Stan's Launcher — User Guide

1. Installation & First Setup

System Requirements

Windows 10 or Windows 11 (64-bit)
Diablo II: Resurrected installed via Battle.net
Administrator privileges — the launcher prompts for these automatically on startup

Installing the Launcher

Download the latest StanLauncher release from stanslauncher.com/downloads and extract the ZIP to a folder of your choice, for example C:\StanLauncher.
Double-click StanLauncher.exe. Windows may show a SmartScreen warning — click More info then Run anyway.
A UAC prompt will appear requesting administrator privileges. Click Yes. Admin rights are required for D2R process management.
On first launch the license activation dialog will appear. See Section 2.

Note: Do not move or rename the _internal folder next to StanLauncher.exe. It contains scripts and tools the launcher depends on at runtime.

Antivirus / Windows Security Exclusion

If Windows Security blocks the launcher or its scripts with a WinError 4551 message, add the launcher folder as an exclusion:

Open Windows Security from the Start menu.
Go to Virus & Threat Protection → Manage Settings.
Scroll to Exclusions and click Add or remove exclusions.
Click Add an exclusion → Folder and select your StanLauncher folder.
Restart the launcher.

Tip: Adding the folder as an exclusion covers all files inside it including the _internal subfolder, so you only need to do this once.

2. License Activation

A valid license key is required to use StanLauncher. The license is tied to your hardware and validated automatically once per week in the background.

Activating for the First Time

When the License Required dialog appears, click Buy Now to open the purchase page in your browser.
Complete the purchase and copy the license key you receive.
Paste the key into the License Key field in the dialog.
Click Validate. The launcher contacts the server to verify your key.
On success the main launcher window opens automatically.

Tip: Your license is cached locally after the first successful validation. You will not need to re-enter it unless you change computers or reinstall Windows.

Weekly Validation

The launcher re-validates silently once every 7 days. An internet connection is required. If the check fails (e.g. no internet), the cached result allows the launcher to run for up to 7 days before requiring a fresh check.

3. Accounts & Groups

Adding a New Account

Click Add Account in the account management panel.
Enter a Nickname — a label for your own reference only.
Enter the Battle.net email address and password for the account.
Click Save. The account appears in the list on the left.

Note: Credentials are stored encrypted in a local database. Never share your accounts.db file with anyone.

Launching Accounts

Select one or more accounts using the checkboxes in the account list.
Click Launch Accounts. Each account opens a separate D2R window.
The launcher waits for each window to fully load before moving to the next.

Tip: Use Select All to quickly check or uncheck every account at once.

Launch Delay

Some PCs can't handle every account launching back-to-back. The Launch delay slider (below the buttons) inserts a pause between each account launch. Leave it at off (0) for the fastest launching, or raise it a few seconds if accounts fail to open or Battle.net struggles when they start all at once. The setting is saved between sessions.

Reordering Accounts

Click and drag the ≡ handle on the right side of any account row to reorder it. The order is saved automatically.

NG Toggle

Each account row has an NG switch. When enabled, that account's D2R window will be controlled by the active joiner or creator script. Disable NG on any account you want the scripts to ignore.

Health Indicator

Each account row displays a small coloured dot that updates every 5 seconds.

Grey — account has not been launched this session.
Green — D2R window for this account is running.
Red — D2R window was launched but is no longer detected (crashed or closed).

Account Groups

Groups let you organise accounts into named sets — for example a Baal team or a trade team — and filter the account list to show only one group at a time.

Click Manage Groups in the account management panel.
Type a group name and click Add to create it.
Tick the accounts you want in each group. Changes apply immediately.
Use the dropdown in the Accounts header bar to switch between groups. Selecting All shows every account.

Tip: The last selected group is remembered between sessions so the launcher opens on the same view each time.

Tip: An account can belong to multiple groups — it will appear under each one.

4. Game Panel

The right panel is divided into three cards — Game Setup, Mode, and Difficulty. The ⚙ settings button sits in the top-right corner of the panel header.

Game Setup Card

Enter the game name and password here. These are passed to the scripts when they run. The game name supports a numeric suffix — for example baal-1 — and the scripts automatically increment just the number on each new game rather than retyping the full name.

Mode Card

Use the Creator / Joiner segmented button to select which script to run, then click ▶ Start Script to launch it. The script does not start automatically on launch — you must click Start Script after entering a game name.

Creator — automates creating a new game from the lobby.
Joiner — automates joining a game from the lobby.

Difficulty Card

Sets which difficulty the creator script selects when making a new game.

Set the dropdown to Normal, Nightmare, or Hell.
Auto-Select ON — the script clicks the difficulty button every time it creates a game.
Auto-Select OFF — the difficulty click is skipped and D2R uses whatever was last selected in-game.

