How to Join Your GTA San Andreas Server

Multiplayer in GTA San Andreas runs on SA-MP or its successor open.mp. You need an installed PC version of GTA San Andreas plus the matching client.

Important

The old SA-MP browser is no longer maintained and does not find servers anymore. Use the open.mp launcher instead. It provides an up-to-date server list and connects to both SA-MP and open.mp servers.

Find connection details

Note

You can find the IP address and the port of your server in the dashboard of your server. SA-MP and open.mp use a single UDP port for gameplay and for server queries — the Game Port and the Query Port are identical. There is no separate Query Port.

Connect through the open.mp launcher

1. Download the launcher
   Download and install the open.mp launcher.

2. Select your game installation
   On first start, point the launcher to the folder of your GTA San Andreas installation so it can launch the game.

3. Set your nickname
   Enter your player name. Keep the naming rules below in mind.

4. Add the server by IP and port
   Add your server to the launcher's server list manually. Enter the IP address and the port together, separated by a colon:

   123.45.67.89:7777

   Tip

   This is only an example. Always use the IP address and the port shown in the dashboard of your server.

5. Enter the password
   If you set a password on your server, you are asked for it while connecting.

6. Connect
   Select your server and connect. The launcher starts GTA San Andreas and establishes the connection.

Player name rules

An invalid player name is the most common reason why joining fails.

Rule	Details
Length	3 to 20 characters when joining
Allowed characters	0-9, a-z, A-Z as well as [ ] ( ) $ @ . _ =
Uniqueness	The name must not already be used by a connected player

Caution

If you get the message Unacceptable NickName, your name contains a forbidden character, is too short or too long — or another player is already on the server using the same name. Less commonly the message also appears after a very long server uptime; restarting your server helps in that case.

Server does not show up in the server list

Whether your server is publicly visible is controlled by two settings. You can reach them via SFTP in the configuration file of your server.

open.mp — config.json:

{
    "announce": true,
    "enable_query": true
}

SA-MP — server.cfg:

announce 1
query 1

Setting	Purpose
announce	Registers the server with the public server list (masterlist)
enable_query or query	Defines whether server information is displayed in the server browser — enable_query in config.json, query in server.cfg

Note

The server browser additionally shows the values name or hostname, language, mapname and gamemodetext as well as weburl from your configuration. Connecting via IP address and port works even if your server is not listed publicly.

Important

Do not change the port in the configuration file yourself. The port is assigned to your server through the panel — entering a different value there makes your server unreachable.

Game does not start or does not connect

Caution

Single-player mods prevent the multiplayer client from starting. Remove all .asi and .cs files, replaced vehicle and skin models as well as trainers from your game installation before connecting. Server-side content is downloaded from the server automatically anyway — see Add Mods.

Note

If the client gets stuck on Connecting to IP:Port…, first check whether your server is actually running in the dashboard and whether the IP address and port match exactly.