Today we’ll be making modpacks with Packwiz!!
Packwiz is a handy tool for Minecraft Modpacks authors. It not only allows you to organize your mods into files and provides a way to distribute your Modpacks with small file sizes, but it ALSO includes a bootstrapping tool that is meant to update a Modpack from somewhere on the internet before launching.
We can use this functionality to create a sort of self-updating Modpack for both the client as well as the server. For this example we will be using GitHub to host our Modpack content.
with this approach we will be able to push updates to our clients and severs by pushing new code to GitHub. Let’s get started!
Getting Packwiz
Packwiz is a command-like tool, but fear not! I will guide you thru the process.
I myself am a Linux user, so your results on windows may vary. You’ve been warned. However, you COULD install the WSL (windows subsystem for Linux) and follow along exactly. Up to you bub.
Head over to the Packwiz GitHub and download the latest executable for your system. Unpack the archive somewhere on your disk and browse too it.
You’ll want to move this exe somewhere on your system PATH variable. This could be different locations for different systems. Personally, I create an applications directory in my home folder and add that to my PATH variable. The point of this is to have access to the Packwiz command inside a terminal on your system.
windows users check this tutorial on how to find your PATH settings
Using Packwiz
At this point, you should have Packwiz existing somewhere on the PATH. You can now reach it with a terminal. Fire up a terminal (or command prompt if on windows) and type Packwiz and press enter. You should get the Packwiz help page:
congrats! 🎉 You are well on your way to being a professional Modpack developer. Or something.
Creating your First Modpack
The command to create a Modpack is straightforward and simple; It’s implications however may not be to all users! The command `packwiz init` will create a new Modpack in whatever directory you are in. Be sure you have gotten to the directory/folder where you want your Modpack to live on your disk before running the command.
Once ran it will ask you some basic information about your Modpack; simply fill it out according to your needs. Pay special attention to the Minecraft version and mod loader your pack will use when setting it up.
After that command finishes – you’ve officially made a Modpack!!! Unfortunately though, it’s still an empty Modpack. Let’s fix that by adding some mods!
Adding Mods
Adding mods to Packwiz involves using more commands. They are pretty straightforward.
The`Packwiz add` command will, of course, add a mod to our pack…from a respective mod-provider. Curseforge and Modrinth are the main two supported by Packwiz.
The easiest way to refer to a mod is by its name, which is the way the url ends on whichever website you’re using.
Say we wanted to install Sodium, a popular performance mod to our pack. We’d use the following command:
packwiz modrinth add sodiumand voila! You’ve now added that mod to your pack. You can do this for as many mods as necessary.
After adding the mod, you may notice a new file has appeared with the name of the mod: this file tells Packwiz where the mod is online and what version we want as well as other info. The important thing I want you to see here is the side property. This property allows you to specify if the mod is client side, server side, or both. This is very important for mods that can only be run on one side.
Okay; so you’ve got some mods set up now. How do we get it online so clients and servers can update from it? Let’s upload the code to GitHub and go from there.