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The direct answer for Wrath Classic
Naxxramas has two fixed raid sizes in Wrath of the Lich King Classic: 10 players and 25 players. Those sizes do not share a lockout. Completing, or becoming saved to, the 25-player version does not prevent the same character from entering the 10-player version during that lockout period.
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Blizzard stated the policy before Wrath Classic launched. In an August 9, 2022 forum post titled “Wrath Classic Feedback and Decisions,” Blizzard forum representative Pazorax wrote: “We’ve decided that lockouts should be shared between Heroic and Normal versions of the raid, but NOT between 10/25-player versions of the raid.”
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- Difficulty: Where a raid offers Normal and Heroic versions, those difficulty choices can share a lockout under the stated policy.
- Raid size: The 10-player and 25-player versions are separate for lockout purposes.
Naxxramas in the cited Wrath Classic launch information is presented as a 10-player or 25-player raid, rather than as a raid with a selectable Heroic difficulty. Therefore, the practical Naxxramas rule is straightforward: one size does not consume the other size’s lockout.
What “separate lockouts” lets you do
Run both sizes in one lockout period
The most common use case is a character that joins a guild’s 25-player Naxxramas run and later joins a 10-player group. Under the Wrath Classic rule, the 25-player run does not block that 10-player run. The reverse is also true: doing 10-player first does not by itself prevent a later 25-player entry.
This is a permission to enter both raid sizes, not a promise that every group will have identical boss availability. Each raid instance still has its own progression state. A group can be affected by bosses already killed in that instance, an existing instance ID, or a character’s saved progress.
Keep progression separate by size
A lockout records more than whether you entered a zone. Blizzard’s general explanation of raid lockouts describes restrictions tied to instance progression and bosses that have already been defeated. In practical terms, you should treat the 10-player and 25-player runs as separate progression tracks, while still checking the exact saved state before joining a group that has already started.
For example, joining a partially cleared 25-player Naxxramas can leave your character subject to that 25-player instance’s defeated-boss state. That does not create a corresponding 10-player lockout. A later 10-player group, however, may have its own saved instance and its own bosses unavailable because of its previous kills.
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How to plan a 10-player and 25-player double run
Use the following process when you want to participate in both versions without confusing an instance save with a shared size lockout.
- Confirm the game version. Make sure you are playing Blizzard’s Wrath of the Lich King Classic ruleset. The answer in this article is not a universal rule for every version of World of Warcraft.
- Confirm the raid size with the group leader. Ask whether the invitation is for Naxxramas 10-player or Naxxramas 25-player. The two sizes are distinct modes, even though they use the same raid name.
- Check whether the group has already killed bosses. Before entering, establish whether the instance is fresh or already progressed. A separate size lockout does not erase the saved progress of the instance you are joining.
- Complete or leave the first size as planned. Your 25-player progression is tracked with the 25-player version, and your 10-player progression is tracked with the 10-player version.
- Arrange the second run during the same lockout period. Once the first run is complete, you can schedule the other size. The first size’s lockout does not automatically reserve the second size.
- Verify the second group’s progression before zoning in. If that group has killed bosses already, ask which encounters are unavailable and whether its instance state is acceptable for your goals.
This procedure avoids the most common mistake: interpreting a saved boss state in one instance as proof that both raid sizes share a lockout.
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During the Wrath Classic beta, players saw behavior that made Naxxramas 10-player and 25-player appear to share a lockout. Blizzard explicitly described that behavior as a bug. The August 2022 policy post said the beta issue was unintended and would be fixed before launch.
The beta behavior therefore should not be used as evidence for the live Wrath Classic rule. Blizzard’s stated launch policy is the controlling reference for this question: Normal and Heroic versions share lockouts where those choices exist, but 10-player and 25-player versions do not.
Lockout, instance ID, and boss progress are not the same thing
Players often use “lockout” to describe several related systems. Separating the terms makes a confusing raid message easier to diagnose.
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Size lockout
This is the rule that determines whether completing one raid size prevents entry to another size. For Wrath Classic Naxxramas, the 10-player and 25-player size lockouts are separate.
