A collection of Docker images and compose files for running CMaNGOS locally.

Images are published to ghcr.io/jrtashjian. Replace <core> with classic, tbc, or wotlk.

Every image is also tagged with a build date (YYYY.MM.DD) so you can pin a known release instead of tracking latest.

Examples:

ghcr.io/jrtashjian/cmangos-mangosd-classic:latest
ghcr.io/jrtashjian/cmangos-mangosd-classic:with-playerbot
ghcr.io/jrtashjian/cmangos-mangosd-classic:2026.08.05-with-ahbot

To use a bot-enabled world server with compose, change the mangosd image tag in your docker-compose.yml.

mkdir ~/cmangos-docker && cd ~/cmangos-docker

This directory will hold your compose file and extracted client data.

Pick the core that matches your WoW client.

If you want classic:

wget -O docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jrtashjian/cmangos-docker/master/docker-compose.classic.yml

If you want TBC:

wget -O docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jrtashjian/cmangos-docker/master/docker-compose.tbc.yml

If you want WotLK:

wget -O docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jrtashjian/cmangos-docker/master/docker-compose.wotlk.yml

CMaNGOS needs data extracted from a real WoW client (Cameras, dbc, maps, mmaps, vmaps). Run the extractors image once, pointing it at your client install and an output folder.

Replace classic with tbc or wotlk if needed, and update the client path:

docker run --rm \
	-v "/path/to/WoW/client:/client" \
	-v "$HOME/cmangos-docker/extracted-data:/maps" \
	ghcr.io/jrtashjian/cmangos-extractors-classic:latest

When finished you should have:

~/cmangos-docker/extracted-data
├─ Cameras
├─ dbc
├─ maps
├─ mmaps
└─ vmaps

The compose files mount ./extracted-data into the world server automatically.

docker compose up -d

This starts MariaDB, the login server (realmd), and the world server (mangosd). On first boot, mangosd installs the latest full content database — that can take a while.

Check progress with:

docker compose logs -f mangosd

Edit your WoW client's realmlist.wtf:

set realmlist 127.0.0.1

Default accounts (unless you configure ACCOUNTS):

ADMINISTRATOR:ADMINISTRATOR
GAMEMASTER:GAMEMASTER
MODERATOR:MODERATOR
PLAYER:PLAYER

For custom configuration, use the example compose file with a .env:

mkdir ~/cmangos-docker && cd ~/cmangos-docker
wget -O docker-compose.yml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jrtashjian/cmangos-docker/master/docker-compose.example.yml
wget -O .env https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jrtashjian/cmangos-docker/master/.env.example

Edit .env — at minimum set CORE_VARIANT (classic, tbc, or wotlk). Other options cover database credentials, separate DB hosts, accounts, and server settings.

Extract client data into ./extracted-data (same as quick start), then:

docker compose up -d

To use a bot-enabled mangosd image, change the image tag in docker-compose.yml (for example :with-playerbot).

Create a .env file next to docker-compose.yml and set ACCOUNTS. When present, the four default seed accounts are removed and replaced with the ones you define:

# Format: username:password[:gmlevel],...
# username: letters and digits only
# gmlevel: 0=PLAYER, 1=MODERATOR, 2=GAMEMASTER, 3=ADMINISTRATOR
ACCOUNTS=admin:changeme:3,player:changeme

Accounts are created or updated each time realmd starts.

Start the database and login server, then open a mangosd console:

docker compose up -d database realmd
docker compose run --rm -e MANGOSD_CONSOLE_ENABLE=1 mangosd

In the console:

account create username password

For more detail, see the official CMaNGOS instructions.

Thanks to @korhaldragonir which this project was heavily inspired by their own.
Thanks to @vishnubob and contributors for the wait-for-it.sh script.
Thanks to CMaNGOS Community.