What to expect on patch days?
When eq patches MQ has to be rebuilt. (you also have to patch EQ --- this way you avoid "Version Mismatch" issues)
Once MQ is updated RG can build - we now have an automated system that rebuilds RG as soon as it is updated - which means our previous method of "let's give it a quick test" is no longer there, and sometimes there ends up being another smaller patch later to correct if something got missed - so re-check on patch days if you are having issues.
EQ could change literally anything and it would require the way MQ interacts with that portion of EQ to be completely reworked. It is normally just offsets, sometimes struct changes --- with the large changes eq has been making over the past few months (updates and backend improvements) there are more things than just offset changes that are happening, so it can certainly be a lot of work for the devs.
Curious when Very Vanilla will be updated?
You'll get a web notification (if we have permission), site notification, and email (optional)
Click to watch
MacroQuest for Live servers:
MacroQuest for Test server
EQ patches go like this: (in theory)
2nd* tue/wed = test "real" patch
3rd* wed = live patch
4th* tue/wed = test "true up"
the tue over the wed is a more recent thing (I suspect klanderso has more to do with that, and having time to ensure working stuff before the weekend and upset people - klanderso is pretty awesome)
* holidays subject to cause shifts in days or even week
Test is notorious for being like "oops we forgot the 'dont crash plz' file, gotta patch again", or "woops we added +1 to crashing, we meant -1", so "on paper" it is double the patches, but very frequently ends up being more than double the work (i imagine, I'm not doing the work - I'd love to learn enough at some point to help facilitate doing so, however).
Test also introduces new stuff before it goes to live - over the past couple of years EQ has been making a lot of substantial code changes - not just a "here's a monthly patch" where they adjusted an aoe value or something simple. On top of that, once you get into October/November you start seeing stuff from the expansion going onto the test server, even if that stuff isn't released yet. The good news is that gives the MQ dev(s) more time to implement it, the bad news is that it is more work. Thankless unnoticed (for the most part) work.
MQ itself is open source and by volunteer(s) - RG which builds and distributes that is obviously paid for. When MQ is updated, RG does the best it can to immediately build and make available an updated build. If there is no MQ update for live/test, RG can not provide an mq build for live/test.
Update 2026:
At the end of March 2026 Knightly notified RedGuides about Brainiac, Knightly, and Dannuic no longer supporting or updating live/test. > Knightly's announcement here <
Does this mean no more live/test? > A new collaborative team got a working test build for the next test patch < With a huge warning/caveat "At the same time, there are some signs that new MQ detection methods were added to EverQuest, so please think twice before playing with a valuable account, at least for the first few weeks."
The patchday changes that dbg made in 2026 mean that patchdays are likely going to continue to be a "several day" process for the foreseeable future.
When eq patches MQ has to be rebuilt. (you also have to patch EQ --- this way you avoid "Version Mismatch" issues)
Once MQ is updated RG can build - we now have an automated system that rebuilds RG as soon as it is updated - which means our previous method of "let's give it a quick test" is no longer there, and sometimes there ends up being another smaller patch later to correct if something got missed - so re-check on patch days if you are having issues.
EQ could change literally anything and it would require the way MQ interacts with that portion of EQ to be completely reworked. It is normally just offsets, sometimes struct changes --- with the large changes eq has been making over the past few months (updates and backend improvements) there are more things than just offset changes that are happening, so it can certainly be a lot of work for the devs.
Curious when Very Vanilla will be updated?
You'll get a web notification (if we have permission), site notification, and email (optional)
Click to watch
MacroQuest for Live servers:
MacroQuest for Test server
EQ patches go like this: (in theory)
2nd* tue/wed = test "real" patch
3rd* wed = live patch
4th* tue/wed = test "true up"
the tue over the wed is a more recent thing (I suspect klanderso has more to do with that, and having time to ensure working stuff before the weekend and upset people - klanderso is pretty awesome)
* holidays subject to cause shifts in days or even week
Test is notorious for being like "oops we forgot the 'dont crash plz' file, gotta patch again", or "woops we added +1 to crashing, we meant -1", so "on paper" it is double the patches, but very frequently ends up being more than double the work (i imagine, I'm not doing the work - I'd love to learn enough at some point to help facilitate doing so, however).
Test also introduces new stuff before it goes to live - over the past couple of years EQ has been making a lot of substantial code changes - not just a "here's a monthly patch" where they adjusted an aoe value or something simple. On top of that, once you get into October/November you start seeing stuff from the expansion going onto the test server, even if that stuff isn't released yet. The good news is that gives the MQ dev(s) more time to implement it, the bad news is that it is more work. Thankless unnoticed (for the most part) work.
MQ itself is open source and by volunteer(s) - RG which builds and distributes that is obviously paid for. When MQ is updated, RG does the best it can to immediately build and make available an updated build. If there is no MQ update for live/test, RG can not provide an mq build for live/test.
Update 2026:
At the end of March 2026 Knightly notified RedGuides about Brainiac, Knightly, and Dannuic no longer supporting or updating live/test. > Knightly's announcement here <
Does this mean no more live/test? > A new collaborative team got a working test build for the next test patch < With a huge warning/caveat "At the same time, there are some signs that new MQ detection methods were added to EverQuest, so please think twice before playing with a valuable account, at least for the first few weeks."
The patchday changes that dbg made in 2026 mean that patchdays are likely going to continue to be a "several day" process for the foreseeable future.