Plutonium

Astrocule

romer5092 Sorry to hear, still worked fine for my today testing on a fresh VM. Might want to temporarily try using a new wineprefix. It's a known issue for them to break randomly. If that is the issue and you're still trying to resolve it, backup any mods/skins you may have setup previously.
If you used any GUI tools to help with the setup (like winetricks GUI) I recommend using the CLI, oddly some parts of the setup flat out break with the GUI and cause more issues.

Astrocule

Neigdoig Originally it was a few resources on this Forumn (if you view my edits on this post, you can see all those I originally credited), but they were all split apart or hadn't been maintained in a while.
I used a lot of those resources to build a new foundation for a maintainable documentation, and I spent a lot of my own time testing out different fixes and wine/proton patches to fix certain issues like input delay/stutters, FPS issues with 1% lows, crashing, and all that Jazz.

Most of the resources I copied were (at the time) system packages + a few wine DLL setups, everything else was done through my own research.

Astrocule

embracenewlife

you can specifically help by pc checking people who claim to be falsely banned

A “PC check” is not a solution. It’s not reliable, it’s not verifiable, and staff will not treat it as evidence. Us contributors have zero moderation authority, zero access to ban data, and zero ability to influence a ban decision. Even if we spent hours digging through a stranger’s system, as Dirk said there is no way to confirm what was injected or running before recording, and no way to guarantee the findings aren’t manipulated. That alone makes it a direct attack vector for cheaters trying to slip back in. No community project is going to build its ban decisions on volunteer forensics.

This is a community run client. No community project has people donating their personal time to audit every person who claims a false ban. Even if we wanted to, we aren’t equipped to. Plutonium supports Windows officially, but people also play on Linux and even macOS through various translation layers and methods. PC checking across multiple OSes would require knowing each system deeply, and no volunteer is realistically going to learn forensic procedures for three environments just to review strangers’ machines. This isn’t infrastructure a small project can maintain.

false flags happen in other games all the time, plutonium is no exception

Correct, false flags exist in every anti-cheat. The difference is that major studios have full-time anti-cheat teams, telemetry pipelines, and internal tools for investigating them. Plutonium has a small dev team, a handful of outsourced people, and limited personal time and money. They maintain this project as a hobby. Expecting studio-level investigative support from volunteers working on a free client is unrealistic.

it actually has flaws in the document

Agreed. Many docs are outdated. That happens because the team is small and the workload is large. The documentation is being rewritten, but a small project cannot update everything instantly. Outdated docs are one of the most common pain points when helping users, and it’s not an issue of people not caring; it’s an issue of bandwidth and physical ability.

dont you think whoever made the anti-cheat forum can make it a full list so people know what to avoid

A full list isn’t realistically possible. This anti-cheat is custom, old, and restricted by the engine it runs on. Detection behavior changes as OS updates, drivers, overlays, recording tools, and injectors evolve. The OBS example is a perfect example: the idea of recording software being bannable would not have been a consideration when the AC was written. Old game, old engine, limited hooks. Detection shifts over time as PCs change. A complete list won’t ever exist.

And contributors having access to early builds doesn’t mean we are “not normal users.” Early builds are test builds, nothing more. No elevated permissions, no access to ban systems, no internal controls. We’re also kept in the dark on nearly everything outside testing new features, and even that barely happens because people have real lives, there's maybe 3-5 people each testing session before updates come out. It's really hard to catch things within the game, never mind doing that for the AC.

Every point you listed has already been discussed with higher ups over the years. They’ve acknowledged them, proposed theories, proposed fixes, and adjusted things when possible. The problem isn’t awareness, it’s manpower. There are very few devs with the ability to work on the codebase, and they only have limited time. That’s reality, not negligence.

Noise from the community doesn’t create new staff. It doesn’t generate new hours in a day. It doesn’t force infrastructure to appear. Tagging a staff member doesn’t give contributors influence over decisions; it just pings someone who responds when they have time.

Point is, this is a free project run by a small team in their spare time. They have jobs, families, school, and their own lives. Expecting them to provide full investigative tools, PC audits, appeal systems, perfect documentation, or instant anti-cheat fixes is entitlement. Being inconvenienced by a false ban doesn’t create an obligation for volunteers to deliver studio-level support. It’s not how a project of this scale can operate.
So please, stop being so ignorant and entitled. I understand it sucks, but nothing can be perfect.

Astrocule

Black Lament The Anti-Cheat may be flawed in its sense of compatibility with the steam-deck. But you need to keep in mind, this is an in-house Anti-Cheat. They made it themselves, and it had came before the steam-deck was even remotely popular among the tech community. So there was never expectations for it to not be supported by HWID misconfiguration.

As disappointing as it is to not be able to play projects like this because of these reasons, it is within understanding since they are a very small team. When larger company's (ones like Larian-Studios, Take-Two, Pearl Abyss etc) even struggle with general Linux compatibility, I wouldn't imagine it to be a feasible task for Plutonium on-top of any roadmap they have most likely been planning out at the moment.

