Knowledge Base (Posts about aoe2de)

How to play AoE2DE multiplayer on linux without steam

bgstack15 — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 12:46:00 GMT

Overview

I recently purchased the remaining DLCs for Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (steam) and I wanted to make sure that my ability to play this game survives Steam, my relationship with them, and even the world wide web.

After a lot of research and the benefit of many Free Software tools, I can play multiplayer AoE2DE with my mods without Steam, on Linux! Here is my method for assembling a package for distributing to my systems without Internet. I have tested only for a few minutes between two machines in the same room. I don't know how this would scale to a vpn or wireless clients.

This does not use system Wine, which crashes immediately with some opengl32 problem.

Building the package

This first asset is the proper Steam directory with all my DLCs installed.

tar -zcf aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz "${HOME}/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/AoE2DE"

Explode my asset aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz to ~/aoe2de.
```
tar -zx -C ~ -f aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz
```

Download dependency files to ~/aoe2de/prepare, which is a temporary spot.

wget https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases/download/GE-Proton11-1/GE-Proton11-1.tar.gz https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/download/1.4.0/python3-umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_amd64_debian-13.deb https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/download/1.4.0/umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_all_debian-13.deb https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion/releases/download/v1.3.0.0/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion_Age2FakeOnline_1.0.0.0.zip https://github.com/Detanup01/gbe_fork/releases/download/release-2026_05_30/emu-win-release.7z https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServer/releases/download/v1.14.1/ageLANServer_full_1.14.1_linux_x86-64.tar.gz

Move debs to ~/aoe2de/debs. They will need to be installed on any system that uses this package.

Explode GE-Proton11-1 to ~/aoe2de.

tar -zx -C ~/aoe2de -f ~/aoe2de/prepare/GE-Proton11-1.tar.gz

Prepare files from Goldberg Emulator fork.

cd ~/aoe2de/prepare
7za x emu-win-release.7z
cd ~/aoe2de/
cp -pi prepare/release/steamclient_experimental/{ColdClientLoader.ini,steamclient*.dll,steamclient_loader_x64.exe} .

Prepare the ColdClientLoader.ini. Here is the non-comment values I used.

[SteamClient]
Exe=AoE2DE\AoE2DE_s.exe
ExeRunDir=
ExeCommandLine=NOSTARTUP SKIPINTRO
AppId=813780
SteamClientDll=steamclient.dll
SteamClient64Dll=steamclient64.dll
[Injection]
ForceInjectSteamClient=0
ForceInjectGameOverlayRenderer=0
DllsToInjectFolder=dlls
IgnoreInjectionError=1
IgnoreLoaderArchDifference=0
[Persistence]
Mode=0
[Debug]
ResumeByDebugger=0

Prepare configs for steam emulator

cd ~/aoe2de
mkdir -p dlls steam_settings saves

Load dlls.

cd ~/aoe2de/dlls
7za x ~/aoe2de/prepare/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion_Age2FakeOnline_1.0.0.0.zip
cp -pi ../prepare/release/steamclient_experimental/GameOverlayRenderer64.dll ../prepare/release/steamclient_experimental/extra_dlls/steamclient_extra_x64.dll .

Prepare steam_settings.

Prepare these based on Reference 5.

File achievements.json is lengthy and not shown here.

The DLCs that I own are these, for file configs.app.ini.

[app::dlcs]
unlock_all=0
# Expansions
2141580=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome
2555420=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Mountain Royals
#2805510=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Victors and Vanquished
2805520=Age of Empires II: DE - Chronicles: Battle for Greece
3080080=Age of Empires II: DE - The Three Kingdoms
#3793540=Age of Empires II: DE - Chronicles: Alexander the Great
3219700=Age of Empires II: DE – The Last Chieftains
1389240=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lords of the West
1869820=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India
1557210=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dawn of the Dukes
# Animated Icons
#2672800=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – La Hire’s Dry Humor Animated Icons
#2672810=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Joan’s Marvelous Moving Masterpieces Animated Icons
#2672820=Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Barbarossa’s Barrel of Pickled Goods Animated Icons
# Other
#1039811=Enhanced Graphics Pack

Prepare file configs.user.ini.

