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MTA:SA setup

Play MTA:SA on Linux with Wine

MTA has no Linux version of the game client. It runs through Wine, and MTA calls its Linux support best effort. Use MTA 1.6 or newer, a 32-bit Wine prefix if you can, and three Windows fonts.

Steps

Try one step, then check whether the problem is still there. Follow any "only if" line before changing a setting.

  1. Get what the manual lists

    You need Wine, Winetricks, MTA 1.6 or newer, and three Windows fonts: tahoma.ttf, tahomabd.ttf and verdana.ttf. For a 32-bit prefix you also need the 32-bit graphics and audio drivers for your system.

  2. Create a 32-bit prefix

    In Winetricks choose Create new prefix and pick 32-bit. The manual recommends 32-bit. A 64-bit prefix also runs, but the manual lists more crashes, lag, an SD #16 kick and a libcef.dll crash with it.

  3. Install GTA, then MTA, inside that prefix

    Run the GTA San Andreas setup inside the prefix, or use a copy installed through Steam. Then run the MTA installer inside the same prefix. Keep the installer options as they are, and only change the GTA path if yours is different.

  4. Add the fonts

    If Wine does not pick up the three fonts from your system, copy them into the prefix folder drive_c/windows/Fonts.

  5. If MTA still does not start

    Try these one at a time. In Wine configuration, Graphics tab, turn on Emulate a virtual desktop. Delete gta_sa.set in the GTA San Andreas User Files folder. Delete MTA's coreconfig.xml.

    Careful: The manual says to keep a copy of both files first, so you do not lose your single-player and MTA settings.

  6. Or use Lutris or Bottles

    MTA's wiki has separate step-by-step manuals for Lutris and for Bottles with the Soda runner. They manage the prefix for you.

Worth knowing

On MTA's forum in April 2026, players reported that MTA under Wine or Proton began closing with an integrity violation or a serial validation error after an MTA update. No fix from MTA staff was posted in that thread. In July 2026 a member of the MTA team wrote that MTA aims to support Linux better in version 1.7.

A server can choose to block Wine. MTA's anti-cheat guide lists that server option as SD #28, "Disallow Linux Wine".

On a computer that only has NVMe drives, MTA can fail to validate your serial under Wine. The Linux manual describes a workaround: start MTA's Linux server once, outside Wine, with a SATA or USB drive connected.

We have not tested these steps on Linux ourselves. They are MTA's own instructions in shorter words.

Still stuck? The Fix tool reads MTA's own log on your computer and points at the matching steps. Nothing is uploaded.

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Other problems like this

All fix guides · Every MTA:SA error code · Crash codes and offsets

Where this comes from

Official MTA guidance and MTA team answers on the MTA forum · reviewed 3 October 2026

Read from these sources on 3 October 2026 and written in our own words here.