Your own Minecraft modpack on the serverChoose the loader via server type, assemble mods yourself, equip your fellow players

Published on October 20, 2026

Before the first mod: decide on version and loader

Your own modpack stands or falls with two decisions you make before the first download: the Minecraft version and the mod loader. Every mod is built for a specific combination of both. A Forge mod does not run under Fabric, a mod for 1.20.1 does not run under 1.21.1 - even if the version numbers are close together.

So go the other way round: first write down the three to five mods without which your pack makes no sense, and check on CurseForge or Modrinth for which version and which loader all of them exist. This intersection is your foundation. You choose everything else to match.

• Forge and NeoForge are home to the big content and tech mods. NeoForge is the fork of Forge that many newer mods have moved to from 1.20.2 onwards.
• Fabric is lightweight, is brought to new Minecraft versions quickly and has a strong selection of optimization and quality-of-life mods.

Mixed operation is not intended: a server runs with exactly one loader. Bridge mods that are supposed to load Fabric mods under Forge are more for tinkerers than for a stable pack.

Step 1: Set the loader via server type

You do not have to order a new server for a modpack. In the game server panel, you will find the item server type. There, you switch yourself - without a ticket and without waiting - to Forge, NeoForge or Fabric. You choose the Minecraft version and the loader version anew as part of the switch; take exactly the combination you settled on in the previous step.

1. Back up your server before you change anything. Backups are self-service with us via WebFTP or SFTP - how that works is described in Create backups.
2. Open the server type item in the panel and choose the loader you want.
3. Set the Minecraft and loader version. The confirmation dialog shows you in advance what happens during the switch.
4. Follow the reinstallation live in the panel. The install log can be viewed if something gets stuck.

The world and server.properties are kept when switching to a mod loader. So a vanilla or Paper world can come along - but keep in mind that plugins from a Paper server do not keep running under Forge or Fabric. The difference is explained in Install plugins & mods. If you want to start completely fresh, begin with a new world after the switch, see Reset the world.

Step 2: Get the mods onto the server

For adding the individual mods, you have two routes, which can also be combined.

With 1 click in the panel. The mod installer in the game server panel searches Modrinth and CurseForge and only shows mods that match your version and your loader. Dependencies such as Fabric API or library mods are taken along. This is the most convenient route for everything available on the two platforms.

Via SFTP or WebFTP. Mods that are not on CurseForge or Modrinth, your own builds or an already assembled mod list are uploaded as .jar files directly into the mods/ folder in the server's main directory. For many files at once, an SFTP program such as WinSCP or FileZilla is faster than the web file manager.

Stop the server before you add or remove mods. A mod swapped during operation only takes effect after the restart - and a half-written upload is a reliable cause of crashes. Also only use files from trustworthy sources: a mod is executable code and runs with the same rights as your server.

Step 3: Sort out client mods

The most common mistake with your own pack: the mod list from your own launcher is copied one to one to the server. But it contains mods that only do something on the players' computers - shaders, graphics optimizations, minimaps, menu and HUD tweaks. Typical examples are Sodium, Iris or OptiFine.

Under Forge and NeoForge, the start often aborts with such mods; the log then shows a note that a class was supposed to be loaded for the wrong environment (invalid dist DEDICATED_SERVER). Fabric usually skips pure client mods by itself, but it is still cleaner not to upload them in the first place.

The rule of thumb: everything that brings new blocks, items, creatures, dimensions or game mechanics belongs on server and client. Everything that only changes how the game looks or handles belongs only on the client. When in doubt, the mod page on Modrinth helps - for most projects, it explicitly states whether they are needed on the client or server side.

Step 4: Test in small steps

A pack of 80 mods that starts on the first try is a matter of luck. If you work in stages, you find the culprit in minutes instead of hours:

1. First start with only the loader and your core mods. If that runs, you have a working base.
2. Add the remaining mods in groups of five to ten and restart after each group.
3. If the start aborts, the cause is in the most recently added group. Halve it until the one mod remains.

In most cases, the server log file logs/latest.log names the mod right away: missing dependencies, duplicate mods in two versions or a mod that requires a different loader version. How to read the log and what the messages mean is described in Server does not start. You edit the mods' configuration files in the config/ folder conveniently in the panel's online config editor.

Step 5: Pass the pack on to your fellow players

With your own modpack, you are not only the server operator but also the publisher. Every fellow player needs exactly the same mods in the same versions, otherwise the server rejects the connection with a message about missing or different mods.

The easiest way is to build the pack first as a profile in a launcher - such as the CurseForge app, the Modrinth App or Prism Launcher - and export it from there. CurseForge exports a profile as a ZIP file, Modrinth as .mrpack. Your fellow players import the file with one click and have the same mod list including versions. Prism Launcher can read both formats.

The server then gets the mods from this profile minus the pure client mods. With every change, give your pack a new version number - such as "Our Pack 1.3" - and mention it in your Discord. That saves you the question of why someone suddenly cannot join any more.

How much memory does your own pack need?

The requirement depends less on the number of mods than on their type. Twenty quality-of-life mods hardly load the server, whereas a single large tech or dimension mod does noticeably. As a rough guide: a small pack with a handful of content mods runs on plan M, a medium one with 50 to 100 mods on plan L; heavy packs with many dimensions, automation and several players belong on plan XL.

You upgrade your plan yourself at any time in the customer interface; world and configuration are kept. So feel free to start one tier smaller and switch if the server aborts while loading or TPS drop during play. How to recognize a real memory bottleneck is shown in the guide How much RAM does a Minecraft server need?; guideline values for ready-made packs are on the page Host modpacks.

Use a ready-made pack as a basis

You do not have to start from scratch. It is often quicker to install a ready-made pack and extend it with a few mods of your own or trim individual ones. How to install a pack with 1 click from CurseForge or Modrinth is described in Install a modpack. Afterwards, you add or remove mods in the mods/ folder exactly as described above - and pass the changed list on to your group via a launcher export.

Keep in mind that a pack changed this way should no longer be updated via the original's update function: an update would overwrite your additions or raise it to a version they do not fit. From here on, you maintain your pack yourself.

Frequently asked questions