How to set up a SA-MP or MTA server (GTA San Andreas)

⚡ The short answer

Running your own GTA San Andreas multiplayer server comes down to three steps: pick the platform (SA-MP, open.mp or Multi Theft Auto), upload your gamemode or your resources, and list them in the configuration file. Here's what changes from one platform to the next, and the mistakes that most often stop a server from starting.

🎮 SA-MP, open.mp or MTA

Platform	What it is	Scripts	Configuration
SA-MP	The classic San Andreas multiplayer	Pawn, compiled to .amx	server.cfg
open.mp	Open-source server, compatible with SA-MP scripts and the SA-MP client	Pawn, .amx	config.json
Multi Theft Auto	A separate platform, independent of the other two	Lua, inside resources	mtaserver.conf

An SA-MP gamemode won't run on MTA, or the other way round. If you already have a project, the platform is decided for you; if you're starting from scratch, choose by the community you want to be part of.

🧩 SA-MP: gamemode, filterscripts and plugins

• The compiled gamemode (.amx) goes in the gamemodes folder; filterscripts in filterscripts; plugins in plugins.
• In server.cfg they are written without the extension: gamemode0 mymode 1 and filterscripts admin events.
• Plugins are the exception: on a Linux server, which is the norm with hosting, they need .so, for example plugins mysql.so streamer.so. A .dll plugin is for Windows.
• The rcon_password line can't stay as changeme: with that value the server won't start.

🔧 open.mp: the same, in config.json

open.mp uses the same folders and adds components. What it loads is set in config.json: pawn.main_scripts for the gamemode, pawn.side_scripts for filterscripts and pawn.legacy_plugins for SA-MP plugins. Three details that save time:

• Some well-known plugins (Pawn.CMD, Pawn.RakNet, sscanf, discord-connector) go in components, not plugins, in their open.mp build.
• To migrate a gamemode, replace the a_samp include with open.mp and recompile.
• If you're coming from SA-MP, open.mp still accepts your server.cfg, though it recommends moving to config.json.

🚗 Multi Theft Auto: resources

In MTA everything is a resource: a folder or .zip file with a meta.xml inside. They live in mods/deathmatch/resources, and the ones that should start with the server are declared in mods/deathmatch/mtaserver.conf with a line like <resource src="myresource" startup="1" protected="0" />. After uploading a new one, refresh in the console makes the server pick it up and start myresource runs it. MTA also uses a second port, an HTTP one, on top of the game port.

🖥️ Step by step on ZentexNode

• 1. Choose the platform when you order your GTA San Andreas server: SA-MP, open.mp or Multi Theft Auto. It activates automatically on payment.
• 2. Set the RCON password in the panel. SA-MP defaults to version 0.3.7; if your gamemode needs another, you change it in the panel, and the same goes for open.mp.
• 3. Upload your files with the file manager or, if there are many, over SFTP: see how to connect via SFTP.
• 4. List them in the configuration file for your platform and restart the server.
• 5. Create the database if your gamemode stores accounts in MySQL: it's included and managed from the panel. SA-MP and open.mp also need the MySQL plugin; in MTA the connection is built in through the dbConnect function.

Before a big change, take a copy: how to create and restore backups explains how.

🛠️ If it won't start

• RCON left on changeme (SA-MP and open.mp): change it.
• A Windows plugin on a Linux server: you need the .so file.
• A misspelt name: the gamemode is listed without .amx and must match the file name, upper and lower case included.
• You uploaded the .pwn, not the .amx: the server loads the compiled file.
• An MTA resource with no meta.xml, or uploaded without running refresh.

👥 How players and the admin get in

On SA-MP and open.mp, players add the server's address and port in the SA-MP client or the open.mp launcher. To administer from inside the game, type /rcon login followed by your password.

On MTA, each player needs a clean install of GTA San Andreas 1.0 for PC and connects with the server address from the game's menu. To become an admin, create the account with addaccount name password in the console, stop the server and add <object name="user.name" /> to the Admin group in mods/deathmatch/acl.xml.