Using Mineshire
Add plugins and mods in Mineshire, and keep them updated
Adding a plugin by hand means finding the right download, matching it to your game version, dropping the file in the right folder and hoping. Mineshire does the matching for you. It still helps to know what the tab is doing, so here’s a walk through it.
Where the tab is
Open your server and look at the tabs. A server running Paper has one called Plugins, one running Fabric has one called Mods. Vanilla has neither, because Vanilla can’t run either. Java servers also get a separate Datapacks tab, which works the same way.
The tab opens on what’s already installed. The main button, “Browse plugins” (or “Browse mods”), takes you to the shop window. A button next to it, Import, is for a file you downloaded yourself.
Finding something to install
Browsing works like any store. There’s a search box, and three ways to sort: Most downloaded, Newest and Recently updated. You can read the results page by page or as one long list.
When more than one site is available, a switch at the top lets you pick Modrinth or CurseForge. Same screen, different catalogue.
Next to the switch sits a small padlock, the version lock. While it’s closed you only see projects made for your exact software and version. Open it and everything appears, including things that may not work. Leave it closed unless you have a reason.
One click, and the extras it brings
Press Install on a card and the file lands in the right folder for your server. Some plugins need another plugin to run, and Mineshire fetches those required ones too. You don’t have to read the fine print and chase them down.
You can install while the server is running. The new plugin just won’t be active until the next start.
One difference between the two kinds is worth saying out loud. A plugin changes the server, so players join with a normal game. A mod changes the game itself, so everyone who joins needs the same mods on their own computer.
Updates, and why the server has to stop
Back on the Installed list, each row says “Up to date” or offers “Update to” and the new version number. At the top, a bar counts how many updates are waiting, with an Update all button. The refresh icon checks again on demand.
Updating and removing need the server stopped. Windows keeps a running server’s files locked, a bit like a book someone is still reading, so Mineshire waits until the server is off. The bar says “Stop the server to update” when that’s the reason a button is grey.
Not ready for an update? Each row has a small bell with a line through it. It hides that one update for 30 days. “Hide for 30 days” on the bar does the same for all of them. The update comes back on its own after that, and the row says when (“Update hidden until” and a date). You can bring one back sooner with the bell, or from the server’s Options tab, under Hidden updates.
What the little tags mean
- The Modrinth or CurseForge logo beside a name tells you where Mineshire matched the file.
- “Not on Modrinth or CurseForge” shows the file name and size instead of a description. It’s a file Mineshire couldn’t match to a listing, often one you added by hand or a private build. It still works. Mineshire just can’t update it for you.
- “May not work” means the file looks made for another version or software. Hover over it to see why.
Removing something asks you first, and says the file is deleted from the server’s folder. You can add it again later.
A habit worth keeping
Before a big batch of updates, make a backup. The three-dot menu on a server has a “Back up now” entry for exactly this, and it needs the server stopped, which you’ll have done for the updates anyway. Rebuilding a broken setup is far slower. If a plugin misbehaves after an update, the console usually names it, and the log guide on this blog shows how to read it.