How to set up public WoW Server

Because many people still having problem on setting up their own World of Warcraft server to be accessible by public, i’ve decided to rewrite the guide again (perhaps the previous guide on setting up wow server for lan party a little bit hard to understand for some people or probably because i didn’t write it clearly) … hopefully this new guide can help you on setting up your wow server to be accessible by public and more easier to understand despite my bad english language

So here goes the guide :

Requirements :

1. Know how to set up port forwarding (very important if you’re behind router or no one will be able to access your wow server no matter what you do) … but since every router has their own configuration page, i’d suggest you to read your router manual on how to configure it

Linksys AG241 and Aztech DSL600EU

btw i’m using Linksys AG241V2 and Aztech DSL600EU as seen on above image

2. Know how to configure firewall to allow connection on specific port, as a note Windows XP built-in Firewall is enabled by default (Windows Firewall) … btw if it’s for me i’m using Ghostwall as my personal firewall

3. DNS Name for your WoW server to make things easier and you can get it for free from Dyndns.com, no-ip.com, etc

4. Your friend to test whether it works or not :P

Let’s start the guide :

PART 1. Find your public IP Address

1. First you’ll need to go into whatismyip.com to get your public ip address (public ip address is ip address that is broadcasted while you were browsing / doing any internet activity)

What is my ip

PART 2. Get a DNS Name

2. Now you’ll need to pay a visit to various dynamic dns service to get your free name, but since it’ll be very long if i write the detailed process here, so i’ll leave that to you to decide what your dns name going to be, and in this example i’m going to call the wow server, mycoolwowserver.com

PART 3. Using Reaper Mangos to configure realmd

3. For the third steps you just need to run the reaper-x-mangos inside the reaper-eazy-mangos directory and choose option 5 like below for an example

Reaper Eazy Mangos

Now you can just simply ignore the message that is basically saying that you need to write your LAN IP Address (well … creating public server is against mangos terms of use) :P … and write your wowserver dns name that you get from Dynamic DNS Service (in this example i’m using mycoolwowserver.com which is a fake name of course) and followed by writing your desired Realm Name

(click the image to see the full size)

Now we’re done with the Mangos part but don’t start mangosd.exe and realmd.exe process yet, because we need to configure your router first

PART 4. Find your LAN IP Address and your Router IP Address

4. Now for this step, you’ll need to find what is your router ip address and your LAN IP Address that is connected to your router, this can be done by :

Double clicking on your active connection status on Windows System Tray (the area near clock) or
from Control Panel » Network Connection » and double clicking on your Ethernet Card listed there or
Browse to any website and lookup your active connection status by typing netstat -n via the command prompt and look at the local address followed by typing netstat -rn

See example image below :

Connection status

Now based from the above image, you can get your router ip address and your lan ip address that is connected to your router. And in this case the router ip address is 192.168.1.1 while the ethernet ip address is 192.168.1.2

PART 5. Set up Port Forwarding

5. After getting your router ip address now we need to open it’s configuration page by simply typing 192.168.1.1 at your address bar of your internet browser

Note: Screenshot were taken from my Linksys AG241V2 router (click the image to see full size)

The default port used by Realmd is 3724 while the default port for World is 8085, now … since we have that information … we can set up port forwarding by writing that value into your router configuration page at port forwarding section … and we’re done configuring our router … but wait …

Since every router have their own configuration page, i’d suggest you to look at your router manual on how to set up port forwarding on your router or you can also visit portforward.com if you need help on setting up port forwarding

PART 6. Configuring Windows Firewall

Although i’m not using Windows Firewall as stated before at the requirements section, i’ve decided to write a guide on how to configure your windows firewall to allow connection to your computer for your World of Warcraft server purpose … because … most people seems to not have installed 3rd party firewall and i’m thinking probably they still use Windows Firewall … but let’s get back to the topic shall we ? :)

Note: This is based from Windows XP SP2, and i can’t remember if there’s configuration like below on Windows XP SP1 or below because of the same reason i stated before

6. Now you need to go into Control Panel » Windows Firewall and make sure that Don’t allow exceptions is unchecked

Windows firewall general tab

Then you’ll need to open the Exceptions tab, and then click on Add Port and add value as shown below and click OK

Realmd exception on Windows Firewall

and then click on Add Port again and this time write below value

Exclude World Server from Windows Firewall

And then Click OK and then Click OK again to leave the Windows Firewall Configuration Window, and we’re done configuring Windows Firewall :)

