How to Install a Fabric Server for Minecraft

To install a Fabric server, download the official Fabric installer from fabricmc.net, choose the Server tab (or run it with server -mcversion), let it download the Minecraft server, accept the EULA and start the generated launcher JAR. Then drop Fabric API and your mods into the mods folder. On TheGameHosting you skip all of that: pick Fabric in the Version Changer and the panel installs it for you.

Fabric is a mod loader for Minecraft: Java Edition. It is small, updates quickly after new Minecraft releases and is the loader behind many popular performance mods. It does not run Bukkit or Paper plugins, so if your plan is plugins, read our comparison of Paper, Purpur and Fabric first.

What you need before you install Fabric server files

If Java is the problem, our guide on how to change the Java version on a Minecraft server shows how to check and switch it.

How to install a Fabric server on TheGameHosting

This is the fast route. The panel does the download and the launcher setup.

1. Open your server in the panel and go to Backups. Create a backup if the server already has a world.
2. Stop the server from the Console.
3. Open Version, choose Fabric and pick the Minecraft version you want.
4. Confirm the install and wait for it to finish. The panel downloads the Fabric launcher and the matching Minecraft server.
5. Open Mods, search Modrinth for Fabric API and install it, then install your other mods the same way.
6. Start the server from the Console and watch the log for Loading lines that list your mods.

If you want a full modpack instead of single mods, the Modpacks tab installs Modrinth packs in one click. Our guide on making a Minecraft modpack server covers that path.

How to install a Fabric server manually

Use this on your own PC or a VPS. The official page is fabricmc.net/use/server.

1. Create an empty folder for the server.
2. On fabricmc.net/use/server, choose the Minecraft version and the loader version, and download the executable server JAR. Its name looks like fabric-server-mc.1.21.1-loader.x.y.z-launcher.x.y.z.jar.
3. Put the JAR in the folder and start it once:

java -Xmx2G -jar fabric-server-mc.1.21.1-loader.x.y.z-launcher.x.y.z.jar nogui

1. The first start downloads the Minecraft server, creates eula.txt and stops. Open eula.txt and change eula=false to eula=true.
2. Start it again. It creates the world, server.properties and the mods folder.
3. Stop the server, put Fabric API and your mods in mods, and start it again.

You can also use the universal installer JAR from the same page in command-line mode, for example java -jar fabric-installer.jar server -mcversion 1.21.1 -downloadMinecraft. It creates fabric-server-launch.jar, which you start the same way.

Which mods go on the server and which on the client

A Fabric server only runs what is in its mods folder. Players still need a Fabric client with the same mods when those mods add blocks, items or entities. A good rule:

For a short list of tested performance mods, see best Minecraft server optimization mods, and for a general walkthrough of adding mods, read how to install mods on a Minecraft server.

Common Fabric server errors and fixes

1. "Incompatible mods found": the log names the mod and the version it wants. Update or remove that mod, or install the missing dependency, often Fabric API.
2. Server stops right after the first start: that is the EULA step. Set eula=true and start again.
3. "Unsupported class file major version": your Java is older than the Minecraft version needs. Switch the Java version and restart.
4. Players are kicked with a mod or registry mismatch message: their client is missing a content mod or has a different version. Share the exact mod list with them.
5. A Forge mod in the folder: Fabric cannot load Forge or NeoForge mods. Download the Fabric build of that mod from Modrinth, or remove it.

Run your Fabric server on TheGameHosting

Installing Fabric by hand works, but keeping the server online is the hard part. On TheGameHosting your Fabric server runs 24/7 in Dallas or Amsterdam on AMD 9950X or 7950X3D CPUs with DDR5 and NVMe, so chunk generation and mod loading stay fast. The Version Changer installs Fabric, the Mods tab pulls mods from Modrinth, Backups saves your world with one click and Files lets you edit configs in the browser. DDoS protection is included on every plan, and there is no charge per player.

Start at $1.90 USD per month on Minecraft server hosting, compare RAM sizes on the game server plans page, and use code FULL2026 for 15% off every renewal. Heavier modpacks are more comfortable with 6 GB or more; you can see every size on Pricing.

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