on by default but can be disabled through the interface.
Chat features[]
- Chat Button
- Click on this button to access party and guild chats, private messaging of individual players, emotes, and voiced speech. Many of these same chat options are also available through hotkeys or commands that you can type at the chat prompt.[1]
- Chat Log
- All chat messages appear here, along with miscellaneous character messages. You can scroll up or down this log by clicking the arrows, and jump to the latest message by clicking on the bottom button.[2]
- Chat Bubble
- Certain chats like /yell, /say and /party will have a chat bubble appear above a character.
Basic chat commands[]
- See also: Macro API#Chat commands
How to use | Description |
---|---|
/1 <message> | General chat channel. Seen by all players in the zone. |
/2 <message> | Trade chat. Only accessible in cities and faction hubs. This channel is shared among those locations, and is seen by all players in any of them. |
/3 <message> | Local Defense channel. Seen by all players in the zone. |
/4 <message> | Looking for Group channel. Only accessible in cities and faction hubs. This channel is shared among those locations, and is seen by all players in any of them. |
/s <message> /say <message> |
Say channel. Seen by everyone 60 yards or closer to you. |
/y <message> /yell <message> |
Yell channel. Seen by everyone 400 yards or closer to you. |
/i <message> /instance <message> |
Instance channel. Seen by only instance members. Only applies to groups formed by the Dungeon Finder. |
/p <message> /party <message> |
Party channel. Seen by only party members. |
/g <message> /guild <message> |
Guild channel. Seen only by guild members. |
/o <message> /officer <message> |
Officer channel. Seen only by guild officers. Guild permissions determine who qualifies as an "officer". |
/ra <message> /raid <message> |
Raid channel. Seen only by raid members. |
/rw <message> |
As of patch 1.11, the Raid leader and his/her assistants are able to use this chat command which puts the message in the middle of the screen for instant commanding of all members of the raid. |
/w <player_name> <message> /whisper <player_name> <message> |
Whisper channel. Seen only by <player_name>. |
/t <player_name> <message> /tell <player_name> <message> |
Tell channel. Same as Whisper channel. |
/r <message> | Reply to last player to send you a Whisper or Tell. Seen only by player listed in reply. You can also press the "R" key out of the blue to initiate the reply box. |
/ignore <player_name> | Ignore specified player. Their messages will no longer show in chat window. |
/unignore <player_name> | Unignore specified player (assuming they are ignored already). Their messages will show again in chat window. |
/chathelp /chat |
Brief summary of some chat commands. |
Basic Chat with Audible Sounds[]
- Main article: List of emotes
How to use | Description | |
---|---|---|
/charge | ||
/flee | ||
/attack | ||
/oom | Out of mana, low on mana. | |
/follow <target> | Follow the targeted player. | |
/wait | ||
/healme | You call out for healing! | |
/cheer | ||
/rasp | Sticking your tongue out sound. | |
/silly | Your character tells a joke. They're different depending on race and gender. | |
/flirt <target> | Your character flirts with <target>. They're also different depending on race and gender. | |
/no <target> | Your character tells <target> that he should not do whatever he is doing at the time of shouting this word. |
GM Chat[]
In patch 3.0.8, a special, separate chat UI was introduced for communicating with GMs.[3][4]
When a GM wishes to speak with you the Help Request minibar button will glow.[5]
US blue post description |
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0. GM Chat Window Change - Please Read | 2009-01-20 17:14 | Syndri Good morning, ladies and liches!
