Which Minecraft modpack is the most fun to play with friends?

That depends on your group. Better MC is the safest all-round choice because everyone can join in immediately, Cobblemon works well for casual groups, and All the Mods 10 is the favourite of experienced groups that want everything at once. Choose based on your group, not on download numbers.

How much RAM does a modpack server need?

A light vanilla+ pack already runs on 4 GB, mid-sized packs such as Better MC or Create: Astral want 6 to 8 GB, and kitchen-sink packs like All the Mods 10 need at least 10 GB, or 14 to 16 GB with five or more players. At MC-Node you can count on roughly €1.10 per GB of RAM per month.

Do modpacks already run on the newest Minecraft versions of 2026?

Usually not, and that's perfectly normal. Big packs deliberately lag behind: DawnCraft and Vault Hunters sit on 1.18.2, Better MC and Prominence II on 1.20.1 and All the Mods 10 on 1.21.1; only ATM11 runs on the 26.1 series, and it's still in beta. The version your pack uses always decides what your server runs.

Can I switch to another modpack later on the same server?

Yes, you can install a different modpack on your server whenever you like. Do bear in mind that worlds aren't interchangeable between packs: with every pack you start on a new world. So make a backup of your old world before you switch.

// Minecraft

The best Minecraft modpacks of 2026 to play with friends

31 August 2026 · 5 min read

A good modpack does something that vanilla Minecraft often can't manage after a few weeks: keep your whole friend group excited at the same time. One of you wants to build, another wants to fight, a third wants to automate a factory — and a well-chosen pack gives all three of them something to do. Below you'll find the packs that work best for groups in 2026. Ranked not by download numbers, but by how well they play together. And because the demands on your server differ enormously from pack to pack, you get concrete RAM advice with every one.

1. Better MC — the safest pick for mixed groups

Better MC is the best-known vanilla+ pack: Minecraft as everyone knows it, but richer. More biomes, dungeons and structures, plus a mountain of quality-of-life additions, without anyone having to watch a tutorial first. It comes in two flavours that are both actively maintained: BMC4 on Minecraft 1.20.1 (Forge) and the newer BMC5 on 1.21.1 (NeoForge). Everything about the server side is covered in our Better MC server guide.

Best for: mixed groups that include less experienced players; everyone can join in straight away.
RAM advice: 6 to 8 GB — comfortably above vanilla, comfortably below the heavy tech packs.

2. Cobblemon — for the casual group (and the Pokémon fans)

Catching, training and trading Pokémon in Minecraft. Cobblemon is still being actively developed, and the official modpack — there's a Fabric edition and a NeoForge one — is surprisingly light for what you get out of it. Filling in the Pokédex together also turns out to be excellent glue for a friend group. Our Cobblemon server guide gets you going, and if you're still weighing up the alternative, read Cobblemon or Pixelmon.

Best for: casual groups that want to collect rather than grind, mixed ages included.
RAM advice: 4 to 8 GB; the official pack sits at the lower end, and with addon packs you grow towards 8 GB.

3. DawnCraft — for groups that want to fight

A souls-like RPG with boss fights, quests and a combat system that forgives very little. DawnCraft runs on Minecraft 1.18.2 with Forge; don't let that version number put you off, because in terms of content it feels more modern than plenty of 1.21 packs. To be fair: anyone who gets frustrated quickly will drop out here — dying is part of the deal. How to set the server up is explained in our DawnCraft server guide.

Best for: action-focused groups that can take a beating and want to learn bosses together.
RAM advice: heavy for its age — start at 10 GB and count on 12 to 16 GB with five or more players.

4. Prominence II: Hasturian Era — playing through a campaign together

A story-driven RPG pack on Fabric (Minecraft 1.20.1) with over 400 mods, quest lines, voiced NPCs and, since this summer's 4.0 update, a complete capital city that grows along with your progress. Less sandbox, more shared adventure. Our Prominence II guide covers what hosting it involves.

