How to get your players ready for a modded Minecraft server

A modded server only lets in players whose game has the same mods. On a modpack server, each player installs the same pack at the same version. On a server with mods you added, each player installs the same loader, Minecraft version and the mods that add content. The Play with friends card on Overview shows what they need.

Plugin servers (Paper, Purpur, Spigot) are different: players join with the normal game and install nothing.

What the Play with friends card tells them

Open Overview and find Play with friends. On a modded server it adds:

• Modpack, with the pack's name and version, Friends install this pack first. and a Pack page link, on a modpack server.
• A line such as This server runs Fabric. If its mods add new blocks or items, friends need Fabric and the same mods. on a mod server.
• Version: the Minecraft version to pick.

Send them that, or click Copy invite text and paste it to them. See How to invite friends to your Minecraft server with an invite link.

On a modpack server

1. Tell your players the pack's name and version, as the Modpack row of the Play with friends card shows them.
2. Each player installs that pack at that version in a launcher that supports the pack's site, for example the Modrinth App for a Modrinth pack or the CurseForge app for a CurseForge pack. The pack's page names the launcher it is made for.
3. They start the pack and join with your server address. See How to join your Minecraft server.

When you update the pack, every player updates too. See How to update your modpack on your Minecraft server.

On a server with mods you added

1. Tell your players the loader (Fabric, Forge, NeoForge or Quilt), its Minecraft version and the list of mods. The Installed list on Modding, Mods shows each mod and its version.
2. Each player installs the same loader for that Minecraft version, with the installer from the loader's official site.
3. They put the same mods in the mods folder of their game, or use a launcher that does it for them. The Fabric site says most Fabric mods also need Fabric API in the mods folder.
4. They join with your server address.

Which mods players need

Not every mod belongs on both sides. Modrinth asks each mod's author to say where it runs:

• Client and server, required on both: content mods that add blocks, items or mobs. Players must have them.
• Server-side only: runs on the server alone. Players install nothing.
• Client-side only: maps, shaders and other changes to a player's own screen. They belong on the player's computer, not on the server. A client-only mod on the server can stop it from starting: see A client-only mod stops your Minecraft server.

Read the mod's page before you tell players to install it.

If a player cannot join

• A message about missing or different mods means their mods or versions differ from the server's. Compare their list with the Installed list.
• Outdated client or Outdated server: their Minecraft version differs. See Players see Outdated client or Outdated server on your Minecraft server.
• More checks: How to find out why friends cannot join your Minecraft server.

Bedrock players on phones, tablets and consoles cannot install Java mods, so a server whose content comes from mods is not a good fit for crossplay. See How to let Bedrock players join your Java server with Geyser.