As part of our ongoing effort to provide the best service and security we possibly can, we have introduced a new Game Master chat interface! Now, when a Game Master contacts you, a special notification will appear in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, just to the left of your standard mini-map and above your beneficial buff bar. The appearance of this notification, known as a “GM Chat Request,” will signal a pending message from a member of our in-game staff. To access this message, simply click on the GM Chat Request icon and a special chat window will open which will allow you to have a secure conversation with the awaiting Game Master. By default, this window will appear on the left side of your screen, just above the standard location of your primary chat window. This window may be moved around and even closed at will. If closed, the GM chat window may be re-opened at any time by clicking on the “Open GM Chat Log” button, accessed via the In-Game Knowledge Base (the big red “?” icon in your navigation tray). With this, should a Game Master send another message after the GM chat window is closed, the GM Chat Request icon will again appear in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. If you are unable to view the GM Chat Request icon or GM chat window, we highly recommend that you reset your User Interface (UI) and ensure that all active AddOns are up-to-date. For more information regarding the Reset UI process, please see the following article: With this new interface, it will be easier than ever to talk to one of our Game Masters without the distractions of busy scrolling chat text, and with full confidence that you are indeed in a conversation with a representative of Blizzard Entertainment. Should you possess any questions regarding this new feature, please do not hesitate to ask.:) Thank you! |
EU blue post description |
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0. 21/01 GM Chat Window Change | 2009-01-21 11:00 | Vaneras Greetings!
As part of our ongoing effort to provide the best service and security we possibly can, we have introduced a new Game Master Chat interface! Now, when a Game Master contacts you, a special notification will appear in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, just to the left of your standard Mini-Map and above your beneficial Buff bar. The appearance of this notification, known as a “GM Chat Request,” will signal a pending message from a member of our In-Game staff. To access this message, simply click on the GM Chat Request icon and a special chat window will open which will allow you to have a secure conversation with the Game Master in question. By default, this window will appear on the left side of your screen, just above the standard location of your primary chat window. This window may be moved around and even closed at will. If closed, the GM chat window may be re-opened at any time by clicking on the “Open GM Chat Log” button, accessed via the In-Game Knowledge Base (the big red “?” icon in navigation tray). With this, should a Game Master send another message after the GM chat window is closed the GM Chat Request icon will again appear in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. If you are unable to view the GM Chat Request icon or GM chat window, we highly recommend that you reset your User Interface (UI) and ensure that all active AddOns are up-to-date. For more information regarding the Reset UI process, please see the following: http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=35090 With this new interface, it will be easier than ever to talk to one of our staff without the distractions of busy scrolling chat text, and with full confidence that you are indeed in a conversation with a member of our In-Game Support team. Should you possess any questions regarding this new feature, however, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you! [Edit: Link changed.] [ Post edited by Wryxian ] Community Team - English The Epic Mug of Vaneras - The Alebringer: http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z57/Vaneras_bucket/EpicMug.jpg |
Guild Specific Chat[]
How to use | Description |
---|---|
/ginfo | Gives basic information about your guild. |
/g <message> /guild <message> |
Sends a chat message to all members of your guild. |
/o <message> /officers <message> |
Sends a chat message to all officers of your guild. |
/gmotd <message> | Sets the guild's message of the day |
Also see Guild Commands under the List of Slash Commands for non-chat commands.
Advanced Chat Channel Usage[]
How to use | Description |
---|---|
/# <message> /c <channel> <message> /csay <channel> <message> |
Send a message to a specific channel. |
/chatlist <channel> /chatwho <channel> /chatinfo <channel> |
List channels or channel members. Symbols next to player names have the following meaning: * channel owner, @ channel moderator, # muted/unvoiced. |
/chatlog /combatlog |
Toggles chat logging; the file for the chat log is Logs\WoWChatLog.txt Toggles combat logging; the file for the combat log is Logs\WoWCombatLog.txt
|
/join <channel> /channel <channel> /chan <channel> |
Join a channel. |
/leave <channel> /chatleave <channel> /chatexit <channel> |
Leave a channel (or all channels). |
/announcements <channel> /ann <channel> |
Toggle join/leave announcements on a channel channel, assuming you are channel creator or moderator. |
/cinvite <channel> <player_name> /chatinvite <channel> <player_name> |
Invite a player to a channel, assuming you are channel creator or moderator. |
/ckick <channel> <player_name> | Kick a player off a channel, assuming you are channel creator or moderator. |
/ban <channel> <player_name> /unban <channel> <player_name> |
Ban/unban a player from a channel, assuming you are channel creator or moderator. |
/mute <channel> <player_name> /squelch <channel> <player_name> /unvoice <channel> <player_name> /unmute <channel> <player_name> |
Change a player's voice permission, assuming you are channel creator or moderator. Moderators can always chat, even when muted. |
/mod <channel> <player_name> /moderator <channel> <player_name> /unmod <channel> <player_name> /unmoderator<channel> <player_name> |
Change a player's moderator status, assuming you are channel creator. Moderators can remove moderator from themselves (/unmod) |
/password <channel> <password> /pass <channel> <password> |
Change channel's password assuming you are channel creator or moderator. |
/owner <channel> <player_name> | Change the channel owner, assuming you are the current channel owner. |
Advanced Chat Terminology/Details[]
- Ten Channel Limit
- You can only be in ten chat channels at any given time. This does not include other chat types such as say, yell, party, raid, guild, officer, or whisper which are not considered channels.
