MTA:SA setup
Using GTA mods with MTA
MTA expects a clean GTA San Andreas. Single-player mods in the game folder can stop MTA starting, make it crash, or get you kicked from servers that check game files.
Steps
Try one step, then check whether the problem is still there. Follow any "only if" line before changing a setting.
Keep one clean GTA for MTA
MTA's manual says to install MTA over a GTA San Andreas with no modifications. If you want to keep single-player mods, install the game a second time in another folder and point MTA at the clean one.
Take plugins out of the GTA folder
Remove .asi files and any d3d9.dll from the GTA San Andreas folder. MTA's guides list both as things to remove when MTA will not start. Mods such as ENB use a custom d3d9.dll, and a server can also block that file (the anti-cheat guide lists it as SD #12).
Changed data files
By default you cannot join a server with customized GTA data files. If yours are changed, MTA shows a box in Settings, Multiplayer called Use customized GTA:SA files. The guide warns that ticking it keeps you out of most public servers.
Changed gta3.img
A server can refuse a non-standard gta3.img or gta_int.img. The anti-cheat guide lists that server option as SD #20.
Crashes when you connect
If MTA crashes on connecting to any server while single-player runs fine, the MTA FAQ points at single-player mods and says to use a clean GTA installation.
On CIT: use /mods
CIT has its own Modifications window. Type /mods to open it. It has Vehicles, Weapons, Weapon Sounds, Crosshairs and Weapon Skins tabs for the mods CIT offers.
MTA can set a custom d3d9.dll aside by itself. In May 2022 a player reported on MTA's forum that MTA had renamed the ENB d3d9.dll to d3d9.dll.bak after an update. A moderator answered with a newer MTA build and renaming the file back.
Still stuck? The Fix tool reads MTA's own log on your computer and points at the matching steps. Nothing is uploaded.
Open the Fix toolOther problems like this
- Which GTA San Andreas works with MTA (Steam, Rockstar Store, Definitive Edition)
- Play MTA:SA on Linux with Wine
- Play MTA:SA on a Steam Deck
- MTA:SA on a Mac
- MTA:SA on Android or iPhone
- MTA on Windows 7, 8, XP or Vista
All fix guides · Every MTA:SA error code · Crash codes and offsets
Where this comes from
Official MTA guidance · reviewed 3 October 2026. Steps about CIT come from the CIT knowledge base that also feeds CITBot.
- wiki.multitheftauto.com/wiki/Client_Manual
- wiki.multitheftauto.com/wiki/Known_Issues_-_FAQ
- help.multitheftauto.com/guides/how-to-remove-asi-files/
- help.multitheftauto.com/guides/troubleshooting-guide/
- wiki.multitheftauto.com/wiki/Anti-cheat_guide
- forum.multitheftauto.com/topic/135874-d3d9dll-from-the-enb-series-becomes-d3d9dllbak/
- github.com/multitheftauto/mtasa-blue/blob/master/Client/core/CSettings.cpp
Read from these sources on 3 October 2026 and written in our own words here.