Launch list

// modpack round-up

Best modpacks for multiplayer servers (2026)

37 modpacks worth running on a server for your friends, in 6 groups by play style. For each one: the loader, the Minecraft and Java version, how much RAM a small group needs and whether the authors publish server files, with a link to its full setup guide.

By DSN Servers  ·  Updated  ·  37 packs  ·  Data from Modrinth, CurseForge and FTB

We picked them from the 131 packs we have setup guides for, keeping the ones we've researched most closely: facts checked by hand against the pack's own page, or server notes written after reading its server files and docs. Within each group the packs are sorted by downloads, and each note under a pack's name comes from that research.

At a glance

The most downloaded pack in each group, with the RAM it needs for 1–3 players.

Play styleMost downloaded hereLoader · MinecraftRAM, 1–3 players
Kitchen-sinkAll the Mods 10NeoForge · 1.21.1About 9.5–10.5 GB
Tech and CreateCreate: Above and BeyondForge · 1.16.5About 4.5–5 GB
PokémonCobblemon Official Modpack (Fabric)Fabric · 1.21.1About 2–2.5 GB
Adventure and RPGRLCraftForge · 1.12.2About 6–6.5 GB
Skyblock and StoneBlockSkyFactory 4Forge · 1.12.2About 6.5–7.5 GB
Zombie and horrorDeceasedCraftForge · 1.20.1About 8–9 GB

Kitchen-sink packs

Hundreds of tech, magic and exploration mods in one pack, usually with a quest book and an endgame to work toward: months of things for a group to do, and RAM needs to match.

7 packs · NeoForge and Forge · about 7–11 GB for 1–3 players

Tech, GregTech and Create packs

Packs built around automation and long progression: GregTech's recipe chains or Create's machines and contraptions, with quests that set the pace.

6 packs · NeoForge, Forge and Fabric · about 4.5–8 GB for 1–3 players

Cobblemon and Pokémon packs

Catching, training and battling Pokémon together. All but The Pixelmon Modpack are built on Cobblemon; The Pixelmon Modpack uses Pixelmon, a different Pokémon mod, so the server and its players need that pack rather than a Cobblemon one. Our Cobblemon server guide compares the Cobblemon packs in more depth.

5 packs · NeoForge, Forge and Fabric · about 2–10 GB for 1–3 players

Adventure and RPG packs

Exploration, bosses, loot and character progression, from hardcore survival to action RPGs with classes and skill trees.

7 packs · Forge and Fabric · about 6–12 GB for 1–3 players

Skyblock and StoneBlock packs

Start with next to nothing, on an island in the void or deep inside solid stone, and build everything up from there, usually through quests and automation.

8 packs · NeoForge and Forge · about 6.5–10 GB for 1–3 players

Zombie and horror survival packs

Survival against zombie hordes, and horror packs built around creatures that stalk you through caves and fog.

4 packs · Forge · about 2.5–9 GB for 1–3 players

Lighter packs for small groups

The packs on this page that need 8 GB or less for up to 8 players by our estimate, lightest first. Fewer mods need less memory, so these are the easiest to fit on a small server.

Pack1–3 players4–8 playersLoader · Minecraft
Cobblemon Official Modpack (Fabric)About 2–2.5 GBAbout 2–3 GBFabric · 1.21.1
The DwellersAbout 2.5–3 GBAbout 2.5–4 GBForge · 1.20.1
The Horrors in the FogAbout 2.5–3 GBAbout 2.5–4 GBForge · 1.20.1
CobbleverseAbout 4–4.5 GBAbout 4.5–6 GBFabric · 1.21.1
Create: Above and BeyondAbout 4.5–5 GBAbout 5–6.5 GBForge · 1.16.5
Create: AstralAbout 5–5.5 GBAbout 5.5–7 GBFabric · 1.18.2
RLCraftAbout 6–6.5 GBAbout 6.5–8 GBForge · 1.12.2

How to pick a modpack for your server

How many players

Count the players who'll be online at the same time, not everyone on the whitelist. Each RAM estimate on this page is a range: for most packs the low end is for players who stay together and the high end for players who spread out and load their own chunks. Where the authors publish their own formula we use it instead, and the entry says so. The guides with an estimate have the full table, up to 15 players.

Your RAM budget

The number of mods is the quickest guide to RAM. As a rule of thumb we size packs of up to 80 mods at 4 GB, 81 to 180 mods at 8 GB and anything bigger at 12 GB, and for packs we checked by hand we weigh in the authors' own advice. On this page a group of 1–3 needs anywhere from about 2–2.5 GB (Cobblemon Fabric) to about 8–12 GB (Vault Hunters 3).

Leave headroom: set Java's heap (-Xmx) 10–15% below the RAM you have, and expect a pack to want more as it updates and your world grows. The RAM guide has the calculator behind these numbers.

Minecraft version and Java

The server and every player run the same Minecraft version and the same pack version, so settle on the version first. The Java follows from it: Java 25 for 26.1 and newer, Java 21 for 1.20.5 – 1.21.11, Java 17 for 1.18 – 1.20.4, Java 16 for 1.17 – 1.17.1 and Java 8 for 1.16.5 and older. Here, 1 pack runs on Java 25, 13 packs run on Java 21, 20 packs run on Java 17 and 3 packs run on Java 8. The exception here: GTNH is on Minecraft 1.7.10, but we'd run it on Java 17, as its guide explains. The Java version chart covers every version.

Server pack or not

A server pack is the server's side of a modpack, ready to unzip: its mods and configs, often with a start script. When the authors publish one, use the one for the exact version your players install. When they don't, you build the server from the client pack and leave out the client-only mods; our guide shows how to make a server for a modpack with no server pack. 33 of the 37 packs here have official server files or a server pack, 3 don't and 1 only has one for an older version.

Where these numbers come from

Loader, versions and downloads come from Modrinth's public API (checked October 4, 2026) or, for packs that aren't on Modrinth, from each pack's own page, checked by hand on the date its guide shows. RAM is estimated from each pack's mod count with our RAM calculator (for Modrinth packs only the mods the server loads; for the others, the count on the pack's page or from its authors, which can include client-side mods), or from the authors' own formula where they publish one; it isn't measured. This page is rebuilt from the same data as the guides, whenever they are.

Not sure which to run? How to make a modded Minecraft server walks through any pack, and every guide on the modpack list has its own setup steps and crash fixes.

Want it hosted instead?

Ordering is closed until we relaunch. Join the launch list and we'll email you when servers open; until then, every guide here shows how to run the pack yourself.

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DSN Servers isn't affiliated with Modrinth, CurseForge, FTB or any of the packs listed. Pack names, icons and stats for Modrinth packs come from Modrinth's public API (checked October 4, 2026).