How to put a modpack on a Minecraft server

1. Find out what the pack needs

A modpack is built for one loader and one Minecraft version. Its page names both, and they decide the rest.

• The loader. NeoForge, Forge or Fabric. Mods for one normally only load on that one, so the server has to run the loader the pack names. Our NeoForge servers run Minecraft 1.20.2 and newer, and our Forge servers run older versions as well.
• The Minecraft version. Most packs stay on the version they were built for, long after newer ones come out. The server runs that version, and so does every player.
• The pack version. Packs get updates of their own. Note which one you install: your players need the same one.

The Minecraft version also sets the Java the server needs. Mojang's own version files give these:

For a pack on Modrinth, our modpack server sizer reads all of this for you. Paste the pack's link and it shows the loader, the Minecraft version, how many mods the pack brings and a server size to start with.

2. Use the server's share of the pack

A modpack is put together for players' computers, so it includes mods that only change what you see on screen: minimaps, shaders, menus. Those belong on the players' side. A server that tries to load one can stop during start-up.

A Modrinth pack marks every file as for the player, the server or both, so an installer that reads the pack gives the server only its share. If a pack's page offers server files, often called a server pack, use those on the server and leave the players' download for the players.

3. On our servers: pick the pack when you order

The quickest way is to choose the pack before you pay. The server then comes up with it installed.

1. On the order form, choose the Server software the pack is made for. NeoForge and Forge are on our Modded Minecraft page, and Fabric is on Minecraft Java.
2. Under Mods, choose A modpack, search Modrinth for it and press Use this pack. The newest version is picked for you. Pack version lists the others.
3. The form sets the Minecraft version, the loader version and the Java the pack needs, and More options shows what it chose. The memory size follows the pack's mod count and the number of players you set, and you can change it any time.
4. Choose your pass and pay. The server is set up, the pack goes in, and then the server starts.

Coming from the sizer? Its Start with button opens the order form with the pack already picked.

When the server is up, its Mods tab says which pack and version it was installed from. If a file in the pack needs adding by hand, the same tab names it and says where it goes.

4. On a server you already have

Installing a pack replaces the server's mods and the settings files the pack brings. Your worlds, server.properties, ops, whitelist and bans stay as they are.

1. Take a copy first. On Files & SFTP, press Download my files.
2. Stop the server. A pack goes on only while it's stopped, so a running server can't save over the new files.
3. Open Mods, then Find, and choose Modpacks. Search Modrinth for the pack and press Add.
4. Pick the pack version under Versions for this loader and press Install the modpack…
5. Read the plan. It lists the mods the pack adds, the mods in the folder now that the pack leaves out (these are removed), and any file to add by hand. Then press Install the modpack.
6. Press Start when it's done.

If the pack is for another Minecraft version or loader than the server runs, the plan says so and offers a Switch to … first button. It opens Version & loader with the right choice filled in. The switch sets the Java that version needs and keeps a copy of every file on the server for 7 days, and Undo puts it all back. When the switch has finished, press Install the modpack… there and carry on from step 5.

To add by hand lists pack files that are hosted outside Modrinth's own download servers. Download each one from the pack's page and upload it over SFTP to the folder the plan names.

5. A pack from anywhere else: upload its server files

1. On Mods, open Version & loader and switch the server to the loader and Minecraft version the pack names. Runs now on that page shows what the server is on.
2. Stop the server, and take a copy with Download my files if it has a world you care about.
3. Upload the pack's server files from Files & SFTP. For a big pack, zip them and use Upload a zip and unpack it. Or press Create an SFTP password and send them with an SFTP app; the password is shown once, so save it.
4. The folders that matter are mods and config, plus any others the server files come with. Leave out the pack's start scripts and loader installer: the server already has the loader and starts it itself.
5. Press Start.

The Installed list on the Mods tab shows the files you uploaded. On a Fabric server, if the pack names a loader version and the server stops during start-up, set Fabric Loader Version under Game → All settings → Startup settings. Changing it reinstalls the game files, and your world and settings stay.

6. The first start

Open the console on the server's Overview before you press Start, so you see the start-up as it happens. The server is ready when the console prints a line like this:

Done (48.210s)! For help, type "help"

A big pack can take minutes to get there the first time, because it's also making the first area of a new world. If the server stops before that line, look for the first error that names a mod. The usual culprit is a mod meant for players' computers: delete it from the server's mods folder and start again.

Once people are playing, the Memory graph on the Overview shows how much of the server's size the pack uses. How much RAM a Minecraft server needs covers what to do with that number.

7. Get your players on

• Every player installs the same pack at the same version, with a launcher that installs Modrinth packs such as the Modrinth App. Tell them the pack name and version: the Mods tab shows both.
• Copy the Join address from the server's Overview and send it to them. In the game they open Multiplayer, then Add Server, and paste it.
• On Minecraft 26.3 and later, a new server starts with its whitelist on. Add each player with whitelist add <name> in the console.

If someone is turned away with a message about mods, players can't join your modded Minecraft server matches the message to its fix.

Checked on 12 November 2026 against our panel and Modrinth's modpack format.