Modded Minecraft Java Edition Setup and Free Modded Server Setup Guide

      To begin, in order to install mods for Minecraft Java Edition, you must first purchase a copy of the game, the only part of this tutorial that is not free is the actual Minecraft game. Go to the Official Minecraft Website. Once you click the link and go to the Official Minecraft Website, scroll down and hit Buy Now, for Windows, Mac and/or Linux. I recommend buying the Standard Edition as it is the cheapest option, $30.00, and it comes with Bedrock and Java Edition, however we will only use Java Edition for the purposes of this tutorial. Once you select the edition you wish to purchase, hit CHECKOUT. You will then be prompted to either sign into your microsoft account or sign up, in which case you would just need to make an outlook email. After you purchase minecraft and open the installer, follow the instructions in the installation wizard to install Minecraft. Once you have Vanilla Minecraft Java Edition installed and the Minecraft Launcher installed we can proceed to th next step.

      Now that Minecraft Java Edition is installed, we must now install Forge. We need to install Forge because you are not able to use mods with regular Vanilla Minecraft. There are many other softwares that serve the same purpose as Forge and allow you play Minecraft with mods, however for the purposes of this tutorial we will only be using Forge. In my opinion, I believe there is a wider selection and better compatibility of mods created for Forge. If you wish to use something other than Forge, feel free to move on to the next step as most of those other mod clients are also compatible with the server.

      The link provided below is for Forge version 1.20.1 - 47.4.0, for the purposes of this tutorial, this is the version we will be using. You are free to use any version of Forge that you like, just as long as you ensure you follow this guide using the version you selected instead of the one stated above or else, you will encounter many issues and nothing will work properly. Keep in mind that if you decide to use one of the current major versions, you may encounter more bugs and issues and you also may find it more difficult to find compatible mods as most mods may not have been updated for newer versions of Forge. For this reason, I recommend using one of the versions of the most recent previous major version of Forge. For example, the current major version is 1.21, the most recent previous major version would be 1.20. The reason 1.20.1 is chosen for this tutorial is because i find that for the most part, all mods have a version that is made for this version of Forge.

      To install Forge, you can go to the Forge Installation Page. Once on the Forge installation page, click on the Recommended Installer. Once you do, another page will pop up. DO NOT click anything on this page, you will need to wait about 6 seconds or until the red SKIP button appears in the top right corner. Once the red SKIP button appears, click on it and your Forge installer should download. Make sure you have Minecraft and the Minecraft Launcher closed before you open the Forge installer.

      Open the Forge installer, make sure you select Install client and then look at the directory it shows at the bottom. Make sure it says (C:\Users\(YourUsername)\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft), if it does not say that, you will need to click on the three dots (...), then click This PC, Users, your username, and then you will need to click on the bar that says Folder name and add to whats there, add (\AppData\Roaming\.minecraft), then hit enter. Once the directory is correct, click Ok and then wait for Forge to install. Once the Complete message appears hit Ok and proceed to the next step.

      Now that we have Forge installed, we need to create our server. Go to the Aternos Website. This website allows you to sign up and create a server for free. The reason it is free is because they provide ads which is how they make money, allowing you to use their servcies for free. Once you click the link, click the Sign up button, create a username and accept the terms of service and the privacy policy, then hit next. Create a password and give them an email, you can just use the same email associated with your Minecraft account, however feel free to leave the email blank, as it is optional.

      Once you sign up, it will take you to another page where you will be asked to create your server. Click the Create a server button, ensure that Java Edition is selected. Feel free to change the address of the server and the welcome message of the server, or you can simply leave it as is, then hit Create. Once you create the server it will take you to another page that says Your server is ready, to proceed to the next step, hit the Skip button below the Backup your server box.

      Once our server is created, we must add some things to it before we can start it. On the Server page, you should see a box that says Software below the box that has your server Address. Currently, is says Vanilla Minecraft and most likely the newest version of Minecraft. In order for us to use mods on the server, we must make the Software the same as the one that we downloaded in the previous step, Forge version 1.20.1 - 47.4.0. To do this, click the Change button, then scroll down and click Forge, then scroll and find the version we need, 1.20.1 - 47.4.0. You will see two of this version, a recommend (with a star) and a latest. You can click either of them as since we are using an older version, the latest and recommended ones are the same. Then click the Reinstall button, it will then ask you if you would like to create a back up to prevent the lose of your current world, if you have not yet put a world on the server then you can ignore this and just click Yes, Reinstall. Once you see the check mark, click the Server tab on the left and verify that the Software and Version are correct, if they are then proceed to the next step.