Install Cloth Config API on your server

Cloth Config API doesn't add anything to the game on its own. It's a library that other mods use to draw their settings screens, and it is one of the most downloaded libraries on Modrinth. If a mod you're adding says it needs Cloth Config API, the steps below get the right copy onto your server and sort out the usual version mix-ups.

Checked against Cloth Config API 26.3.159 on Fabric and NeoForge, Minecraft 26.3, October 2026.

When the server needs it

Cloth Config's author describes it as client sided: it builds a config screen, and screens only exist on a player's computer. Its Modrinth page marks both the client and server side as optional. A server only needs it when a mod you installed lists it as a required dependency, and a mod that does will refuse to load without it. The easiest way to find out is to let the panel check:

1. Open the Mods tab (Fabric, NeoForge or Forge servers show it under Content).
2. Click Install on the mod you want.
3. If it needs Cloth Config API and the server doesn't have it, a box titled Needs 1 more add-on lists it. Click Install all (2) to add both. The second button, the one ending in only, skips the library, which only makes sense if you plan to add the right file yourself.

A mod that lists Cloth Config API as optional shows it in an optional list with an untouched tick box, and runs without it.

Install it by hand

Use this if you uploaded a mod yourself, or a Needs badge in the Installed view tells you something is missing.

1. In the Mods tab, keep the Modrinth chip selected.
2. Search for Cloth Config API. Pick the one by shedaniel. Similar names such as "Cloth Config API Forge" or "Vintage" are separate projects by other people.
3. Check the filters under the search box. Game version starts on your server's version and Loader on its loader.
4. Click Install, then restart from the Console tab.

Pick the right version

Cloth Config publishes a separate file for each Minecraft version, and they aren't interchangeable. These are the newest Modrinth builds at the time of checking:

Other Minecraft versions have builds of their own on its Modrinth page. The store chooses the one that matches your server, so you rarely need this table. It helps when you add a file by hand: take the file listed for your exact Minecraft version and loader.

Its settings

Cloth Config doesn't store settings itself. Each mod keeps its own file in the config folder, and the in-game screen is just a way to edit that file. A server has no screen, so open the file in the File Manager instead. Stop the server first, edit, Save, and start it again.

Common problems

• Server won't start and the log names Cloth Config as missing: the Installed view shows a Needs badge on the mod that wants it. Install Cloth Config API for your version and restart.
• No file for your loader and version: the dependency box greys the library out with that wording when Cloth Config has no build for your Minecraft version and loader. Move the server to a version it supports in the JAR Manager, or pick a different build of the mod (Change your Minecraft version or mod loader).
• Players can't join: the mod's own page says whether players need Cloth Config as well. Export for players in the Installed view opens a box with a Download zip button that packs the mods your players need, with instructions.