Recommended Chat Window Layout

This guide explains the norrath-native recommended chat window setup for raiding.

Design Principles

Social messages stay visible — You never want to miss a tell, guild message, or raid instruction
Your combat is separated — So you can monitor DPS and healing without social noise
Others’ spam is contained — Raid combat spam goes to a dedicated window you can ignore
Loot and alerts catch your eye — Deaths, aggro warnings, and loot in their own space

The 4-Window Layout

Everything you’d want to read and respond to:

Channel	Color	Why Here
Tell	Pink `#ff80ff`	Never miss a /tell
Guild	Green `#00e600`	Guild chat
Group	Blue `#82b4ff`	Group coordination
Raid	Orange `#ffa500`	Raid instructions
RaidSay	Gold `#ffc832`	Raid leader commands
Say	Green `#28f028`	Nearby chat
OOC	Teal `#00c8c8`	Zone chat
Emote	Orange `#ffc864`	Player emotes
Fellowship	Mint `#64ffc8`	Fellowship chat
MOTD	Cyan `#00ffff`	Message of the day
Auction	Yellow `#ffff00`	Trade

Window 1: “Combat” (your personal combat log)

Everything about YOUR character’s actions:

Channel	Color	Why Here
Your damage dealt	Cream `#ffffc8`	Your melee/spell hits
Your spell casts	Yellow `#f0f050`	Casting confirmations
Your crits (melee)	Salmon `#ff6464`	Critical melee strikes
Your crits (spell)	Gold `#ffc832`	Critical spell damage
DoT damage	Purple `#c896ff`	Your damage over time
Spell damage	Yellow `#f0f050`	Direct spell damage
Your heals	Mint `#64ffc8`	Heals you cast
Crit heals	Green `#00ff80`	Critical heals
HoT ticks	Blue `#96c8ff`	Heal over time
Incoming damage	Salmon `#ff6464`	Damage you take
Mob casts on you	Gold `#ffc850`	Incoming spells
Pet combat	Purple `#a078c8`	Pet damage/actions

Window 2: “Spam” (others’ combat — glance occasionally)

Raid combat spam from other players. Dimmed colors so it doesn’t distract:

Channel	Color	Why Here
Others’ damage	Gray-blue `#8296aa`	Other players hitting
Others’ heals	Gray-green `#78968c`	Other players healing
Others’ misses	Dim gray `#64788c`	Misses, fizzles
NPC says	Periwinkle `#c8c8ff`	NPC dialogue
NPC rampage/flurry	Blue `#5a5aff`	Mob special attacks
Faction changes	Muted gold `#b4a064`	Faction hits
System messages	Pink-white `#ffc8c8`	Misc system output

Window 3: “Alerts & Loot” (important notifications)

Things you want to notice but don’t need constant visibility:

Channel	Color	Why Here
Death messages	Red `#ff3232`	Someone died
Low health	BRIGHT RED `#ff0000`	You’re dying
Aggro messages	Alert red `#ff5050`	Aggro warnings
XP/AA gains	Light yellow `#ffff64`	Experience rewards
Loot/money	Gold `#ffdc64`	Loot drops
Advanced loot	Yellow-gold `#ffdc50`	Loot system
Achievements	Gold `#ffc832`	Achievement unlocks
Task updates	Orange `#ffa532`	Quest progress
Skill changes	Light blue `#c8c8ff`	Skill-ups
Random rolls	Light blue `#c8c8ff`	/random results

Applying the Layout

# Preview what would change
make layout --dry-run

# Apply the 4-window layout
make layout

# In-game, type /loadskin to reload the UI

Resolution-Specific Tips

1920x1080 (most common)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Game View                    │
│                                              │
│                                              │
├──────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────┤
│  Social      │  Combat       │ Alerts & Loot │
│  (tells,     │  (your dmg,   │ (death, XP,   │
│   guild,     │   heals,      │  loot, tasks) │
│   group)     │   incoming)   │               │
├──────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────┤
│                    Spam (others' combat)       │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Social: bottom-left, ~400px wide, ~200px tall
Combat: bottom-center, ~500px wide, ~200px tall
Alerts: bottom-right, ~400px wide, ~200px tall
Spam: very bottom strip, full width, ~100px tall (collapsed)

2560x1440

Same layout, scaled proportionally. More room for wider windows.

800x600 (multibox background client)

Use 2 windows only:

Window 0 “Social”: tells, guild, group, raid (essential comms)
Window 1 “Combat”: everything else (compact, scrollback when needed)

Customizing

The layout is applied to the character’s UI_charname_server.ini file in the [ChatManager] section. Each ChannelMapN entry maps a filter ID to a window index (0-3).

You can adjust which channels go to which window by editing the layout in the config or using the in-game right-click menu on each chat window tab.