Join a modded server from your launcher

A player needs Minecraft Java Edition on the server's version, the server's mod loader and the mods the server needs. Which launcher you use matters less than matching those three things.

Checked against the CurseForge and Modrinth App support pages, the Prism Launcher wiki and the file our Export for players button writes, October 2026.

Find out what the server runs

Open your server. The left rail has Version and Mod loader cells that show the Minecraft version and the loader. On a narrow window the second one is labelled Loader. JAR Manager shows the same pair in its Server software and Minecraft version boxes. If you installed a modpack, the Modpacks tab shows the pack's name with version and loader badges.

If the server runs a modpack

Install the same pack in your launcher, at the same pack version. Where the install window offered a version dropdown, note the one you chose, so your players can match it. Without that dropdown, the server has the newest file that fitted it when it was installed, so check the pack's page for which file that was.

• CurseForge app: go to Browse, choose Modpacks in the dropdown, select the pack and press Install. It then appears on My Modpacks.
• Modrinth App: open Browse on the left, find the pack and press Install.
• Prism Launcher: press Add Instance, pick a source in the left sidebar (it lists CurseForge, Modrinth, FTB App Import, Technic and ATLauncher, among others) and install the pack. FTB App Import needs the FTB App installed with the pack already in it.

If you picked the mods yourself

Press Export for players on the Installed list of the Mods tab, then Download zip. The zip holds the mods your players need and a text file with instructions. Mods that only run on the server are left out, and so are disabled ones. Send the zip to your players.

Each player then sets up a game to match:

1. Create a profile or instance for the right version and loader.
   • In the CurseForge app, press Create in the Minecraft section, name the profile, and choose the Minecraft version and the modloader version.
   • In Prism Launcher, create an instance, then open Edit, the Version tab and choose the loader. Prism recommends NeoForge over Forge for versions above 1.20.1, and its wiki says to install the Fabric API mod when you choose Fabric.
   • In the Modrinth App, open the instance's settings and the Installation tab to change the loader or game version.
   • With Mojang's own launcher, run the loader's installer first. The text file in the zip links to the right installer.
2. Put the jars in the mods folder. Copy every .jar file from the zip, and nothing else, into the profile's mods folder, without sub-folders. Prism's Mods page accepts files dragged onto it. For Mojang's launcher the folder is %appdata%\.minecraft\mods on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/mods on a Mac and ~/.minecraft/mods on Linux.
3. Start that profile, not a plain Minecraft one.

When you export a new zip later, delete the old jars first. The zip's own instructions warn that leftovers from an old pack are the usual cause of a crash on launch.

Connect

Add the server in Minecraft's Multiplayer screen, with the Server address shown in the rail. Connect to your server for the first time walks through it. If the server is whitelisted, add each player first: Whitelist players and set operators.

If a player cannot join

• Check the version and loader first. The instructions in the zip begin with installing the same loader for the same Minecraft version.
• A message about missing or mismatched mods means the player's list differs from the server's. Fix the missing mods exception when joining and Fix the mismatched mod channel list cover those two messages.
• Not sure which loader to choose? Forge, Fabric or Quilt compares them.