Modding GTA San Andreas for SA-MP

• Copy your whole GTA San Andreas folder somewhere safe first. If something breaks, you can put the clean copy back in a minute.
• Add one mod at a time and start the game in between, so you always know which mod caused a problem.
• Install mods with Mod Loader (below) instead of overwriting game files. Removing a mod is then just deleting a folder.

Servers have rules about mods. Looks-only mods (textures, HUD, sounds) are almost always fine; scripts and anything that changes gameplay often are not. Read the section on servers at the end before installing scripts.

Three pieces make every other mod easier and safer. Install them in this order.

• Ultimate ASI Loader loads .asi plugins, the format most modern fixes and tools use. Put its dll in the game folder named vorbisFile.dll (replacing the original), then put .asi files in the game folder or a folder called scripts.
• Mod Loader is itself an .asi plugin. It creates a modloader folder in your game directory; each mod goes in its own subfolder there, and the game uses those files instead of the originals without changing anything. Delete the subfolder and the mod is gone.
• SilentPatch fixes hundreds of the original game’s bugs, and its 2026 update includes SA-MP fixes. Most other mods assume you have it.

• .txd files hold textures, the images painted onto models, the HUD and the menus. Each .txd is a small archive of named textures.
• .dff files hold 3D models: a car, a gun, a character. A model and its .txd come in pairs with matching names, like m4.dff and m4.txd.
• gta3.img (in the models folder) is a big archive with most models and textures inside. You never need to open it: put a replacement file with the same name in a Mod Loader subfolder and it wins.
• Some textures sit loose in the models folder instead, such as hud.txd (crosshairs, radar, HUD icons) and fonts.txd. Mod Loader replaces those the same way.
• The data folder holds settings files such as timecyc.dat (lighting and colours).

Magic.TXD is the standard tool for opening and editing .txd files. It is free and open source.

• Never edit the original. Copy the .txd you want to change into a new Mod Loader subfolder (for example modloader/my-hud/hud.txd) and edit that copy.
• Open the copy in Magic.TXD. The left side lists the textures inside, with their names and sizes.
• To change one, select it, choose Export to save it as a PNG, edit the PNG in any image editor, then select the texture again and choose Replace with your edited image.
• Keep the texture’s name exactly the same; the game finds textures by name.
• Keep the same width and height where you can, and stick to sizes like 64, 128, 256 or 512 pixels; the game expects them.
• Transparent parts need a format with alpha. If a texture shows a black or white box where it should be see-through, re-import it with alpha (DXT3 or DXT5, or uncompressed 32-bit).
• Save, start the game, and check. If you do not like it, delete the subfolder.

The normal aiming crosshair is the texture siteM16 inside models/hud.txd. The game draws it four times, mirrored, to make the full crosshair, which is why crosshair textures often look like a quarter of a shape.

• Easiest: download a ready-made crosshair. Most come as a finished hud.txd: put it in its own Mod Loader subfolder.
• Make your own: copy hud.txd into a subfolder, export siteM16, draw your crosshair on a transparent background, and replace siteM16 with it (with alpha).
• Thin, bright crosshairs with a dark outline stay visible on any background.
• Only one mod can replace hud.txd at a time. If you also use a HUD mod, put your crosshair into that mod’s hud.txd instead of using two.

• hud.txd also holds the radar disc and the HUD icons; many HUD packs replace it whole.
• fonts.txd holds the game’s fonts; font mods replace it.
• Weapon icons in the corner of the screen live in each weapon’s own .txd, for example m4.txd for the M4.
• SA-MP has its own settings that change the HUD without mods: see the commands in section 8.

• Replacement models come as a .dff and .txd pair with the original’s name. Put both in one Mod Loader subfolder.
• Character skins replace a model by name, so a skin mod says which skin it changes. Vehicles and weapons work the same way.
• Only you see your replacements. Other players see the normal models.
• Servers that add their own custom models (SA-MP 0.3.DL) send those to you, and theirs are used instead of your replacements.
• Big high-detail packs use a lot of memory, and SA-MP already uses more than single player. If the game starts crashing, a heavy model pack is the usual cause.

• timecyc.dat (in the data folder) sets the sky, fog, sun and colours for every hour and weather. Timecyc mods are a cheap way to change the whole look; install them through Mod Loader.
• ReShade adds effects such as sharpening and colour grading on top of the finished picture. Choose gta_sa.exe and DirectX 9 when installing. It costs some FPS.
• Some looks give an unfair advantage, such as removing fog or night darkness. Many servers count that as cheating.

GInput rewrites controller support so Xbox and PlayStation pads work properly, with console button icons. PlayStation pads may also need DS4Windows on PC. SilentPatch fixes mouse sensitivity problems on its own.

SA-MP also has built-in commands you type in chat:

• /fpslimit 20 to 90: frame-rate cap (default 50). Higher feels smoother; some scripts and physics behave oddly at very high FPS.
• /fontsize -3 to 5 and /pagesize 10 to 20: chat text size and number of chat lines.
• /hudscalefix: fixes the radar size on widescreen screens.
• /timestamp: shows the time next to chat messages.
• /headmove: turns your character’s head following your camera on or off.

CLEO runs small script mods (.cs files), and Moonloader with SAMPFUNCS runs Lua scripts that can also talk to SA-MP itself. They power genuinely useful tools such as timers, chat helpers and HUD widgets.

They also power most SA-MP cheats, so many servers ban them outright or ban specific scripts, and their anti-cheat can kick you just for having them loaded. Only use them on servers whose rules allow them, and keep them in a separate copy of the game if you play on stricter servers.

• Almost always fine: textures, HUD, fonts, crosshairs, sounds, vehicle and skin models, timecyc and ReShade looks that do not hide fog or darkness.
• Check the rules first: CLEO, Moonloader and SAMPFUNCS scripts, anything that shows information the game normally hides.
• Treated as cheating almost everywhere: changed gameplay files such as handling.dat or weapon.dat, aimbots, speed or teleport scripts, see-through walls.
• When unsure, ask the server’s staff. Bans for an innocent mod are common and hard to undo.

• Crash on start or when joining: remove the last mod you added. Mod Loader writes a modloader.log in its folder that often names the file it choked on.
• .asi mods not loading: check the ASI loader is named vorbisFile.dll in the game folder and the .asi files are in the game folder or scripts.
• Black, white or missing textures: wrong format or size in Magic.TXD. Re-import with alpha and a standard size.
• Still broken: put your clean backup back and add mods again one by one.