How to Enable Combat Logging in WoW Midnight (/combatlog, 2026)

Your raid leader says "I'll check the logs." Your M+ group says "link logs." Someone in trade chat says "post your parse or shut up." If your first thought is what logs?, nobody ever showed you, because every guide assumes you already know. Enabling combat logging in WoW Midnight takes about 60 seconds, and this guide covers what changed in patch 12.0: the addon shakeup that broke half your UI, the auto-logger addons that still work, and a known healing-data bug worth knowing about before you trust your numbers.

Whether you're progressing on the current raid, pushing keys in the current season's dungeon pool, or just tired of telling your guild "I don't have logs," this is the setup.

What a combat log is

Every time you fight something in WoW, the game can record every event: every ability cast, damage number, heal, buff, death and interrupt, for every player, with millisecond timestamps. That record is your combat log, a text file called WoWCombatLog.txt that WoW writes to your hard drive while you play.

It's the raw data behind every WarcraftLogs parse, DPS ranking, wipe analysis and "why did I die?" answer. Without it, none of those tools work. With it, you can see what actually occurred in a fight, not just what you remember. The catch is that WoW doesn't record it by default. You have to turn it on.

What changed for combat logging in Midnight (patch 12.0)

If you played The War Within and you're back for Midnight, two things matter.

First, the Secret Values shakeup didn't touch combat logs. Patch 12.0's new Secret Values system gutted in-game addons that read live combat data, including WeakAuras for combat, most cooldown trackers and custom proc alerts. The log file WoW writes to disk is completely unaffected. WarcraftLogs, WowCoach and any tool that parses WoWCombatLog.txt work exactly as before.

Second, there's a known healing-data bug. Since Midnight launched, healing events in the advanced combat log have come in lower than the in-game UI shows for some specs, with Mistweaver and Holy Paladin the most reported. DPS and tank data log correctly. Because the data is missing at the source, every parser that reads the file sees it, WCL and WowCoach included. Blizzard hadn't acknowledged it as of April 2026. If your healer numbers look light, it's not your setup, but keep the bug in mind before you trust raw healing parses for HPS rankings this season.

Step 1: Enable Advanced Combat Logging

Flip this setting first so your logs capture everything:

1. Open System menu (Escape → System)
2. Click Network
3. Check the box that says Advanced Combat Logging

The setting persists across sessions, so you set it once. Standard logging records the basics; advanced logging adds positioning data, absorb amounts and other details analysis tools need for accurate results. Every combat log site, WarcraftLogs and WowCoach included, wants it on, and there's no reason to leave it off.

If you prefer a slash command, type this in chat: /console advancedCombatLogging 1 Same result, three fewer clicks.

Step 2: Start recording

This is where most people trip: the setting above doesn't start logging. It only configures the format. To actually write the file, type this in chat:

/combatlog

You'll see the message "Combat logging enabled." From then on, WoW writes every ability, damage event, heal and death to a file on your hard drive in real time.

You have to type /combatlog every time you log in or reload your UI, because WoW doesn't remember that you were logging. It's the single most common reason people think they have logs and don't.

Step 3: Make it automatic

Typing /combatlog every session gets old fast. There are two ways around it.

Option A: A simple macro

Create a macro with this command and put it on your action bar:

/combatlog

Click it once when you log in. If logging is already on, it toggles off, so only click it once. Not glamorous, but it works.

Option B: An auto-logger addon (recommended)

The cleanest fix is an addon that runs /combatlog for you whenever you zone into the right content. Two are actively maintained for Midnight.

AutoCombatLogger is the most established, maintained by Talryn since Cataclysm and updated to 12.0.2 for Midnight, with Voidspire and the Eco-Dome Al'dani / Floodgate dungeons added. You can configure logging per raid name, raid size and difficulty, so you can log Voidspire Mythic but not LFR, or your M+ pushes but not Delves. Settings live under /acl or Interface Options.