There has always been talk of supporting the steam-deck, maybe one day Eldor will flip a switch and decide to start working on the AC for compatibility, and maybe he never will. Regardless acting like this doesn't help, I personally wouldn't want to add support to a community that acts self entitled. No one in Plutonium is telling you to install a whole new OS to play, it is just simply that they are only able to guarantee (as said by Xerxes) support on the hardware they can test it on effectively. Also as he said, Wine is always changing, it's still missing A TON of Windows Calls, Hooks, userbehavior, not to mention general differences in user/sys space.

Astrocule

CowboyCreeper49 Random_Doode

The game is awful code-wise so it's very hard to do anything with it, very likely not happening since the devs already tried.

Best bet is to use game_mod on Steam afaik.

Astrocule

rabidavocado Plutoniums client files themselves are hosted in C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Plutonium (or %localappdata%/plutonium) and need to be put onto your SSD and copied to a new system. Plutonium is not a portable application and also cannot be treated like one.

Astrocule

7gsbode change your users name on your Windows System.

Astrocule

Plutonium Linux Setup Guide

Updated April 2026 · Tested on Ubuntu · Debian · Arch Linux · Fedora · Solus

Note: An automation bash script & Lutris script for this setup is now available. See my GitHub repository for details.

Supported Systems

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS
Debian (Jessie and later)
Arch Linux (rolling)
Fedora
Solus

Warning: Plutonium officially supports 64-bit Windows only. Linux usage is community-supported and at your own discretion. macOS, BSD, and ARM devices are not covered by this guide.

Warning: Steam Deck LCD is incompatible with Plutonium's anti-cheat due to a HWID issue. LAN mode is available via the square button in the Plutonium Launcher, or by following the Steam Deck LAN Setup Guide. Steam Deck OLED is unaffected and can play online normally.

Overview

Install Wine and required dependencies for your Linux distribution
Create and configure a dedicated Wine prefix
Set up Plutonium via Heroic Games Launcher
Tune performance settings for optimal gameplay

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have the following:

A legitimate Steam copy of the Call of Duty title(s) you intend to play, or Family Sharing access, no pirated game files are supported.
A 64-bit Linux system running one of the supported distributions listed above
Root or sudo access on your system

Step 1: Install Distro Dependencies

Install Wine and supporting libraries for your distribution. Follow only the section that matches your system.

Ubuntu

Enable 32-bit architecture support:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

Retrieve your Ubuntu codename:

cat /etc/os-release

Look for the UBUNTU_CODENAME or VERSION_CODENAME line and note the value (e.g., jammy, noble).

Download and add the WineHQ 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 -

Add the WineHQ repository for your codename using the Debian/Ubuntu instructions on the WineHQ wiki, then install Wine:

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

Debian (Jessie and later)

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

Note: If winetricks is unavailable, add the contrib component to your APT sources. See the Debian Sources documentation for instructions.

Arch Linux

Enable the multilib repository by uncommenting the [multilib] section in /etc/pacman.conf.
Update your system and install required packages:

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

Install DXVK from the AUR:

yay -S dxvk-bin

Fedora

Note: Nobara Linux users should replace sudo dnf upgrade with sudo nobara-sync.

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

Solus

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

Driver Verification

Before proceeding, confirm your GPU drivers are correctly installed.

NVIDIA: Ensure the latest NVIDIA drivers are installed along with lib32-nvidia-utils.

AMD: Verify Vulkan is using the RADV driver:

vulkaninfo | grep driver

The output should include MESA_RADV. If it does not, your AMD Vulkan driver is not set up correctly.

Step 2: Set Up Wine Prefix

Create a dedicated Wine prefix for Plutonium and install the required Windows runtime components.

Create the prefix directory:

mkdir -p ~/wine/plutonium

Install required components via Winetricks:

WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium winetricks -q --force \
  d3dcompiler_47 d3dcompiler_43 d3dx9 d3dx10 \
  msasn1 corefonts \
  vcrun2005 vcrun2012 vcrun2019 \
  xact_x64 xact xinput

Install DXVK into the prefix:

WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium setup_dxvk install

Note: If setup_dxvk fails, skip this step. DXVK may already be bundled with your Wine installation.

Set the Windows version to Windows 10:

WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium winecfg -v win10

Step 3: Configure Plutonium

This step uses Heroic Games Launcher to manage the Wine prefix and launch Plutonium.

Open Heroic and select **Add Game.

Set the executable path to:

/home/username/wine/plutonium/plutonium.exe

Click Show Wine Settings and set the Wine Prefix path to:
```
/home/username/wine/plutonium
```

Launch Plutonium and point it to your Steam game directory, for example:

/home/username/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Call of Duty Black Ops II

Note: If Plutonium shows an "invalid game folder" error, enable Show dot files in winecfg under the Drives tab:
WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium winecfg

Step 4: Performance Tuning

The following Heroic settings are recommended for best performance.

Tab	Setting
Wine	Version: GE-Proton (latest)
	Enable Esync/Fsync (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` (requires Kernel 6.15+)
	`PROTON_PRIORITY_HIGH=1 STAGING_SHARED_MEMORY=1 PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1`

Tip: Shader stuttering is normal on first launch. Performance improves as the shader cache builds during gameplay.