[user::general]
# Fill your account name as you would normally see.
account_name=SpacesAreEvil65
# Fill with your real steamid or leave empty for it to be auto-generated.
account_steamid=
# Choose one from steam_settings\supported_languages.txt (described in https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/store/localization/languages) or leave empty to be set as 'english'
language=
# Choose from 'Alpha-2' country code: https://www.iban.com/country-codes or leave empty to be set as 'US'
ip_country=

[user::saves]
local_save_path=saves

File supported_languages.txt is exactly as is from Reference 5.

english
french
italian
german
japanese
koreana
brazilian
russian
schinese
latam
tchinese
turkish
vietnamese
spanish
polish
hindi
malay

Prepare launcher script aoe2de.sh.

#!/bin/sh
PROTON_DISABLE_LSTEAMCLIENT=1 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-aoe2de PROTONPATH=~/aoe2de/GE-Proton11-1 umu-run ~/aoe2de/steamclient_loader_x64.exe NOSTARTUP SKIPINTRO

The first time you run, umu wants to download components from the Internet for your user. Client scripts set-initial-umu.sh might be able to prevent that requirement.

Prepare scripts/ files.

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-get-account-steamid.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    # find first one. IGNORE the saves/settings/configs.user.ini which is the auto-generated one.
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/steam_settings/configs.user.ini' -print -quit )"
fi
final_steamid="$( awk -F'=' '$1~/account_steamid/{print $NF}' "${INFILE}" )"
echo "account_steamid = ${final_steamid}"

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-get-username.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    # find first one
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/steam_settings/configs.user.ini' -print -quit )"
fi

awk -F'=' '$1~/account_name/{print $NF}' "${INFILE}"

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-account-steamid.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
# Useful because the emulator seems to pick the same number on every system when it needs to generate its own account_steamid.
# Dependencies:
#    dep-devuan: moreutils
# Env vars: APPLY VERBOSE
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    # find first one. IGNORE the saves/settings/configs.user.ini which is the auto-generated one.
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/steam_settings/configs.user.ini' -print -quit )"
fi

# Steam id is 17 digits long, decimal, and starts with 765611982
new_steamid="765611982$( </dev/random tr -dc '0-9' | head -c8 )"

# modconf.py breaks on set account_steamid because of the underscore. I will have to do this with awk or sed or similar 2026-06-30-3 23:55
#if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ; then echo "/usr/libexec/bgscripts/py/modconf.py ${APPLY:+-a} ${VERBOSE:+-v} -s '[user::general]' \"${INFILE}\" set account_steamid \"${new_steamid}\"" ; fi
#/usr/libexec/bgscripts/py/modconf.py ${APPLY:+-a} ${VERBOSE:+-v} -s '[user::general]' "${INFILE}" set account_steamid "${new_steamid}"

# So use basic awk instead
if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ;
then
    echo "awk -v \"b=${new_steamid}\" -F'=' 'BEGIN{OFS=\"=\"} \$1~/account_steamid/{\$2=b} {print}' \"${INFILE}\" | sponge \"${INFILE}\""
fi
if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
then
    awk -v "b=${new_steamid}" -F'=' 'BEGIN{OFS="="} $1~/account_steamid/{$2=b} {print}' "${INFILE}" | sponge "${INFILE}"
    # Regardless if it worked, read the value and show it.
    final_steamid="$( awk -F'=' '$1~/account_steamid/{print $NF}' "${INFILE}" )"
    echo "account_steamid = ${final_steamid}"
fi

