Seaopolis Minecraft server setup

Seaopolis is an ocean-based survival and questing modpack for Minecraft 1.16.5 on Forge, by benbenlaw. Its CurseForge page describes a fully customized world with its own mobs and structures, where you start inside a sphere in the ocean and have to survive and build from there. The page also says the pack is in beta, so expect bugs and changes. You install the server from the Modpacks tab, using the pack's own server zip.

Checked against Seaopolis 16.1 on Forge 36.2.42 and Minecraft 1.16.5, October 2026.

What the pack needs

• Minecraft 1.16.5 with Forge 36.2.42. The server pack's variables.txt names both, and it ships no server jar, so the panel installs that Forge build for you. For Minecraft 1.16.5 the panel runs Java 8 on its own.
• Memory. The pack page calls a 4 GB plan perfect for it, and the server pack's variables.txt sets -Xmx4G. Your plan sets the RAM, so see how much RAM a Minecraft server needs and the Minecraft plans.
• Disk space. The server zip is about 181 MB and unpacks to about 217 MB, and the Forge install adds its libraries. The zip sits on your plan's disk while it unpacks, so keep room for both.
• The same pack version for players. This guide installs 16.1, released on 11 September 2026. Its changelog reads "Fixed infested leaves not dropping anything". Players need 16.1 in the CurseForge app.

Install the server files

Installing a modpack reinstalls the server and replaces the current world, so use a new server or one you can wipe.

Use the CurseForge chip in Modpacks and search for Seaopolis. Four packs by benbenlaw appear, and the original is the one that names Forge and Minecraft 1.16.5, so press Install on Seaopolis. The install log reports Pack installed when it is done. Install a CurseForge modpack covers the rest of the window: the backup, the version list and the EULA tick.

First start

The server pack carries no eula.txt, so unless you accepted the EULA in the install popup or earlier on this server, the panel opens Accept the Minecraft EULA first.

The pack ships its own server.properties, and it sets level-type to skyblockbuilder:custom_skyblock. That is a world type from the Skyblock Builder mod. The World type list in Config Editor does not offer it, so leave World type alone and let the first start build the world. The same file turns on allow-flight and leaves spawn-protection at 16 blocks, which is Spawn protection (blocks) in the World section.

The server pack holds 174 mod jars, with FTB Quests and Skyblock Builder among them.

Other Seaopolis packs

benbenlaw also publishes Seaopolis 2 (Forge, Minecraft 1.19.2), Seaopolis: Submerged (Forge, 1.20.1) and Seaopolis Submerged 2 (NeoForge, 1.21.1). They are separate packs with their own pages. Search for the name you want, and players need the matching pack.

Common problems

• A player cannot join. They need Seaopolis 16.1 on Minecraft 1.16.5 with Forge.
• The server crashes at boot. Find and read a crash report shows how to name the mod at fault.