Tracking

For the hunter ability, see [Tracking]. For the lore on trackers, see Tracker.

The tracking menu since patch 11.0.0 as it appears for a paladin.

All tracking options shown

Tracking is a feature of the interface that enables players to track services, resource nodes, and creatures on the minimap. The "binoculars" icon on the left side of the minimap's header allows the player to choose which types of tracking are enabled. Some forms of tracking are restricted to certain classes and professions.

Forms of tracking

Tracking menu

These options are available from the tracking menu with the default checkbox showing what is available. The rest of the options are not shown by default and will only display after enabling the minimapTrackingShowAll setting which can be enabled again by typing /console minimapTrackingShowAll 1 into the chat. To disable it again, use 0 instead.

Name	Default?	Requirement	Notes
Townsfolk			This dropdown contains the townsfolk options when the setting for all tracking to be shown is enabled
Hunter Tracking		Hunter	This dropdown contains all the creature tracking available to hunters.
Find Fish		Fishing	Learned from  [Weather-Beaten Journal]. Tracks schools of fish.
Find Herbs		Herbalism
Find Minerals		Mining
Find Treasure		Outlaw rogue
Track Pets		Pet battling
Creature tracking			If available, most creature tracking abilities for non-hunters (like [Sense Undead] from paladins) appears here.
Flight Master
Trivial Quests			Tracks quests far below the player's level.
Warband Completed Quests
Points of Interest			Points toward nearby towns and other hubs.
Target			Puts a yellow cross behind the blip for the target.
Focus Target			Puts a thick silver border around the blip for your focus target.
Track Quest POIs			Highlights areas of interest for tracked quests.
Track Digsites		Archaeology
Track Warboards
Townsfolk
Ammunition			Ammo was removed in patch 4.0.1 but the option remained to find vendors for thrown items until they were removed in patch 5.0.4.
Auctioneer
Banker
Barber
Battlemaster
Class Trainer			Removed in patch 6.0.2.
Food & Drink
Innkeeper
Item Upgrade
Mailbox
Profession Trainers
Poison			Removed in patch 5.0.4.
Reagents
Repair
Stable Master
Transmogrifier

Items

These tracking options are available through items.

Name	Requirement	Notes and item(s)
[Ancient Mana] nodes		[Mana Divining Stone].
Gas Cloud tracking	Engineer	Passively enabled while  [Zapthrottle Mote Extractor] is in inventory.
[Infused Ruby] Creatures & Objects		Activated with  [Enchanted Map of Infused Ruby Network] (permanent version) or  [Stolen Map of Infused Ruby Network] (1-day version).

Creature tracking

This table is the consolidated list of every tracking ability for specific creatures and can appear in the Tracking menu. These abilities are usually learned automatically at a certain level for a class or learned from an item.

Type	Name	Requirement	Notes
Beast	[Track Beasts]	Druid	Learned from  [Tome of the Wilds: Track Beasts]. Only functions in [Cat Form].
	[Track Beasts]	Hunter
Demon	[Track Demons]	Hunter
Dragonkin	[Track Dragonkin]	Hunter
Elemental	[Track Elementals]	Hunter
Giant	[Track Giants]	Hunter
Hidden	[Track Hidden]	Hunter	Increases stealth detection and tracks hidden units within detection range.
Humanoid	[Track Humanoids]	Hunter
	[Track Humanoids]	Druid	Only functions in [Cat Form].
Mechanical	[Track Mechanicals]	Hunter	Known innately by Gnome, Goblin, and Mechagnome Hunters. Other races can learn from  [Mecha-Bond Imprint Matrix].
Undead	[Track Undead]	Hunter
	[Sense Undead]	Paladin

The following table contains buffs that are obtained from an item or by other means:

Type	Name	Notes
Beast	[Well Fed]	1 hour buff from  [Tracker Snacks].
Demon	[Detect Demon]	1 hour buff from  [Elixir of Detect Demon]  [Cursed Vision of Sargeras]
Giant	[Tallstalk Mushroom]	1 hour buff from  [Tallstalk Mushroom].
Humanoid	[Well Fed]	1 hour buff from  [Blackened Worg Steak].

Trivia

• During very early alpha, Tracking was intended as a secondary profession.

Gallery

• 

  Since patch 10.0.0 (paladin perspective).
• 

  Patch 10.0.0, all tracking options shown
• 

  The "Hunter Tracking" dropdown from a hunter.
• 

  The tracking menu, prior to patch 10.0.0.

Patch changes

• Patch 11.0.0 (2024-07-23):
  • UI drastically changed. Size increased with larger text and icons.
  • "None" option changed to "Uncheck All" and properly unchecks all options.
  • Added "Warband Completed Quests" option.
  • Renamed "Trivial Quests" to "Low-Level Quests".
    
• Patch 10.0.0 (2022-10-25):
  • Several tracking options have been hidden from the tracking menu. Most of these hidden options are turned on by default.
  • Added a "none" option that deselects all options with a single click.
  • Icon to access tracking options moved next to zone name and changed to a binoculars icon (moved from a magnifying glass icon next to the minimap).
  • Resource tracking options for professions now use their resource node icon instead of their spell icon.
    
• Patch 9.0.5 (2021-03-09): Added "Item Upgrade" option.
  
• Patch 9.0.1 (2020-10-13): Added "Barber" option.
  
• Patch 7.3.5 (2018-01-16):
  • Added "Tracking Warboards" option.
  • Renamed "Hidden Quests" to "Trivial Quests".
    
• Patch 7.2.0 (2017-03-28): Added "Transmogrifier" option.
  
• Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): Renamed "Low Level Quests" to "Hidden Quests".
  
• Patch 6.0.2 (2014-10-14): Removed "Class Trainer" option.
  
• Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Removed "Ammunition" and "Poison" options.
  
• Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12): Players can now track more than one thing at a time.
  
• Patch 3.3.3 (2010-03-23): "If a player selects Track Low Level Quests, the quest objectives will no longer appear dim on the Map, nor will the exclamation points appear dim over NPC heads or on the Mini-Map."
  
• Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): New tracking option: Low Level Quests.
  
• Patch 2.4.3 (2008-07-15): "Fixed an issue where players could have two minimap tracking types active at the same time."
  
• Patch 2.4.2 (2008-05-13): "Mailboxes can now be tracked on the minimap."
  
• Patch 2.3.0 (2007-11-13): "All players now have a tracking bubble on their minimap. From that menu you can select a specific type of vendor or npc to look for or you can select a specific tracking type if your character has tracking. Yes this means that hunters can take all of those tracking buttons off of their action bars."