How to Join a Modded Minecraft Server: Fabric, Forge or NeoForge on Your PC

What you need to know first

Three things, and whoever runs the server gives them to you: the Minecraft version (for example, 1.21.1), the loader (Fabric, Forge or NeoForge) and the list of mods. If any of the three doesn't match, you don't get in. The differences between loaders, in Paper, Fabric, Forge and NeoForge.

You need Minecraft Java Edition, bought. Bedrock (consoles, phones, the Microsoft Store version for Windows that isn't Java) doesn't load Java mods: you can't join a modded server from there.

Not everything gets installed in your game. Some mods are server-only (for example, performance or backup mods) and some go on both sides (the ones that add blocks, mobs or items). If the server uses a modpack, the simplest thing is to install the same whole modpack, in the same version.

If the server only has plugins (Paper), you install nothing: you join with normal Minecraft. Plugins only go on the server.

The easy way: a launcher that installs everything

Instead of installing the loader and copying mods by hand, a modpack launcher creates a separate installation with everything inside, without touching your usual Minecraft. The most used: Prism Launcher (free and open source, prismlauncher.org), the Modrinth app and the CurseForge app.

1. Install the launcher and sign in

   In Prism Launcher: “Accounts” → add a Microsoft account. It's the same account you bought Minecraft with.

2. Import the server's modpack

   If you've been sent a .mrpack file or a link to one: in Prism, “Add Instance” → “Import” and paste the link or pick the file. The Minecraft version, the loader and the mods install by themselves. If it's a well-known modpack (from Modrinth or CurseForge), search for it by name from the launcher and pick the same version as the server.

3. Give it memory if the modpack is big

   In the instance settings you can raise the game's memory. With big modpacks, 4 GB or more if your PC has 8 GB of RAM or more; otherwise it hangs while loading.

4. Launch and join the server

   Open the instance, go to “Multiplayer” → “Add Server” and type the address you were given.

If the server is on NapNodes: the play link

Every modded Minecraft server on NapNodes has its page napnodes.com/jugar/<id> with the client-side modpack ready: only what your game needs, with the server's exact version and loader. You import it in Prism with its link (or by downloading the file), and there's also a file for the CurseForge app. When you launch, the server is already listed in “Multiplayer”.

Whoever runs the server has that link in the panel, in “Mods & plugins”, in the “For your players: playing with mods” box, with a “Copy the link” button. The modpack rebuilds itself when the server's mods change: if it kicks you after they add one, import it again.

Some mod may need downloading by hand (its author only allows downloads from their own page): the page itself tells you which one and which folder it goes in.

By hand, with the official Minecraft launcher

If you'd rather not install another launcher, it can be done with the official one. Close Minecraft and the launcher before you start.

1. Install the loader for the server's version

   Fabric: download the installer from fabricmc.net, pick the server's Minecraft version, leave “Create Profile” ticked and click “Install”. Forge (files.minecraftforge.net) or NeoForge (neoforged.net): download the installer for the server's exact version, open it and choose “Install client”. The Forge and NeoForge ones are .jar files: if they don't open with a double click, your PC is missing Java.

2. Open the mods folder

   On Windows, type %appdata%\.minecraft in File Explorer's address bar and go into mods (if it doesn't exist, create it). On macOS it's ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/mods and on Linux, ~/.minecraft/mods.

3. Copy the mods

   Put in there the .jar files of the same mods as the server, in the same versions and for the same loader. With Fabric, almost all of them also need Fabric API: download it for your version and put it in the same folder. Take mods from other playthroughs out of that folder, or they'll clash.

4. Play with the loader's profile

   In the launcher, bottom left, pick the Fabric, Forge or NeoForge profile the installer created and click “Play”. Then “Multiplayer” → “Add Server”.

It kicks you when joining: mismatched mods

If you get a message with a list of mods when connecting (missing, extra or a different version), your game and the server don't have the same thing. Read the list: it almost always says exactly which mod is missing or which one has another version. Install that one, in that version, and try again.

If it says the server uses another Minecraft version, your installation isn't the server's. With mods there are no shortcuts: ViaVersion doesn't translate mods (why), so create the installation with the server's exact version.

If the game closes before reaching the menu, the problem is on your PC, not the server: a mod for another loader or version, a missing dependency (Fabric API, Architectury, Cloth Config… the error usually names it) or too little memory for the game. Remove the last thing you added and look at the crash report in the crash-reports folder.

If you join with normal Minecraft and it kicks you with a registry or unknown-blocks error, you're joining without the loader: pick the modded profile or instance in the launcher.

If everything matches and you still can't get in, the problem isn't the mods any more: the address, the port or the server being off. You have the messages one by one in can't connect to my Minecraft server.

If you run the server

Save your friends the hassle: always give them a modpack, not a list of mods. With a Modrinth or CurseForge modpack, the same name and the same version; with loose mods, a .mrpack. At NapNodes that .mrpack builds itself (the link in “Mods & plugins”), and modpacks install on the server from “Mods & plugins” → “Modpacks” (modpack guide).

Before adding a new mod, give a heads-up: as soon as the server has it, anyone without it won't be able to join. And if you want people to also join from consoles or with normal Minecraft, that's a Paper server with plugins, not mods (mods or plugins).

Frequently asked questions