RaidLogAuto is a lightweight alternative if all you want is "on when I enter a raid, off when I leave," with no per-difficulty config and no UI to learn.

One catch: these addons toggle /combatlog for you, but they do not flip the Advanced Combat Logging cvar. You still need to do Step 1 once (the System → Network checkbox). After that, the addon handles everything. Advanced enabled once plus AutoCombatLogger is what most serious raiders run in Midnight.

Option C: Skip all of this

The WowCoach Desktop App detects when WoW is running, watches your log folder and uploads your logs automatically when your M+ or raid session ends. You still need combat logging enabled in-game (Option A or B above), but the app removes the whole find-the-file, open-a-website, upload-it routine. More on that below.

Where your combat log file lives

Once logging is on, WoW writes to:

World of Warcraft\_retail_\Logs\WoWCombatLog.txt

On most Windows installs, the full path is:

C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft\_retail_\Logs\WoWCombatLog.txt

The file grows fast. A full raid night can produce a 500MB+ log, and a busy M+ session 100-200MB. It also never resets on its own: WoW appends to the same file until you delete or rename it, so a few weeks of logging can leave you with a multi-gigabyte file. Rename or delete the old one before each raid night to get a clean log. Most upload tools handle large files fine, but there's no reason to carry three weeks of data around.

Classic WoW players: your log is in _classic_\Logs\ or _classic_era_\Logs\ instead of _retail_\Logs\. Same filename, different folder. WowCoach analyzes Retail logs today; Classic uploads aren't supported yet.

What to do with a combat log

You ran a dungeon or raided for the night, and a WoWCombatLog.txt sits on your hard drive. Raw, it's a wall of text, millions of lines of comma-separated data no human should try to read directly. You need a tool to parse it. (Curious what's inside? The combat log basics primer walks through the format line by line.)

Upload to WowCoach

Drag your WoWCombatLog.txt onto the WowCoach upload page and it's parsed in seconds. Every fight in the session is broken out, from boss encounters and trash pulls to M+ runs, with damage and healing breakdowns by player and ability, M+ run timelines pull by pull, and death recaps showing the exact sequence of damage that killed each player, including which defensive cooldowns they had available.

Then you can ask questions in plain English. "Why did we wipe on pull 7?" "What killed the tank?" "Am I using my defensives enough?" The coach reads every event in your log and answers like a raid leader who actually looked at the data, with specific, timestamped feedback rather than "do better on mechanics." (New here? Meet Coach Clutch.)

Upload to WarcraftLogs

WarcraftLogs is the industry standard. Upload through its uploader client and you get detailed breakdowns, parse percentiles and rankings. It's powerful and deep, so if you've never used it, budget some time to learn the interface. (For how the tools compare, see the full breakdown of WarcraftLogs vs WoWAnalyzer vs WowCoach.)

Use the WowCoach Desktop App

This is the option for people who don't want to think about any of this. Download the Desktop App, sign in with Battle.net and play. The app watches your log file in real time and uploads automatically when your M+ key or raid session ends, so reports appear on WowCoach with no manual upload, file hunting or alt-tabbing.

Pro subscribers get live analysis: each boss pull uploads as it ends, so you can check your wipe analysis between pulls instead of waiting until tomorrow.

Raid leaders: once the log is uploaded, you can research any pull by asking your AI assistant, from who died first to which casts got through. See a WoW raid analyzer you can talk to.

Troubleshooting

"I uploaded my log but there's nothing in it." You didn't type /combatlog before pulling. The advanced setting alone doesn't start recording. An auto-logger addon prevents this.

"My log file is huge and upload is slow." Delete or rename WoWCombatLog.txt before each session. A single raid night's log uploads in seconds; three weeks of accumulated data takes longer.

"I can't find the Logs folder." WoW creates it the first time you enable logging, so type /combatlog at least once. If it still isn't there, check where WoW is installed: in the Battle.net launcher, click the gear icon on WoW and choose "Show in Explorer."

