San Andreas Multiplayer is a server component that allows players to play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in multiplayer mode. The game by itself does not allow multiplayer, but with the server/client components, you can play multiplayer. The dedicated server component can be run as a Windows service using FireDaemon Pro, which allows you to start the dedicated server automatically at boot prior to login, start multiple instances of the dedicated server and more. This HOWTO will show you how to set it up. You can also use FireDaemon Fusion to manage FireDaemon and other Windows services via a web browser.

San Andreas Multiplayer Dedicated Server Setup Under FireDaemon Pro

San Andreas Multiplayer is not owned nor developed by Rockstar, developers of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It’s a completely separate program. As such, there’s only one way you can play or host a server for it: by downloading the server or client component.

First download the server from here. This zip also includes further information regarding configuration of the server with a server.cfg file. Extract the files someplace on your hard drive. For the rest of this HOWTO we will use “C:\Samp” as the installation directory.

Download and install FireDaemon Pro into the directory of your choice, typically C:\Program Files\FireDaemon.

Next start the FireDaemon GUI from the desktop shortcut. Click on the "Create a new service definition" button in the toolbar (or type Ctrl+N) and enter the information into the fields as you see below. Adjust the paths to suit your installation. Note that no parameters are required.

In the Executable section, enter the path to your “samp-server.exe” (e.g. “C:\Samp\ samp-server.exe”)

In the Working section, enter the path where your server.cfg file is located, this path should be the same folder as the Server (e.g. C:\Samp\).

Now click on the Settings tab. If you DON'T want to see your dedicated server running, uncheck the Interact with Desktop check box & select “Hidden” from the “Show Window” dropdown. You can optionally run San Andreas Multiplayer as the user you installed it as. In the Logon Account field type your username (e.g. Administrator) and then enter the user's password twice in the Password and Confirm fields. You can change the Process Priority to allocate more CPU time to the dedicated server or specify which CPU or core the dedicated server will run on (in the case of multi-processor, hyperthreaded or multi-core CPUs).

Now click on the Lifecycle tab. Uncheck Graceful Shutdown as San Andreas Multiplayer doesn't respond to it.

Now click OK to finish setup and start your San Andreas Multiplayer Dedicated Server!

Example San Andreas: Multiplayer Configuration File

Below is an example server.cfg file:

echo Executing Server Config...
lanmode 0
rcon_password changeme
maxplayers 32
port 7777
hostname Unnamed 0.2.2 Server
gamemode0 lvdm 1
filterscripts adminspec vactions
announce 1
query 1
weburl www.sa-mp.com
anticheat 0