Set up the FTB Academy server

FTB Academy is the Feed The Beast team's beginner modpack. Its pages say it was designed to introduce new players to modded Minecraft, with a built-in school and hundreds of quests. Feed The Beast publishes it twice, for Minecraft 1.16.5 and for 1.12.2, and the Modpacks tab has a Feed The Beast source for both.

Checked against FTB Academy 1.16 version 1.4.1 (released in February 2025) on Forge 36.2.34 and Minecraft 1.16.5, and FTB Academy 1.12 version 1.4.1 (released in February 2026) on Forge 14.23.5.2860 and Minecraft 1.12.2, October 2026.

Pick the Academy you want

• FTB Academy 1.16 runs on Minecraft 1.16.5 with Forge 36.2.34. The pack page asks for at least 4 GB of RAM and recommends 6 GB. It is the follow-up to the original and starts new players in a custom-built school with over 300 quests.
• FTB Academy 1.12 runs on Minecraft 1.12.2 with Forge 14.23.5.2860. The pack page asks for at least 4 GB and recommends 4 GB. It also has over 300 quests and nearly 100 pages of in-game guides, and the page says recipes and progression are unchanged apart from the school.

Both list Java 8. The panel runs Minecraft below 1.17 on Java 8 and picks it for you. Compare the RAM figure with your plan using how much RAM a Minecraft server needs and the Minecraft plans. Players need the same Academy and version, installed in the FTB App, Feed The Beast's launcher. Join a modded server from your launcher has the steps.

Install from the Feed The Beast source

1. Open your server and choose Modpacks under Content in the left rail.
2. Above the search box, press the Feed The Beast chip and search for Academy. Searches need at least three letters. If there is no Feed The Beast chip, that source is not switched on for your account yet.
3. Press Install on FTB Academy 1.16 or FTB Academy 1.12.
4. If the window has a version dropdown that reads Newest that fits your server, leave it there. For each pack the panel asks for its newest release, which is 1.4.1 for both.
5. Leave Take a backup first ticked and Keep my world, settings and player lists unticked for a fresh start. If every backup slot on your plan is held by a protected backup, the install is refused with "Couldn't start a backup. Free a backup slot, or untick the backup and try again." On the Backups tab, remove protection from one backup or delete one to make room, or untick Take a backup first when there is nothing on the server to keep.
6. Tick Start the server when it's ready only if this server has already accepted the Minecraft EULA. For a Feed The Beast pack the window has no EULA box, so on a new server it will not start itself. Leave it unticked and press Start yourself after the install. Then hold the install button, which reads Hold to Install and reinstall, until it fills.

When the install finishes, FTB Academy 1.16 is on the server at version 1.4.1 with Forge 36.2.34 and Minecraft 1.16.5, and its first start reaches the For help, type line in the console.

First start

Press Start on the Console tab. If the server has not accepted the Minecraft EULA yet, the panel shows Accept the Minecraft EULA: press Accept & start. The server is up when the console prints a line containing For help, type. Connect to your server for the first time covers adding the address in Minecraft.

New players spawn in the school and follow its quests, so there is nothing to set up for them. Open Players under Essentials and add yourself under Operators with Make operator if you want to run commands.

Sleeping on the 1.16 pack

The 1.16 pack ships the Morpheus sleep mod. Its default config in the pack, defaultconfigs/morpheus-server.toml, sets SleeperPerc = 20, so 20 percent of players must be in bed to skip the night. A neighbouring default in the pack, ftbessentials-server.snbt, says its defaults are copied to the world's serverconfig folder, so after the first start the live Morpheus file is world/serverconfig/morpheus-server.toml, which also reads SleeperPerc = 20. Edit it in File Manager with the server stopped, then start again.

Common problems

• A player cannot join. Check they run the same Academy pack, 1.16 or 1.12, at version 1.4.1.
• The wrong pack installed. Press Install on the other Academy. The window offers to back up first, and the pack replaces the server's files.
• The server runs out of memory. Watch the RAM card on the Console tab and the TPS reading in the left rail, then read Why is my server lagging.
• The server crashes at boot. Find and read a crash report shows how to name the mod at fault.