# modconf.py has a bug where it adds an additional newline after that updated line, so
# collapse multiple empty lines into a single empty line: ref https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/72749
awk '!NF {if (++n <= 1) print; next}; {n=0;print}' "${INFILE}" | sponge "${INFILE}"
if test -z "${APPLY}" ; then echo "Dry run only! Use APPLY=1" 1>&2 ; fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-cert-from-server.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
IPADDRESS="${IPADDRESS:-${1}}"
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/certificates/cacert.pem' -print -quit )"
fi
INFILE="$( readlink -f "${INFILE}" )"
if test -z "${IPADDRESS}" ;
then
    echo "Fatal! Provide \$1 or IPADDRESS (IP address or hostname) to fetch certificate. Aborted." 1>&2
    exit 1
fi
cert="$( </dev/null openssl s_client -connect "${IPADDRESS}:443" 2>/dev/null | openssl x509 -in /dev/stdin )"
# Exit if the connection failed. Openssl x509 already printed an error, so do not print another.
if test -z "${cert}" ; then exit 1 ; fi
next_next_to_last="$( echo "${cert}" | awk '{a[NR]=$0} END {print a[NR-2]}' )"
if ! grep -q -e "${next_next_to_last}" "${INFILE}" ;
then
    echo "You need the cert! File ${INFILE} does not have the cert."
    if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
    then
        echo "Applying the the cert." 1>&2
        echo "${cert}" >> "${INFILE}"
    else
        echo "Dry run only! Please run with APPLY=1 to add the cert."
    fi
else
    echo "File ${INFILE} has the cert already."
fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-etc-hosts.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
# Dependencies:
#    dep-devuan: bgscripts
# TODO:
#    clean up #ageLANServer entries
scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
INFILE="${INFILE:-/etc/hosts}"
mkdir -p "${scriptdir}/backups"
# needs bgscripts
sudo bup "${INFILE}" "${scriptdir}/backups"
IPADDRESS="${IPADDRESS:-${1}}"
if test -z "${IPADDRESS}" ;
then
    echo "Fatal! Need \$1 or IPADDRESS. Aborted." 1>&1
    exit 1
fi
# I need to remove the loopback address for this host, only if this is the server
echo "WARNING: for server only, please modify /etc/hosts and remove 127.0.0.1-type entries. Not implemented automatically yet." 1>&2

# nice idea, but I don't want to depend on this
# This only adds the relevant api.ageofempires.com entries.
#sudo "${scriptdir}/../ageLANServer/linux/launcher/bin/config-admin" setup --game age2 --ip "${IPADDRESS}"

_resolved="$( getent hosts "${IPADDRESS}" | awk '{print $1}' )"
echo "Using resolved ip address ${_resolved}" 1>&2

for word in \
aoe-api.reliclink.com \
aoe-api.worldsedgelink.com \
api.ageofempires.com \
cdn.ageofempires.com \
pb-live-release1-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release2-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release3-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release4-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release5-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release6-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release7-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release8-api.worldsedgelink.com \
pb-live-release9-api.worldsedgelink.com \
; do
    long="${word}#ageLANServer"
    # depends on bgscripts
    if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ; then
        echo "sudo updateval -v ${INFILE}" \"${_resolved} ${long}\" \"${_resolved} ${long}\"
    fi
    if test -n "${APPLY}" ; then
        sudo updateval -a "${INFILE}" "${_resolved} ${long}" "${_resolved} ${long}"
    fi
done

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-initial-mods.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
INFILE="${INFILE:-/mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-mods-subscribed.2026-06-26.tgz}"
steamid="$( "${scriptdir}/get-account-steamid.sh" | awk '{print $NF}' )"
WINEPREFIX="${WINEPREFIX:-${HOME}/.wine-aoe2de}"
destdir="${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/${steamid}/mods"
if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ;
then
    echo "tar -zx -C \"${destdir}\" -f \"${INFILE}\""
fi
if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
then
    mkdir -p "${destdir}"
    tar -zx -C "${destdir}" -f "${INFILE}"
else
    echo "Dry run only! Please run with APPLY=1 to apply the initial mods."
fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-initial-profile.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
indir="$( readlink -f "${scriptdir}/../initial-files" )"
steamid="$( "${scriptdir}/get-account-steamid.sh" | awk '{print $NF}' )"
WINEPREFIX="${WINEPREFIX:-${HOME}/.wine-aoe2de}"
destdir="${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/${steamid}"
if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ;
then
    echo "cp -pr \"${indir}/profile\" \"${destdir}\""
fi
if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
then
    mkdir -p "${destdir}"
    cp -pr "${indir}/profile" "${destdir}"
else
    echo "Dry run only! Please run with APPLY=1 to apply the initial profile."
fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-initial-registry.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
PROTON_DISABLE_LSTEAMCLIENT=1 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-aoe2de PROTONPATH=~/aoe2de/GE-Proton11-1 umu-run regedit "x:\aoe2de\initial-files\aoe2de-partial.reg"

