WoW:API UnitBuff

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Retrieve info about a certain buff on a certain unit.

name, rank, iconTexture, count, duration, timeLeft =  UnitBuff(unit, buffIndex[, castable]);

In 3.0, the returns will change:

name, rank, icon, count, debuffType, duration, expirationTime, isMine, isStealable = UnitBuff(unit, buffIndex[, castable])

Parameters

Arguments

(unit, buffIndex, showCastable)

unit

String - The unit to query information for

buffIndex

Integer - The index of the buff to retrieve information for. Starts at 1 and goes up indefinitely until there are no more buffs on target.

castable

Boolean - If present and true (1), then only player-castable buffs will be returned; buffIndex still starts at 1.

Returns

name

String - The name of the spell or effect of the buff. This is the name shown in yellow when you mouse over the icon.

rank

String - The rank of the spell or effect that caused the buff. Returns "" if there is no rank.

iconTexture

String - The identifier of (path and filename to) the indicated buff.

count

String - The number of times the buff has been applied to the target.

duration

Number - Full duration of a buff you cast, in seconds; nil if you did not cast this buff.

timeLeft

Number - Time left before a buff expires, in seconds; nil if you did not cast this buff.

Example

local buffs, i = { }, 1;
local buff = UnitBuff("player", i);
while buff do
  buffs[#buffs + 1] = buff;
  i = i + 1;
  buff = UnitBuff("player", i);
end;
if #buffs < 1 then
  buffs = "You have no buffs";
else
  buffs[1] = "You're buffed with: "..buffs[1];
  buffs = table.concat(buffs, ", ");
end;
DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(buffs);

Macro Options:

1. Prints the names of all buffs on the current target:

/run for i=1,40 do local B=UnitBuff("target",i); if B then print(i.."="..B) end end

2. Prints the name, icon texture, and time left for all buffs on the player.

/run for i=1,40 do local n,_,icon,_,_,dur,x,_,_=UnitBuff("player",i);if n then print(i.."="..n..", "..icon..", "..format("%.2f",-1*(GetTime()-x)/60).." minutes left.")end end

History

• Patch 1.9 added castable to the list of parameters.
• Patch 2.0 added name and rank return values.
• Patch 2.1 added duration and timeLeft return values.
• Patch 2.3.2 changed behaviour of castable parameter - spells cast by other players are no longer shown at all when castable is used. Bug or intented change?
• Patch 2.4 (PTR 8089-enGB) changed (again) behaviour of castable parameter - spells cast by other classes are no longer shown at all when castable is used. Tested with druid and priest spells, MacOSX client. Needs to be confirmed.
• Patch 2.4 (Live) has corrected the bug introduced in 2.3.2. The castable parameter correctly filters non-castable buffs once again.
• Patch 3.0 updated the return values.

See also

UnitDebuff

HOWTO: Identify Buffs Using Textures

List of known buff and debuff effects that can be queried