Dungeon XP hotfix: no XP from trivial mobs, then a 13-level gap rule
· ForeverDB
In the November 13 hotfixes Blizzard stopped dungeon mobs from giving any experience when a high-level player made them trivial. After players complained, on November 14 it changed the rule so the XP only stops when the top player is more than 12 levels above the mobs.
Blizzard changed how dungeon experience works, then changed it again a day later after players pushed back. The first change came in the November 13 hotfixes, posted by Kaivax:
Killing enemies in dungeons now awards zero experience to all party members if the level of the enemy is trivial to the level of one or more of the party members. Kaivax, Community Manager
A mob is trivial to you when it has dropped to grey, which happens once you out-level it by enough. Under this rule, if any one person in the group was high enough to grey out a mob, nobody in the group earned XP from killing it. The aim was to stop players from being power-levelled through dungeons by a much higher character.
Why it missed the mark
Dungeons hold a wide spread of mob levels, and tanks and healers often want to be a few levels over a dungeon to make the run smoother. Under the first rule, one slightly over-levelled player could switch off XP for the whole group across much of the instance. Players reported this on the forums and on Reddit through November 14.
One player described a Deadmines run: a level 21 player grouped with a 17, 18, 24 and 26, in a dungeon listed around levels 17 to 26. They say nobody got experience until they reached the ship, where the mobs are higher level than at the start.
Player report, not a Blizzard change or statement. We can't check another player's run in the game files; dungeon XP is worked out on Blizzard's servers.
The November 14 change
On November 14 Kaivax posted that Blizzard had deployed a further hotfix. Instead of switching off XP whenever a mob is trivial to someone, it now only switches off when the highest player is more than 12 levels above the mobs, so 13 levels or more:
Yesterday, we updated dungeon play so that experience granted by an enemy in an instance is nullified if a high level player is in the group and enemy is trivial to that player. For some dungeons, the new restriction missed the mark because of the overall level range of the enemies in the dungeon. With hotfixes that are now live, we’ve just deployed a further change to this restriction, making it so that the XP nullification only kicks in when the high-level player is more than 12 levels above the level of the enemies. Please note that this adjustment will not apply in instances that were already underway when it was deployed (a few minutes ago). Thank you very much! Kaivax, Community Manager
So a tank or healer who is a few levels over a dungeon no longer wipes out everyone's experience. The XP only stops when the top player is 13 or more levels above the enemies being killed. Blizzard notes the new rule won't take effect in a dungeon that was already running when it went live; you'd need to start a fresh instance.
This XP rule is applied on Blizzard's servers, so it isn't something we can read from the client files. Both quotes above are Blizzard's own words.
Sources
- Player-Level Dungeon XP Adjustment - November 14 (Kaivax)
- WoW: Forever Hotfixes - November 13, 2026 (Kaivax)
- Wowhead: Dungeon Mobs Now Grant Zero Experience When Highest Player is 13 Levels Above the Creature
- Wowhead: Dungeon Mobs Grant Zero Experience if Trivial to Anyone in Party
- r/wowforever: Dungeon Exp Hotfix (player report)