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MTA:SA setup

Play MTA:SA on a Steam Deck

MTA can run on SteamOS through Proton. MTA's own manual says it was written with limited testing, so expect some trial and error. A keyboard and mouse help.

Steps

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

  1. Have these ready

    A Steam Deck with SteamOS, a copy of GTA San Andreas (through Steam or copied onto the Deck), the MTA installer for Windows 10 and newer, and three Windows fonts: tahoma.ttf, tahomabd.ttf and verdana.ttf.

  2. Run the MTA installer through Proton

    In desktop mode, download MTA and add the installer to Steam as a non-Steam game. In game mode, open its Properties, go to Compatibility and choose the newest Proton that is not marked experimental. Run it. Do not change where MTA installs, and choose your GTA San Andreas folder when asked.

  3. Find the folder Proton made and add the fonts

    In desktop mode, look in /home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/ for the numbered folder that contains pfx/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/MTA San Andreas 1.6. Copy the three fonts into pfx/drive_c/windows/fonts inside that same numbered folder.

  4. Point the Steam entry at MTA

    In game mode, open the Properties of the entry you made for the installer and change Target to your MTA installation, keeping the double quotes, as the manual shows. Then start it. MTA may ask for the GTA San Andreas folder once more.

  5. Fix the two known display problems

    Only if you see one of those two problems.

    If the taskbar flickers in desktop mode, set MTA to 1280x720 windowed in Settings, Video, and do not use fullscreen. If MTA crashes at the main menu after you chose fullscreen, open MTA/config/coreconfig.xml in the MTA folder with a text editor and change display_fullscreen_style from 0 to 1.

  6. Or use Bottles

    The manual itself says Bottles with the Soda runner is the simpler way on a Steam Deck, and links its own manual for it.

Worth knowing

On MTA's forum, a player wrote in 2022 that Proton on SteamOS did not work as expected, and others reported in April 2026 that an MTA update broke their Proton setups. No fix from MTA staff was posted in those threads.

If MTA says there was a problem validating your serial, see the serial validation fix in this tool. The Steam Deck manual points to the same MTA page.

We have not tested these steps on a Steam Deck 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.

Open the Fix tool

Other problems like this

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

Where this comes from

Official MTA guidance · reviewed 3 October 2026

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