Set up Immersive Engineering on Minecraft

Immersive Engineering is a tech mod built around big multiblock machines and real, hanging power lines instead of glowing tubes. Players build things like a Crusher and an Excavator, and move power through cables strung between connectors. It must be on the server and on every player's game.

Checked against Immersive Engineering 12.4.2-194 on NeoForge 1.21.1, October 2026.

Pick the version

The newest file, 12.4.2-194, was published on 5 July 2025 for NeoForge 1.21.1. It needs NeoForge 21.1.164 or newer and has no required library mods. Older lines are still available on Modrinth: 10.2.0-183 for Forge 1.20.1 and 11.7.0-184 for NeoForge 1.20.4. The authors have said they will not port it to Fabric or Quilt, and it does not run on Paper or Purpur.

Install it

1. Open JAR Manager under More. Choose NeoForge under Server software and 1.21.1 under Minecraft version, then press Apply change. The panel picks Java 21 for you. Switching reinstalls the server and keeps your world, so make a backup first in the Backups tab.
2. 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. Search for Immersive Engineering and press Install on the result.
3. Restart from the Console tab.

Open the Installed view afterwards. Immersive Engineering should be listed with no Failed to load badge. Change your Minecraft version or mod loader has the full version steps. For Forge 1.20.1, choose Forge and 1.20.1 in step 1 instead.

Players need it too

Each player installs the same Immersive Engineering file for their Minecraft and NeoForge version. Join a modded server from your launcher covers that side, and Fix the mismatched mod channel list error explains the refusal when versions differ.

Getting started

The mod's own guide is the Engineer's Manual. Craft it with a book and a lever. Modrinth describes it as the mod's in-game documentation. IE uses Forge Energy like most tech mods but can be played on its own.

Settings

Immersive Engineering reads three config files. The server file holds the gameplay rules. On NeoForge 1.21.1 it is immersiveengineering-server.toml in the config folder, beside immersiveengineering-startup.toml. The serverconfig folder inside your world folder only holds a readme.txt. Stop the server and edit it in the File Manager. Options worth knowing:

• enableWireDamage: true by default, in the wires section. Wires connected to a power source then hurt entities that touch them.
• blocksBreakWires: true by default. Placing a block in a wire breaks it.
• yield in the Excavator settings: 38400 by default, the most one chunk gives. A number below zero makes it infinite.
• initial_depletion in the same section: 0.2 by default, how much of a new vein may already be used up.

Operator commands

The Excavator digs minerals out of veins in the ground, and the /ie mineral command works with those veins. Players can list the vein types with /ie mineral list. Operators at level 2 also get /ie mineral get, which shows the vein at their position, and /ie mineral put <mineral> <radius> [pos], which places a vein with a radius from 8 to 64. /ie mineral setDepletion <depletion> [pos] sets how depleted a vein is. Run these in the game.

Common problems

• The server stops at startup: read the last lines of the Console. Fix mod and plugin errors on Minecraft covers reading the log.
• Wires hurt players: that is the default. Set enableWireDamage to false if you do not want it.
• The mod is not in the store: the Game version filter follows your server. Check it reads 1.21.1 and the loader is NeoForge.