- Chat Channel Order
- The order in a chat channel is determined by the age of the characters within the channel (based on the character's creation date, not total time played). In custom channels, when a current channel owner leaves, automatic ownership/moderation will be transferred to the character with the next highest 'seniority,' which will be the first person in the channel user listing.
- 'Server Mask Channel' or 'server channel' or 'mask'
- One of the default channels that is different for each zone. It changes when you move between zones and is represented without its zone suffix. The normal Mask channels are 'General', 'Trade', 'LookingForGroup' or 'LocalDefense'. 'WorldDefense' is also a server channel, but not a mask because it is not identified with any zone, and does not change accordingly.
- 'Chat Type'
- the various methods of chat communication in WoW as seen in the ChatTypeInfo table. Some common types are SAY, YELL, EMOTE, PARTY, RAID, GUILD, OFFICER, WHISPER, CHANNEL, SYSTEM.
- 'Sticky (Chat Type)'
- remembered chat types between messages.
- Ex: It's what party chat does by default as opposed to channel chat. If you send a msg to a party or use the /p command the chat becomes party the next time you open the chat box. That's because PARTY chat is sticky as opposed to channel chat where if you type in a channel the next time you open the edit box with enter or / it will be on the last sticky type you were using before you chatted in a channel.
- Default Sticky Chat Types - SAY, PARTY, RAID, INSTANCE, GUILD, OFFICER
- To set the stickiness of a chat type set
/script ChatTypeInfo["CHANNEL"]={sticky=1};
- (1 is sticky, 0 is non-sticky)
- Capital Cities
- Alliance - "Stormwind City", "Ironforge", "Darnassus", "The Exodar"
- Horde - "Orgrimmar", "Undercity", "Thunder Bluff", "Silvermoon City"
- Neutral - "Shattrath City", "Dalaran"
NOTE: "The Exodar", "Silvermoon City" and "Shattrath City" were added upon release of the first expansion, a.k.a. The Burning Crusade, and are only available to characters / accounts who have installed this expansion. NOTE2: "Dalaran" was added upon release of the second expansion, a.k.a. Wrath of the Lich King, and are only available to characters / accounts who have installed this expansion.
- Trade Channel Exception
- The server "Trade" channel is only usable within capital city walls. Outside of these cities the channel is still included in the 10 channel limit but the client no longer sends CHAT_MSG_CHANNEL events for the trade channel. You can still leave a hidden trade channel using LeaveChannelByName("Trade") but you can only join it again inside capital city walls. It also only appears in GetChannelList() when you are in a capital city.
- LookingForGroup (LFG) Chat Channel Exception
- As of patch 6.1, the LookingForGroup channel is now Global. It can be seen by any member of your faction from anywhere in the world.
How do I switch my Chat language?[]
From Official Chat Interface: Q & A:
- How do I speak in another language I know?
Click on the "Chat Bubble" on the chat box tool bar, then highlight "Language" with the cursor. A list of which languages you know will appear to the side. From there you can click one to choose which language you prefer to speak. Humans and orcs only have one language.
Chat Channel Troubleshooting[]
- 1) I can only see join/leave messages in a channel but can't talk or see anything else.
- You have an 'undead' channel. Leave all your channels in-game. Exit the game. Open your WTF/Account/<username>/<charname>/chat-cache.txt file on the affected character. Find the first place where it says "CHANNELS". Replace the next few lines with the following:
CHANNELS END ZONECHANNELS 0
- Now save the file and log into wow. This will have reset your channels and you should be able to freely join the affect channel again.
- 2) I can't see chat in a channel (or say/yell/guild/whisper/party) I just joined.
