Plutonium on Linux: Ultimate Cross-Distro Guide

Astrocule

Plutonium Linux Setup Guide

Updated January 2026 | Tested on Ubuntu/Debian/Arch/Fedora/Solus
(FAQ & Troubleshooting at bottom)

New Automation Installtion

I have just released an automation bash script for Linux distros regarding installing and setting up your system for Plutonium!

Check it out on my Github page, I will also be uploading more projects soon!

Important Disclaimers

Official Support: Plutonium only supports 64-bit Windows - use Linux at your own risk.
Game Ownership: Requires legitimate Steam copy or Family Sharing (no pirated files).
Unsupported Systems: macOS, BSD, and ARM are not supported in this guide.
Steam Deck: Incompatible with anti-cheat, LAN mode works via square button in Plutonium Launcher or follow Steam Deck LAN Setup Guide.

Step 1: Distro Dependencies

Ubuntu

(if you have issues with winetricks, use google.)

# Enable 32 bit architecture:
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

Look for the line with either UBUNTU_CODENAME or VERSION_CODENAME. If both are present
# use the name after UBUNTU_CODENAME.
cat /etc/os-release
# Download and add the repository key:
sudo mkdir -pm755 /etc/apt/keyrings
wget -O - https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/winehq-archive.key -

Now Download Wine with your Distro Name https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/wikis/Debian-Ubuntu#add-the-repository

Then

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-staging

Debian (Jessie+)

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt update
sudo apt install wine wine32 libwine fonts-wine winetricks
sudo apt upgrade

️ Can't install winetricks? See Debian Sources Documentation for adding contrib to your sources.

Arch Linux

Enable multilib in /etc/pacman.conf

Update:

sudo pacman -Syu giflib lib32-giflib libpng lib32-libpng libldap lib32-libldap gnutls lib32-gnutls mpg123 lib32-mpg123 openal lib32-openal v4l-utils lib32-v4l-utils libpulse lib32-libpulse alsa-plugins lib32-alsa-plugins alsa-lib lib32-alsa-lib libjpeg-turbo lib32-libjpeg-turbo libxcomposite lib32-libxcomposite libxinerama lib32-libxinerama ncurses lib32-ncurses opencl-icd-loader lib32-opencl-icd-loader libxslt lib32-libxslt libva lib32-libva gtk3 lib32-gtk3 gst-plugins-base-libs lib32-gst-plugins-base-libs vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader dosbox

yay -S dxvk-bin  # AUR package

Fedora

sudo dnf upgrade

sudo dnf install wine dxvk wine-gecko wine-mono winetricks

sudo dnf install alsa-plugins-pulseaudio.i686 glibc-devel.i686 glibc-devel libgcc.i686 libX11-devel.i686 freetype-devel.i686 libXcursor-devel.i686 libXi-devel.i686 libXext-devel.i686 libXxf86vm-devel.i686 libXrandr-devel.i686 libXinerama-devel.i686 mesa-libGLU-devel.i686 mesa-libOSMesa-devel.i686 libXrender-devel.i686 libpcap-devel.i686 ncurses-devel.i686 libzip-devel.i686 lcms2-devel.i686 zlib-devel.i686 libv4l-devel.i686 libgphoto2-devel.i686 cups-devel.i686 libxml2-devel.i686 openldap-devel.i686 libxslt-devel.i686 gnutls-devel.i686 libpng-devel.i686 flac-libs.i686 json-c.i686 libICE.i686 libSM.i686 libXtst.i686 libasyncns.i686 liberation-narrow-fonts.noarch libieee1284.i686 libogg.i686 libsndfile.i686 libuuid.i686 libva.i686 libvorbis.i686 libwayland-client.i686 libwayland-server.i686 llvm-libs.i686 mesa-dri-drivers.i686 mesa-filesystem.i686 mesa-libEGL.i686 mesa-libgbm.i686 nss-mdns.i686 ocl-icd.i686 pulseaudio-libs.i686 sane-backends-libs.i686 tcp_wrappers-libs.i686 unixODBC.i686 samba-common-tools.x86_64 samba-libs.x86_64 samba-winbind.x86_64 samba-winbind-clients.x86_64 samba-winbind-modules.x86_64 mesa-libGL-devel.i686 fontconfig-devel.i686 libXcomposite-devel.i686 libXcursor-devel.i686 libXdamage-devel.i686 libXfixes-devel.i686 libXi-devel.i686 libXinerama-devel.i686 libXrandr-devel.i686 libXrender-devel.i686 libXtst-devel.i686 zlib-devel.i686