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-initial-umu.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
indir="$( readlink -f "${scriptdir}/../initial-files" )"
destdir="${HOME}/.local/share"
if test -n "${VERBOSE}" ;
then
    echo "cp -pr \"${indir}/umu\" \"${destdir}\""
fi
if test -n "${APPLY}" ;
then
    mkdir -p "${destdir}"
    cp -pr "${indir}/umu" "${destdir}"
else
    echo "Dry run only! Please run with APPLY=1 to apply the initial umu files."
fi

files/2026/listings/aoe2de-set-username.sh (Source)

#!/bin/sh
# Dependencies:
#    dep-devuan: bgscripts, moreutils
# Env vars: APPLY VERBOSE
USERNAME="${USERNAME:-${1}}"
if test -z "${USERNAME}" ; then echo "Fatal! Need \$1 or USERNAME. Aborted." 1>&2 ; exit 1 ; fi
if test -z "${INFILE}" ;
then
    scriptdir="$( dirname "$( readlink -f "${0}" )" )"
    # find first one
    INFILE="$( find "${scriptdir}" "${scriptdir}/.." "${scriptdir}/../.." -ipath '*/steam_settings/configs.user.ini' -print -quit )"
fi

# This depends on bgscripts.
/usr/libexec/bgscripts/py/modconf.py ${APPLY:+-a} ${VERBOSE:+-v} -s '[user::general]' "${INFILE}" set account_name "${USERNAME}"

# modconf.py has a bug where it adds an additional newline after that updated line, so
# collapse multiple empty lines into a single empty line: ref https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/72749
awk '!NF {if (++n <= 1) print; next}; {n=0;print}' "${INFILE}" | sponge "${INFILE}"
if test -z "${APPLY}" ; then echo "Dry run only! Use APPLY=1" 1>&2 ; fi

Prepare ageLANServer assets for server.

These assets are only needed for the machine that will run the server.
```
mkdir -p ~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux
tar -zx -C ~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux -f ~/aoe2de/prepare/ageLANServer_full_1.14.1_linux_x86-64.tar.gz
```
Adjust battle-server-manager/resources/config.age2.toml
```
Path = '../../../AoE2DE/BattleServer/BattleServer.exe'
```
Adjust server/resources/config/config.toml
```
Enabled = ["age2"]
```
I could have written sed statements, but I didn't bother.

Prepare initial files.

I copied what I think is a reasonably configured "low graphics" user profile from ~/.wine-aoe2de.attempt2/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age\ of\ Empires\ 2\ DE/7656119EXAMPLE892. Place it as ~/aoe2de/initial-files/profile.

Prepare initial-files/README.md.

# Profile
This initial profile already sets graphics to low. Most, but probably not all, my preferred settings are loaded already.

The destination for `profile/` is the following.

    ${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/7656119EXAMPLE892

# Umu
This is a snapshot of `${HOME}/.local/share/umu` from 2026-07-01.

# Registry key

It appears some values are in registry, and some are in `${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age\ of\ Empires\ 2\ DE/${account_steamid}/profile/Player.nfp`. So this is the ones from the registry. However, it also appears to use key `HKEY_USERS\{sid}-{UID}-1000\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II DE` which is not predictable.

Prepare the initial umu from a working environment. I found one that works for clients that is less than 1GB, with only steamrt4/.

cp -pr ~/.local/share/umu ~/aoe2de/initial-files/

NOTE: It appears some values are in registry, and some are in ${WINEPREFIX}/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age\ of\ Empires\ 2\ DE/${account_steamid}/profile/Player.nfp.