If you’re using other Firewall, then you’ll need to configure it as shown above

PART 7. Port Scanning

Now we need to use online port scanner to test whether the port is accessible from the internet or not, and we can do this by using uTorrent Port Scanner (simple but useful) and the steps to do these are :

1. Start Realmd.exe and Mangosd.exe process (do not run WoW.exe yet, or in other words don’t run world of warcraft yet)

2. Go to below url to scan your pc :

http://www.utorrent.com/testport.php?port=3724

http://www.utorrent.com/testport.php?port=8085

3. See if you get message that is saying your port is open or not (you’ll get two results)

Portscan

4. If you get the above message that means you’ve finished creating your own wow server to be accessible from the internet … Congrats! … but wait there’s still one more step for you to do ;)

PART 8. Editing Windows HOSTS File

Now you need to edit your Windows HOSTS file located at C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts and add below line after everything else (do not replace any value there)

192.168.1.2 mycoolwowserver.com

or in this format :

lanipaddress dnsname

and that’s it you’re finished (seriously) :D

I’m still having problem even after doing all of the above steps!

Usually if you still having problem probably that’s because :

You didn’t set up port forwarding properly
You didn’t configure your firewall properly
The default realmd port (3724) conflict with Blizzard Updater (Blizzard Updater use P2P to transfer update data by default unless you disable it to let it only update from HTTP Protocol on Blizzard server) or conflict with other program

For most people it seems number 3 is the source of their problem, so try doing these :

1. Open Realmd.conf and search for 3724 and then replace it with another value (above 10000 to be safe) and then continue setting up port forwarding, etc (from Step number 5 in this guide until finish) for the new port value

2. Then open realmlist.wtf file on your World of Warcraft Directory and change the realmlist to use the new port (if you’re not using default port then you’ll need to write the port used by your realmd process too or else your friend or you won’t be able to connect to your own server)

here’s an example of what the realmlist.wtf file should look like if you changed your realmd port from it’s default value :

set realmlist mycoolwowserver:9999

at the above example the realmd port is set to 9999, if you use another value then make sure to use that value instead

That’s it hopefully this new guide can help you on setting up your own World of Warcraft Server for … erm LAN Party :P and i didn’t miss anything

Comments Navigation « Previous 1 ... 4 5 6

Myself said Dec 6, 2009 at 11:09 am

Hey Reaper do u have a private? for example that i could go on? :)

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Bloodhorn said Aug 6, 2009 at 4:12 am

Here comes my question reaper, would be really great if you got any idea how to solve this problem. Im using port 3724 for REALMID and 8085/8086 for COREW, any idea which port i can use for 2nd Realmid ?

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Itami said Jul 25, 2009 at 11:12 pm

How do I create accounts/set up an account creation page? ._.
I’m new to this

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Neged said Jun 27, 2009 at 4:50 pm

Reaper(or anyone), i have a problem
my friend can log into my server…
when i do dyndns and everything…
but i can not…
why is that?
and how do i fix it?
im using ovislink corp airlive something ( the modem/router)

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jeff said Apr 5, 2009 at 4:38 am

hello i i using trinity core and i set up a public server i can connect and other people can connect using my dns name 1 problem thay can only get in to the world and play if no 1 from my house has connected yet as soon as some logs in and gets in to the world eny 1 out sode of my house gets disconnected and sent back to the realm screen and cant get back into the relm intill i reset the server .. how do i make it were people wont get disconnected from the server wen some 1 from my house logs in and starts playing

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Nett said Mar 14, 2009 at 5:20 am

everything on the Mangos server works fine except that only the local or only the wan can connect. If set one way anyone inside our home can connect, but no one outside the home can get past the login and join the realm… Any Ideas.

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Leon said Feb 24, 2009 at 1:45 pm

Mario,
Well done mate. My Lan computers were getting the “unable to connect to realmlist”. I changed to a shorter host name and now everything works. Lan machines and friends(public) can all join.

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Mallob said Feb 19, 2009 at 5:43 am

Hey guys, a quick question. I have my trinity server up and working great. I have went though the public server set-up entirely and I an able to log in to the public server from my computer (which is also the server). My question is what do i have to do on any computer I want to get on my server with? Do I have to install sql? Mess with the hosts or ream files. Remember, I am asking what I have to do on a computer (ie laptop) that I want to play on my server with.

Thanks a bunch.

