Pick plugins if you run Paper or Spigot and want players to join unmodified. Pick mods if the change needs a loader. Pick data packs if a file in the world's datapacks folder is enough. All three are Java Edition, and our mods listing holds the loader-based ones.
What plugins, mods and data packs each change
| Fact | Plugins | Mods | Data packs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Server software its releases list, for example Paper or Spigot | The loader it was made for (Fabric, Forge, NeoForge or Quilt) | A world's datapacks folder, with no plugin software or loader named |
| File goes in | The plugins folder of the server | The mods folder, plus any required dependency files | saves/<world>/datapacks, or the server world's datapacks folder |
| Players install | Nothing, they join with a normal client | Depends on the mod's side, listed per project | Depends on the pack, listed per project |
| Edition | Java Edition only | Java Edition only, Bedrock cannot load them | Java Edition only in our catalogue |
| Picked up | After a server restart | On launch with the loader's profile | After /reload or a restart |
Plugins extend a running server through its API. PaperMC's documentation describes Paper as a Java Edition game server with an API and has a development section on creating Paper plugins. In our catalogue they manage a server: assigning plugins to worlds, changing how sleeping works, or reporting player activity.
Mods are built against a loader. Fabric's documentation calls Fabric a modding toolchain, and NeoForged's calls NeoForge the modding API.
Our catalogue holds packs for seasons and grave markers.
Which server software or loader runs each one
A plugin needs the software its releases list. PerWorldPlugins lists Paper, Purpur, Bukkit and Spigot, but its Bukkit and Spigot releases stopped at 1.21.5, the last dated 2024-09-25, while its Paper and Purpur releases continue to 26.2. That gap is why the choice of server software matters. Paper vs Spigot vs Purpur covers it.
PerWorldPlugins
@TonimatasDEV · Server Plugin
Checked Source and install notes
Plan lists Paper, Spigot, Purpur, Folia, Sponge, BungeeCord, Velocity and Waterfall, and a separate Fabric release that requires Fabric API for its newest file. Even one project ships different files per platform. Install steps are in how to install plugins on a server.
A mod runs only with the loader it was made for, on the matching Minecraft release. ServerCore has current Fabric and NeoForge releases. Its Forge releases stopped in 2024, the last dated 2024-11-22. Very Many Players ships for Fabric only. See how to install mods on Java Edition.
A data pack's .zip goes in the datapacks folder of a world, or of the server world on a server. Steps are in adding data packs to a server.
What players need installed
Plugin players install nothing. Mods vary, because each project declares a side: ServerCore lists the client as unsupported and the server as required, so players need nothing. Very Many Players and Xaero's Map Server Utils list the client as optional. Client-side vs server-side mods explains the labels.
Seasons Data Pack describes itself as fully server-side and says it needs no resource pack. Graves Datapack also lists the client as optional.
Examples from our catalogue
One Player Sleep+ is a plugin. Its creator's page says it lets a single sleeping player skip the night for everyone.
One Player Sleep+
@GodofWaffles · Server Plugin
Checked Source and install notes
Plan is a plugin with a built-in web server for player analytics.
Plan | Player Analytics
@AuroraLS3 · Server Plugin
Checked Source and install notes
ServerCore is a mod. Its page says it aims to optimize the server and keeps changes that alter vanilla behaviour off by default.
ServerCore
@Wesley1808 · Java Mod
Checked Source and install notes
Very Many Players is a Fabric mod aimed at high player counts.
Very Many Players (Fabric)
@ishland · Java Mod
Checked Source and install notes
Xaero's Map Server Utils lets server administrators disable the entity radar, mini-map and other features of the Xaero's Map series, according to its Modrinth summary.
Xaero's Map Server Utils
@xxtg666 · Java Mod
Checked Source and install notes
Graves Datapack leaves a grave with a dead player's loot.
Graves Datapack
@lullaby · Data Pack
Checked Source and install notes
Seasons Data Pack shifts the seasons in vanilla biomes.
Seasons Data Pack
@slicedlime · Data Pack
Checked Source and install notes
How to choose between them
The software you already run usually decides it. A Paper server takes plugins. A Fabric or NeoForge server takes mods. Any Java world takes a data pack. Beyond that, each route has a cost.
- Plugins tie you to server software. A Spigot-only server can hit a ceiling, as PerWorldPlugins shows.
- Mods tie you to a loader. ServerCore's Forge releases stopped, and Very Many Players says it is in early development and things are expected to break.
- Data packs are the lightest to add but not always safe to leave. Seasons Data Pack calls itself beta, is expected to break with every new Minecraft release, and says removing it replaces the biomes it touched with Plains.
For ready-made data packs, see the most downloaded data packs.
What does not mix
A plugin file is not a mod, and a mod file is not a plugin. Each goes in its own folder, for its own software. Seasons Data Pack says it is unlikely to work with mods that change world generation, or with other packs using experimental world generation. World generation mods vs data packs goes deeper.
We read documentation and project pages for this comparison. We did not run any of these on a server, and we give no performance figures.