This command exports the registry keys for the game to ${HOME}\aoe2de-partial.reg. This depends on symlink ${WINEPREFIX}/dosdevices/x: -> ${HOME}

PROTON_DISABLE_LSTEAMCLIENT=1 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-aoe2de PROTONPATH=~/aoe2de/GE-Proton11-1 umu-run regedit /E "x:\aoe2de\initial-files\aoe2de-partial.reg" "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Age of Empires II DE"

Build release asset #2.

tar -zc -C ~ -f ~/aoe2de-other-components-2026-07-01.tgz --exclude 'AoE2DE' --exclude 'prepare' aoe2de

This tar operation only took about r0:03.30.

Description of this working environment

~/aoe2de
ageLANServer/linux exploded from https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServer/releases/download/v1.14.1/ageLANServer_full_1.14.1_linux_x86-64.tar.gz
- battle-server-manager/resources/config.age2.toml customized
- server/resources/config/config.toml customized
AoE2DE proper Steam game with all my DLCs, named aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz
aoe2de.sh launcher script
ColdClientLoader.ini customized
steamclient64.dll
steamclient.dll
steamclient_loader_x64.exe These four from https://github.com/Detanup01/gbe_fork/releases/download/release-2026_05_30/emu-win-release.7z release/steamclient_experimental/
debs/ Two files from https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/tag/1.4.0
- python3-umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_amd64_debian-13.deb https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/download/1.4.0/python3-umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_amd64_debian-13.deb
- umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_all_debian-13.deb https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher/releases/download/1.4.0/umu-launcher_1.4.0-1_all_debian-13.deb
dlls/
- ageLANServerLauncherCompanion_Age2FakeOnline_1.0.0.0.dll from https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion/releases/download/v1.3.0.0/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion_Age2FakeOnline_1.0.0.0.zip
- GameOverlayRenderer64.dll
- steamclient_extra_x64.dll These two from https://github.com/Detanup01/gbe_fork/releases/download/release-2026_05_30/emu-win-release.7z release/steamclient_experimental/ and extra_dlls/
GE-Proton11-1/ exploded from https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases/download/GE-Proton11-1/GE-Proton11-1.tar.gz
initial-files/
- aoe2de-partial.reg Generated myself, in an attempt to store my settings.
- profile/ Generated myself, in an attempt to store my settings.
- umu/ Copy of ~/.local/share/umu to avoid needing the Internet for umu to fetch its components
saves/ Empty directory that will be used by clients
scripts/ Generated myself, useful scripts for this package.
steam_settings/ Minimal configs for steam emulator, described by https://github.com/luskaner/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion
- configs.app.ini Customized for the DLCs I own
- configs.user.ini Will be customized for each client, for account_steamid and account_username.

Operations

See also /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-without-steam.md

Installing this offline bundle

A server and client get the same assets. The server needs some additional steps.

Explode tarball of AoE2DE itself, to ~/aoe2de.

tar -zxf /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz -C ~

Explode the other components.

tar -zxf /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-other-components-2026-07-01.tgz -C ~

Installing a client

In ~/aoe2de, run some of the `scripts/set-*.sh`.

    APPLY=1 ./set-account-steamid.sh # randomize the steamid in the emulator
    APPLY=1 ./set-initial-profile.sh
    APPLY=1 ./set-initial-umu.sh
    APPLY=1 ./set-initial-mods.sh # optional
    APPLY=1 ./set-username.sh "Steve Harvee 3"
    ./set-initial-registry.sh

Some can only be run after the server is up and running; see section "Running a client".

Installing a server

Run each step from the "Installing a client" first, except the ones for after a server is running. When you adjust /etc/hosts, remove or comment any 127.0.0.1 <hostname>-style records.

It is possible that on a new system, you have to run this.

sudo setcap CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE=+eip ~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux/server/server

Initialize a certificate.

~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux/server/bin/genCert.sh

Running a client

If you will play multiplayer, you need to know the IP address or hostname of the server. This sets the entries in /etc/hosts which can be done manually if necessary.