- Right-click the chat tab for the current chatframe and look for the 'channels' menu under 'filters'. Make sure that the channel in question has a check next to it to be visible in that chatframe.
- 3) I can't see System Messages.
- This is a Blizzard bug of unknown origin. It can usually be solved by logging off, deleting your WTF/Account/<username>/<charname>/chat-cache.txt file and logging back in. If that doesn't work your database files might be corrupted and require a reinstall.
- 4) I can't get anything to use the #2 channel slot.
- You are probably in a Trade channel that is only visible in the capital city. You can leave Trade from outside of a city, but you can only join it from inside one.
- 5) My channel color settings aren't saved across sessions.
- Channel colors are saved according to channel number. If the channel number changes for any reason the color will be different than previously specified. Note that when you log in the channels you were in are rejoined, but WoW doesn't necessarily know what order they were in. In general the server channels are joined in the following order by WoW: '1. General', '2. Trade', '3. LocalDefense', '4. LookingForGroup', and '5. WorldDefense'.
- 6) I can see a channel's chat but cannot talk into it.
- (this solution also fixes most other miscellaneous channel problems)
- Exit the game,
- Back-up and delete or rename your WTF and Interface directories,
- Log in on the trouble character,
- Type "/leave <ChannelName>" for all of the trouble channels (makes sure system channels are correctly capitalized: General, Trade, LookingForGroup, LocalDefense, WorldDefense). If you are having problems with the linked Trade, or LookingForGroup channels, you have to use the command "/script LeaveChannelByName("Trade - City")", or "/script LeaveChannelByName("LookingForGroup")", to leave those channels.
- Exit the game,
- Delete the current WTF and WDB folders,
- Login, rejoin the trouble channels using "/join <ChannelName>" and make sure they are working,
- Log out, restore your Interface directory (make sure to enable Sky in the addon menu if you were using it),
- Log in and things should be fine.
- If you want your settings/saved variables back, copy the new chat-cache.txt from the WTF/Account/<username>/<charname>/ directory one put it into the backup (replacing the old one). Then replace the new WTF folder with the backup. Note that your chattype and frame colors and additional chat windows will be reset to default (unless you're ambitious and manually edit your chat-cache.txt).
- 7) I can't click on links in chat.
- Chat windows can have chat links in text enabled/disabled by right clicking on the tab name and choosing Make Noninteractive/Make Interactive from the right click menu.
Patch changes[]
- Patch 7.1.0 (2016-10-25): The chat window now uses smooth scrolling.
- Patch 6.1.0 (2015-02-24): The LookingForGroup channel is now global.
- Patch 3.0.9 (2009-02-10): A clickable chat message has been added that duplicates the GM alert/button.
- Patch 3.0.8 (2009-01-20):
- Chat frames can now be made "Noninteractive". When in this state, they will ignore all clicks.
- A special UI for chatting with GMs has been added.
- Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Quests can be shared with party members by linking the quest into party chat.
- Patch 2.4.0 (2008-03-25):
- Players will now be able to inspect other players via their chat link. (Must still be in range.)
- Combat Log Improvements
- New tabs are available for sorting combat messages.
- ctrl-right clicking functionality has been added for individual information sorting
- Colors may now be assigned for friends and enemies
- The WoWCombatLog.txt file format has been changed to make it easier for programs to read.
- The ability to chat-link player spells and talents.
- You can now link quests into the chat log by Shift-Clicking on the quest name in the quest log.
- There is now a chat message given after attaining a new title.
- Patch 2.3.0 (2007-11-13):
- When an item drops that you cannot loot due to uniqueness or other factor, you will get a chat message letting you know what the item was that you passed rolling on.
- When an Addon attempts to perform an action that is prohibited in combat, you will get a chat message "Interface action failed because of an AddOn". This only occurs once per login.
- You can now pull the list of players in a channel out of the Chat Channel windows and into the gamefield by clicking and dragging the channel name onto the gamefield. This list will show all the players in the channel sorted by voice chat status.
- Voice chat
- Voice chat will now display the nameplate for who is talking when you are in a custom channel. Currently it only displays the nameplate when you are in a party/raid.
