Switching Your Minecraft Server Software: Paper, Purpur, Forge and More

You picked Paper at checkout because it was the safe default, and now you actually need Purpur for a plugin that requires it — or you're moving from a plain server to a modded one and need Forge or NeoForge. You don't need to reorder anything for this.

Server Versions vs. Game Changer

This is a different tool from Game Changer (covered in our other post). Game Changer switches your server to a different game entirely. Server Versions stays inside Minecraft and switches which server software build runs your world: Paper, Purpur, Spigot, Fabric, Folia, Forge, NeoForge, Mohist, Arclight, Leaves, Pufferfish, Canvas, Vanilla, BungeeCord or Velocity — 16 in total.

Where the Build List Comes From

The list of software types and available builds is pulled live from MCJars, a public, real-time index of Minecraft server software. We only show software types and builds MCJars marks as stable — no snapshots, betas or experimental builds — so what you install is something people actually run in production. This list is cached for an hour on our side so it doesn't hammer MCJars on every page load, but it's always current, not a hardcoded list from whenever the feature launched.

How Switching Works

1. Open Manage → Server Versions.
2. Pick a software type (e.g. Purpur) and, if relevant, a specific Minecraft version.
3. Check the build details, then pull it.

This is a customer-initiated, one-time action — there's no background auto-update loop silently changing your server's software behind your back. You choose exactly when it happens.

Before You Switch

• Back up first. Changing server software (especially to or from a modded platform like Forge) can affect world compatibility and plugin/mod support. A backup from the Backups tab takes a minute and means you can roll back instantly if something doesn't work the way you expected.
• Check plugin/mod compatibility yourself. We give you the software; whether your specific plugins work on Purpur vs. Paper, or which mods a given Forge build supports, is between you and those plugin/mod authors.

Have a modpack in mind? Order a Minecraft server with enough RAM for it, then switch to Forge or NeoForge from Server Versions once it's live.