How to install a CurseForge modpack on your server

⚡ What you need

To play a modpack with friends, the server has to run the same loader (Forge, NeoForge or Fabric), the same Minecraft version and the same mods as the players. You can start from either of two things:

• The modpack's link on CurseForge, in the form curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/modpack-name.
• A shared profile code, if you or a friend put the pack together in the CurseForge app. To get one, open the profile and use the menu in the top right corner: Share Profile, then Generate code. The code expires after 7 days; you can generate a new one whenever you need it.

🖥️ On ZentexNode: from the panel

The server owner does this, because it means changing the server type. This part of the panel is in Spanish, so the labels below are the ones you will see:

• Open the «Tipo de servidor y versión» tab (server type and version) and choose Modpack CurseForge.
• Paste the modpack link, a shared profile link (curseforge.com/minecraft/share/…) or the bare code into the field. The window tells you what it recognised.
• Click Instalar modpack (or Instalar perfil compartido for a shared profile) and confirm. The server stops and is reinstalled; your worlds and files are kept.
• Follow the progress in the console: you will see each mod being downloaded.

If the code doesn't exist or has expired, the panel rejects it before touching the server.

📦 What gets installed and what is skipped

The loader the pack asks for (NeoForge, Forge or Fabric), all of its mods and its configuration are installed. Any mods already on the server are replaced by the pack's.

• With a modpack link, if the author published a server pack (the version of the modpack prepared for servers), that is what gets used.
• With a shared profile there is no server pack, so the installer does the clean-up: it skips shaders, resource packs and mods their author flags as client-only. Everything skipped is listed in the console during the install.

⚠️ The limit of shared profiles

A CurseForge code only carries the mods that are hosted on CurseForge. Any .jar you added to the profile by hand, or that the original modpack ships as loose files, does not travel with the code. If one is missing, the server may never get as far as loading the world. The installer warns you when it finishes; the fix is to upload those files to the server's mods folder, through the panel's file manager or over SFTP, and start again.

One more thing: installing a pack on top of another swaps the mods but leaves the previous pack's configuration, datapacks and world in place. If the new pack won't start, those leftovers are the first thing to check. When you change modpacks, it is better to start from a clean server with a backup already taken.

🏠 On your own server

The general process, on your PC or any other machine:

• Find the server pack. On the modpack's page, in the Files tab, open the version you want; if the author published one, it appears under Additional Files. According to CurseForge, it contains the mods and config folders and sometimes start scripts.
• Unzip it into an empty folder and use its start script if it has one. If it doesn't, install the loader's server into that folder first. With NeoForge, for example, that is java -jar neoforge-installer.jar --installServer, which leaves you the run.bat and run.sh scripts.
• Accept the EULA: the first start shuts down on its own; open eula.txt, change eula=false to eula=true and start again.
• If there is no server pack, or you are starting from a shared profile, copy the mods and config folders from your profile and remove the client-only mods (graphics and interface ones): they can stop a server from starting.

You also need the Java version that Minecraft release requires (Java 25 from 26.1 onwards) and an open port so your friends can connect; we cover that in how to create a Minecraft server to play with friends.

👥 What players need

The same as the server: the same modpack, on the same version, installed from the CurseForge app. With a shared profile, send them the code and they import it with Import and Use Profile code. If you added any .jar by hand, you will have to send those too.

And plan for memory: a modpack needs a good deal more RAM than a server without mods. Before you pick a plan, check how much RAM a Minecraft server needs.