5. Settings

Click the ⚙ icon in the top-right of the Game Management header to open the settings window. It has three tabs.

Game Tab

Contains the D2R executable path. The launcher defaults to the standard Battle.net install location. If you installed D2R elsewhere, click Browse and select your D2R.exe.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Battle.net\Games\Diablo II Resurrected\D2R.exe

Keybinds Tab

Shows all six script hotkeys with their current assignments. Click Set next to any action, then press the key you want. Changes save and apply immediately.

Display Tab

Appearance — Dark, Light, or System. Changes apply instantly.
Rename Windows — renames each D2R window title with the account nickname for easy identification.
Crash Guard — automatically relaunches a D2R instance if it crashes or closes unexpectedly.

6. Joiner & Creator Scripts

Starting the Script

Enter a game name in the Game Setup card, select your mode with the Creator / Joiner toggle, then click ▶ Start Script. The script runs in the background and responds to hotkeys on any D2R window launched through StanLauncher.

Game Creator

Press the Create Game key (default F10) on a D2R window. The script clicks through the create game dialog, selects difficulty if Auto-Select is on, types the game name and password, and confirms.

Game Joiner

Works at any window size — windowed, windowed fullscreen, or maximized. The script automatically detects the window dimensions and adjusts coordinates accordingly. Press the Join Game key (default F11) while on the lobby screen to join the game specified in the launcher.

New Game

Press the New Game key (default F9) while inside a D2R game to exit and immediately create the next game. The game name number suffix is incremented automatically.

Cancelling a Script Mid-Run

Press the Cancel key (default Numpad7) at any time to stop the current script. It interrupts the active loop and sends Escape to all D2R windows.

7. Extract Game Files (Faster Loading)

Diablo II: Resurrected normally keeps its game data in a single compressed archive and unpacks it every time you enter an area or take a portal. This feature extracts that data into loose files once, so the game reads it directly — noticeably cutting zone and portal load times, which adds up fast when you're rushing games across several accounts.

Before you start: you need a Battle.net install of D2R and about 45 GB of free space on the drive D2R is installed on. Current Steam installs use a newer storage format this feature can't read — see the note at the end of this section.

Running the Extraction

Click Extract Game Files (fast load) near the bottom of the account panel.
Confirm when prompted. The launcher checks your install and free space first.
A progress window shows the file count and size climbing. Extraction usually takes 15–45 minutes depending on your drive, and runs in the background — you can keep using the rest of the launcher while it works.
When it finishes you're done. -direct -txt is added to your launches automatically so the game uses the extracted files — you don't need to touch any launch flags yourself.

Tip: This only writes new files alongside your existing game — it never modifies or deletes the original data, and it can be fully undone at any time.

Tip: Add your D2R install folder to your Windows Security exclusions (Section 1) before extracting. Otherwise Windows scans all 45 GB of new files as the game reads them, which cancels out much of the speed-up.

After a D2R Patch — Re-Extract

Whenever Blizzard patches D2R, the extracted files no longer match the updated game and need refreshing, or the game can misbehave. The launcher manages this for you:

Once extracted, the button changes to Game files extracted — Update / Undo.
After a patch it detects the mismatch, changes to Game updated — Re-extract / Undo, and stops adding -direct -txt until you refresh — so a patched game never runs on stale files.
Click the button and choose Update to re-extract with the new data.

Undoing the Extraction

Click the button and choose Undo to delete the extracted files and return to normal loading. Your original game is untouched, so this is always safe — use it if you're low on disk space or just want D2R's default behaviour back.

Steam users: current Steam builds of D2R use a self-contained storage format this feature can't read, and the launcher will tell you if it detects one. If you're on Steam and want faster loads, the standalone D2RExtractor tool supports that format.

8. Discord Integration

Control the joiner/creator scripts remotely from a Discord channel using slash commands — useful for running several machines together (one machine creates games while others join), or simply controlling the launcher without alt-tabbing back to it.

Creating a Discord Bot

Go to discord.com/developers/applications and click New Application.
Open the Bot tab, click Reset Token (or Copy if one already exists) and save the token somewhere safe — you'll paste it into StanLauncher in a moment.
Still on the Bot tab, make sure the bot is not restricted from being added to servers.
Open the OAuth2 → URL Generator tab, tick the bot and applications.commands scopes, then under Bot Permissions tick Send Messages and Use Slash Commands.
Copy the generated URL, open it in your browser, and invite the bot to your Discord server.

Getting Your Channel ID

In Discord, open User Settings → Advanced and enable Developer Mode.
Right-click the channel you want StanLauncher to listen in and choose Copy Channel ID.

