Add LAN party modpack, server automation, and client install scripts
Covers the Create + Farmer's Delight modpack list, food roadmap pool, cross-platform client bootstrap (offline account + modpack + auto-join), and the venue-box server setup (lazymc idle sleep/wake, Chunky pregen, file distribution).
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Mykhailo Ivanchenko
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# How to run this at the LAN party
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## 1. Prep the modpack instance once, yourself, beforehand
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1. Install [Fjord Launcher Unlocked](https://github.com/hero-persson/FjordLauncherUnlocked) normally on your own machine.
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2. Create a new instance: Minecraft **1.20.1**, **Forge**. Name it exactly `LANParty` (or change `INSTANCE_NAME`/`$InstanceName` in both scripts to match).
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3. Add the mods from `modpack.md` (use the launcher's built-in Modrinth/CurseForge browser, or drop jars straight into the instance's `mods/` folder).
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4. **Set up the server and pregenerate first** — do the "Set up the dedicated venue box" and "Pre-generate chunks before the party starts (Chunky)" steps below *before* continuing here. Distant Horizons can only cache real terrain that already exists; it can't backfill detail after the fact.
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5. Launch the client, go to **Multiplayer → Add Server**, enter the venue box's LAN IP, and join for real. Set your preferred video settings (these land in `options.txt`). Then fly/walk around the pregenerated build area with a decent render distance and Distant Horizons enabled — this is what actually populates `Distant_Horizons_server_data/` in the instance with real LOD data for that area. Quit when you've covered the zone you pregenerated.
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6. Quit the launcher, then export the instance via **right-click the instance → Export Instance** (don't blindly zip the raw folder — the exporter lets you pick what's included). Check: `mods/`, `config/`, `options.txt`, `servers.dat`, `Distant_Horizons_server_data/`. Uncheck: `logs/`, `crash-reports/`, `screenshots/`, and any asset/library caches — those regenerate automatically on first launch and just bloat the zip. Name the result `modpack.zip`, with the instance's folder (`LANParty/...`) as the zip's top-level entry.
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**Caveats for this to actually pay off for participants:**
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- Don't rename the server list entry or change Distant Horizons' "Server Folder Name Mode" setting afterward — both are part of the cache key (`"<server name> <ip>:<port>"` by default). Change either and participants' clients won't find the cache you built.
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- Don't regenerate/reset the server world after this point. If the actual party world differs from the one you explored, the cached LOD will show stale terrain that doesn't match reality.
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- This cache is for *scenery beyond render distance* only — it doesn't substitute for the server having `online-mode=false` or for Chunky's pregen; all three pieces (pregen, DH cache, offline accounts) are independent and all need to land in the final zip/setup.
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## 2. Set up the dedicated venue box (one machine, does both jobs)
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Run `server/setup-server.sh` on the Linux box you're bringing to the party. It:
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- Installs the Forge 1.20.1 server and wraps it in **lazymc**, which sleeps the real server after 5 idle minutes and transparently wakes it the instant someone connects — no manual start/stop for the whole 3 days.
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- Serves `server/dist/` over HTTP via a systemd unit (survives logout, auto-restarts if it dies).
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- Opens the relevant ports in `ufw` if it's active.
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```bash
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cd server
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./setup-server.sh
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# then copy your client modpack's mod jars into mcserver/mods/, and:
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sudo systemctl restart mc-lazymc
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```
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Put `install.sh`, `install.ps1`, and `modpack.zip` into `server/dist/` (that's what gets served on port 8000).
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Find the box's LAN IP (`ip a`) and edit the top of **both** `install.sh` and `install.ps1`:
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- `HOST_URL` / `$HostUrl` → `http://<venue-box-lan-ip>:8000`
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- `SERVER_ADDR` / `$ServerAddr` → `<venue-box-lan-ip>:25565` (lazymc's public port)
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Useful commands during the party:
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- `sudo systemctl status mc-lazymc` — check if the MC server is asleep/awake
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- `sudo journalctl -u mc-lazymc -f` — watch it wake/sleep live
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- `sudo systemctl restart mc-lazymc` — pick up new mods or a config change
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### Resource sizing for the venue box (5–15 players)
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Create is the dominant cost here — it's heavier on the server **tick thread (CPU)** than on RAM, because kinetic networks and contraptions get simulated every tick regardless of how many players are nearby. Farmer's Delight/its addons are cheap by comparison. Numbers below assume this modpack (~10 mods) and are *total host box* numbers, not just the JVM heap:
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| Concurrent players | JVM heap (`-Xmx`, set in `setup-server.sh`) | Host RAM (total, incl. OS + file server) | CPU | Free disk | Network |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| 5–8 | 6G | 10–12 GB | 4 cores, 3.5 GHz+ single-core perf matters more than core count | ~10 GB (world + mods + Forge libs + logs) | Gigabit LAN recommended, Wi-Fi workable |
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| 9–12 | 8G | 12–16 GB | 4–6 cores, 3.5 GHz+ | ~15 GB | Gigabit LAN recommended |
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| 13–15 | 10–12G | 16 GB+ | 6+ cores, 3.5 GHz+ | ~20 GB | Gigabit LAN, wire the host box if possible |
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Practical knobs to turn if the box is lighter than the table:
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- Lower `server.properties` **`view-distance`** to 6–8 — this is the single biggest CPU/RAM lever on a modded server, and the Distant Horizons client mod (see `modpack.md`) makes a short server view-distance look fine anyway.