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anya said Jan 27, 2009 at 1:21 pm

Click here to Download the path WoW:
path 2.3.0-2.3.2 http://depositfiles.com/files/1jjtxn17y
path 2.3.3-2.4.0 http://depositfiles.com/files/50c9iv0do
path 2.4.3-3.0.2 http://depositfiles.com/files/n2r1p8zto
addons http://depositfiles.com/files/i77aoikxj

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Nexus2322 said Jan 27, 2009 at 4:48 am

can we updated this for trinity? i think im following it lol instead of using the bat to do the ip your using navicat or similar sql editor right?

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C said Jan 23, 2009 at 3:27 am

@Frustrated
Editing the MYSQL by command line fixed the realm loop for us…
http://www.reaper-x.com/2007/07/03/creating-public-server-for-lan-party-setting-up-private-wow-server/

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Frustrated said Jan 15, 2009 at 8:09 am

I’m trying to connect to a friends private server, but I get stuck on the realm selection screen.. is there anything that needs to be done on MY part to fix this?

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grimslarcat said Jan 13, 2009 at 12:46 am

@zyagor

this should tell you all you need to know.

http://www.reaper-x.com/2007/07/03/creating-public-server-for-lan-party-setting-up-private-wow-server/

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zyagor said Jan 13, 2009 at 12:19 am

Is there a way to set this up publicly offline? I am trying to set up trinity core as a offline lan but I don’t know what all I need to change to do that.

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Mario said Jan 2, 2009 at 7:15 am

I RESOLVED THE PROBLEM!

The solution is really really simple…you have to set a really short dns!
My first dns was xxxxxxxxxx.servegame.org and i didn’t manage to connect…i changet it in xxxxxxxxxx.no-ip.org and i connected without the problem “Unable to connect to realmlist”.Try and let me know!

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Mario said Jan 2, 2009 at 1:57 am

Hi,i followed the guide and i’ve put my DNS number in the LAN configuration,but when i try to connect into my server it says “Unable to connect to realmlist” and this happens also to my friends that try to connect to me.I added my dns into hosts,i opened the port 3724,i tried to change the realm port into 10200 but nothing happens and i don’t know what to do.Help me!

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Chrit said Dec 17, 2008 at 5:38 am

# Reaper-X

Everyone and their mother is probably playing Lich King, so it’s no surprise to me that no one’s paying attention to these sites at the moment.

I’m one of the few crazies out there who’s playing on 2.3.3.

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Chrit said Dec 17, 2008 at 5:34 am

# Kyle

Your realmlist.wtf should look like this:

set realmlist *serveripaddress*
set patchlist *serveripaddress*

NO other values should be in this file. If you’ve done this correctly, there’s no way in heck that WoW can connect to the regular servers.

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Chrit said Dec 17, 2008 at 5:32 am

Rod,

1) What kind of Internet are you running on? DSL/Cable?

2) Are there any programs you’re running on your machine, or other machines in your network that are streaming/downloading anything?

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Kyle said Dec 12, 2008 at 10:59 am

Hey, i got a question, when i type in the server ip into the realmlist, then i try to play on that server, its still WoW’s regular server, i cant play on privte servers only WoW’s , and ive done everything i could think of to fix it but it still connects to regular wow… think you could help me out???

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Rod said Dec 11, 2008 at 3:45 am

I have a mangos server up and running. I can play the game, and others can connect and create characters and play. The problem is, their connections are very slow…500 to 2300. Very bad for trying to group in a dungeon.
Any ideas on what I can check?

Thanks

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Reaper-X said Dec 3, 2008 at 3:10 am

# Chrit

I’m really sorry because i didn’t know there’s a new comment posted here :( and also i’d like to thank you for the tips ;)

as for DNS actually i included that because if you don’t have a static ip (like me for example, and many others too), your users won’t be able to connect to your server

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Chrit said Dec 3, 2008 at 1:22 am

Well, I’d just like to give a BIG THANKS to everyone who helped me figure out the problem I’ve been having.

Oh wait, that’s right, no one did. I figured it out on my own.

If you’ve followed the instructions on this site to the letter as I have, and cannot connect (unable to connect to realm list server error) using dyndns.com as your host like I did, just forget about it. Use your public IP address and your private server will become public *snap* just like that.

So to explain it further,

1) Run reaper easy mangos
2) Select option 5 to (configure for LAN party)
3) When prompted for your LAN’s IP address, just put in your public IP address (the one you get from whatismyip.com)
4) In realmlist.wtf in your WoW folder, change the values to be your public IP address (have everyone connecting to your server do this)

And that’s it.

