WoW raid attendance tracker that counts the bench
A raid attendance tracker should credit the raider who showed up and sat on the bench. The rules that keep it fair, and how to track it without a spreadsheet.
In this post
A fair raid attendance tracker counts four things: who raided, who sat on the bench, who gave notice, and who said yes and never came. The bench is the one most trackers get wrong. If a raider signed up and you didn’t seat them, they did their part, and the tracker should credit them.
- Write down the bench rule and pin it where raiders will see it
- Post one signup sheet per raid night, with a start time
- Ask raiders to sign up with the character name they will play
- Post the roster before the raid, so the bench is on record
- Make sure at least one raider records the raid with the addon
- Upload the night after the raid (a /reload or logging out saves it)
- Read the attendance page weekly, not only when loot gets tense
- Talk to a raider privately before their rate becomes a public problem
What should a raid attendance tracker count?
Raided, benched, excused and no-show. A single “present” tick throws away the difference between them. A raider who sat on the bench, a raider who told you on Tuesday they were away, and a raider who said yes and vanished all look the same on a sheet that only marks who was in the raid.
| State | What it means | Fair weight |
|---|---|---|
| Raided | In the raid group | Credit |
| Benched | Signed up, available, not seated | Credit |
| Excused | Gave notice before the start | Not credited, not held against them |
| No-show | Signed up with a role, never appeared | Against |
A fifth case is the unexplained absence: someone on the team who didn’t sign up and didn’t come. That isn’t a broken promise, but it isn’t attendance either.
Why should the bench count as attendance?
Because the bench is a favour to the raid. The raider turned up, stayed available and let the comp work. Treat a benched night as a missed night and the raiders you most rely on learn not to offer, since being helpful costs them standing.
This matters even more in WoW Forever. The first raids, on 9 December, are three different sizes: Barrow Deeps for 10, Hyjal Summit for 20, and Onyxia’s Lair for 40, per Wowhead’s raids hub. A guild with 25 regulars will bench people every week in the 20-player raid, and the same people will be needed in the 40. The rule you set for the bench decides whether they keep signing up for both.
In the table above, Veylith raided 7 of 10 nights and sat on the bench for 2 more. Counted the old way, that is 70%. With the bench credited, it is 90%, which is the honest picture of someone who was ready on 9 nights out of 10.
What counts as benched in GuildPro?
Everyone who pressed Bench on the signup sheet, plus everyone who said yes or late and wasn’t seated, on the roster you post from the comp builder. If they then didn’t raid, the night counts in their favour.
That second half is the important one. A raider doesn’t have to press Bench to be credited. If they signed up as a healer and you had enough healers, they’re on the bench automatically when you post the roster. The comp builder names everyone on the bench before you post, so you can check the list.
Two things follow from how it works:
- Post the roster. The bench is worked out when you post from the comp builder. A raid with a sheet but no posted roster has no bench on record.
- The bench is credited, not counted as raided. The attendance page keeps a separate Benched column, and the rate counts raided plus benched.
The full rules are on the attendance docs page, and the comp builder side is on build the raid comp.
What is the difference between excused and a no-show?
Notice. A raider who presses Can’t make it or Late before the start is excused. A raider who signed up with a role and never appeared is a no-show. An excused night isn’t credited, but it isn’t held against them either.
In GuildPro, notice is any of these, given before the start time:
- Can’t make it or Late on the signup sheet
- I can’t make it or Request a swap on the posted roster
A streak survives an excused night. A no-show or an unexplained absence ends it.
Tentative on its own isn’t counted as signed, excused or a no-show. If your guild leans on tentative, say in your signup rules what you expect it to mean. Our raid signup rules post has a template for that.
How do you track raid attendance without a spreadsheet?
Let the signup sheet say who promised, let the addon say who was there, and compare the two automatically. That is the whole job a spreadsheet was doing, minus the hour of typing.
In GuildPro it runs like this:
- Raiders answer the signup sheet in Discord.
- You build the comp and post the roster. The bench is set here.
- During the raid, the GuildPro addon records who is in the group at every boss pull. On Forever it uses the game’s own encounter signals.
- After the raid, the companion app uploads the night. GuildPro ties it to the signup sheet that starts within 12 hours of it, and closes the sheet.
- The Attendance page updates, with one row per person.
Characters claimed by the same account fold into one row, so a night on an alt still counts. The rate only counts raids since a person first appeared, so a new recruit who has made all 4 raids since joining is at 100%, not 40%.
To post the numbers in Discord, run /attendance days:30. It lists the top 15
raiders by nights attended, with a link to the full page.
How should attendance feed into loot?
As one input, written down before the raid, not decided after an argument. Many guilds use attendance as a tie-breaker or a minimum before someone can win a contested item. Whatever you choose, credit the bench in it, or you are paying the raiders who sit out with worse loot odds.
GuildPro records attendance and loot. It doesn’t hand out items or run a loot system, so it works with whatever method your guild picks. For the trade-offs between methods, read loot council vs DKP.
What can make attendance wrong?
Mismatched character names, raids with no sheet, and nobody recording. These are the three to watch in the first weeks.
| Problem | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Raider signs up under a different name than in game | They can show as a no-show | Ask raiders to claim their characters, so they pick instead of typing |
| No sheet within 12 hours of the raid | The raid still counts, but no-shows can’t be worked out | Post a sheet for every raid night |
| Two sheets fit the raid equally well | Neither is tied | One sheet per night per team |
| Nobody ran the addon | The raid isn’t recorded | Have two or three raiders run it. Uploads of the same night merge |
GuildPro’s attendance page credits the bench, separates excused nights from no-shows, and folds alts into one row, all from your signup sheets and the addon’s record. It’s free for every guild. See it alongside the comp builder, which is where the bench is set.
For everything else to settle before 4 November, see the WoW Forever guild checklist.
FAQ
Should benched raiders get attendance credit?
Yes. A raider who signed up, was ready and sat out so the comp worked did what the guild asked. If the bench doesn't count, people stop offering to sit.
What counts as benched in GuildPro?
Everyone who pressed Bench on the signup sheet, plus everyone who said yes or late and was not seated, on a roster posted from the comp builder. They are credited if they did not raid.
Is an excused absence the same as a no-show?
No. Pressing Can't make it or Late before the start is notice, and an excused raid is not credited, but it is not held against the raider as a no-show and does not end a streak. A no-show is someone who signed up with a role and never appeared.
Can I see attendance in Discord?
Yes. The /attendance command posts the top raiders by nights attended over the last 1 to 180 days, with a link to the full page.
Do I need an addon to track attendance?
In GuildPro, yes. Signups say who promised to come. The addon's record of the raid says who was there. One raider running the addon and the free app is enough.