How the Heck Did My Character End Up in PvP Mode?

Have you ever found yourself being ganked by characters from the other faction when you didn’t even know you had the PvP flag set? Or maybe you were luckier and happened to notice that the PvP icon was set on your character’s portrait for no reason that you knew of? Knowing how your character gets into PvP mode can spell the difference between life and death for your character. Let’s get right to it and see how you can end up in PvP mode.

The ways you can get into PvP mode depend on the kind of server you’re playing on. If your server is a Normal realm, the rules are different than there are for a PvP realm. Let’s start with a Normal realm.

In a Normal Realm

When playing in a Normal realm, your character will end up in PvP mode if:

Your character attacks a player character (PC) of the opposite faction and that PC is already in PvP mode.
You use a beneficial spell or ability on (you help) a PC from your faction who happens to be in PvP mode.
You attack a Non-Player Character (NPC) guard or civilian from the opposing faction.
You enter an enemy capital city.
You enter any one of the battlegrounds.
You enter one of the free-for-all PvP areas (Gurubashi Arena, for example) where you can attack anyone, even if they’re from your own faction.
You put your character into PvP mode intentionally by typing /pvp. Even if you immediately type /pvp again to exit PvP mode, your character will remain in PvP mode for 5 minutes (see the following explanation).

Regardless of how your character ended up in PvP mode, they will remain in that mode until 5 minutes after their last action that could put them into PvP mode. So if your character went into Gurubashi Arena, the PvP flag would remain on the entire time your character is in there, until 5 minutes after they left the arena (unless they did something else to trigger PvP mode).

In a PvP Realm

If your character is in a PvP realm, all the conditions we just talked about apply. Beyond that, there are two more conditions that will raise your character’s PvP flag:

Entering a Contested zone.
Entering an Enemy zone.

Basically in a PvP realm, going anywhere other than Friendly territory or a Sanctuary zone will put your character into PvP mode. After all, this is a PvP realm we’re talking about. So think back, my friend, to that time you discovered that your character was in PvP mode. simply by taking a look at the lists above, you can probably figure out which of the conditions you accidentally triggered to set the flag. Now what you need to do if figure out how to best defend yourself in PvP mode, whether you get there accidentally or on purpose.

PvP Bible Review & Info Center