Set up a SkyFactory 4, 5 or One server

SkyFactory is a family of modded skyblock packs. SkyFactory One starts you in the void with a tree and a single piece of dirt. All three are on CurseForge with a server pack, and the Modpacks tab installed SkyFactory 4, 5 and One from it when this guide was checked. This guide gives the details for those three, then the install steps they share. SkyFactory 2.5 and SkyFactory 3 are separate packs and are not covered here.

Checked against SkyFactory 4 4.2.4, SkyFactory 5 5.0.8 and SkyFactory One 1.0.7, October 2026. Each is the newest file on CurseForge that has a server pack.

The three packs

The panel picks the Java version from the Minecraft version, so there is nothing to set. SkyFactory One's page says Java 16 is not supported and lists 8, 11 and 14, and Java 8 fits that. All three server packs recommend at least 4 GB of RAM, so choose a plan with 4 GB or more on Minecraft hosting.

Which one: SkyFactory 4 offers more than 30 world types, an advancement list and an optional prestige system. SkyFactory 5 is built around colour and adds the Create mod. SkyFactory One is a 1.16.5 remake of the original, with sieving and ForceCraft.

Install a pack

Installing a modpack reinstalls the whole server and replaces the current world, so use a new server or one you can wipe.

1. Open Backups and press Create backup.
2. Open Modpacks in the Content group of the left rail and press the CurseForge source button.
3. Search for SkyFactory and pick the row you want: SkyFactory 4, SkyFactory 5 or SkyFactory One by darkosto.
4. Press Install. A window with the pack's name in its title opens.
5. Leave Take a backup first ticked. Tick Start the server when it's ready, and tick I agree to the Minecraft EULA when it appears.
6. Press and hold the button that reads Hold to Install and reinstall, then watch the Console tab until the install finishes.

The server packs of all three ship a Forge installer. The panel's install script runs the bundled installer and then starts the server from the launcher it creates: an arguments file under libraries if the installer made one, otherwise a Forge jar. SkyFactory One's install log ended with Launch: -jar forge-1.16.5-36.2.34.jar nogui. When this guide was checked, SkyFactory One ran its loader installer and finished, and SkyFactory 4 and 5 finished too.

Players should use the same pack file on their own computer. Forge's 1.20.1 documentation says a mod with the default version check causes a red X when its version differs between client and server. In the CurseForge app, install the pack and pick the file that matches: 4.2.4, 5.0.8 or 1.0.7. SkyFactory 5's page says Java 17 is required and recommends 6 GB of RAM for clients. Players join with the address from the left rail (Connect to your server for the first time).

SkyFactory 4 world types

SkyFactory 4's server pack ships its own server.properties. It sets level-type=DEFAULT and this line:

generator-settings={"Topography-Preset"\:"Sky Factory 4"}

The preset name comes from the pack's Topography mod, whose file config/topography/Topography.txt registers 39 presets with names such as SkyFactory Tutorial, Cave Dimension and Hardcore. To start a different world type, stop the server and open server.properties in File Manager. The pack author's Multiplayer Instructions wiki page lists the lines for each type.

• Most presets keep level-type=DEFAULT. SkyFactory Tutorial, Cave Dimension, Hardcore and most of the others only need the name inside the quotes replaced.
• Six types need a different level-type as well. Skygrid uses skygrid, Compactsky uses compactsky, Amplified uses amplified, LargeBiomes uses largeBiomes, Lostcities uses lostcities and Flat uses flat. Compactsky also adds the generator-settings keys schema, givePSD and size. Copy the exact pair of lines for these from the wiki page. The wiki writes the colons plain, without the backslash. Java reads a backslash before a colon as the colon itself, so either form works.

Then open Config Editor and give World folder a new name, so a new world generates and the old one stays on disk. Leave World type in Config Editor alone for every preset: its list has no Topography choice, so change level-type by hand in server.properties.

SkyFactory One islands

SkyFactory One's server pack has a file called README_ISLANDS.txt that describes an island mod. It lists /topoislands new <player>, which operators use to create an island and move the named player there, and /topoislands assign <player> <island id> to put a player on an existing one. For players it lists /topoislands home, /topoislands spawn and /topoislands invite <player>. The pack's mods folder holds topography-1.17.2.jar and no jar named Topo Islands, so try these in the Console tab as an operator before you tell players. Make yourself an operator in Players under Operators with Make operator.

If something does not work

• The install says no server pack is available. Check you picked the exact pack named above, not a similarly named one.
• The install stops while unpacking. The zip downloads to your plan's disk first, so a full disk fails it. Free some space and install again.
• A player sees a red X. For SkyFactory 5 (Forge 1.20.1), Forge's documentation says a mod with the default version check causes one when its version differs between client and server, so check they installed the pack file that matches the server.