Emberfall

A small private vanilla realm for friends. Patch 1.12.

Checking server…

Armory — look up characters and their gear

How to join

  1. Create an account with the form below. You need a personal invite code from Skollie; it makes one account and expires if you wait too long.
  2. Download the setup helper and run it.
    Download setup helper (Windows)

    It downloads the original 2006 game client (5.3 GB) from the Internet Archive, unpacks it, points it at this realm and puts a Emberfall shortcut on your desktop. You need about 13 GB free while it works; the finished game takes 5 GB.

    Windows will probably say “Windows protected your PC” because the helper is a plain script, not a signed program. Choose More info, then Run anyway. You can open the file in Notepad first to read exactly what it does.

  3. Play. Start the game from the desktop shortcut and log in with your account.
What the helper does, step by step
  • Downloads WoW-1.12.1_install.rar from the Internet Archive's WoW client collection and checks its checksum.
  • Unpacks it without running the installer inside it, using the open-source tool innoextract.
  • Confirms the game's program files are the original, unmodified ones.
  • Writes realmlist.wtf, clears an old cache that ships in the archive, and sets the game to open in a window.
  • Creates the desktop shortcut. Nothing is installed system-wide and it doesn't need administrator rights.
Already have the 1.12.1 client?

Run the helper and choose option 2; it only points your existing game at this realm. Or do it by hand: open realmlist.wtf in the game folder with Notepad and replace everything in it with:

set realmlist 178.104.66.48
Set it up by hand instead
  1. Open the Internet Archive's WoW client collection, choose Show all under download options, open the ISO folder and download WoW-1.12.1_install.rar (5.3 GB).
  2. Unpack it with 7-Zip. Inside is a folder Wowinstall classic with setup.exe; run it and install the game somewhere like C:\Games\WoW. (That installer was made by whoever archived the game, not by Blizzard. The helper avoids running it.)
  3. In the installed game folder, open realmlist.wtf with Notepad and replace everything in it with set realmlist 178.104.66.48. The archive's copy points at somebody else's old server.
  4. Delete the files inside the WDB folder.
  5. Start the game by running WoW.exe directly.

The modern Battle.net version of WoW Classic will not connect; this realm needs the original 1.12.1 client (build 5875).

Create an account

3–16 letters or numbers. This is your login name, not your character name.
6–16 characters. Don't reuse a password you care about: the old game protocol is weak by modern standards.
One code, one account. If yours has expired, ask for a new one.

Good to know

What is this?
The original 2006 game world, running on a hobby server. Normal rates, PvE rules, and you can make characters of both factions on one account.
Is anyone else on?
Usually just a handful of friends. The badge at the top shows whether the server is up and how many players are in the world.
Something isn't working
"Unable to connect" usually means realmlist.wtf doesn't point at this realm; run the setup helper again and choose option 2. If the helper itself stops with an error, send Skollie the message it shows.