Places To Chat
There are a number of ways you can chat with other MTA players. Whether you want to discuss your gaming techniques, arrange clan matches, or even join a clan, there's always somewhere to go. Of course you can chat with some people whilst playing via the ingame chat. But there are many places where a large proportion of the MTA community often visit. Some of these are described below.
Forums
The first place you are likely to come across is the official MTA Community Forums. These are found at https://forum.mtasa.com. You are free to browse around and read what other people have to say, but to put your own point of view across and start your own discussions, you will have to Register at the forums. This is free and can be done by clicking the Register link at the top of the page.
The forums are split up into a number of categories and sub-forums. These organise all the topics, and you should make sure that before you start your own topic, you are in the right forum. Also, before making any posts, be sure to read the rules.
Discord
For an instant response to whatever you have to say, the best place is Discord. Compared to IRC, it offers a built-in chat history buffer, so even if you are offline, you can still catch up with what happened in the channels then. IRC also offers that, but only through an IRC Bouncer that you either need to pay for, or have someone host it for you. It also has a modern look and features such as URL embedding (regular websites, but also pictures and videos), handy syntax colouring for pasted code snippets, emojis (also custom ones), chat messages reactions, Steam integration, and more. We currently have some channels created, including:
- general - for general MTA and offtopic chats
- scripting-help - for Lua scripting-related queries
- help-support - for any problems related to MTA:SA client or server
- announcements - for all important messages from us
...and a lot more, including non-English sections! The invitation link is here. All you need is a Discord account. You can use Discord from your web browser or you can download the client. You can find the official forum post here.
Scripting Help
There is a Discord channel available for help with MTA Scripting. You can find it under the MTA:SA Help category on our Discord.
How To Get Help
- Try to find your answer on the Main Page, especially on its upper part
- Ask your question once and only repeat it after a reasonable amount of time, given the channel is busy (like 10 minutes). NOT after 10 seconds.
- Your question should at least contain:
- What are you trying to do.
- What have you done so far.
- What exactly doesn't work/is your problem. What errors are occurring.
- Maybe a code snippet with an explanation using pastebin.mtasa.com or code blocks on Discord. (code snippet means the relevant parts, NOT the whole script)
IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
Even though it's not being used by many people (compared to old times) these days, IRC is a chat network similar to any other chat rooms you find on the internet. The best Windows client for IRC is mIRC, which you can find here. Download, install, configure the settings and you are ready to go.
The connection information you need is:
Server - irc.gtanet.com/mta
Port - 6667
Once you have connected and received the MOTD (message of the day), to join the MTA discussion, type /join #mta
This takes you into the MTA channel, which you would know as a room in other chat networks.
Make sure you read the mIRC help files if you are unsure.
For more specific help for the server commands, go to the window you first had when connecting, and type /helpop for a list of help categories.
Other
These aren't all the places/ways of talking with other members of the MTA community. There are many many more forums than the official MTA one, for example GTAForums which is the most popular unofficial GTA community forum. Although not just MTA discussion, online play is a popular topic of discussion.
Please feel free to edit this page if you have something else to add.