The node network

Turn it on

1. When node sign-ups open, the Open Vanilla launcher shows where to switch it on (in game: Esc > Become a Node explains it too).
2. Set your caps: bandwidth (KB/s) and a daily limit (GB). At the daily cap the node pauses until midnight UTC.
3. Tell it how players reach you: let it ask your router (UPnP), or enter the address you forwarded the node port (TCP 3728) to. Behind carrier-grade NAT a home PC can't be a node; a small VPS can.
4. Read what is shared and the rules, then click Turn on my node. It is checked for a few days; the maintainer then approves it and it gets the NODE badge.

Turn it off

One click: TURN OFF. It stops at once, closes the port it opened and stays off. Closing the launcher also stops it. Nothing is relayed while it is off.

Choose how you're listed

Not at all (you still count in the totals), as “Anonymous node”, or with a display name you pick. Change it any time.

Shared

• Only other players' game traffic, end-to-end encrypted between the player's launcher and the realm's host. A node passes sealed bytes along; it can't read chat, names or sign-ins.
• Never Blizzard's game files, your WoW folder, your characters or anything else on your PC. (Seeding, a separate switch, shares only Open Vanilla's own signed downloads.)

Seen

• Players and hosts who connect through a node see the node's IP address, as with seeding a torrent. They never see each other's.
• The node operator sees which addresses connect, which realm id a stream is for, when it starts and ends, and how many bytes flow. Not what is said or done in game. The node writes no logs.
• Open Vanilla sees each node's address (to send players to it), its caps and its counters. The public list never shows addresses.