The 10 best mods for multiplayer in Minecraft

Minecraft has long been a game where hundreds of players can join a server and build something spectacular, while also being fully accessible for single players. In terms of gameplay, a large group of friends is not required, but many of us have made our first gaming memories by discovering Minecraft together with friends.

Despite the regular updates, Minecraft will never be perfect for everyone, but luckily we have thousands of talented developers who offer free mods to enhance gameplay in every imaginable way. Here are just a few of the best mods for multiplayer servers.

10 Waystones

• Install Waystones here

A significant part of Minecraft is exploration. Finding useful biomes, special structures, and the perfect locations for building massive farms is something you'll do throughout the game. The ability to return to these places and also find each other when your friends inevitably get lost is an invaluable skill.

Waystones allow you to place a beacon with your coordinates and a label to remind you of what is there. You can then teleport to that location if you wish or simply use it as a point of reference. This way, you can find your way back home or leave a note about something interesting you found for your friends. It also serves as a way to locate your inventory if you die.

9 JourneyMap

• Install JourneyMap here

Similarly, JourneyMap is a great mod to keep track of friends and find each other when adventures go awry. This mod not only shows you and other players, but the differently colored markers represent aggressive mobs, passive mobs, specially generated structures, and the biomes you are in. This is a great way to prevent a zombie from catching you off guard or to locate your friends if they have malicious intentions!

You can mark things on the map that can remain turned on and be displayed in the corner of the screen at all times. You will never lose your friends again.

8 Ender Storage

• Install Ender Storage here

Distance makes the heart grow fonder, but isn't it frustrating when someone in your group runs off with something extremely valuable that you need for crafting? Enter Ender Storage. This mod functions like a regular Ender Chest, except that anyone can retrieve the items. The chests are color-coded, for example, the red chest is connected to any other red chest. There are also Ender Pouches, which are convenient portable storage solutions.

If one of your friends builds something epic on one side of the world, you can collect items for it from another location and deposit them in these convenient modified Ender Chests for them to use. Alternatively, if you need to share something rare, like a beacon, it's easy to borrow it from the communal chest no matter where you are. Just make sure to put it back afterwards.

7 Vault Hunters

• Install Vault Hunters here

This is not a mod to enhance the quality of life, but an adventure that you and your friends can experience together. Procedurally generated vaults will appear and can be opened with crystals that can be crafted, animated, modified, and cultivated. Everything revolves around these crystals.

The mod pack essentially transforms Minecraft into a role-playing game with different play styles and progressions, armor sets, and special abilities like Dash, Mega Jump, and Ghost Walk. You will explore to gather experience and unlock new powers while facing all the surprises the vault throws at you. There will be rich rewards and dangers. Compete with friends or form a team to defeat the game.

6 Better MC

• Install Better MC here

Better MC promotes itself as Minecraft 2 or 'what Minecraft should have been'. Whether you agree with them or not, this is certainly a grand adventure to embark on. It is a complete modpack, meaning it consists of many separate mods that work well together. The quality of life improvements are certainly helpful, such as Just Enough Items, but that's not the reason why one installs something like this.

Not only are there thousands of new creatures, items, and blocks, but you can also create portals to new dimensions like the Twilight Forest, discover deadly dungeons full of traps, and fight bosses that require an army to defeat. The End has also been revamped and now resembles a microscopic world full of towering giant bacteria and mushrooms above you. This is a great mod to explore with friends.

5 Domestication Innovation

• Install Domestication Innovation here

If you've always wanted more interactions with animals in Minecraft, then this is the mod for you. Domestication Innovation greatly expands the concept of "taming" and allows you to befriend, train, and even enchant wild animals. Think of it similar to giving a bone to a wolf in the standard version of Minecraft to get a dog that fights for you.

However, you are not limited to just dogs, but also frogs, axolotls, horses, rabbits, foxes, and many more can be fully trained to obey your will, which goes far beyond a weak attack. Enchantments like Psychic Wall prevent creatures from approaching, Bubbling captures mobs in floating bubbles, Charisma lowers trading prices, and there are also curses like Blight and Immaturity. Train a horde of your favorite animals and hunt for the rarest enchantments, then battle against friends or dive into a bastion together with your impressive pandas.

4 RLCraft

• Install RLCraft here

This modpack prides itself on being one of the most challenging and complex ones ever developed. It consists of 185 individual mods and essentially creates a completely new game with the most devastating creatures you will ever encounter. If you tend to get frustrated and give up easily, this might not be for you.

Having a group that has your back is essential when starting this mod, as dragons roam the skies and can kill unsuspecting players in an instant, while the oceans are populated with creatures that will drag you into the depths. However, this is balanced by incredibly powerful baubles, enchantments, and loot-filled structures that you can find right after spawning. Stick together, and you might even be able to take on optional bosses like Asmodeus and Rahovart.

3 Pixelmon

• Install Pixelmon here

We have all dreamed of living in a world full of Pokémon, where they are our best friends, riding on them, and earning badges. If Pokémon Go didn't fulfill this wish for you, then perhaps this Minecraft mod might be the right thing for you. Download it with friends to discover all the Pokémon you know and love, as well as the countless new ones that no one can keep track of anymore.

The battle mechanics of the eighth generation are all present, and you can buy Poké Balls or craft your own using new crafting materials. Normal Minecraft monsters will no longer spawn, but most other parts of Minecraft that you love will remain intact. Multiplayer servers are a great way to experience this mod, competing against real players and earning TMs. So, get out there and catch them all!

2 The Hunger Games

• Install The Hunger Games here

Another incredibly popular series is The Hunger Games. Whether you were cheering for Katniss or Finnick, this is your chance to prove to your buddies that you would have definitely won if it were real, and you definitely wouldn't have frozen on the first night.

However, you don't need a large group of friends to play, as the mod team provides you with teams of incredibly intelligent tributes that you can outsmart, as well as thematic weapons and outfits. Beware of tracker jacker nests and heed the advice of your mentor, or the next cannon shot could be for you.

1 Survival Island

• Install Survival Island here

Have you ever dreamed of your own little island paradise? Perhaps right next to your best friend, so you can build bridges and ships between them? Then this mod is perfect for you. This customizable mod allows you to set the parameters for the exact world you want to live in.

You can even generate a map that consists entirely of one large (or small, if you're seeking a challenge) island, where you all have to ration blocks and avoid decimating the limited animals. This truly turns the concept of Minecraft upside down, which usually features an infinitely generating world with resources. See which island survives the longest and who is the first to beg for a sapling.