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Diablo III

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Although this product has been released, it remains under active development - information may change frequently and could be outdated or irrelevant.
Diablo III
Diablo III cover
Developers
Blizzard Entertainment
Release dates
Windows May 15, 2012
macOS (OS X) May 15, 2012
Reception
Metacritic 88
IGDB 83
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Expansion pack, DLC
Microtransactions Player trading
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Bird's-eye view
Controls Point and select
Genres ARPG
Themes Fantasy
Series Diablo
Diablo III on HowLongToBeat
Diablo III on IGDB
Diablo III guide on StrategyWiki
Diablo III on MobyGames
Diablo III on Wikipedia
Diablo
Diablo 1997
Diablo II 2000
Diablo III 2012
Diablo II: Resurrected 2021
Diablo Immortal 2022
Diablo IV 2023

Warnings

This game requires a constant internet connection for all game modes.

Diablo III is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view ARPG game in the Diablo series.

The game continues to receive frequent content, balance, and quality-of-life updates, including live service features like Seasons. In early 2014, Auction House which was advertised prominently on the physical copies of the game was shutdown due to negative player feedback and developer review.[1]

General information

Official expansion website
Official forums
Diablo Wiki - A wiki for everything Diablo related
/r/diablo Subreddit

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Icon overlay.png
Always online (requires a constant internet connection to play)
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Battle.net
Icon overlay.png
Always online (requires a constant internet connection to play)
Battle Chest and Eternal Collection also available.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Always online (requires a constant internet connection to play)
Windows
macOS (OS X)
All versions require Battle.net DRM and a constant internet connection for all game modes.

Version differences

The Battle Chest edition includes the base game and Reaper of Souls.
The Eternal Collection includes the base game, Reaper of Souls and Rise of the Necromancer.

Starter Edition

The Diablo III Starter Edition provides players the ability to try out a free version of Diablo III, with several limitations:

  • Players cannot progress past the Skeleton King, midway through Act I.
  • The level cap is 13 as opposed to 60 (70 in the expansion).
  • Matchmaking is available only with other Starter Edition players, including public matching and private invitations.[2]
  • Global Play is not available. Players attempting to connect to the Starter Edition in a region other than their Battle.net account's home region will receive an Error 12.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Some regions have in-game micro-transactions (not listed below).[3]
Name Notes
Reaper of Souls Available from Battle.net.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Rise of the Necromancer Requires the Reaper of Souls expansion. Available from Battle.net.
Windows
macOS (OS X)

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Diablo III\D3Prefs.txt
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Library/Application Support/Blizzard/Diablo III/D3Prefs.txt
Save games are stored on the Battle.net servers.

Video

Video settings.
Video settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Includes a Letterbox option to force 16:9 resolution regardless of aspect ratio.
Multi-monitor
See the WSGF entry or use Flawless Widescreen or Widescreen Fixer.
Ultra-widescreen
Change display mode to "Windowed (Fullscreen)" in-game.
4K Ultra HD
May require D3Prefs.txt edit. Color blind icons do not scale with resolution and are very small in 4K.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Change display mode to "Windowed (Fullscreen)" in-game.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
64-bit client includes options for multisampling from 2x up to 8x MSAA.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
With the release of update v2.4.3 (which added 64-bit & DirectX 11 support and "Improved support for 60Hz+ monitors"), the game will properly support frame rates in excess of 60 FPS.[4]
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode
Icons to help distinguish between legendary and set items can be toggled on/off.

Input

Audio

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Master, SFX, voice, ambience, music
Surround sound
4.0-7.1, Pro Logic
Subtitles
Available for cinematic and quest dialogues.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Can be toggled in options menu.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
US, EU, and SEA
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Not available outside of Mainland China.
French
German
Italian
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Latin American Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
Console versions only.
LAN play
Online play
4 Co-op

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 80, 1119, 6881-6999
UDP 1119, 6120, 6881-6999
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes State GG3D Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
See Helix Mod: Diablo III.
vorpX
G3D
Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues unresolved

Window Unresponsive

Game client window becomes unresponsive when a dialog box is opened in the background.

Issues fixed

Video Card Not Supported

Unsupported video card error.
Unsupported video card error.
Demo version of Swiftshader, on Intel G41.
Demo version of Swiftshader, on Intel G41.

