Installing Sponge

Recall that there are two official variants of Sponge (SpongeForge and SpongeVanilla) — they both run Sponge plugins identically (that’s the goal), but how either work behind the scenes (the code) differs. This is better explained in the Choosing an Implementation page. Instructions for both are listed on this page.

You will also need to install Java. To recap, Java 8 is the minimum version required; older versions (ie Java 6 and 7) are no longer supported.

Installing SpongeForge

Note

If you use (or are planning to use) a game server host, they may have a control panel that can install Sponge for you.

Warning

When using the Mojang installer, Mojang makes use of their own Java version and not the one you installed on your system. The installer currently ships with Java 1.8.0_25 for Windows and 1.8.0_60 for OSX. Note that Sponge requires at least 1.8.0_40 or above to run properly. You can grab the Launcher without included Java here: official Minecraft Launcher

Single Player / In-Game LAN Servers

  1. Download the Minecraft Forge installer from the Minecraft Forge website. Make sure to use exactly the same build number as the one listed in the filename of the Sponge download.
  2. Run the provided Forge installer. A new Forge profile will be created in the Minecraft launcher.
  3. Open the Minecraft launcher, and select the new Forge profile.
  4. Click “Options” and click “Open Game Dir”.
  5. Download SpongeForge from the Sponge website and put it into the mods folder. Create the folder if it does not yet exist.
  6. Sponge should work in both in single player and if you open your world to LAN.

Next, learn how you can create and use a launch-script, how to configure Sponge and how to manage your server (including installing plugins).

Dedicated Servers

Note

If you already have a Forge server, just put the Sponge mod into your mods folder. Remember to update your Forge version to match the one that sponge requires.

Installing Forge via Commandline

  1. Visit the Minecraft Forge website and click “Show all downloads” to view the full set of available options. Identify the version matching the one listed in the filename of the SpongeForge download, and hover over the (i) next to “Installer” to get the direct download link.
  2. Use your favorite download method to download the jar to its destination. Example: wget http://url.to/forge-version-installer.jar
  3. From the folder in which you wish to install Forge, execute the jar with the --installServer option. Example: java -jar forge-version-installer.jar --installServer
  4. Continue to Adding SpongeForge to Forge below.

Installing Forge via GUI

  1. Download the Minecraft Forge installer from the Minecraft Forge website for the version matching the one listed in the filename of the SpongeForge download.
  2. Run the provided Forge installer, select “Install Server”, choose an empty folder to place the server’s files, and then click OK.
  3. Continue to Adding SpongeForge to Forge below.

Adding SpongeForge to Forge

  1. Download SpongeForge from the Sponge website and put it into the mods folder in your server directory. Create the folder if it does not yet exist.
  2. You may now launch the server via command or launch script java -jar forge-version-XYZ.jar.
  3. If operating from home, set up Port Forwarding to ensure others can connect.

Next, learn how you can configure Sponge and how to how to manage your server (including installing plugins).

Installing SpongeVanilla

SpongeVanilla only works as a dedicated server.

  1. Download the SpongeVanilla .jar from the Sponge website.
  2. Run it via command line: java -jar spongevanilla-whatever.jar
  3. Set up Port Forwarding to ensure others can connect.

Warning

Don’t double-click the .jar file!