Set up Botania on Minecraft

Botania is Vazkii's natural magic tech mod. Players grow magical flowers and build mana devices, and most of it is done in the world rather than through menus. It adds blocks and items, so it must be on the server and on every player's game.

Checked against Botania 1.20.1-456 on Forge 1.20.1, October 2026.

Pick the version

The newest Botania files on Modrinth and CurseForge are for Minecraft 1.20.1. Build 1.20.1-456 was published on 17 September 2026, as a Forge file and as a Fabric file that also covers Quilt. The project's GitHub repository has branches for later versions, but they are labeled as porting work, so stay on 1.20.1 for a public server.

Botania cannot run alone. The Forge build needs:

• Forge 47.1.3 or newer.
• Patchouli 1.20.1-83 or newer.
• Curios API 1.20.1-5.4.2 or newer.

The Fabric build needs Patchouli, Trinkets and Fabric API instead of Curios. It does not run on Paper or Purpur.

Install it on Forge

1. Open JAR Manager under More. Choose Forge under Server software and 1.20.1 under Minecraft version, then press Apply change. The panel picks Java 17 for you. Switching reinstalls the server and keeps your world, so make a backup first in the Backups tab.
2. Open Mods under Content and keep the Modrinth chip selected in the source chip row at the top of the tab. The Game version filter starts on your server's version. Search for Botania and press Install on the result by Vazkii.
3. A window lists the required add-ons the mod is missing, which are Patchouli and Curios API. Choose Install all.
4. Restart from the Console tab.

Open the Installed view afterwards. Botania, Patchouli and Curios API should all be listed with no Failed to load badge. For Fabric, pick Fabric in step 1 and the Fabric file in step 2. Change your Minecraft version or mod loader has the full version steps.

Players need it too

Each player installs the same Botania, Patchouli and Curios API files, or the Fabric equivalents. Join a modded server from your launcher covers that side, and Fix the mismatched mod channel list error explains the refusal when versions differ.

Getting started

The mod's guide book is the Lexica Botania. Craft it with a book and any sapling, with no fixed layout. Patchouli is the separate library mod Botania requires. Blocks to look up in the book include the Mana Pool, the Pure Daisy and the Endoflame flower.

Settings

On Forge the settings are in botania-common.toml in the config folder. On Fabric the file is botania-common.json5. Stop the server and edit it in the File Manager. Options worth knowing:

• manaEnchanter: true by default. Set it to false to stop the Mana Enchanter being made. Ones already in the world stay.
• relics: true by default. Set it to false to turn off the relic system's entries, drops and achievements.
• enderPickpocket: true by default. Set it to false to stop the Hand of Ender taking from other players' ender chests.
• manaSpreaders.traceTime: 400 by default. A lower number improves spreader performance, but spreaders then stop firing at targets that are too far away.
• rannuncarpus.modBlacklist: lists mods that rannuncarpus flowers ignore, with storagedrawers in it by default.

Common problems

• The server stops at startup: read the last lines of the Console. Fix mod and plugin errors on Minecraft covers reading the log.
• Spreaders slow the server: lower traceTime first. The flowerBindingForceCheck option can also be turned off, but the mod says to do that only on an extremely large world with a very large number of spreaders and pools.
• The mod is not in the store: the Game version filter follows your server. Check it reads 1.20.1 and the loader matches.