I am completely baffled as to why no one has suggested this before. I am also baffled as to why Reaper-X flat out refuses to look into this problem, along with other people who try to “help” those trying to get a public server working. For me, using dyndns.com is a crock of shit, just use your public IP and you can connect just fine.

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Chrit said Nov 24, 2008 at 10:32 am

I have also tried changing the port to 10002. Again, I followed these instructions to the letter.

I’m not running Windows Firewall.
I’m not running Peer Guardian or anything that would block my ports.

According to these instructions, IT SHOULD WORK. But it does not. I have been trying to do this for over a month now.

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Chrit said Nov 22, 2008 at 2:29 am

Hello,

Thank you SO MUCH for creating these guides, they have helped me immensely.

I have come across a problem that refuses to go away. I’m trying to make my private server public and I only reach failure.

My DNS address is thenunsofvoarcraft.dyndns.tv
I have edited the realmlist table in the realmd database to reflect this.
I have edited the hosts file to say the following:
127.0.0.1 localhost
192.168.1.205 thenunsofvoarcraft.dyndns.tv

I have ports 3724 and 8085 forwarded on my router, and after testing the utorrent connection, they run perfectly.
My realmlist.wtf file reads “set realmlist thenunsofvoarcraft.dyndns.tv”

And no matter what I do, I get the same error message: “Unable to connect to realm list server”.

I have tried changing IP addresses in the Hosts file. I have tried putting my router in DMZ. Nothing has worked. I have reviewed these guides, among other guides, time and time again and I’m continually met with failure.

What exactly am I doing wrong? Please feel free to e-mail me at tehleslie@gmail.com. I am literally at my wit’s end as I have followed these guides to the letter, and I still cannot get it to work.

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Etcorbit said Nov 4, 2008 at 11:24 am

two things….one….how to do edit the C:\WINDOWS\system32\drives\etc\hosts????

and two….no matter what i do i cannot connect to the server no matter when IP or DSN i put it it wont let me connect……i dont know what im doing wrong…..but a good ventrillo chat or msn chat would be nice…..or an answer here would be nice….i dont care lol…ill take all the help i can get at this point……add me on MSN if u have any clue as to what im doing wrong

Kaz3Jr@yahoo.com
(the K and J are Cap’s)

thanks

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Spritz said Oct 15, 2008 at 7:44 pm

I’m all up and running locally but having a few issues opening my ports, router is all set correctly. I think it’s down to the fact I’m running DHCP which might be the case for lots of others too. I’m going to set up the static IP tonight and fingers crossed that should open up ports 3724 & 8085.

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jc3452 said Oct 13, 2008 at 11:49 am

Hey, I keep getting this error:

Database: applesaregreatonwow.no-ip.biz;3306;root;xxxx;realmd could not connect to MySQL database at applesaregreatonwow.no-ip.biz: Can’t connect to MySQL server on ‘applesaregreatonwow.no-ip.biz’ (10060)

Cannot connect to database

I have tried using 127.0.0.1 just for me to connect and it works till I get to the character selection screen then it kicks me out back to the realm list.

If anyone can help me with this please do, been having a time getting this going.

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Amethyst said Oct 11, 2008 at 9:40 am

Never mind, got a new modem.

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Walkinshaw said Oct 4, 2008 at 12:53 pm

Got it working.

*** FOR ANYONE WANTING TO HAVE PEOPLE CONNECTING VIA LAN AND ALSO OVER THE INTERNET AT THE SAME TIME ***

The problem I had if you can read my above post was not setting the HOST file on each computer on the LAN.

What you need to do is on each LAN computer inside the WOW directory, setup the REALMLIST.WTF file to your DNS host name.

Example, Set Realmlist server.no-ip.info

Then setup the HOST file on each individual LAN PC as follows:

Mangos server IP (The hosting LAN PC) server.no-ip.info

Example 192.168.1.2 server.no-ip.info

Now I can log in locally on any computer on my LAN and my friends can play over the internet at the same time.

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Amethyst said Oct 2, 2008 at 10:04 am

I don’t know how to set my modem up to port foward?

Apparently it cannot from the research I’ve done.

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Walkinshaw said Sep 28, 2008 at 12:38 pm

I have read through all these posts but I still have not seen a fix for a number of people who have asked this question.

Public server over the internet working fine. Friends can log in outside the network. I can log in using the host PC on my internal network, BUT no one else in my internal network can connect. It just gets stuck at the realm screen.