"Do I need to log every session?" Only sessions you want to analyze. Most players log raids and M+ keys and skip open-world content. An auto-logger addon handles this, recording only inside instanced content.

What to log in Midnight Season 2

Season 2 opens with the August 18, 2026 reset. In the raids, log The Venomous Abyss, 8 bosses with Normal, Heroic and Mythic all open in week 1, on every difficulty you progress on (see the Season 2 prep guide). The Tidebound Grotto, the one-boss Lair, is quick to log, and its Normal and Heroic loot matches the raid's first bosses.

The Mythic+ Season 2 pool has the 8 dungeons that count for KSM. The 5 Midnight dungeons:

• Altar of Fangs (new in 12.1)
• Murder Row
• Den of Nalorakk
• The Blinding Vale
• Voidscar Arena

The 3 returning legacy dungeons:

• Kings' Rest
• Temple of Sethraliss
• Ruby Life Pools

Skip delves, world quests and queued content (LFR is fine to log, but parses are noisy). AutoCombatLogger lets you whitelist instanced content only, the right setting for almost everyone. Everyone starts Season 2 from zero, the first weeks are where the wipes are, and a pull you don't log is a pull you can't review.

How to enable combat logging: the 30-second version

1. System → Network → Check "Advanced Combat Logging" (one-time)
2. Type /combatlog in chat (every session, or use an auto-logger addon)
3. Upload WoWCombatLog.txt to WowCoach or WarcraftLogs after your session
4. Or install the Desktop App and never think about step 3 again

Two minutes of setup, and your deaths, DPS, missed kicks and unused defensives are all on the record.

Frequently asked questions

Does combat logging affect my FPS? No. WoW is writing a text file to disk, which an SSD handles easily. You won't notice a difference in FPS or latency.

Does combat logging work in Classic WoW? Yes. /combatlog works in Classic, Classic Era and Season of Discovery. The log file sits in the _classic_ or _classic_era_ folder instead of _retail_, and Advanced Combat Logging is in the same Network settings. WowCoach analyzes Retail logs today; Classic uploads aren't supported yet.

Can other players see that I'm logging? No. Combat logging is entirely local, with no indicator or notification. Log freely.

Do I need to stop logging manually? Typing /combatlog again toggles it off, but there's little reason to. Logging ends when you log out, and an auto-logger addon handles start and stop for you.

What's the difference between WoW's combat log and the built-in damage meter? The built-in damage meter (added in 12.0, Options → Gameplay Enhancements → Damage Meter) shows real-time DPS/HPS during combat. The combat log is a raw file on your hard drive containing every event, far more than the meter shows. Tools like WowCoach and WarcraftLogs read it for analysis no in-game display offers: full death recaps, cooldown tracking, rotation analysis and AI-powered insights.

Did the Midnight addon shakeup (Secret Values) break combat logging? No. Secret Values, which broke WeakAuras and most combat-tracking addons, only restricts what addons can read from the live game API. The log file is written by the game itself, so it's unaffected. Every parser that reads WoWCombatLog.txt works as before, and AutoCombatLogger, which only toggles /combatlog, survived the patch unchanged.

Why are my healing numbers lower in the log than in-game? A known Midnight bug leaves some healing events out of the advanced combat log, most reported for Mistweaver and Holy Paladin. DPS and tank data log correctly. It isn't a setup issue: the data is missing at the game-engine level, so every parsing site sees the same gap. Blizzard hadn't acknowledged it as of April 2026. Keep logging, since old logs stay useful once it's fixed, but don't read much into healer HPS rankings until then.

Does AutoCombatLogger turn on Advanced Combat Logging too? No. It only toggles /combatlog as you zone in and out of content. The Advanced Combat Logging cvar is a separate one-time setting (Step 1 above). Set it via the System → Network checkbox or /console advancedCombatLogging 1, install AutoCombatLogger, and you're done.

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Upload your combat logs at wowcoach.gg/upload on WowCoach.gg, or download the Desktop App to skip manual uploads entirely.