In May 2018, Activision released an official update to version for Steam users.

The final "stable" version by Infinity Ward; widely considered the standard for competitive play. 1.8 (Steam)

Most digital versions (Steam, GOG) come pre-patched to 1.7. If you have a disc version, you must manually install patch 1.6 and then 1.7.

: Fixes the broken master server to display an active list of community servers.

Before patching to 1.8, copy iw3mp.exe (the multiplayer executable) to a folder called "BACKUP_1.7". After 1.8 installs, simply copy the old .exe back. The game will run as 1.7 but with 1.8 assets – this sometimes works, sometimes crashes.

: It replaces the dead master server with a community-run version, allowing players to see and join hundreds of active servers.