All outside computers are using the DNS I setup at no-ip.com and work fine.

My Realmlist on the host computer setup as 127.0.0.1 working fine and I can play with my friends.

All other computers on my internal network, no matter what I set the realmlist.wtf file to on the computers (the internal hosts ip address or the DNS address) it will let them log in but it won’t get past the real selection screen. Stays in a loop.

How to fix this????

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Aekom said Sep 21, 2008 at 7:37 am

@amethyst

if you dont have a router then u’ll have no problem with the ports.

port forwarding is only to allow specific ports through the firewall.

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Amethyst said Sep 21, 2008 at 5:12 am

*forward

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Amethyst said Sep 21, 2008 at 5:11 am

I have Motorola modem SB5100. I did some research on it, and apparently it can’t foward ports. Am I screwed?

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Entropy said Sep 3, 2008 at 11:46 pm

Hey I have been trying this and it all goes fine except I get
ERROR 1049 t line 1: Unknown database ‘realmdmod’
I have it as realmd and tbh no idea where this mod came in on the end. Any ideas?

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Graeme said Aug 28, 2008 at 9:50 pm

Ok guys lets see if you can help me

i just made my server public but now i cant connect, im just wondering what do i set the realmlist to on the host PC.

also i have it sort of working as a public server, i test it on my laptop over the internet and i can connect but it then comes up with “Unable to connect to realm list server”

any ideas why this is and how i could fix it would be much helpfull

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colt45 said Aug 18, 2008 at 7:43 am

umm hi

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Daniel said Aug 18, 2008 at 12:16 am

my public server is up and running, and my friend was able to join successfully, but there’s one problem: he can use all the gm commands i can, with the exception of the .additem. I gave him gm level 5, same as me, but he can’t add anything to his inventory with that command. It’s giving him the invalid id error message. Any ideas why?

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Danneedshelp said Aug 5, 2008 at 5:47 pm

IT’S WORKING, IT’S WORKING, IT’S WORKING!!!!!!
ME LO VE Y O U COPPERMOE!!!!!!!

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Danneedshelp said Aug 5, 2008 at 9:37 am

@ coppermoe

yea, it’s isp provided..verizon fios.
i’ve hosted other games before, like warcraft 3 customs, halo: ce, and rise of nations, but when trying to port forward realmd and mangosd, i suddenly hit a wall of problems..figures.
i’m still tryin though, kinda, so haven’t completely given up..yet

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CopperM0E said Aug 4, 2008 at 11:39 am

Dan, don’t give up, you’re allmost there. I can’t say much good for the router situation except maybe buy a newer one. I know, easier said than done. I do not know if the router you use is supplied by your ISP or not, but if it’s not, then purchasing a newer one, even a cheap Lynksys or Netopia would work great. If it IS supplied by your ISP, surely other routers would be compatable. (although they probably won’t admit it or suggest that if you change it they cannot support your problems, which is understandable since they are all reading from ’scripts’ and screenshots.) Mine, for example, is a cable-modem attached to a wireless router. The modem itself just gets the broadband signal and all that fancy stuff. The router grabs the IP and assigns ip’s to all machines on the network…unless you specify them as I have, then this whole port-forwarding thing works like a charm.

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Danneedshelp said Aug 4, 2008 at 6:43 am

ok, this is getting annoying. my router, actiontec m1424wr is the retarded kind where i have to set a static ip address in order to port forward custom programs…what a pain..i’m almost ready to give up

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Danneedshelp said Aug 3, 2008 at 5:20 pm

bah, having a new problem now. i’ve port forwarded 10001 for realmd and 8085 for world, and using the utorrent tests, i get the message saying those ports aren’t open, even though i followed my routers instructions to the letter. do i need to modify my realm and mangos conf files?
i’ve read above at other peoples problems and their solutions didn’t work for me, so, i’m stuck

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Danneedshelp said Aug 3, 2008 at 4:13 pm

NEVERMIND, just ran it again and it works now…figures :p

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Danneedshelp said Aug 3, 2008 at 4:11 pm

i’m having a hard time getting my dns server public. when i choose option 5 to set up lan, and go through the steps, i don’t see my ip address and realm name that i chose. i used no-ip.com to create a free dns name, but still isn’t working..i just get error 1045: access denied, blah blah blah
i’ll check back here for answers soon, but if you know the solution, you have my permission to e-mail me directly at fireworksheavens@yahoo.com
hope to hear from one of you soon, either reaper himself, or somebody reading this
thanx

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