Botarium

Botarium is a Minecraft Java library mod, not something players install on purpose. It gives Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge tech mods a shared way to store and transfer items, fluids, and energy, so most players only end up with it because another mod, or a modpack, lists it as a required dependency. CodexAdrian and the terrarium-earth team maintain it, and it needs to run on both the client and the server.

What Botarium does for other mods

On its own, Botarium adds nothing to play. It supplies the plumbing, storage containers and a transfer API for items, fluids, and energy, that other tech mods build blocks, machines, and cross-mod compatibility on top of. A modpack that bundles a mod depending on Botarium needs Botarium installed too, the same way a Fabric mod needs Fabric API. Its audience is mod developers and the modpacks distributing their work, not a player browsing for something new to do in survival.

Loader and version support

Botarium ships for Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge, and every loader reaches the same ceiling: Minecraft 1.20.4, via Fabric build 3.2.2 and NeoForge build 3.2.1, both from March 2024, and Forge build 3.0.8 from February 2024. A separate, older line built for 1.20.1 kept receiving updates in parallel and got one more release, 2.3.4, on Fabric, Forge, and NeoForge alike, in June 2024. Nothing has shipped on either line since, so treat 1.20.4 as Botarium's practical ceiling rather than a project that has kept pace with Minecraft's current 26.x releases.

Installing Botarium

1. 1.Check which mod actually requires Botarium; the dependency is usually listed on that mod's own Modrinth or CurseForge page.
2. 2.Download the Botarium build matching that mod's loader (Fabric, Forge, or NeoForge) and exact Minecraft version from Botarium's Modrinth page.
3. 3.On Fabric, also install Fabric API; Botarium's Fabric build lists it as a required dependency.
4. 4.Drop the .jar into the mods folder alongside the dependent mod and your loader's own files.
5. 5.Running a server? Install the identical build and version there too; Botarium requires both sides.

Botarium and other cross-loader libraries

Botarium solves one specific problem, item, fluid, and energy transfer, rather than porting an entire mod across loaders. A project that needs broader Fabric-to-Forge portability more often reaches for Architectury API, a general-purpose cross-loader framework. The two aren't competing options for the same job; a tech mod can depend on either one, or occasionally both, depending on what it needs bridged.