Connecting the Bot in StanLauncher

Click the ⚙ settings icon and open the Discord tab.
Toggle Enable Discord Bot on.
Paste your Bot Token and Channel ID into the matching fields.
Click Save & Reconnect. The status label below the fields will read Connected once the bot logs in successfully.

Tip: Slash commands only work inside the exact channel you set as the Channel ID. Running a command in any other channel returns "Wrong channel."

Machine Role

Set this per machine, in the same Discord tab, using the Host / Joiner / Both switch. This matters most when several machines share the same bot and channel:

Host — the first account in this machine's list creates the game; the rest of this machine's accounts join it.
Joiner — every account on this machine joins the game instead of creating it. Use this on machines that should follow along behind a separate Host machine.
Both — for a single-machine setup: the first account creates, the rest join, all on the same PC, same as Host.

Slash Commands

Command	Arguments	What it does
`/start`	—	Opens a popup form for Game Name, Password, and Active accounts. Restarts the script fresh and creates (Host) or joins (Joiner) that game on every active account. See Active Accounts below.
`/new`	game, password, fillers (all optional)	Exits the current game and immediately starts the next one. Enter a game name to switch to a new name, or leave it blank to keep the current name and just bump its number. Enter a password only if it's changing — leave it blank to keep the current one. Use fillers to change how many accounts play the next game. Host accounts create the next game; Joiner accounts follow into it.
`/join`	game (required), password	Joins the named game directly, without exiting first.
`/create`	game (required), password	Creates the named game directly, without exiting first.
`/exit`	—	Exits the current game to the lobby on every NG-enabled account.
`/follow`	—	Leaves the current game and joins whatever game the Host is currently in. Intended for Joiner machines.
`/cancel`	—	Interrupts whatever script action is currently in progress.
`/reset`	—	Closes any open in-game menus and exits every NG-enabled account to the lobby. A quick way to get everything back to a known state.

Tip: Command replies are ephemeral — only the person who ran the command sees the confirmation message in Discord. Everyone else in the channel won't see it.

Note: The per-account NG switch (Section 3) applies to Discord commands exactly like it does to local hotkeys. Accounts with NG disabled are ignored by every slash command.

Active Accounts (Fillers)

Both /start and /new let you control how many of your accounts play the next game — handy when you don't want every account in every run. For example, drop down to two accounts for a quick boss kill, then bring them all back for the next farm.

On /start, use the Active accounts field in the popup form. On /new, use the fillers argument.
Enter a number to set how many accounts stay in play. The launcher keeps that many — counting from the top of your account list — and parks the rest at the lobby: they leave the current game but stay logged in and ready.
Raise the number again later and the parked accounts rejoin automatically on the next game. You never have to relaunch them.
Leave the field blank (or set it to 0) to keep the current number in play unchanged.

The command's reply tells you exactly what happened — for example ✓ Done [4 active, dropped 2]. If an account couldn't be parked in time (still loading or mid-action), the reply flags it by name so you know to check on it.

Tip: A parked account shows an [L] tag at the end of its D2R window title — that simply means "waiting at the lobby." It disappears the moment the account rejoins a game.

9. Auto-Updates

StanLauncher can check for and install updates automatically.

Checking for Updates

Click Check for Updates in the account management panel.
The launcher contacts the server and compares the latest release date to your build date.
If a newer version is available, a dialog will ask if you want to download and install it.
Click Yes. A progress bar fills as the update downloads.
Once complete, the launcher exits, installs the update, and relaunches automatically.

Tip: You do not need to uninstall or manually replace any files. The updater handles everything including the _internal folder.

Note: updater.exe must be present in the same folder as StanLauncher.exe for automatic restart to work. It is included in all release zips.

10. Keybind Reference

Action	Default Key	Description
Create Game	F10	Creates a new game on the selected window
New Game	F9	Exits current game and creates the next one
Join Game	Numpad9	Joins the game specified in the launcher (from lobby)
Exit Game	Numpad8	Exits the current game to the lobby
Leave & Follow	F11	Leaves current game and joins the lead account's game
Cancel	Numpad7	Stops the current script and sends Escape to all windows
Reset / Next Game	Numpad6	Closes open in-game menus and exits every window to the lobby

Tip: These are the defaults. All keybinds can be changed in Settings → Keybinds tab. Changes apply immediately without restarting the script.

Note: Avoid assigning keys that D2R itself uses for skills or menu actions. Conflicts cause both the game and the script to respond to the same keypress.

11. Troubleshooting & Support

Can't Log In — Battle.net Captcha

Battle.net occasionally requires a sliding puzzle or captcha, especially when launching multiple accounts quickly. The launcher cannot solve this automatically.

