Set up Torchmaster on Minecraft

Torchmaster adds the Mega Torch and the Dread Lamp, blocks that stop mobs spawning in a large area around them. This guide sets up the NeoForge 1.21.1 build, with notes for Fabric, and covers the radius and mob list settings.

Checked against Torchmaster 21.1.13 on NeoForge 1.21.1, October 2026.

What you need

• NeoForge on Minecraft 1.21.1, or Fabric on 1.21.1. The NeoForge file asks for NeoForge 21.1.41 or newer. The panel picks Java 21 for 1.21.1.
• Fabric only: Fabric API and owo-lib. Modrinth lists both as required for the Fabric file, and Mod Menu as optional.
• The mod on every player's computer. Modrinth marks it required on both the client and the server.

Older Minecraft versions have older builds. Minecraft 1.20.1 has 20.1.9, for example. This guide covers 1.21.1 only.

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.

Your world is kept, but configuration files may be reset. Change your Minecraft version or mod loader has the detail.

Install it

1. Open the Mods tab under Content, with the Modrinth source chip selected.
2. Search for Torchmaster and press Install on the one by Xalcon.
3. On Fabric, a window titled "Needs 2 more add-ons" names Fabric API and owo-lib. Press Install all (3) and leave Mod Menu unticked, since it only matters on a player's own computer.
4. Go to Console, press Start, and accept the EULA prompt the first time.

What the blocks do

• Mega Torch stops natural spawning of hostile monsters around it. Its recipe is three torches across the top, then diamond, log, diamond, then gold block, log, gold block.
• Dread Lamp stops natural spawning of passive animals such as squids, bats and ocelots. It takes five obsidian, two glass panes, a glowstone and a black dye.
• Feral Flare Lantern places invisible lights, and the Frozen Pearl clears them again.

Both blocks cover a cube with the block at its centre, 64 blocks out in each direction by default. Spawners still work by default, because the mod only blocks natural spawns.

Settings

On NeoForge the options live in config/torchmaster.toml, under a [General] heading. Once the server has started, open it in the File Manager with Edit, change a value, press Save and restart.

• megaTorchRadius and dreadLampRadius set the radius.
• blockOnlyNaturalSpawns is true by default. Set it to false and the blocks also stop spawner spawns.
• blockVillageSieges lets the Mega Torch stop zombie village sieges.
• megaTorchEntityBlockListOverrides and dreadLampEntityBlockListOverrides change which mobs each block stops. Each entry is quoted and starts with + to block a mob or - to let it spawn, for example ["+minecraft:pig", "-minecraft:creeper"]. Both lists are empty by default.

The Fabric build uses an owo-lib config called torchmaster-config with the same option names.

Commands

Operators can run /torchmaster torchdump to list the Torchmaster blocks the server knows about, by dimension, in the server log, and /torchmaster entitydump to list every registered mob and what each block currently blocks. Both write to the log, so read the answer in the Console or use the console guide.

Common problems

• A modded mob still spawns. Find its id with /torchmaster entitydump, then add it to the block list with a + prefix.
• A mob from a spawner still appears. That is the default. Set blockOnlyNaturalSpawns to false.
• The server stops on Fabric and names owo-lib or fabric-api. Install the missing one from the Mods tab.
• Players see missing blocks or cannot join. They need Torchmaster for 1.21.1 on the same loader. See Join a modded server from your launcher.