APPLY=1 ./set-etc-hosts.sh 192.168.1.45 # IP address or hostname of server
APPLY=1 ./set-cert-from-server.sh 192.168.1.45

Run the short launcher.

~/aoe2de/aoe2de.sh

Running a server

Run the battle server manager in a terminal. It will spawn a new one to run, and return this prompt to you for the next command.

~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux/battle-server-manager/start_age2.sh

Run the server.

~/aoe2de/ageLANServer/linux/server/start_age2.sh

Then run the client as described above in "Running a client".

Adding mods

With script

From the second asset, use ~/aoe2de/scripts/set-initial-mods.sh. It depends on this network path for this file.

/mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-mods-subscribed.2026-06-26.tgz

Manually

Find the generated userid from ~/aoe2de/saves/settings.configs.user.ini.

eval $( awk '/account_steamid/' ~/aoe2de/saves/settings/configs.user.ini | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z=0-9_' )

Visit the user's mods directory and copy in the mods I have provided.

cd ~/".wine-aoe2de/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/${account_steamid}/mods"
tar -zxf /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-mods-subscribed.2026-06-26.tgz

Updating the game

A full copy of the official game from steam needs to be updated, and then built into a tarball. The path would be similar to /mnt/vm2/pcb-009-steam/steamapps/common/AoE2DE.

cd /mnt/vm2/pcb-009-steam/steamapps/common
tar -zcf "AoE2DE-$( date "+%F" ).tgz" AoE2DE

Note that this would not have the exact same directory structure as the original first asset which was aoe2de/AoE2DE/.

Updating "other components"

These dependencies might have newer versions. Check the references, and follow the "Building the package" steps.

Updating mods

Build a new tarball from the upstream machine that has the desired mods.

tar -zc -C "/mnt/vm2/pcb-009-steam/steamapps/compatdata/813780/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Games/Age of Empires 2 DE/${account_steamid}/mods" -f /mnt/public/Support/Games/aoe2de-on-linux/aoe2de-mods-subscribed.$( date "+%F" ).tgz

Related files

aoe2de-alldlcs-raw.2026-06-28.tgz
aoe2de-other-components-2026-07-01.tgz
aoe2de-mods-subscribed.2026-06-26.tgz

References

Installing Proton on Linux: A Comprehensive Guide — linuxvox.com
proton ge: https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases/download/GE-Proton11-1/GE-Proton11-1.tar.gz from Releases · GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom
Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher: Unified launcher for Windows games on Linux
UMU Database Search shows nothing for "Empires" about AoE2, so GAMEID can be left undefined.
luskaner/ageLANServerLauncherCompanion: Libraries to enhance or fix the game behaviour when using a custom launcher in Age LAN Server
Releases · Detanup01/gbe_fork
luskaner/ageLANServer: Web Server (and its launcher) for AoE 1, 2, 3 (all DE), AoE 4 and AoM: RT supporting offline multiplayer
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition DLCs · SteamDB to find ids for the two DLCs I own that were not demonstrated in the configs.app.ini

AoE2DE FPS limit affects benchmark rating

bgstack15 — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 13:24:00 GMT

For the past number of months, my Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition game would start lagging in larger ranked team games.

I re-ran the benchmark test, and I ranked 971.2, which is too low for ranked team games (1000)! So that greatly concerned me, as this is the only game with serious requirements that I run. So I spent time investigating all the graphics settings, and rebooting and running only steam and AoE2DE.

The moment I reached out to a friend who plays way more games than me, my next change solved the problem. I had set my fps limit down to 15, in the hopes of increasing game performance. Come to find out, it limits network performance when you lower the fps, and it also lowers the benchmark performance.

So that test I had run, with 65 fps, ranked nice and high (1138.2) and then I am eligible to play ranked team games again!

Here is a chart, for the curious. (This is the first time I am using the charting features in my ssg, nikola!)

The system I tested has these characteristics.

OS: Devuan GNU+Linux Ceres
RAM: 64 GB
Graphics card: GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

AoE2:DE CaptureAge on Linux

bgstack15 — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 13:08:00 GMT

This is shamelessly copy-pasting Running CaptureAge in Linux in case it ever disappears from the Internet.