Troubleshooting

Stuttering/Erratic Mouse Behavior

Use proton-cachyos or GE-Proton (Ge-Proton10-15 minimum, latest version recommended)
Use wayland, and use PROTON_ENABLE_WAYLAND=1
If you cannot or refuse to use wayland, rely on DXVK_FRAME_RATE=X for frame capping and do not use the fps cap setting in plutonium/in game. Instead keep FPS in game unlocked.

Crashing on Startup

Confirm the Wine prefix is set to Windows 10 or Windows 11.
Enable verbose logging in Heroic: Right Click Plutonium → Settings → Advanced → Enable verbose logs → Right Click again → Logs.
If the prefix appears corrupted, back up your plutonium folder inside the prefix, then recreate the prefix from Step 2.

Controller Not Detected

Open winecfg for your prefix:

WINEPREFIX=~/wine/plutonium winecfg

Go to the Libraries tab.
For each xinputX_X entry, set the override to Builtin then Native.
Apply the changes and restart Plutonium.

Controller library override settings in winecfg

FAQ

Q: BO1 or WAW runs poorly.

These older titles have notoriously poor PC ports. Try FPS capping or switching to windowed mode. For best results, use Kernel 6.15+ with NTSYNC + WOW64 and PROTON_WAYLAND enabled. See the NTSYNC documentation for enabling details. Wine CPU pinning can also help on CPU's with high core+thread counts. Mouse polling above at or above 1000hz can also cause issues.

Q: The Plutonium installer appears frozen.

Wait at least 60 seconds before taking action. If it remains unresponsive, force-stop the process via Heroic and retry.

Q: Can I use mods or custom content?

Yes. Mod folders are located at:

~/wine/plutonium/drive_c/users/[USER]/AppData/Local/plutonium

Replace [USER] with your system username when using Wine, or steamuser when using Proton.
Place any mods/skins inside the plutonium folder as instructed in the plutonium modding documentation or instructions of the mod/skin being downloaded.

Q: Can I host Plutonium servers on Linux?

Yes, though it requires additional setup and ongoing maintenance. If you are new to Linux, a Windows VPS is the simpler path. Note that Plutonium does not officially support Linux for clients or servers.

Available community resources:

Draakor's Eggs — Pterodactyl/Pelican Panel eggs
PlutoniumLinuxHosting — bare metal setup
T5Server — bare metal setup

Resources & Links

Astrocule

AO554 No, the steam deck is just not compatible with Plutoniums AC currently (and possibly forever), Linux on its own is fine to use on Plutonium. I've been cooking up a new guide to post here since there's multiple, split up across this forum, and they all contain useful info, but not one guide has them all in one spot.

I plan to explain (in my user-end of understanding) how to use Plutonium on Linux, why its safe to, and if its worth it etc.

Astrocule

Miss Zeta Hello, I would assume they need to simply run "chmod +x plutonium.exe" wherever plutonium is located. The log you sent is no longer available so im just assuming based off your description.

Astrocule

SoyKappy Arch on Wayland using Kernel 6.7 (zen).

Astrocule

I pulled a rookie move and forgot to kill the old wineserver.....so nvm wine 9.0 brings no new issues. Bo1 still runs like garbo though (not surprising)

Astrocule

SoyKappy Hey Soy (or anyone else) would you mind seeing if you could reproduce an odd issue. I updated to wine 9.0-1 a few nights ago, and played plutonium the same day. Now, when trying to launch with lutris again, im getting thrown some errors. I downgraded to 8.21, it launched with no issue. I updated back to 9.0-1, tried running plutonium with just "wine plutonium.exe" and it ran with no issues. I tried again in Lutris, same issue as before. I tried switching my runner from system to any other runner, none of them work. It just throws me the same errors. I can only get the game to launch in Lutris if my system wine is 8.21 (assuming atp lutris isnt updated for wine 9.0-1) If someone could just confirm this is also happening to them with lutris, it would be appreciated.

Astrocule

Cryther VM's are blocked, wont work.
some things I can suggest is FlushDNS, make sure your Router isnt blocking downloadable files (brands like xfinity use "Advanced security" features that flag unknown websites/uncommon so files wont be installed), try using cloudfare DNS, restart router, try Revo Uninstaller to make sure your AV is actually gone (some do registry edits n such). I doubt these will work, but its worth a try if you're up to it.

Astrocule

FutureRave ah I meant memory, not files. I get it switched up a lot, thank you for the clarifications + additional info, But I don't think Riva Tuner could modify game memory as its meant to under-clock/overclock hardware. Maybe it can cause similar calls that get flagged or sum, but ATP id assume MSI Afterburner and other similar applications could cause bans as well.

Astrocule

Rivatuner doesnt actively modify game files. Were you using a mod menu for zombies or anything? an external console?

Astrocule

Asriel_Dreemurr Setting my wine runner to system (arch, wine 8.21) fixed this. This issue happens because your mouse input in bo1 is tied to the FPS. Because of the Stutters/min fps fluctuation so much, your mouse will constantly speed up and slow down.
Using any other runner causes bo1 (and mw3) to slow down. System Wine works just perfect on all CoD's (and all maps ive tried)