Set up the Life in the village 2 server

Life in the village 2 is a Forge modpack by dreams01, built around the MineColonies town-building mod. Its CurseForge page calls it a "Vanilla+" pack that stays close to vanilla play while adding colonies, new villagers, building and furniture mods, and extra exploration. It is the second pack in a series, and the newer Life in the village 3 and 4 appear in the same search. You install the server from the Modpacks tab, using the pack's own server files from CurseForge.

Checked against Life in the village 2 version 1.38 (the CurseForge file dated 6 December 2022) and its server pack, on Forge 36.2.33 and Minecraft 1.16.5, October 2026.

What the pack needs

• Minecraft 1.16.5 with Forge. The pack's manifest.json names Forge 36.2.33, and the server pack carries that jar. The panel switches Java for you, which is Java 8 for this version.
• Memory. The server pack's own LaunchServer.bat sets a 4 GB heap, but the panel does not use that file. It sizes the heap from your plan's RAM at every start. Read how much RAM a Minecraft server needs and check the Minecraft plans before you install.
• Disk space. The server pack is a download of about 582 MB and unpacks to about 638 MB. Both sit on your plan's disk while it unpacks, so allow about 1.2 GB free. The download is deleted afterwards, and your world grows on top. The Disk Analyser tab shows what is using space.
• The same pack version for players. This guide installs 1.38. Players need that same version.

Install the server files

1. Open your server and choose Modpacks under Content in the left rail.
2. Press the CurseForge chip above the search box, then search for Life in the village 2.
3. Press Install on Life in the village 2. The same search lists the other packs in the series, such as Life in the village 3 and Life in the village 4, so check the number.
4. The popup says it reinstalls your server with the pack and names Forge and Minecraft 1.16.5. If it offers a version list, leave it on Newest that fits your server.
5. Leave Take a backup first ticked. If the window shows Keep my world, settings and player lists, leave it unticked for a fresh start.
6. Tick Start the server when it's ready if you want the server to start itself. The I agree to the Minecraft EULA box appears only after you tick that, and only if the EULA is not accepted yet. Tick it too.
7. Hold the install button, which reads Hold to Install and reinstall, until it fills, then wait for the install to finish.

The server pack's files sit inside one folder in the download, and the install moves them to the server's root.

First start

Press Start on the Console tab. If the EULA has not been accepted yet, the panel asks you to accept it first. 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.

Settings the pack sets

The pack ships its own server.properties, and the install keeps it. Open the Config Editor to change these:

• max-players=5 is Player slots under Players. Raise it for a bigger group, then restart.
• view-distance=7 is View distance (chunks) under Performance. Lower it if the server struggles.
• max-tick-time=480000 is Watchdog timeout (ms) under Performance. It is far above the Minecraft default of 60000.
• allow-flight=true is Allow flight under Gameplay.
• motd is Server list message under World, and it starts as "Life in the Village 2 Server".

The pack uses FTB Chunks for claims. The pack ships defaultconfigs/ftbchunks-server.toml with max_claimed_chunks = 30 and max_force_loaded_chunks = 30. The FTB Chunks build in the pack (1605.3.2) keeps those two settings in world/serverconfig/ftbchunks.snbt, which appears after the first start. It is not a .toml file. Check the values in that file rather than assuming the pack's 30.

Common problems

• The install stops while unpacking. The install message says your plan's disk may be too small for the pack. Free space in File Manager.
• A player cannot join. Check they run Life in the village 2 version 1.38 on Minecraft 1.16.5 with Forge.
• The server lags. Watch the RAM card on the Console tab and the TPS reading in the left rail. Why is my server lagging has more.
• The server crashes at boot. Find and read a crash report shows how to name the mod at fault.