You may receive the error message:

We have detected that your video card is not supported by Diablo III.

Diablo III will block certain systems running the game if it does not detect a certain spec of video card. However, it is possible to force the game to run on any video card (even if it does not meet the minimum specification of the game).[6]

This fix has been acknowledged by Blizzard, but comes with its own warning from Omrakos:

...if you decide to do this and have terrible performance as expected, please do not contact us reporting it. We know the unsupported cards aren't going to perform well and there's nothing we'll be able to do to remedy it.[7]

Method 1 - Press Escape

Method 1 - Press Escape[citation needed]
  1. Pressing Esc instead of cancel will make one's computer attempt to load the client.
Pressing cancel will load up a list of unsupported video cards on Blizzard's website.

Method 2 - Edit D3Prefs.txt

Method 2 - Edit D3Prefs.txt[citation needed]
  1. Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Diablo III\
  2. Open D3Prefs.txt.
  3. Change HardwareClass "0" to HardwareClass "1"
  4. Change DisableTrilinearFiltering "0" to DisableTrilinearFiltering "1"
  5. Save your changes.

Method 3 - Swiftshader

Method - Swiftshader[citation needed]

Using the program Swiftshader can successfully load the game even on extremely low powered machines. For example, the game can be run on integrated graphics as low powered as the Intel G41, albeit at extremely low frame rate.[8]

High DPI Setting

Disable DPI scaling settings.
Disable DPI scaling settings.

By default, it appears as if Diablo III has a number of issues with high or custom DPI settings in Windows.

This can result in:

  • Mouse cursor not being moveable whilst in fullscreen mode.
  • Mouse being imprecise on the screen.
  • Taskbar showing over the game window.
High DPI Setting fix[9]
  1. Right-click on the Diablo III shortcut (or Diablo III.exe) and go to the 'Compatibility' tab.
  2. Select, 'Disable display scaling on high DPI settings'.

Login Errors

These messages may appear when trying to log in.

Error 12

This means that no license is attached to the Battle.net account, a problem with many users in Asia. Check this thread for more information.

Error 37

This message means that the login servers are at full capacity. Official advice is to try logging in later when the servers are less busy.[10]

Error 37 workaround[11]
  1. Enter password.
  2. press Enter.
  3. Press cancel before anything happens.
  4. Log back in straight away.

Notes

This might be considered an exploit of the way that the client is reporting Error 37 to indicate that servers are too busy. However, this does not seem to have any particular consequences, except that Blizzard's servers will be busy.

Error 75

Error 75 means that Blizzard servers are down. Check Diablo III Server Status page for updates.

Can't Move Mouse In Fullscreen

Disable DPI scaling settings.
Disable DPI scaling settings.

This is most likely caused by high or custom DPI settings in Windows.

Method 1 - Compatibility

Method 1 - Compatibility[9]
  1. Right-click on the Diablo III shortcut (or Diablo III.exe) and go to the 'Compatibility' tab.
  2. Select, 'Disable display scaling on high DPI settings'.

Method 2 - Edit D3Prefs.txt To Windowed

Method - Edit D3Prefs.txt To Windowed[citation needed]
If one is stuck in fullscreen mode, one can change the D3Prefs.txt settings to force a windowed mode.
  1. Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Diablo III\D3Prefs.txt
  2. Make sure that this line is adjusted:
  3. DisplayModeWindowMode "0" to DisplayModeWindowMode "1"

No Diablo III License Attached

Method - No Diablo III License Attached[citation needed]

This error message may appear:

|This Battle.net account does not have a Diablo III License attached to it.
  • A possible fix is to correctly set the region within the game settings, within the Options > Account > Server Region settings.[12]

Overlays

Running programs that put an overlay over Diablo III (such as Mumble and MSI Afterburner) can cause Diablo III to crash. Use these overlays at your own risk.[13]

Problems with Steam overlay

Problems with Steam overlay[citation needed]
  • Add DiabloIII.exe with the + Add a game on the bottom left
  • Right click Diablo III in the library and choose Properties
  • Add -launch to the end of the target.
  • If the game doesn't launch correctly, make sure the Battle.net Launcher application is already running before starting the game from Steam.