️ Nobara Users: Replace sudo dnf upgrade with sudo nobara-sync

Solus

sudo eopkg install wine wine-devel wine-32bit-devel winetricks dxvk wine-gecko wine-mono

️ Driver Verification

NVIDIA: Install latest drivers + lib32-nvidia-utils

AMD:

vulkaninfo | grep driver  # Should show "MESA_RADV"

Step 2: Setup Wine Prefix

# Create dedicated prefix
mkdir -p ~/wine/plutonium

# Install required components
WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium winetricks -q --force \
d3dcompiler_47 d3dcompiler_43 \
d3dx11_42 d3dx11_43 gfw msasn1 \
corefonts vcrun2005 vcrun2012 vcrun2019 \
xact_x64 xact xinput

# Configure DXVK and Windows version
WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium setup_dxvk install # skip if broken
WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium winecfg -v win10

Step 3: Configure Plutonium

Heroic Launcher Setup

Add Game → Executable: /home/username/wine/plutonium/plutonium.exe
Wine Settings → Wine Prefix: /home/username/wine/plutonium
Launch Plutonium and point to your Steam game folder:
/home/username/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Call of Duty Black Ops II
(unless installed elsewhere)

Invalid game folder in plutonium?
Enable "Show dot files" in winecfg → Drives tab
WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium winecfg

Step 4: Performance Tuning

Recommended Heroic Settings:

Tab	Setting
Wine	Version: GE-Proton-Latest
	Enable Esync/Fsync (or disable if using NTSYNC)
Other	Enable Gamemode
	Disable AntiCheat runtimes
Advanced	Environment Variables:
	`DXVK_FRAME_RATE=200 LD_PRELOAD=""`
	`PROTON_USE_NTSYNC=1 PROTON_USE_WOW64=1` (Kernel 6.15+ required)

Troubleshooting

Stuttering/Crazy Mouse

Update Wine/Proton-GE
Disable Esync/Fsync in Heroic

For WAW/BO1: Test CPU core pinning:

WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY=6:0,1,2,3,4,5  # For 6-core CPU

Enable Mouse capture by using winecfg on prefix.

Crashing on Startup

Verify Wine prefix uses Windows 10/11
Check Heroic logs:
Game Settings → Advanced → Enable verbose logs → View logs
Recreate Wine prefix if corrupted/unstable (Backup plutonium folder first)

Controller Not Detected

WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium winecfg

Go to Libraries tab
For each xinputX_X entry:
Set to "Builtin then Native"
Apply changes and restart

FAQ

Q: BO1/WAW runs poorly

Older CoD titles have poor PC ports. Try:

FPS capping

Windowed mode

Kernel 6.15+ with NTSYNC/WOW64
NTSYNC Documentation

Q: Installer appears frozen

Wait 60 seconds before restarting. Force-stop via Heroic if needed.

Q: Can I use mods/custom content?

Yes! Mod folders are located at:
~/wine/plutonium/drive_c/users/[USER]/AppData/Local/ (user being wine/proton runner)

Wine: Your system username

Proton: steamuser

Q: Can I host servers on Linux?

Yes, you can also host servers on Linux. There's methods with docker/pterodactyl-pelican panel or simply through wine on your own PC, however this does require a little more maintenance so if you are new to Linux and already have a hard time, I do not recommend trying this. Instead get a VPS with windows. Also please keep in mind, as the Launcher doesn't have official Linux support, neither do servers. Plutonium only supports Windows for clients and servers.

Draakor's Eggs (Pterodactyl/Pelican panel)

PlutoniumLinuxHosting (baremetal)

T5Server (baremetal)

Additional Resources:

Pro Tip: Performance improves as shaders cache during gameplay. Most issues resolve with playing!

e46

Thank you for the in-depth tutorial, unlucky timing for me to try it since Web Archive is down haha (WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium winetricks -q gfw)

e46

Forgot to update, but it actually worked fine for me without gfw.

OS: Arch LinuxKERNEL: 6.11.2-arch1-1
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six-Core
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER
GPU DRIVER: NVIDIA 560.35.03
RAM: 32 GB

Hyprland v0.44.1

Asriel_Dreemurr

I just use the install script off of Lutris's website But this is good to know for just in case the script ever breaks in the future

Krired

Excellent guide. I tried like 3 different guides and none of them worked. Thanks!

XQCSquidward

Having issues with setting resolution for B01, tried changing r_monitor and r_mode but no success

steNarch

thanks,for Plutonium i use PortProton(arch linux)

Plutonium