Warcraft III Selection Limit

wc3_selection_limit defaults to 24 (Reforged-style). Set it to exactly 12 for classic mode; any other value (for example 18) falls back to 24 and G_SelectionLimit logs one stderr warning per distinct unsupported value, since only 12 and 24 have multiselect layouts. Warcraft gameplay owns the authoritative selection cap, not the generic client. WC3 selection buffers support 24, while the generic client supports 64.

The regular G_UpdateClientSelections pass removes excess selected units when the limit is lowered, emits deselection events, and synchronizes the trimmed selection/portrait/commands to the client. The trim keeps the units that sort first under G_CompareSelectionOrder (priority, level, rawcode), so lowering 24 to 12 with a Hero and 23 escorts selected keeps the Hero rather than the lowest edict indices. Direct G_SelectEntity insertion also enforces the cap. Selection changes already in progress are validated by the server.

cl_selection_limit is a separate generic client input setting and defaults to 24 in the Warcraft configuration. For 12-unit local box selection (rather than the server rejecting excess members), also set cl_selection_limit 12. Restoring 24 similarly requires cl_selection_limit 24 if you changed it. Do not bind generic client code to Warcraft-specific CVars; the server remains authoritative even if these settings differ. An existing user config can override shipped defaults.

Marquee selection gathers and sends up to 63 candidates to the server. Snapshot EF_UNIT marks gameplay units, while recipient-relative EF_ALLIED distinguishes allies from passive neutrals. R_EntitiesInRect returns player-owned units first, then allied units, then other units, followed by scene props and structures. Entity flags are 32-bit on protocol 18 so these markers survive the snapshot. This ordering keeps early map entities and unrelated units from crowding the player's force out of the bounded candidate list, while still allowing hostile-unit and structures-only selection. The server filters every candidate for visibility, eligibility, and control before applying the configured limit; the client prediction remains capped by cl_selection_limit until authoritative reconciliation. The 63-candidate cap leaves one of the command parser's 64 tokens for the select command name. If more than 63 player-owned or allied units overlap the marquee, the candidate cap still applies.

Warcraft III Reforged supports selecting up to 24 units starting with patch 3.0.0. The classic 12-unit option is retained for compatibility.

At 1–12 selected units, the multiselect panel retains the original 6×2 layout. At 13–24, it uses an OpenRealm 8×3 compact grid. This is not a claim of retail-exact Reforged geometry. Portrait hit tests use the same frame rect and offsets as drawing. Visual inspection at 640×480 is required.

Manual checks: box-select 12/13/18/24/25 units; validate cap, 8×3 icons, click targets, bars and subgroup highlight; use Tab, Shift-click, double-click collapse, group assign/recall and movement/attack orders. Change wc3_selection_limit from 24 to 12 while 24 units are selected and verify trims/events/HUD/commands; repeat with cl_selection_limit 12. Verify map reload, 640×480 and pre-existing user configs.