Best for: groups that want to work through one story together instead of playing side by side.
RAM advice: 8 to 10 GB; in terms of weight it sits between Cobblemon and the big kitchen-sink packs.

5. Create: Astral — for the builders and tinkerers

The Create mod is all about machines, trains and automation you can actually watch working, and that is fantastic in a group: one of you lays track while the other designs the factory. Create: Astral is the best way in for 2026 thanks to its excellent quest book. The classic Create: Above and Beyond is no longer being updated but is still perfectly playable, and Create: Arcane Engineering mixes magic into the formula. We put them side by side in our guide to Create packs on your server.

Best for: groups that would rather build something together than fight; engineers at heart.
RAM advice: 6 to 8 GB; big factories mainly demand CPU, so more RAM won't smooth out every stutter.

6. All the Mods 10 — the complete package for experienced groups

The kitchen sink of the moment: 400 to 500+ mods on NeoForge and Minecraft 1.21.1, with Java 21 as a hard requirement. Everyone in your group can head off in their own direction — tech, magic, building — and still keep running into each other. Its successor ATM11 is already in beta on the 26.1 series, but for a friend group ATM10 is the more stable choice this year. Read our All the Mods 10 server guide before you start.

Best for: experienced groups where everyone picks their own direction and nobody needs a manual.
RAM advice: 10 GB minimum, 12 GB for a small group and 14 to 16 GB with five or more players or a lot of automation.

7. Vault Hunters Third Edition — for the grinders

A rogue-lite inside Minecraft: you run procedurally generated vaults for loot and level up an extensive skill tree. One thing to watch when you set it up: active development now happens in the Remastered release of Third Edition (still Minecraft 1.18.2), so pick that one for a new server. More about that in our Vault Hunters server guide.

Best for: groups that love progression; everyone plays at their own pace, so it works fine when not everyone is online equally often.
RAM advice: 6 to 8 GB is a fine start; scale up as your group and your vault loot grow.

8. Skyblock packs — compact and surprisingly sociable

Starting on a tiny island and squeezing a complete empire out of it together. Skyblock forces you to cooperate, and because the world stays small it's kind to your server as well. Whether a modpack or a plugin version suits you better is covered in our Skyblock guide.

Best for: small groups that want to work closely together; ideal for short evening sessions.
RAM advice: 4 to 6 GB, partly because there are barely any chunks to load.

9. RLCraft — only for groups that want to suffer

Let's be honest: RLCraft breaks half the friend groups that try it within a week. The pack runs on Minecraft 1.12.2 and is notoriously hard — just about everything out there wants to kill you. But for the right group, dying together and laughing about it is exactly where the fun is. Our RLCraft server guide will at least spare you the technical surprises.

Best for: groups with thick skin and a sense of humour about themselves; not for players who get attached to their gear.
RAM advice: 4 to 6 GB is enough; RLCraft scales with players and mobs, not with the number of mods — more RAM won't make this pack any faster.

10. Your own light vanilla+ pack

Not every group is waiting for hundreds of mods. With a handful of quality-of-life and performance mods you can build your own light vanilla+ pack that runs on any laptop and never has to wait for a pack update. How to go about it is explained in our guide to putting together your own modpack.

Best for: groups that want to stay close to vanilla, or that have players with modest PCs on board.
RAM advice: 4 GB is plenty for a pack of up to around 60 mods.

Which server do you need for this?

RAM is the dial that everything turns on — and it decides your monthly price. At MC-Node a Minecraft server starts from €0.50 per month and you pay roughly €1.10 per GB of RAM: a 6 GB Better MC server therefore costs around €6.60, and a 12 GB ATM10 server around €13.20. Everything runs on our own hardware with NVMe storage in the Previder data centre in Hengelo, including DDoS protection and management through the panel. And because everything is cancellable monthly, you can happily start a size smaller and only scale up when your group or your automation calls for it. Pick your pack, have a look at the Minecraft packages in our store and you'll be playing together tonight.