Plugins and mods: install them from the panel

Plugins or mods?

Your server type decides what it can run:

• Paper and Purpur run plugins, which you find in the Plugins tab. A plugin runs on the server alone, and your friends join with plain Minecraft without installing anything.
• Fabric, Forge and NeoForge run mods, which you find in the Mods tab. Mods that add blocks, items or creatures must be installed by every player too, at the same version, before they can join.
• Vanilla runs neither plugins nor mods, so neither tab shows up.

If your server is on Vanilla, or you want to move between plugins and mods, change the type from the Version tab. Read the server type and version guide first so you know what stays in your world and what goes.

Install from the catalog

The Plugins and Mods tabs each have a catalog you search right there, from Modrinth and CurseForge, plus Hangar for plugins:

1. Pick the source at the top, search by name, or browse the categories and sort the results.
2. Press Install on what you want.
3. Pick the Version to install. We only list versions that match your server type and version.
4. Confirm, then restart your server so what you installed loads.

We install everything it depends on along with it, and Activity says how many dependencies came with it. If it conflicts with something you already have, we refuse the install and name the conflicting one so you can remove it first.

Manage what you installed

The catalog lists what you installed, and from there you can:

• Update: installs the newest version that fits your server. You can update everything in one go.
• Disable and Enable: turn a plugin or mod off without deleting it, to find out whether it's causing a problem, and turn it back on whenever you like.
• Remove: deletes the file from your server.

All of these apply after a restart too.

Geyser and ViaVersion don't install from here

The crossplay plugins (Geyser and Floodgate) and the version compatibility plugins (ViaVersion and ViaBackwards) don't appear in the catalog, because we install and update them for you from one switch in the Settings tab. The details are in the crossplay guide and the version compatibility guide.

A file from your computer

If you have a jar file that isn't in the catalog, upload it from the Files tab into the plugins folder for a plugin, or the mods folder for a mod, then restart. It then shows up in your installed list like the rest.

Give players the pack

Every player needs the same mods as your server. Instead of each player installing them one by one, we build a pack from them that players import into their launcher in one step.

1. Open the Modpacks tab and type a name for the pack in Modpack for players, below Your uploads.
2. Press Build pack.
3. Press Download on the pack in the list, and send the file to your friends.

The Import in column names the launcher that opens the file:

• When every mod came from CurseForge, we build a zip that players import in the CurseForge app: Import, then Choose .zip file.
• Otherwise we build an .mrpack that players import in the Modrinth app or Prism Launcher. In Prism, press Add Instance, then Import.

The pack holds no mod files, only the list of mods and where each one downloads from, so the player's launcher downloads them from their source. The pack also adds your server to each player's server list, so it's waiting under Multiplayer after the import. Whenever you change your mods, build the pack again and send it again. The new one replaces the old one.

What the pack can't hold

• A jar you uploaded yourself instead of installing it from the catalog. We name it after the build, so send it to players yourself.
• In an .mrpack, a CurseForge mod whose author allows downloads only from CurseForge. We stop the build and name it. Remove it or replace it with a mod from Modrinth, then build again.
• A mod whose file we can't match with its copy in the catalog. Install it again from the catalog, then build again.
• A server running a modpack from the Modpacks tab gets no pack. Send players that same modpack. The details are in the modpacks guide.

Delete removes the file from your server. Copies players already downloaded stay as they are.

The server crashed after an install?

A mod or plugin that doesn't fit your version is the most common reason for a crash after an install. The Overview page shows you the cause, and the mod's name when we know it, such as a missing mod, a mod installed twice, or a mod that needs a newer Java. Turn off the last thing you installed and start the server. The details are in the crash guide.