DRIFTWOODXI
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Driftwood

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The same themes the launcher and the in-game add-on windows use. Your pick is remembered in this browser and sent nowhere.

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Get a working client

DriftwoodXI runs on the real FINAL FANTASY XI client, and it has to be on the build Square Enix shipped most recently. The current one is 30260904_1. An older client is turned away at login. This page gets you from wherever you are to a client that works, in four steps. No Square Enix account. No subscription. Nothing to pay.

0. Which one are you?

Find yourself in this list, then start at the step it names.

  • You have never installed FINAL FANTASY XI. Start at step 1.
  • You installed it but have never opened PlayOnline. Start at step 2. A fresh install is always behind.
  • You played here before September and it stopped working. Start at step 2.
  • You are already on 30260904_1. Start at step 3.

Where to read your build number

  • In the launcher. Look at the top bar. A chip reads Client 30260904_1. It shows what your client reported the last time you pressed Play, so it is only true after a launch.
  • In PlayOnline. Open the PlayOnline Viewer and click Check Files on the left. The screen names the FINAL FANTASY XI version, like Ver.30260904_1. You do not have to run the check to read it.

1. Install the game (skip if you already have it)

The client is a free download from Square Enix. It is the full game.

  1. Open Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY XI download page.
  2. Download all five files into the same folder. They are one installer cut into pieces and four of them are useless on their own.
  3. Double-click FFXIFullSetup_US.part1.exe. It unpacks the others into a folder beside them.
  4. Run FFXISetup.exe from that folder. On the component screen tick PlayOnline Viewer and FINAL FANTASY XI (and the expansions, if it lists them separately). Install.
  5. Let it finish. Do not open PlayOnline yet.

The page mentions that a registration code is not included. That is for playing on Square Enix’s own servers. You do not need one for DriftwoodXI, and you never will. The installer does not ask for it.

Unless you changed it, the game lands in C:\Program Files (x86)\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI. Write that down — step 2 needs it.

2. Update the client to 30260904_1

This is the step everybody gets stuck on. There are two routes. Pick one.

Route A — you have a PlayOnline ID and password

  1. Open the PlayOnline Viewer and log in as usual.
  2. Start FINAL FANTASY XI from inside it.
  3. The version check runs before the title screen and downloads the patch.
  4. When it reaches the title screen, close the game. You are done here.

Route B — you do not have one (most people)

Check Files on its own will not update you. It checks the files against the version your client already thinks it is, finds nothing wrong, and stops. You have to give it something to repair first.

  1. Close PlayOnline and the game.
  2. Open C:\Program Files (x86)\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI\ROM\0 in File Explorer.
  3. Find 0.DAT. Rename it to 0.DAT_old. Do not delete it — renaming is reversible, deleting is not. Windows asks for administrator permission because the folder is under Program Files; say yes.
  4. Open the PlayOnline Viewer. Click Check Files on the left.
  5. On the Check Files screen, use the drop-down to pick FINAL FANTASY XI instead of PlayOnline Viewer. Run the check.
  6. It reports the missing file. Choose File Repair (some builds say Start File Repair). Say yes to everything it asks.
  7. Leave it alone until it finishes.

How long: a few minutes if you were only one patch behind. Much longer — possibly an hour or more — if the install has never been patched at all, because then it fetches every patch since the disc. It is downloading, not stuck.

Check that it worked

Go back to Check Files and read the FINAL FANTASY XI version line. It must say Ver.30260904_1. If it still shows an older number, the repair did not run — go through route B again and make sure 0.DAT really was renamed before you pressed Check Files.

Once you are on the new build you can delete 0.DAT_old. Leaving it there costs you a few megabytes and nothing else.

3. Get the DriftwoodXI launcher

The launcher is the only thing you need from us. It installs Ashita, keeps Ashita and all the add-ons matched to the server, and starts the game.

Get the DriftwoodXI launcher

  1. Install it. It installs for you only and does not ask for administrator rights. Windows SmartScreen may warn that the publisher is unknown — More info, then Run anyway.
  2. If you already have it, let it update itself. Take the update when the title bar offers it. You want 0.33.0 or newer; anything older cannot replace Ashita’s own files, which is what fixes blank item names after this patch.
  3. On first run, press Install Ashita for me. Do not download Ashita yourself.
  4. Point it at your game folder if it asks — that is C:\Program Files (x86)\PlayOnline\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XI from step 1.
  5. Create a DriftwoodXI account if you have not, add it in the launcher, and press Play.

4. If Windows Defender eats the game loader

Every so often a Defender definition update decides our game loader is a threat named Trojan:Win32/Bearfoos.A!ml. It is a false positive — Microsoft’s own analysts reviewed the file and found nothing. The !ml means a machine guessed, not that anything matched real malware. The symptom is the game refusing to start, often with the launcher saying the loader was removed.

  1. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Protection history.
  2. Find the Bearfoos entry for driftwood-xiloader.exe.
  3. Choose Restore, then Allow on device.

Both halves matter. The launcher rewrites that file every time you launch, so a file that was restored but not allowed gets taken again on your next Play.

If you would rather not touch Defender, waiting is also fine: Microsoft corrects these within a few days and the launcher puts the loader back by itself.

If it still refuses

What you seeWhat it meansWhat to do
Login fails with "The games data has been updated.", or the launcher says the login server refused the client version.Your client is still on an older build. This is the server turning away an out-of-date client on purpose.Do step 2. Nothing else fixes this.
The game starts, but item names show as item 4940 or come up blank in the DriftwoodXI windows.Ashita is a version older than 4.3.2.0 and reads the new item files at the old positions.Update the launcher (step 3) and launch again. It replaces Ashita’s own files for you.
"Please wait while Windows configures PlayOnline Viewer" appears one to three times every time you start.A leftover registration from the PlayOnline installer makes Windows health-check the product, fail, and repair forever. Harmless, just slow.See the PlayOnline repair loop below.
Nothing happens on Play, and the Launch Log says Failed to locate profileServerPortAddress2!The loader could not recognise your PlayOnline files. Almost always a client that is not actually updated.Do step 2, then try again. If it survives a completed update, post the log in the Discord.
The launcher says Windows Defender removed the game loader, or launching fails right away with no game window.Defender’s automated scanner flags our loader from time to time. It is a false positive.Do step 4.
Verify Game Files reports that a thousand files differ.The file list it compares against was made before a retail patch. Retail rewrites about a thousand files every patch.Ignore it. Only the missing list is worth acting on, and never by deleting DAT files.
PlayOnline asks for a registration code, or an ID and password.That is Square Enix’s own service. It is not us.You never need one to play here. Skip it and use the Check Files route in step 2.

The PlayOnline repair loop

If Windows says it is configuring PlayOnline Viewer every single launch, the 2023 PlayOnline installer left a registration behind that can never finish repairing itself. The game still works; it just costs you twenty seconds a boot. To stop it, open Command Prompt as administrator and run this one line exactly:

reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\WOW6432Node\CLSID\{E697F40A-B701-4F75-A201-635FA69A41B3}\InprocServer32" /v InprocServer32 /f

It removes one leftover value and nothing else. Only installs that came from Square Enix’s own installer have it, which is why this does not happen to everyone.

Still stuck

Ask in the Discord. Bring three things: the build number from your Check Files screen, your launcher version, and what the Launch Log says — that is the panel on the launcher’s home screen, with the News / Log switch set to Log. With those three, this is usually answered in one reply.

Playing on Linux?

Steps 1 and 2 are the same, inside your Wine prefix. Everything after that is different — the Linux guide is the one to read.