Running CaptureAge in Linux

The latest version of CaptureAge (1.16.0) will now work with Linux. To get it working, here are some steps:

Download the installer from the CaptureAge website
Save the captureage script and place it in a location of your choice (e.g. ~/.local/bin/). Ensure it's executable
Find out the path to the proton executable used by Steam for Age of Empires II and adjust PROTON_EXEC accordingly
Uncomment the line to run the installer and adjust the path if needed. Comment the last line.
Check that the windows version is set to at least windows 10 with protontricks 813780 winecfg
Run protontricks 813780 d3dcompiler_47
Now run the captureage script. Install captureage. It should run!
Check if your CaptureAge is installed in AppData/Local/Programs/CaptureAge or AppData/Local/Programs/CADE and adjust accordingly.
Change the captureage script to not run the installation exe anymore, but directly CaptureAge
Profit

Figuring out the path to proton

To figure out the path to the proton executable used by Age of Empires II, set the Launch Options to echo %command% > ~/steam_cmd.txt. Start the game (it will not run, but exit immediately). Set back the Launch options to what they were. You now have a file in your home directory that includes the full path to the proton executable.

Getting the aoe2de:// URLs to work with AoE2

To register the aoe2de:// URL handler, you need a desktop file and a script. Here is how to set it up:

Copy the aoe2url file in a location of your choice, preferably ~/.local/bin. Ensure it's executable.
Adjust the path to proton in the script. Same as above.
Save the AoE2UrlHelper.desktop file in ~/.local/share/applications/
Adjust the path the aoe2url script on line 4
Run sudo update-desktop-database to add the application to the database
Run xdg-mime default AoE2UrlHelper.desktop x-scheme-handler/aoe2de to associate the URL Helper with the aoe2de:// scheme.

Now you can open games by typing the game url (e.g.: aoe2de://123456789) in the browser. You can also open games directly from the Spectator Dashboard

files/2025/listings/aoe2url (Source)

	`#!/usr/bin/bash`
	`export PROTON_LOG=1`
	`export STEAMAPPS="$HOME/.local/share/Steam/steamapps"`
	`export STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="$STEAMAPPS/compatdata/813780"`
	`export STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="$HOME/.steam"`
	`# Adjust this to the proton executable used by AoE2 in Steam`
	`export PROTON_EXEC="/usr/share/steam/compatibilitytools.d/proton-ge-custom/proton"`
	`export WINEPREFIX="$STEAMAPPS/compatdata/813780/pfx"`

	`"$PROTON_EXEC" run "$STEAMAPPS/common/AoE2DE/Tools_Builds/AOEURLHelper.exe" "$@"`

files/2025/listings/AoE2UrlHelper.desktop (Source)

	`[Desktop Entry]`
	`Name=AoE2 URL Opener`
	`Comment=Play this game on Steam (Open URL)`
	`Exec=/home/<youruser>/.local/bin/aoe2url %u`
	`Icon=steam_icon_813780`
	`Terminal=false`
	`Type=Application`
	`MimeType=x-scheme-handler/aoe2de;`
	`Categories=Game;`

files/2025/listings/captureage (Source)

	`#!/usr/bin/bash`
	`export PROTON_LOG=1`
	`export STEAMAPPS="$HOME/.local/share/Steam/steamapps"`
	`export STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH="$STEAMAPPS/compatdata/813780"`
	`export STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="$HOME/.steam"`
	`export WINEPREFIX="$STEAMAPPS/compatdata/813780/pfx"`
	`# Adjust the path to the proton executable used by Age of Empires II`
	`export PROTON_EXEC="/usr/share/steam/compatibilitytools.d/proton-ge-custom/proton"`
	`# export WINEDEBUG=warn+all # This is for debug logs`
	`# export OBS_VKCAPTURE=1 # Enable this for OBS Videogame capture`

	`#install capture age (only needed once). Adjust the location to point to the installer you downloaded.`
	`# "$PROTON_EXEC" run "Z:/$HOME/Downloads/CaptureAgeSetup.exe"`

	`# run capture age`
	`# Older version of CA:DE were installed in AppData/Local/Programs/CaptureAge . If it doesn't launch for you, check this path`
	`"$PROTON_EXEC" run "C:/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/Programs/CADE/CaptureAge.exe"`

Current process for AoE2DE on Linux

bgstack15 — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 12:57:09 GMT

Of all the non-open-source software I'm aware of, Valve is a great publisher. I use Steam weekly for playing my one modern computer game, Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition.

