Quickscope

How to install IW4x

IW4x is a free community client for Modern Warfare 2 (2009) multiplayer. It runs on top of your own Steam copy of the game. This guide follows the IW4x team's own docs, linked at the bottom with the date each was read.

What you need

This site never hosts or links game files. The game comes from your Steam library and IW4x comes from the IW4x team.

Windows, step by step

  1. Install MW2 from Steam

    Install "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) - Multiplayer" from your Steam library.

  2. Verify the game files

    In Steam, right-click the game, open Properties, then Installed Files, and click the verify button. The IW4x docs recommend this to avoid the error Could not find zone 'code_pre_gfx_mp.ff'.

  3. Open the game folder

    Right-click the game again and choose Manage, then Browse local files. The usual place is:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

  4. Download the IW4x launcher

    Get it from the IW4x team's own release page on GitHub: github.com/iw4x/launcher/releases. Take the newest release and pick the Windows .zip. Download it from there and nowhere else.

  5. Put the launcher in the game folder

    Unzip it and move the launcher into the Modern Warfare 2 folder from step 3. IW4x has to sit in the same folder as the game.

  6. Run the launcher

    Double-click iw4x-launcher.exe. It downloads and installs IW4x. Windows SmartScreen may warn about it because few people run it. The IW4x docs say to click More info, then Run anyway.

    When it finishes, the folder holds iw4x/, iw4x.exe and iw4x-launcher.exe next to the game files.

  7. Start the game through the launcher, every time

    The launcher updates IW4x, checks its files, then starts the game. The IW4x docs recommend using it every time.

  8. Join Hollow Phoenix

    Open the in-game server browser and search for "Hollow Phoenix". Or open the console and paste one of these:

    connect 216.106.184.17:28960

    Main server, map and mode vote.

    connect 216.106.184.17:28961

    Battle royale.

    Console key: on a US keyboard it is usually ~, the key under Esc. Unverified: we have not found this on the current IW4x docs site yet.

If something goes wrong

Linux and macOS

Linux: the launcher has a Linux build (.tar.xz) on the same release page. The IW4x Linux guide also covers running it through Steam as a non-Steam game with Proton Experimental. We have not tested this ourselves.

macOS: the IW4x macOS guide uses Wineskin and the Windows copy of the game files from Steam. We have not tested this ourselves.

Phones and consoles: not covered yet. We will only add a device here after we have tested it.

Sources

All first-party, read on 2026-10-25.