Instance progression
This is the record of which bosses have been defeated in a particular raid instance. A character can be eligible for the other raid size and still encounter a partially cleared instance in the size being entered.
Saved instance or instance ID
This identifies the specific progressed raid state to which a character is bound. Joining an already progressed group can matter even when the other raid size remains available. If a group’s state conflicts with what you expected, inspect the saved instance and defeated-boss information rather than assuming the size lockouts were merged.
What the official rule does—and does not—say
| Question | Wrath Classic Naxxramas answer |
|---|---|
| Are 10-player and 25-player the same lockout? | No. Blizzard’s stated policy keeps the two raid sizes separate. |
| Can one character run both sizes in the same lockout period? | Yes, subject to each instance’s own saved progression and boss state. |
| Did the beta ever make them look shared? | Yes. Blizzard identified that behavior as an unintended beta bug. |
| Does a separate size lockout wipe prior boss kills? | No. Saved progression in the instance you join still matters. |
| Does this rule automatically apply to every WoW raid? | No. Raid-lockout systems changed across expansions and differ between official, legacy, private, and custom environments. |
Do not generalize the answer to other versions of WoW
World of Warcraft has used more than one raid-lockout system. Wrath Classic preserves fixed 10-player and 25-player Naxxramas modes, which is why the separate-size answer is clear for that version. Later design changes moved away from fixed 10/25 raid sizes toward flexible group-size systems, so a raid in a later expansion may not expose the same choice or track it the same way.
Current retail legacy content can also present different menus, scaling behavior, or saved-instance rules from Wrath Classic. A private server or custom ruleset may implement its own lockout logic. The fact that a similarly named raid exists in another version does not establish that its 10-player and 25-player behavior matches Wrath Classic.
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When answering the question for another environment, identify three things first: the expansion or server ruleset, whether the raid uses fixed sizes or flexible scaling, and how that ruleset handles prior boss kills and instance IDs. Without those details, “Naxx 10 and 25” is not precise enough to guarantee the Wrath Classic answer.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Troubleshooting an unexpected lockout
If the game tells you that you cannot enter a version you expected to be available, work through these checks in order.
Check the exact version and server
Verify that the character is on official Wrath of the Lich King Classic, not current retail legacy content or a private or custom server. The researched Blizzard statement establishes the official Wrath Classic policy only.
Check the raid size and difficulty shown by the group
Confirm whether the invitation is for 10-player or 25-player Naxxramas. Also check any difficulty label the interface displays. Blizzard’s policy discusses shared Normal/Heroic lockouts where those versions exist, but Naxxramas’s cited Wrath Classic description centers on its two player sizes.
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Ask whether the group has already killed bosses and whether you are being asked to accept a progressed instance. A prior kill in the instance you are joining can explain an unavailable encounter without implying that the other raid size is locked.
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Compare the character’s saved information with the group’s
If your character’s saved instance, the group’s instance ID, and the displayed raid size do not line up, leave the group’s state unresolved until the leader confirms what has been killed. Do not assume that a warning caused by an existing progression save represents a shared 10/25 lockout.
Practical example
Suppose you join a 25-player Naxxramas group on Tuesday and that group defeats several bosses. Later in the same lockout period, a 10-player group invites you to a fresh Naxxramas run. The 25-player save does not, by itself, prevent entry to the 10-player version. The 10-player group’s own progress still determines which encounters are available after you join.
Now reverse the order: you first join a progressed 10-player instance and later receive a 25-player invitation. The result is the same in principle. The 10-player progression does not consume the 25-player size lockout, but the 25-player group’s own instance state must be checked before entry.
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Bottom line for players
For Blizzard’s Wrath of the Lich King Classic ruleset, Naxxramas 10 and Naxxramas 25 do not share a lockout. You can participate in both sizes during one lockout period. Treat each size as its own progression track, verify boss kills before joining a progressed group, and do not carry this conclusion over to later expansions, retail legacy content, private servers, or custom rules without checking their ruleset.
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