war3parser

war3parser is a library for parsing and extracting Warcraft III map files. It extracts data from MPQ archives and parses common map formats across classic and Reforged versions — the w3i parser covers the full format ladder v8 → v33 (RoC betas through WC3 2.0).

Workspace layout

crates/
  core/   # war3parser        — pure parsing + shared model (no wasm-bindgen by default)
  cli/    # war3parser-cli    — thin CLI over core
  wasm/   # war3parser-wasm   — thin wasm-bindgen glue over core::model::MapSnapshot

Crate	Depends on	Notes
war3parser (core)	—	pure Rust + optional serde (default); no wasm-bindgen/tsify
war3parser-cli	core + serde	never pulls wasm-bindgen
war3parser-wasm	core + serde-wasm-bindgen	thin parse_map / version; hand-maintained war3parser.d.ts

Core module layout:

crates/core/src/
  archive.rs   # War3MapW3x — HM3W header + embedded MPQ access
  formats/     # per-file parsers: w3i (v8→v33), wts, imp, mmp
  model/       # portable API types: MapSnapshot, War3MapMetadata, images
  reader.rs    # bounds-checked little-endian ByteReader
  error.rs     # crate-wide Error

Shared API types (MapSnapshot, War3ImageData, ImportEntry, StringTableEntry, War3MapHeader, …) live in war3parser::model so CLI and WASM do not redefine DTOs.

Features

• Extract files from MPQ archives (by known name)
• Parse w3i map info across versions 8 → 33 (RoC betas, ROC, TFT, 1.31+, Reforged, WC3 2.0)
• Parse wts string tables (comment lines, \n / \r\n, BOM)
• Parse imp imports, minimap/preview BLP/TGA images
• Handle protected / headerless maps (no HM3W, truncated optional w3i sections, missing listfile)
• WASM bindings + browser playground

Usage

as a library

cargo add war3parser

use war3parser::prelude::War3MapMetadata;

let buffer = std::fs::read("path/to/map.w3x").unwrap();
let mut metadata = War3MapMetadata::parse(&buffer).unwrap();
metadata.resolve_trigger_strings();

// Portable snapshot shared with the WASM API
let snapshot = metadata.snapshot().unwrap();
println!("{:?}", snapshot.map_info.as_ref().map(|i| &i.name));

metadata.save("out").unwrap();
// or: War3MapMetadata::parse_snapshot(&buffer)

as a CLI

cargo install war3parser-cli

$ war3parser-cli help
A extractor and parser for Warcraft 3 map files

Usage: war3parser-cli <COMMAND>

Commands:
  dump-metadata   Dump metadata from a map file [aliases: d]
  extract-file    Extract a file from a MPQ archive and save it [aliases: x]
  extract-images  Extract images with *.tga and *.blp extensions [aliases: i]
  convert-image   Convert a *tga/blp file to png [aliases: c]
  list-files      List files in a MPQ archive [aliases: l]
  help            Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Options:
  -h, --help     Print help
  -V, --version  Print version

as WASM

npm install @wesleyel/war3parser

import init, { parse_map, version } from "@wesleyel/war3parser";

await init();
const meta = parse_map(new Uint8Array(buffer));
console.log(version(), meta?.map_info?.name, meta?.strings?.length);

parse_map returns:

• header — HM3W presence/name/max players
• map_info — full w3i (TRIGSTR-resolved when .wts is present)
• images — minimap/preview as PNG data URLs
• imports — war3map.imp entries
• strings — sorted WTS entries
• files — (listfile) paths when available
• parse_ms — parse duration

get_map_info remains as a compatible alias of parse_map.

Web playground

Live: https://wesleyel.github.io/war3parser/

Local demo (builds WASM first):

just serve-playground
# → http://localhost:5173/

Drop any .w3x / .w3m. Parsing is 100% in-browser; nothing is uploaded.

Static / GitHub Pages build:

just build-playground   # relative base, output: playground/dist-site/
just build-pages        # base=/war3parser/ for GitHub Pages

The playground is Vite + React with a Real World Materials UI. CI deploys it to GitHub Pages on pushes to main (see .github/workflows/pages.yml). Enable Settings → Pages → Source: GitHub Actions once.

w3i version support

The version ladder follows War3Net, the most complete open reference:

Version	Era	Notes
8–15	RoC beta	Legacy layouts (no save count pre-18, no subtitles pre-15)
18	ROC	Campaign background, loading screen index
23–24	early TFT	Fog, sound environment, game data set; random item tables (24)
25	TFT	Global weather
26–27	TFT patches	Trailing marker int (26–27), game build version (27)
28	1.31	Script language (JASS/Lua)
31	Reforged	Graphics modes, game data version, enemy priorities
32–33	WC3 2.0	Camera zoom limits (32: default+max, 33: +min)
*	unknown	Future/gap versions parse with the nearest known layout
*	protected	0xFF optional-section skip after forces; tolerant truncation

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please submit a Pull Request or report an Issue.

License

war3parser is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.