WoW Events (Frame Events)

This skill documents frame events that the WoW client sends to UI code via OnEvent handlers. It covers setup, payload handling, and a categorized list of events with their payloads.

Source of truth: https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Events Event handling: https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/Handling_events OnEvent handler: https://warcraft.wiki.gg/wiki/UIHANDLER_OnEvent Current as of: Patch 12.0.0 (Retail)

Scope

Retail only (ignore Classic-only events).
Frame events delivered to OnEvent handlers.
Includes payloads where documented.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

Register or handle events (RegisterEvent, RegisterUnitEvent).
Understand event payloads and argument order.
Map events to UI systems (Inventory, Quest, Party, etc.).
Build event-driven addon logic.

How to Use This Skill

Start with the event handling primer below.
Open the reference file that contains the event category you need.
Use the event payload list to unpack ... in your handler.
Cross-check unusual events on their wiki pages if a payload is unclear.

Event Handling Primer

Core APIs

CreateFrame("Frame") creates an event handler frame.
frame:RegisterEvent("EVENT_NAME") subscribes to a specific event.
frame:RegisterUnitEvent("UNIT_EVENT", "unit") filters to units.
frame:SetScript("OnEvent", handler) assigns the handler.
frame:UnregisterEvent("EVENT_NAME") or frame:UnregisterAllEvents() removes subscriptions.

Handler Signature

An OnEvent handler receives:

self - the frame
event - event name string
... - event payload arguments (vary per event)

From the Handling events guide:

The global event and argX variables were removed in patch 4.0.1.
Always unpack payloads from ....

Dispatch Table Pattern

local f = CreateFrame("Frame")
local handlers = {}

function handlers:PLAYER_LOGIN()
    print("Login")
end

function handlers:BAG_UPDATE(bagID)
    print("Bag updated", bagID)
end

f:SetScript("OnEvent", function(self, event, ...)
  local handler = handlers[event]
  if handler then
    handler(handlers, ...)
  end
end)

for name in pairs(handlers) do
    f:RegisterEvent(name)
end

XML Event Handler

<Ui>
  <Frame name="MyEventFrame">
    <Scripts>
      <OnLoad>
        self:RegisterEvent("PLAYER_ENTERING_WORLD")
      </OnLoad>
      <OnEvent>
        print("Event:", event)
      </OnEvent>
    </Scripts>
  </Frame>
</Ui>

Debugging Events

Use /etrace to open the Event Trace window and inspect event traffic.

Reference Files

Event lists are grouped by API system, matching the wiki categories:

wow-api-events