Install Better Villages on your server

Better Villages, by JTorLeon Studios, improves the vanilla villages by reworking their structures so they feel more alive. It covers the plains, snow, savanna, desert and taiga villages. Modrinth lists it as required on the server and unsupported on the client, so players join with a normal game.

Checked against Better Villages 3.3.1 on NeoForge with Minecraft 1.21.1, October 2026.

Pick the right build

The mod has Fabric, Forge and NeoForge builds, and the version you want follows your Minecraft version:

• Minecraft 26.2: Better Villages 4.0.1, published on 12 October 2026. The jar asks for Minecraft 26.2 up to, but not including, 26.3, so a 26.3 server can't load it.
• Minecraft 1.21.11 and earlier: Better Villages 3.3.1. Fabric and Forge builds go back to 1.16.5 and run up to 1.21.11. NeoForge builds run from 1.20.2 to 1.21.9.
• Minecraft 26.1 and 26.3: Modrinth lists no build.

This guide is about the mod by jtorleon_studios, whose Modrinth page lists the Fabric, Forge and NeoForge loaders. A datapack of the same name by the same author also exists. Its Modrinth page lists the datapack loader only, so it is a separate download and not what this guide installs.

To change loader or version, open JAR Manager under More, choose the loader under Server software and the version under Minecraft version, then press Apply change. Change your Minecraft version or mod loader has the full steps. Switching reinstalls the server and keeps your world, but make a backup first in the Backups tab.

What it needs

Library Ferret is required on every loader. The Fabric build of 4.0.1 also asks for Fabric API.

Install it

1. Open Mods under Content and keep the Modrinth chip selected in the source chip row at the top of the tab. The Game version filter starts on your server's version.
2. Search for Better Villages and choose the result by jtorleon_studios that lists your server's loader, not the datapack.
3. Press Install. When the "Needs" prompt appears, press Install all so Library Ferret comes with it.
4. Restart from the Console tab.

Open the Installed view to check. Better Villages and Library Ferret should be listed with no Failed to load badge.

Working with other mods

The project says it aims for broad compatibility. It lists Repurposed Structures, ChoiceTheorem's Overhauled Village and Waystones as working well. For Bountiful, Ice and Fire: Dragons, More Villagers and Immersive Engineering, it offers separate compatibility datapacks. Those are different downloads, so add one only if you run that mod.

In the world

Villages are placed during world generation, and a chunk that already exists doesn't pick up new world generation on its own, so villages in terrain you explored before the install stay as they were. Explore unexplored ground to find the reworked ones.

Settings

Every build defines four village settings. In the 4.0.1 jar for Minecraft 26.2 they are villages.enabled, which its language file labels "Override JSON", plus villages.salt, villages.separation and villages.spacing. The 3.3.1 jars for Minecraft 1.21.11 and earlier name the first one enabled_custom_config and have no language file, so their group is villages with enabled_custom_config, salt, separation and spacing. In vanilla, spacing is the average distance in chunks between attempts to place a structure and separation is the minimum distance in chunks. The 4.0.1 language file labels the keys Spacing and Separation, and the project's page doesn't explain what they change. On the 3.3.1 build for Minecraft 1.21.1, the first start writes the settings file bettervillage_1.properties in the config folder, where the keys read like int.villages.spacing and int.villages.separation. Library Ferret, which Better Villages needs, writes its own libraryferret_1.properties beside it. Stop the server before you edit it in the File Manager.

Common problems

• The server stops at startup: open the Console and read the last lines. A missing Library Ferret is the usual cause, and a wrong Minecraft version is the other. Fix mod and plugin errors on Minecraft covers reading the log.
• The mod is not in the store: the Game version filter follows your server. Check the list above for your version.
• Villages look unchanged: check that the Installed view lists Better Villages with no Failed to load badge, then head for ground you haven't explored, as covered under In the world.