I upgraded my main workstation to only a 4-year-old computer (which now requires UEFI boot, bleh, for local devices; oh, but legacy boot works for removable devices which makes no sense to me), instead of my 10-year-old computer. I reinstalled Devuan GNU+Linux and got the Nvidia driver loaded.

With some of the recent Proton fixes, I need only vanilla Proton experimental as my compatibility layer.

I strained for a long time to get DXVK working. When I ran the game with PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 in the launch command, the graphics would work only 2% of the time. But finally I found the magic instructions in a github issues discussion: DXVK_FILTER_DEVICE_NAME="NVIDIA".

So here is my full steam launch command for Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition.

DXVK_FILTER_DEVICE_NAME="NVIDIA" PROTON_USE_DXVK=1 PROTON_LOG=1 DXVK_HUD=all %command% NOSTARTUP SKIPINTRO

AoE2DE on Linux with Alsa

bgstack15 — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 12:33:41 GMT

I recently reinstalled my gaming workstation, and of course I reinstalled Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. It's one of the few non-open source activities I allow myself.

Well, with this OS reinstall, I set up Devuan GNU+Linux which uses sysvinit. I had the choise to use pulseaudio, like my Fedora GNU/Linux installation used. I recall that you could use the pulseaudio graphical control utility to change the default audio sink, which immediately switched over running applications' default audio streams. However, I am going more traditional and less poettering-style, and using just alsa for audio these days (and fluxbox for my window manager, as previously discussed).

I have had this setup for about a month, and it has gone well, including audio, until the past few days. Somehow, my default audio device switched probably to my Nvidia graphics card. I tried adjusting my /etc/asound.conf which worked in general, such as for vlc.

defaults.pcm.card 1
defaults.ctl.card 1

I still needed to manually choose the correct card for the game, however. Reviewing the output of steam and/or the game (by running steam in a terminal window), I saw these logs:

ALSA lib confmisc.c:767:(parse_card) cannot find card '0'
ALSA lib conf.c:4568:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib confmisc.c:392:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings
ALSA lib conf.c:4568:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such file or directory
ALSA lib confmisc.c:1246:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name
ALSA lib conf.c:4568:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such file or directory

This could have been because I unplugged what was getting picked for the default device, a cheap webcam that has a microphone but no speakers, so it really should never show up as an audio sink anyways.

After reviewing my output of aplay -l (a snippet is below), I set an environment variable in the Steam settings for the game.

$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 1: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC221 Analog [ALC221 Analog]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

So in steam settings for AoE2DE, I now have it set up with:

PROTON_USE_DXVK=1 ALSA_CARD='PCH' %command%

Also, I am currently using Proton 7.0-4 for compatibility. I was previously using 5.13-6.

References

Weblinks

Internet searches

alsa lib cannot find card 0

Replicate some functionality of SenseiDE on GNU/Linux installation of AoE2DE

bgstack15 — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 12:44:12 GMT

I run Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition on my Fedora system. A fellow clan member showed me Greg Stein's SenseiDE which makes a great control panel for enabling/disabling some extraneous features of the game. Due to the open source nature of this neat tool, I have been able to replicate some of the tasks for my installation, in shell! Go check out aoe2de- seteffects on my gitlab.

	`#!/bin/sh`
	`PROTON_DISABLE_LSTEAMCLIENT=1 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-aoe2de PROTONPATH=~/aoe2de/GE-Proton11-1 umu-run ~/aoe2de/steamclient_loader_x64.exe NOSTARTUP SKIPINTRO`