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- Set `simulation-distance` a notch below `view-distance` if things chug — it controls how far Create's kinetic networks/entities get ticked, independent of render range.
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- `MIN_RAM`/`MAX_RAM` in `setup-server.sh` default to `2G`/`4G` — bump `MAX_RAM` to match the table above for your headcount before running the script (or edit `lazymc.toml`'s `command` line afterward and `sudo systemctl restart mc-lazymc`).
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- An SSD matters more than raw disk size here — Create's block-entity-heavy contraptions do a lot of small, frequent chunk saves; a spinning HDD will show up as tick-time spikes.
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### Pre-generate chunks before the party starts (Chunky)
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Chunky (server-side mod, already listed in `modpack.md`) fills in a radius of real terrain ahead of time so nobody hits on-the-fly generation lag while exploring. Do this once, before participants arrive:
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1. Make sure `mcserver/mods/` has the Chunky jar, then `sudo systemctl restart mc-lazymc` and let the server boot (connect once from a client, or `sudo journalctl -u mc-lazymc -f` and wait for "Done").
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2. Run the commands below either from the server console (attach via `sudo systemctl stop mc-lazymc && cd mcserver && bash run.sh nogui`, temporarily bypassing lazymc so you get an interactive console) or via RCON (`mcrcon -H 127.0.0.1 -P 25575 -p <password from server.properties> "<command>"`):
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```
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/chunky center 0 0 # or your build area's coordinates
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/chunky radius 800 # 800 blocks ≈ 50 chunks (1 chunk = 16 blocks)
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/chunky start
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/chunky confirm # if it warns about area size
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```
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3. Watch progress with `/chunky status`. For ~50 chunks radius this finishes in seconds to a couple minutes depending on the box.
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4. If you stopped lazymc to get console access in step 2, restart it afterward: `sudo systemctl start mc-lazymc`.
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Repeat with `/chunky world the_nether` / `/chunky world the_end` first if you want the Nether/End build areas pregenerated too (useful since the roadmap sends people there for Nether's/End's Delight dishes).
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## 3. Give participants the one-liner
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- **Windows:** `irm http://<your-lan-ip>:8000/install.ps1 | iex`
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- **Linux / macOS:** `curl -fsSL http://<your-lan-ip>:8000/install.sh | bash`
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Each script asks for a nickname, derives a stable offline-mode UUID from it (so the same name = same player data across the whole 3-day party, even if they re-run the script), seeds that into a fresh `accounts.json`, downloads Fjord Launcher Unlocked + the modpack, and launches straight into the instance already connected to your server.
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Make sure your Minecraft server itself is running with `online-mode=false` in `server.properties` — offline accounts only work against offline-mode servers.
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## Notes / things that can break
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- The scripts pull Fjord Launcher Unlocked's **latest GitHub release** dynamically, so they stay correct even after version bumps — but if `hero-persson/FjordLauncherUnlocked` ever disappears, swap the repo slug at the top of the scripts for a current fork.
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- `install.sh` needs `curl`, `unzip`/`find` (standard on any Linux/macOS box) and relies on FUSE for running the AppImage directly; if a participant's distro lacks FUSE, the AppImage will fail to launch — tell them to run `./FjordLauncher.AppImage --appimage-extract` once and point `LAUNCHER_BIN` at the extracted `AppRun`.
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- Re-running either script is safe/idempotent: it skips re-downloading the modpack if the instance folder already exists, and just overwrites `accounts.json` with the (same, deterministic) account if the nickname is unchanged.
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- lazymc's first wake after a sleep takes as long as the Forge server normally does to boot (expect 20–60s depending on the box) — the client will show a "starting" MOTD/kick message during that window; just reconnect after a few seconds.
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- `setup-server.sh` pins a Forge build (`47.4.28` for `1.20.1`) — check [files.minecraftforge.net](https://files.minecraftforge.net/net/minecraftforge/forge/index_1.20.1.html) if it's gone stale by the time you run this.
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- Double-check the server's mod list is byte-for-byte the same mods as the client instance (same versions) — Forge is strict about mod-list mismatches between client and server and will refuse to connect otherwise.
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