- When multiple people are talking in a voice chat session, it will show the names of up to four people who are talking at the same time.
- Patch 2.2.0 (2007-09-25):
- Voice Chat added.
- Chat Channels - New Chat Channel controls and functionality are now available under the chat tab in the Social Window of the interface. The interface will now show the channels players are in or are available, depending on the area of the world they are in, along with new private channel controls.
- Hotfix (2007-05-24): Linking a Poison Recipe or Hunter Pet Ability in a chat message will no longer cause a disconnect.
- Patch 2.1.0 (2007-05-22):
- Raid and Battleground chat options have been added to the chat button that is attached to the chat log.
- You can now link recipes into chat. If you have chat input open and you shift-click on one of your recipes in your profession UI then it will put a link to that recipe with the reagents it requires to make into chat.
- You can use %f in chat text to refer to your focus, the same way %t or %n refers to your target.
- Force-quitting or crashing out of the WoW client while taxiing across zone boundaries can no longer cause the player to be locked out of zone-specific chat channels.
- Patch 2.0.7 (2007-02-13): Players with multiple chat windows will no longer have fixed channels (ie. general, trade) added back to the main chat window every time they log on.
- Patch 1.11.0 (2006-06-19):
- Text that a raid leader sends to chat will now be displayed in a different color and will have the [Raid Leader] label.
- There is now a new raid warning chat channel available to raid leaders and assistants. Text that is sent to this channel will appear in the center of the screen for all players in the raid. The channel is called Raid Warning and text can be sent to it with "
/rw
" - Raid leaders now have a Ready Check button on their raid interface. This can also be sent with
/readycheck
from the chat line. A Ready Check sends an "Are you ready?" window with Yes/No buttons to all players in the raid. The raid leader will get feedback in 30 seconds on all the players who were not ready or who did not respond. - Players now have a Raid Info button on their raid interface that functions the same way
/raidinfo
worked before. This function will display a pane showing all of the raid instances that a player is saved to, rather than displaying it to the chat window. - You can now target a player by clicking their name from the chat log and selecting the "Target" option.
- Patch 1.9.0 (2006-01-03):
- The "Looking for Group" and "Trade" channels have been unified among the corresponding cities, meaning, for example, that you can trade your goods or look for groups in Ironforge while in Stormwind.
- Reputation is now its own category in the chat window; you can change the color of reputation gains and losses as reported in chat without it affecting other miscellaneous information.
- Added the ability to link enchanting recipes in chat.
- Emotes show up in the chat log file.
- Combat messages no longer show up in the chat log file
- Out-of-zone chat channels disabled.
- Not officially documented, but verified in-game.
- Patch 1.7.0 (2005-09-13):
- Quest rewards are now linked in chat like other items gained.
- Chat and Combat Logging
- New slash command
/chatlog
toggles chat logging (/combatlog
toggles combat logging) - The file for the chat log is
Logs\WoWChatLog.txt
and the file for the combat log isLogs\WoWCombatLog.txt
- Chat and combat log files will be appended to rather than overwritten.
- You now receive combat log messages and damage feedback when you are being attacked by creatures you can't see.
- Fixed disconnection caused by relinking an item in a different locale than that of your client.
- Looted items now always show their names in the appropriate quality color.
- Fixed damage display on the character sheet when you have Fury of the Frostwolf or Stormpike's Salvation.
- New slash command
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment. "Chapter 3", World of Warcraft: Game Manual, 18.
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment. "Chapter 3", World of Warcraft: Game Manual, 18.
- ^ 0. GM Chat Window Change - Please Read 01/20/2009 09:14:08 AM PST by Syndri
- ^ 0. 21/01 GM Chat Window Change 21/01/2009 03:00:34 PST by Vaneras
- ^ Patch 3.0.9 User Interface section
External links[]
- World of Warcraft Community Site Chat Interface: Overview - Short introduction to basic chat information
- World of Warcraft Community Site Chat: Customization - Change the look of your chat windows
- World of Warcraft Community Site Chat: Other - Additional chat options, channel moderation, misc
- World of Warcraft Community Site Chat: Q∓A - Common issues and their resolutions
- World of Warcraft Community Site Chat: Command Glossary
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