How to add data packs to a Minecraft server

Data packs change Minecraft using only files the game already understands — no mods, no plugins, no loader. They can add recipes, change loot tables, add new advancements, run custom functions, and in the case of world-generation packs, reshape terrain entirely. Because they are pure Vanilla, they work on every server type: Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Fabric, Forge and NeoForge. Players do not install anything.

Where they go

Data packs live inside the world, in a folder called datapacks: on a server, that is world/datapacks/. Upload the pack there as its .zip file, unopened, from the file manager. A pack that was already unzipped also works, as long as the folder you upload has pack.mcmeta directly inside it — not inside another folder.

Make sure you download the version of the pack made for your server’s Minecraft version. Data pack formats change with almost every release, and a pack for an older version either loads with errors or not at all.

Turn it on

1. Upload the pack to world/datapacks/.
2. Run reload in the console (or restart the server).
3. Run datapack list. Packs are shown in two groups: enabled and available. Yours should be under enabled.
4. If it is under available, enable it by the name shown, for example datapack enable "file/MyPack.zip".

If it is not listed at all, the folder structure is wrong — check that pack.mcmeta sits at the top of the zip. The console prints an error naming the pack when one fails to load.

Turning packs off and removing them

datapack disable "file/MyPack.zip" turns one off without deleting it. To remove it entirely, disable it, then delete the file and restart. Some packs leave behind scoreboards or items they created; their page usually explains how to uninstall cleanly.

World-generation packs are different

Packs such as Terralith, Tectonic or Incendium change how terrain and structures are generated. Minecraft only generates a chunk once, so these packs only affect chunks created after they are installed:

• Added to an existing world, the areas people have already explored stay as they were, and new terrain appears further out — often with visible cliffs where old and new generation meet.
• For the full effect, the pack has to be there before the world is created.

To start a new world with a world-generation pack:

1. Reset the world, or delete the world folder, while the server is stopped. See How to reset your Minecraft world.
2. Before starting it again, create the folder world/datapacks/ in the file manager and upload the pack there.
3. Start the server. It creates the new world with the pack already active.

Removing a world-generation pack from a world that was created with it is risky: its biomes and structures no longer exist, and Minecraft may refuse to load the world or replace them. Treat these packs as part of the world.

Data packs on modded servers

Data packs work on Fabric, Forge and NeoForge too, in the same folder. Many popular world-generation packs are also published as mods; on a modded server, use whichever form the pack’s page recommends, not both.

Good packs to start with

• Vanilla Tweaks — a website where you pick small changes (more mob heads, silence mobs with a name tag, multiplayer sleep message, coordinates HUD) and download them as one pack. The easiest place to start.
• Terralith — a huge set of new biomes using only Vanilla blocks.
• Incendium and Nullscape — reworked Nether and End.

Install them one at a time and run datapack list after each, so you know which pack is responsible if something misbehaves.