Watch for a Battle.net window stopped on a puzzle or captcha screen.
Solve it manually.
The login will continue automatically once solved.

Tip: If this happens frequently, try launching accounts one at a time, raise the Launch delay (Section 3), or log the affected account in manually through Battle.net first.

Launcher Won't Open / Crashes on Startup

Most commonly caused by leftover D2R.exe processes from a previous session.

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
Click the Details tab.
Find all D2R.exe entries, select each, and click End Task.
Repeat until none remain, then relaunch StanLauncher.exe.

Note: Only end D2R.exe. Do not end Battle.net.exe or Agent.exe.

Scripts Blocked — WinError 4551

Windows Application Control is blocking the internal scripts. Add the launcher folder as a Windows Security exclusion as described in Section 1, then restart the launcher.

Script Does Nothing When Hotkey Pressed

Make sure you clicked ▶ Start Script and entered a game name first.
Make sure D2R is fully loaded to character select or the lobby before pressing any script keys.
D2R windows must have been launched through StanLauncher. Manually opened windows are not recognised by the scripts.
If you closed and reopened a D2R window manually, close it and relaunch it through the launcher.

Wrong Difficulty Selected

Check that the Difficulty dropdown in the right panel is set correctly.
Make sure Auto-Select is ON. If it is OFF the difficulty click is intentionally skipped.

Extract Game Files Won't Run, or Loads Aren't Faster

The feature works with Battle.net installs only. On a current Steam install it will tell you so — use the standalone D2RExtractor tool instead.
Make sure you have about 45 GB free on the drive D2R is installed on.
If loads don't feel faster, confirm the extraction actually finished — the button should read Game files extracted — Update / Undo. The very first launch afterwards reads the new files fresh, so the speed-up is most noticeable from the second launch onward.
Add your D2R folder to Windows Security exclusions (Section 1). Real-time scanning of the extracted files cancels out much of the gain.
After any D2R patch, re-extract (the button will prompt you) — the game won't use the extracted files while they're out of date.

Settings Window Doesn't Appear

The window may have opened behind the main window. Look in the taskbar for a second launcher entry, or press Alt+Tab to bring it to the front.

Health Dot Stays Grey After Launching

The dot updates every 5 seconds and checks for a D2R window matching the account's title tag. If rename windows is disabled, the title tag may not be present and the dot will stay grey even when D2R is running. Enable Rename Windows in Settings → Display for accurate health indicators.

UAC Prompt on Every Launch

This is expected behaviour. StanLauncher requires administrator privileges to manage D2R processes. Click Yes each time.

License Validation Failed

Check that your internet connection is active.
If you recently changed computers or reinstalled Windows, your hardware ID has changed. Contact your distributor with your license key to transfer it to the new machine.
If validation keeps failing with an active connection, restart your router and try again.

Discord Bot Status Stuck on "Error" or "Disabled"

Make sure both Bot Token and Channel ID fields are filled in, then click Save & Reconnect again.
Double-check the token was copied correctly from the Discord Developer Portal's Bot tab — if you ever click Reset Token there, the old token stops working immediately and the new one must be re-pasted into StanLauncher.
Confirm the bot was actually invited to your server via the OAuth2 URL Generator step — a token alone does not add the bot to a server.

Slash Commands Don't Show Up in Discord

Discord can take a few minutes to register new slash commands after the bot first connects. If they still don't appear after several minutes, toggle Enable Discord Bot off and back on, or remove and re-invite the bot to the server.

Discord Command Says "The application did not respond"

This means the launcher was busy and didn't answer Discord in time — most often because a machine was mid-action (parking accounts, restarting the script) when the command arrived. Wait a couple of seconds and run the command again. If it happens constantly, make sure the launcher isn't stuck on a Battle.net captcha or a frozen D2R window.

Discord Command Replies "Wrong channel."

The command was run in a different channel than the one saved in Settings → Discord → Channel ID. Re-copy the Channel ID from the correct channel (right-click it → Copy Channel ID) and paste it into the Channel ID field, then Save & Reconnect.

A Parked (Filler) Account Won't Rejoin

Raise the Active accounts / fillers number and run /new again — parked accounts rejoin on the next game, not instantly.
Move parked accounts only with the launcher's commands. If you manually pull a parked account into a game yourself, its lobby status can get out of sync until the next command.
If the reply flagged an account as "couldn't park," that window was busy at the time — check it isn't stuck on a captcha or a loading screen, then try again.

Update Downloads but Doesn't Restart

Make sure updater.exe is present in the same folder as StanLauncher.exe. If it is missing, download the latest full release zip from stanslauncher.com/downloads and extract it fresh.