Set up the Starter Kit mod on Minecraft

Starter Kit gives players a set of items, and optionally potion effects, the first time they join a world. You build a kit from your own inventory with a command, and it can hand out one kit, a random one, or let each player choose. This guide sets it up on a Fabric server.

Checked against Starter Kit 9.0 and Collective 8.64 on Fabric 26.3, October 2026.

What you need

• Fabric on Minecraft 26.3. The 9.0 file for 26.3 asks for Fabric Loader 0.18.0 or newer, Fabric API, Collective 8.58 or newer, and Java 25. The panel picks Java 25 for 26.x versions.
• Fabric API. The mod file requires it, but Modrinth's listing for Starter Kit names only Collective, so the Mods tab will not offer Fabric API for you. Install it yourself.
• Collective. This is the author's library mod, and the tab does offer it.
• Players do not need the mod. The author says it can run server-side only. Players who have it installed see a kit choice screen. Without it they choose with a command.

The same Starter Kit file also lists Forge, NeoForge and Quilt. On Forge or NeoForge, follow the steps below and skip Fabric API.

Switch the server to Fabric 26.3

1. Open JAR Manager, under More in the left rail.
2. Set Server software to Fabric and Minecraft version to 26.3, then press Apply change.
3. Leave Take a backup first ticked, press and hold Confirm & reinstall, and wait for the console to finish.

Your world is kept, but configuration files may be reset. Change your Minecraft version or mod loader has the detail.

Install it

1. Open the Mods tab under Content, with the Modrinth source chip selected.
2. Search for Fabric API and press Install.
3. Search for Starter Kit and press Install on the one by Serilum. A window titled "Needs 1 more add-on" names Collective. Press Install all (2).
4. Go to Console, press Start, and accept the EULA prompt the first time.

Make your first kit

Setting a kit copies your own inventory, so do this in the game as an operator rather than from the Console. Give yourself operator rights from the Players tab (whitelist and operator guide). Both /starterkit and /sk work.

1. Arrange your inventory, offhand and armour the way new players should start. Active potion effects are saved too.
2. Run /sk set Welcome. This makes your inventory the only active kit and moves any others to the inactive folder. /sk add Welcome adds it beside the existing kits instead.
3. Run /sk list to see the active kits, and /sk list inactive for the rest.
4. To test, run /sk give <player> on yourself or another player.

Each kit is a text file in config/serilum/starterkit/kits/, and the main settings are in config/serilum/starterkit.json. Edit them in the File Manager, then run /sk reload. /sk reset clears the record of who has joined, so every player gets a kit again.

Let players choose

With more than one active kit, the default is a random pick. To let players choose, set randomizeMultipleKitsToggle to false in starterkit.json and run /sk reload. /sk activate _all moves the inactive default kits into play. A player with the mod sees a choice screen. Others type /sk choose <kit_name>, and /sk info <kit_name> shows what is in a kit.

Other options in the same file:

• giveStarterKitOnFirstJoin switches the automatic kit on or off.
• giveStarterKitOnRespawn hands the last kit out again after a death.
• addExistingItemsAfterKitSet keeps items added by other mods, such as guide books.
• chooseKitText is the line above the choice screen.

Common problems

• The server stops at start and names fabric-api. Install Fabric API from the Mods tab.
• It names collective. Collective is missing or older than 8.58. Install or update it from the Mods tab.
• A player gets no kit. The mod tracks who has joined before, so a returning player is skipped. Use /sk give <player> or /sk reset.