How to Make an RLCraft Server to Play With Friends

First things first: RLCraft is Minecraft 1.12.2 with Forge and Java 8

RLCraft hasn't moved version: the latest (2.9.3) is for Minecraft Java 1.12.2, with Forge. It's a modpack, not a plugin, so it doesn't run on a Paper server. The server and every player have to have the same version of the modpack, or nobody can join.

Being a version from 2017, the server needs Java 8 (which Java each version needs): with Java 17 or 21 it won't start. And there's no Bedrock: you can't play from a console or phone, because Geyser doesn't work with mods.

How much RAM it really needs

The server loads about 180 mods. In our tests, with 8 GB it started in 47 seconds, and that's what we recommend for playing as a group (Diamond plan): every player who explores generates terrain and creatures, and RLCraft has a lot of them. If there are 2 or 3 of you and you stick together, 6 GB (Iron) may be enough; if it falls short, you can add RAM without reinstalling anything.

RAM isn't everything: in 1.12.2 almost all of the server's work runs on a single core, so it matters that the core is fast and not shared. On NapNodes the plan's RAM and CPU are yours alone, with no overselling.

The free Minecraft server has 3 GB: that falls short for RLCraft. It's fine for trying other light modpacks, but for this one we don't recommend it.

Setting it up on your PC, for free

You can. On the RLCraft page on CurseForge, under “Files”, there's the server package (“Server Pack”): unzip it (careful, sometimes it has a folder inside another), install Forge for 1.12.2 in that folder and start it with Java 8 and about 6 GB allocated. RLCraft needs a recent Forge for 1.12.2 (14.23.5.2860 or later): with an older one it closes on startup.

The problem is the usual one: your PC has to be on for the others to play, with RLCraft loading on the same computer at the same time, and for people to join from outside you have to open ports on the router or use a VPN-type program (we cover it in the guide to playing with friends without port forwarding).

Installing it on NapNodes

1. Get the server

   Diamond (8 GB) or Iron (6 GB) from “Buy”. It's created in a couple of minutes. It comes with Paper, but that doesn't matter: the installer changes it.

2. Open “Mods & plugins” → “Modpacks” tab

   In the “Search on” selector, choose CurseForge, search for “RLCraft” and press “Install”.

3. Wait a few minutes

   The panel downloads the server package the modpack's author prepares, sets the exact Forge it asks for and Java 8, and starts it. If you already had a world, it moves it aside under another name: nothing gets deleted.

4. Make yourself admin

   In the panel console, op YourName. With that you can use the admin commands in chat.

Getting your friends in

1. RLCraft in the CurseForge app

   Each player installs RLCraft from the CurseForge app (or whichever launcher they use for CurseForge modpacks), in the same version as the server, and gives it at least 4 GB of RAM in the settings: with less, the game closes on the player even if the server is running fine.

2. Add the server

   “Multiplayer” → “Add Server”, with the address shown in the panel, without a port.

3. Be patient the first time

   The first time, the game takes several minutes to load the mods on each player's computer. That's normal and has nothing to do with the server.

Settings: what to leave alone and what to change

The RLCraft server package comes with its own server.properties. Leave allow-flight set to true: with some RLCraft items and mounts the server would think you're flying and kick the player. And max-tick-time at -1, so that a moment of heavy load (a dragon, a big explosion) doesn't make the server think it has frozen and shut down.

Too hard? The most common choice among friends is not losing your inventory when you die: in the panel console, gamerule keepInventory true (that's how it's written in 1.12.2; in today's versions it's keep_inventory, as the gamerules guide explains). Difficulty is changed with difficulty in server.properties (it comes set to hard); stop the server before editing it in “Files” and start it afterwards.

Before changing anything in a world you're already playing in, make a backup in “Backups”: on top of that, a daily backup is made automatically every night.

If there are lots of you: pregenerate the world

RLCraft's own author recommends it from about 10 players: generating the terrain in advance removes the stutters when exploring. Chunky, the one we explain in the pregeneration guide, has no version for 1.12.2; for RLCraft you use the Chunk Pregenerator mod, which you install from “Mods & plugins” by searching CurseForge. Bear in mind it takes up disk space: the bigger the radius, the more.

If something goes wrong

If you get kicked when joining with an error about mods that don't match, that player doesn't have the same version of RLCraft as the server: they should update or reinstall it from the CurseForge app.

If the server crashes by itself, it's almost always memory. If it crashes twice in an hour you get an email telling you whether that was the cause; the panel console shows it too. With RLCraft, the fix is more RAM: “More RAM” in “My plan & invoices”, with the same world.

It stutters with several players spread across the map: each one generates terrain around them. Pregenerating, lowering view-distance in server.properties or moving to more RAM fixes it; the lag guide explains how to see what's causing it.

Frequently asked questions