What is the “Access Violation” Error in World of Warcraft: The War Within

Some World of Warcraft players eager to dive into The War Within Season 2 are encountering “ACCESS VIOLATION…The memory could not be written” errors, locking them out of their characters indefinitely. But what is this error, and how do you fix it?

What does “ACESS VIOLATION” mean in World of Warcraft?

In World of Warcraft, the error code “ACCESS VIOLATION – The instruction at _________ references memory at ____________. The memory could not be written”  can be caused by several issues. However, with the release of The War Within Season 2, this error is caused by a bug related to characters entering certain zones from the Legion expansion.

At the time of publishing, characters who enter specific Legion zones will be kicked from the game and hit with the “ACCESS VIOLATION” error. Any character who receives this error won’t be able to log back in — or will be stuck in an endless falling loop before being disconnected. Neither are fun.

The complete list of Zones affected is unknown, but the most commonly reported areas include Argus, The Nighthold, Broken Shore, and Antorus: The Burning Throne. Some players report Dalaran is also affected. Strangely, The Eye raid from The Burning Crusade is likewise affected.

How do you fix the Access Violation error?

Unfortunately, there is currently no solution for characters stuck due to the “ACCESS VIOLATION” error. Since Europe has yet to enter The War Within Season 2, this bug only applies to NA realms. For now.

The “Stuck Character” Blizzard Support service is worth attempting, though players have reported no success on the official World of Warcraft forums so far.

Whether you play on NA or EU, I highly recommend avoiding all Legion zones (plus The Eye) until Blizzard implements an official fix. This includes any Zone with a “World of Warcraft: Legion” loading screen, such as the one above.

For official updates and potential future fixes, keep an eye on the Blizzard Support site and “Blizzard CS” account on X (formerly Twitter).

World of Warcraft and The War Within expansion are available on PC and Mac.