AzerothCore

Interact Key for AzerothCore

Overview

A server-side "interact with target" key for AzerothCore (3.3.5a). Approximates retail WoW's interact key without touching client files.

The module adds one chat command, .interact. When invoked, the server looks around the player for the most useful nearby target (lootable corpse, quest giver, vendor, gather node, door, etc.) and triggers the right interaction as if the player had right-clicked it.

Players bind .interact to a key via the in-game macro system, so a single keypress feels like retail's V/F interact key.

About this module

This module was developed collaboratively between Talotan and Claude Code (Anthropic's CLI for Claude). The C++, configuration, documentation, and CI scaffolding were drafted by Claude under iterative direction and testing against a live AzerothCore + Playerbots server. Code, design choices, and final review are the maintainer's responsibility.

Issues and support

If you hit a bug, want a feature, or have a question, please open an issue on this repository in the first instance rather than reaching out elsewhere. Issue templates are provided for bug reports and feature requests.

How to install

1. Clone this repository into your AzerothCore modules/ folder. You should now have mod-interact-key there.
2. Re-run cmake to regenerate the build files.
3. Re-build your worldserver.
4. After building, copy mod_interact_key.conf.dist from configs/modules/ to configs/modules/mod_interact_key.conf in your server's base directory (or just leave the .dist; the server will fall back to defaults).
5. Restart the worldserver.

How players use it

One-time setup, in-game

1. Open the macro UI (/macro or click the chat dropdown → Macros).
2. Create a new macro. Pick any icon. Macro body:

   .interact
   

3. Drag the macro icon onto an action bar slot.
4. Open Key Bindings, find the action bar slot you used, and bind a key — V is unused by default in 3.3.5a and is the retail interact key.

Usage

Press the key.

• Standing next to a vendor: vendor window opens.
• Standing next to a quest giver with ! or ?: quest dialog opens.
• Looking at a dead mob you tagged: loot window opens.
• Standing on a herb/ore/chest: the gather/open animation triggers.
• In front of a door: the door opens.
• Tab-targeted a mob and pressed interact: you start auto-attacking it (if hostile) or open dialog (if friendly).

Target selection rules

The module ranks candidates within range and picks the best one. Lower number = higher priority; distance breaks ties within a priority bucket.

Priority	Target
(Always wins)	Current target, if it's a creature in range and otherwise interactable
1	Lootable corpse you (or your group) tapped
2	Quest giver (flag-based)
3	Service NPC: vendor, trainer, banker, flightmaster, innkeeper, auctioneer, repair, stable, battlemaster, spirit healer/guide, tabard designer
4	Plain gossip NPC
5	Usable GameObject: door, button, chest, binder, chair, goober, spellcaster, meeting stone, mailbox, guard post, barber chair, guild bank, fishing hole
6	Hostile creature (only if TargetHostile = 1)

Targets must be within InteractKey.Range yards AND, by default, within InteractKey.ConeDegrees degrees of the player's facing direction. The current-target rule bypasses the cone check so Tab + interact always works.

Configuration

The full set of options lives in conf/mod_interact_key.conf.dist. Highlights:

Key	Default	Purpose
InteractKey.Enable	1	Master switch
InteractKey.Range	5.5	Search radius in yards
InteractKey.ConeDegrees	180.0	Field-of-view filter; 360 or 0 = omnidirectional
InteractKey.CooldownMs	250	Per-player throttle, prevents key-repeat spam
InteractKey.PreferCurrentTarget	1	Tab-target overrides the search
InteractKey.TargetHostile	0	Whether the auto-search picks hostile mobs
InteractKey.AutoAttackHostile	1	Start auto-attack when the picked target is hostile
InteractKey.PrintFailMessage	1	Tell the player if nothing was nearby
InteractKey.AnnounceTarget	0	Debug echo on every successful interact

After tweaking the config, reload it with .reload config or restart the worldserver.

Build

Drop the module under modules/ next to your other AzerothCore modules and rebuild:

cd build
cmake .. -DSCRIPTS=static -DMODULES=static -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo
make -j$(nproc)
make install

Or, for the Docker-based setup used by this server:

docker compose build ac-worldserver
docker compose up -d ac-worldserver

Known limitations

• No reticle. Without client-side modification we cannot tell what's literally under the player's cursor. The cone filter is the closest approximation — narrow ConeDegrees to ~90 if you want a tighter "what I'm looking at" feel.
• No tradeskill auto-cast on nodes. When a player interacts with an herb/ore GameObject, the standard GameObject::Use path runs, which performs the same checks as a right-click: the skill check still applies. The module won't bypass skill requirements.
• GameObject filtering is type-based, not display-based. Decorative objects of types like GENERIC or SPELL_FOCUS are excluded by design; this is conservative and may occasionally skip a niche interactable. If you find one that should work, add its GameObjectType to IsInteractableGameObjectType() in InteractKey.cpp.
• Range is server-distance. The server's 3D distance check may differ slightly from the client's. If players report "I'm clearly next to it but it says nothing nearby," bump Range to 6.0 or 7.0.

Files

• src/InteractKey.cpp — module logic, command handler, player-script for logout cleanup
• src/interact_key_loader.cpp — script loader glue
• conf/mod_interact_key.conf.dist — config defaults
• CMakeLists.txt — registers the two source files and the config

License

GPL-2.0, matching AzerothCore.