1.16.4 forge
Requirements:
Setting up a vanilla forge server
- download the forge installer from here: https://files.minecraftforge.net/net/minecraftforge/forge/?forums
- Install java from here: https://www.java.com/en/download/ if it isn’t already. It’s fine to install it to the default location. Just ensure you don’t have any of the addons such as ask toolbar ticked, they are malware, mostly harmless but still malware.
- install the java version of Minecraft wherever you want, login and launch to main menu at least once, if you haven’t before. https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/store/minecraft-java-edition
- Run the Forge .jar we downloaded in step 1 with java (right click, open with, java).
- install client
- Create a folder where you want to store your server, name it whatever you like. It must be empty.
- Launch the forge .jar again
- Select server and direct the file path to the empty folder you just made.
- click ok and wait for it to finish. It may take a while if your drive or internet are a bit slow.
- once that completes, you can delete the forge .jar and the two .txt logs it may have created.
- open the folder you just installed the server to.
- Create a new .txt document in that folder and open it.
- Paste or type “java -Xmx2048M -Xms2048M -jar forgeserver.jar nogui PAUSE”. Ignore the quotes and pause needs to go on the 2nd line.
- The number after “Xmx” refers to how many megabytes of ram your allowing the server to use. If you intend to use this pc while the server is running, try to leave at-least 4GB free. You can always change this later, though it requires restarting the server. Java likes multiples and square roots. So your servers ram should be either; 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB or 32GB. It’s not a bid deal though, just slightly more efficient. To convert GB to MB multiply it by 1024.
- Rename the text file to “run.bat”, ensuring you have file extensions turned on. This will change the filetype from .txt to .bat, which is an executable file that can hook into system commands. This one just runs the server using those settings you copied in.
- to edit the .bat in future, right click on it and an open it with any basic text editor. notepad should suffice.
- Run the the “run.bat” file. This will attempt to setup your server adding files and such. It will fail this time, that’s ok.
- close the cmd prompt window and open the “eula.txt” that has appeared in your server folder.
- Change the “false” to “true” then save and close. This indicates you have read and agreed to the EULA linked in that text doc.
- You can now run your server again and it should actually run and be joinable locally. When the cmd prompt window says done, you can try joining it.
- launch Minecraft
- select multiplayer
- choose either direct connect or add server
- in the server address box you can either use your lan ip or type “localhost”
- If that worked than your local server is working and all is good
- Next do the same a again but use your Public IP Address. This also the address people not in your house will need to use. They will also need the same version of forge and the same mods installed as the server.
- If that did not work, then either your firewall or windows defender is blocking it. If that’s not the issue then you may need to port forward port 25565 on both udp and tcp. Try portforward.com for help with this.
- Your public IP is also probably a Dynamic IP meaning it will change periodically.
- Click on the servers CMD prompt window, type “stop” and hit enter. this will save the world and close the server down. This is the safest way to close your server.
- You can then open the server.properties file in notepad and some basic settings, like difficulty, whitelist and blacklist players, map seed, motd etc.. more info on each setting here: https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Server.properties
Congratulations you should have a working vanilla Minecraft server! Now onto the modding;
- Download a forge compatible mod
- copy the entire contents of the folder which contains the .jar into your servers “mods” folder
- your done