How to Add Mods to a Minecraft Server

Plugins or mods: not the same thing

Plugins (EssentialsX, LuckPerms, WorldEdit…) go on Paper or Purpur servers and don't need anything on the players' computers. Mods (Create, JourneyMap, Cobblemon…) change the game and almost always have to be installed by the players too. If you want both, see mods and plugins together.

If you don't know where to start, here are the best mods for playing with friends, checked for 26.3.

Choose the loader

Each mod is for one loader: Fabric, Forge or NeoForge. They don't mix. If you're following a modpack, the modpack already tells you (how to install a modpack); if you're building your own, pick the loader that has the mods you want most and stick with it (Paper, Fabric, Forge or NeoForge).

On NapNodes servers are delivered with Paper. For mods, in the panel: “Mods & plugins” → “Server type”, you choose Fabric, Forge or NeoForge and the version, and it switches on its own, with your world. If you're going to use a modpack, not even that: installing it already sets the right loader.

Installing the mods

1. Same version for everything

   Minecraft, the loader and each mod must be for the same version (for example, 1.21.1). It's the cause of almost every “it won't start”.

2. Install them from the panel

   On NapNodes, “Mods & plugins” searches Modrinth and CurseForge only among the ones that work with your loader and your version, and installs them in one click, with their dependencies. The ones that aren't there, upload them in “Files” to the mods folder, always downloaded from the author's page.

3. Start it and watch the console

   If a dependency is missing, the console names it (for example, “requires fabric-api”). Upload it and start again.

4. Share the mods with your players

   On NapNodes, a modded server has its own page, napnodes.com/jugar/<your-server>, with the modpack ready to download: your friends install that and join, without hunting for mods one by one.

Before you touch anything, a backup

A mod that doesn't fit can break the world when it loads. Make a backup from “Backups” in the panel before adding or updating mods: if something goes wrong, it's restored in a minute.

Frequently asked questions