Install the Epic Fight mod on your server

Epic Fight changes Minecraft's combat into a souls-like system, with new animations, stamina, skills and weapons, and gives every mob new fighting behaviour. It runs on Forge and NeoForge, and every player needs it on their own game too.

Checked against Epic Fight 21.17.3.1 on NeoForge 1.21.1, October 2026.

What you need

• NeoForge on Minecraft 1.21.1. Version 21.17.3.1 is the newest release on Modrinth. Its jar accepts only Minecraft 1.21.1 and asks for NeoForge 21.1.219 or newer. Pick 1.21.1 in JAR Manager and the panel runs it on Java 21 for you.
• Forge 1.20.1 instead? Epic Fight 20.14.17 covers Forge 1.20.1 and asks for Forge 47.4.0 or newer.
• Nothing else. The jar names no required mods besides the loader, and Modrinth lists no dependencies. It ships compatibility patches for a few other mods but does not need them.
• Players. Modrinth lists Epic Fight as required on both the server and the client, so everyone who joins needs the same version.

Switch the server to NeoForge 1.21.1

1. Open JAR Manager, under More in the left rail.
2. Set Server software to NeoForge and Minecraft version to 1.21.1, then press Apply change.
3. Leave Take a backup first ticked, press and hold Confirm & reinstall, and wait for the console to finish.

The screen warns that configuration files may be reset. Change your Minecraft version or mod loader covers the switch in full.

Install it

1. Open the Mods tab under Content and leave the Modrinth source chip selected.
2. Search for Epic Fight and press Install. The file is about 8.6 MB.
3. Go to Console, press Start and accept the EULA prompt the first time. The server is ready when the console shows Done.

Then check the install from the Console with gamerule keepSkills, which prints the current value. If the game does not know that rule, Epic Fight did not load.

Operator commands

Epic Fight adds commands under /epicfight. They need operator level 2, so run them in game as an operator, or from the Console with a player name added where a target is allowed:

• /epicfight mode vanilla or /epicfight mode epicfight switches your own play mode. Add a player name at the end to switch someone else. The mod calls the two modes Vanilla and EpicFight.
• /epicfight skill add, remove and clear give a player skills, take them away or empty them.
• /epicfight stamina reads or changes a player's stamina.

Game rules

The mod registers its own game rules, so you can change them with the normal /gamerule command, for example /gamerule canSwitchPlayerMode false:

• canSwitchPlayerMode lets players switch between Vanilla and EpicFight mode.
• initialMode is the mode new players start in. 0 is mining and 1 is combat.
• allowVanillaMelee lets players still use vanilla melee attacks.
• keepSkills keeps skills after death.
• weightPenalty applies a weight penalty to attack speed.
• noMobsInBossfight stops mob spawns during a boss fight.
• stiffComboAttacks stops players moving while they attack.
• globalStun enables hitstun, hasFallAnimation the landing animation, disableEntityUI turns off health bars and target markers for everyone, and epicDrop adds a flashy drop effect for boss loot.
• skillReplaceCooldown is the cooldown in ticks before a player can replace skills again.

Config file

A common config holds a default for each game rule under default_gamerule, plus two skill book loot settings, loot.skill_book_mob_drop_chance_modifier and loot.skill_book_chest_drop_chance_modifier. Look for epicfight-common.toml in the config folder with the File Manager after the first start. Press Save and restart. The mod's page says edits to the config file apply the next time a world loads.

Players can read how skill books and weapons work in the project's Epic Fight documentation.

Common problems

• The server stops at start. Check Minecraft version in JAR Manager. The NeoForge file accepts 1.21.1 only.
• Players cannot join. They need the same Epic Fight file and loader. Use Export for players in the Installed view of the Mods tab for a zip of what they need, then read Join a modded server from your launcher.
• Players cannot switch modes. The canSwitchPlayerMode rule is off. Turn it on with /gamerule.
• Other load errors. Fix Minecraft mod and plugin load errors shows how to read the log.