Cinematics not playing or are missing from cinematics menu

Cinematics not playing or are missing from cinematics menu[citation needed]

1. Go to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Diablo III\

2. Open D3Prefs.txt.

3. find the PlayedCutscene lines, and edit them to read as follows:

PlayedCutscene0 "15"

PlayedCutscene1 "15"

PlayedCutscene2 "15"

PlayedCutscene3 "15"

4. Save and exit the file, and try again.[14]

Installation Issues

Change Client Language

Update 8 June 2012: Blizzard appear to have restricted client language switching.[15] Errors 81, 82 or 84 displays: "The client does not match the accounts native language. Please, use the game native client." There is no known fix as of yet, as Blizzard controls the language restrictions from their servers.

Language change menu.
Language change menu.

Client language files can be adjusted from the options menu. Once the change is applied, a patch of approximately 3 GB is downloaded. Client language cannot be changed back until this download reaches the 'playable' state, and one re-enters the client to change the language option again.[16]

Available languages are:

  • English (United States)
  • Spanish (Latin American)
  • Korean
  • Chinese (Traditional)
  • German
  • Spanish
  • French
  • Italian
  • Polish

"Updating game files" Issue

Some players are reporting the game getting stuck at installation in the "Updating game files" part.

Method 1 - Disable Anti-Virus Software
Method - Disable Anti-Virus Software[citation needed]
  1. Turn off your anti-virus software and firewall.
  2. Loading the setup file again.
  3. Running the launcher as administrator.
Method 2 - Connect Using Different Network Adapter
Method - Connect Using Different Network Adapter[citation needed]

The Blizzard Agent may be attempting to connect over the wrong network adaptor. The following steps may resolve your issue:

  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Select "View network status and tasks".
  3. Select "Change adapter settings".
  4. Right click on each adapter and select "Disable". Leave your primary adapter (the one that provides your internet connection) enabled. You should now have only one enabled adapter.
  5. Check that you are still connected to the internet.
  6. Go to %PROGRAMDATA% and delete the Battle.net folder (if it exists).
  7. Retry the installer/launcher.
Method 3 - Delete/Modify Agent Files
Method - Delete/Modify Agent Files[citation needed]
  1. Go to %PROGRAMDATA%\Battle.net\Agent\
  2. Delete or rename Agent.exe.
  3. Edit Agent.db.
  4. Change p2penable : true to p2penable : false

Installation Stuck At 10%

If the user has any connections configured in "Dial-up and Virtual Private Network settings" and they're set to "Dial whenever a network connection is not present," the install won't proceed past 10%.[13]

Installation Not Doing Anything

If the installation has yet to do anything you might need to make sure your secondary logon has been enabled. Do so by going through - Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Services, right click Secondary Logon and proceed to enable it by setting the start up type to automatic.

Low frame rate (OS X)

Low Frame Rate[citation needed]
  1. Using settings in the D3Prefs.txt mentioned below one can achieve a reasonable frame rate on e.g. the MacBook Pro Mid 2010 with the Nvidia GeForce 330M.
  2. Open the D3Prefs.txt and set the following to options to 1:
  • DisableTrilinearFiltering
  • HardwareClass

Can't ⌘ + Tab (OS X)

Check that you haven't enabled Caps Lock as that disables +Tab , although +M still functions correctly.

Game freezes after entering the gameworld

Nvidia's Multi-Frame Sampled Anti-Aliasing (MFAA) can cause this issue. MFAA is enabled if you "optimize" the game using Nvidia Geforce Experience.

Disable MFAA

Disable MFAA in Nvidia Control Panel
  1. Open Nvidia Control Panel.
  2. Click "Manage 3D Settings", then "Program Settings".
  3. Select Diablo III from the dropdown menu.
  4. Scroll through the options and set "Multi-Frame Sampled AA (MFAA)" to "Off".
  5. Click "Apply".

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c, 11 DirectX 11 added in Patch 2.4.3.[17]
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
The 32-bit client is still available.[17]
macOS (OS X)

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 7, 8
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 25 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro
Intel HD Graphics 4000
Support for Windows XP and Windows Vista was dropped at the end of 2017. The game no longer runs on these versions after this change.[18] However some legacy versions still exist for these users.
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.13
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 25 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 320M
ATI Radeon HD 4670
Intel HD Graphics 4000
The game does not support FileVault and FileVault 2 on OS X

References