How to make a SkyFactory 5 server

1What a SkyFactory 5 server needs

What a SkyFactory 5 server needs

Pack version	5.0.8, released 11 Mar 2025
Minecraft	1.20.1
Loader	Forge 47.4.0
Java	17
Memory	6 GB, as Playkeeper suggests it
Mods on the server	264
Download	305 MB
Server files	SkyFactory_5_Server_5.0.8.zip, 295 MB
From	CurseForge, by darkosto, 1.6M downloads
Checked	28 Sep 2026, on CurseForge and with Playkeeper 0.4.4's install plan

Version 5.0.8, from 11 Mar 2025, is the newest. SkyFactory 5 is a skyblock pack: the world starts as empty void, and players build everything from very little.

28,502 files, not just mods

Only 264 of the files the server gets are mods. The rest are configs, default settings and packs of data and resources, 8,502 files in all.

• Playkeeper 0.4.2 and older refused it, because a pack could put at most 5,000 files on a server. From 0.4.3 the limit is 20,000.
• It starts on 0.4.4: on 28 Sep, a server made from its template on the published 0.4.4 reached Done (3.621s)! once Forge had loaded its mods.

3The one-click way

Playkeeper runs your server on a VPS you rent. Install it with one command:

1. 1

   Open the template below, or search New server › A modpack

   Either way it's SkyFactory 5 5.0.8 from CurseForge, with Forge and the memory it needs.

2. 2

   Create and start it

   Playkeeper downloads the pack's 305 MB and checks each file against CurseForge's hash. There's nothing to add by hand.

3. 3

   Send friends the pack

   Share with friends on the Mods tab makes a page with the pack's version and their launcher's steps.

4By hand, with the server files

Download SkyFactory_5_Server_5.0.8.zip (295 MB, 264 mods) from the pack's files on CurseForge. Its Install.sh runs the Forge installer it comes with, which writes the run.sh that starts the server.

# Java 17, then the server files in ./skyfactory5
sudo apt install -y openjdk-17-jre-headless unzip
unzip SkyFactory_5_Server_5.0.8.zip -d skyfactory5 && cd skyfactory5
sh Install.sh                  # installs Forge 47.4.0
echo "eula=true" > eula.txt
sh run.sh

• Memory is in user_jvm_args.txt, which gives Java 4 GB. The pack's README calls 4 GB the minimum, and Playkeeper suggests 6 GB for its 264 mods.
• The EULA: without eula.txt, the first start stops and writes one set to false.

5Friends join with the same version

Players install SkyFactory 5 5.0.8 in the CurseForge app or Prism Launcher, then join your server's address.

In Playkeeper, Share with friends on the Mods tab makes a page with the pack's version and their launcher's steps.