Datapacks are folders or ZIP archives that you can use to customise your Minecraft experience without installing third party mods.
Installing Datapacks
Installing a datapack is quite simple.
Ensure your server is offline and keep it offline for the duration of this guide.
Once you have found and downloaded a datapack you would like to install, head over to the Files tab.
Select the world folder you want to install the datapack in. Normally, this is the world folder but it could be different depending on your server.
Click the datapacks folder
Click the + button on the right side of the panel
You can also drag and drop the datapack .ZIP file onto the file manager, to upload it onto your server.
Click Upload file
Select the datapack you just downloaded
You should see the newly uploaded datapack in your folder shortly.
Now start your server back up, feel free to contact us if you need any assistance. You can verify if the datapack was correctly installed by using the command “/datapack list enabled”. This command will show all the datapacks you have enabled on your server.
Performance Issues
While datapacks are built into the game, they can still have a large impact on server performance. Most performance issues come from datapacks using command functions which use a significant amount of the server's tick time. Unfortunately, due to the limitations imposed by commands, data packs that add custom functionality (such as an overhauled End Dragon fight, new items, new enchantments, etc.) will be quite inefficient, especially compared to modded equivalents.
However, data packs that only modify data-driven values, such as world-generation or loot tables, are often the best solution and work just fine! In fact, many modern mods hook into this data-driven system due to its ease-of-use and compatibility with other mods. The problematic data packs are those that run commands every tick, especially ones that run these commands per-player as well, which doesn't scale well. It's impressive what the authors have been able to do with Mojang's limited set of commands, however it comes at the cost of performance.
If you notice any of these data packs installed on your server, we recommend looking into modded equivalents. Often, there exists a modded equivalent to most data packs, which will likely perform much better on your server. You can spot these data packs by checking the Platforms section in a datapack page's sidebar, and if it lists "Data Pack" alongside the other loaders, then it's likely being bundled as a mod as well. Here's an example:
Known Datapacks that can cause issues
Here is a list of datapacks that we are of that are known to cause performance issues:
Deeper Dark. This datapack uses command functions to check for sculk conversions and whether the portal should light per every game tick, as well as for the functionality of its new items.
Dynamic Lights. These types of mods are better suited for the client, where light rendering is handled. With a data pack running on the server, it's creating and processing invisible light blocks in the world every single tick for every single entity. This is not ideal, and can decimate server performance!
Incendium. This is an interesting one, because it both changes data-driven world-generation (good!), and adds new functionality through command functions (bad). As such, we recommend installing Incendium Biomes Only, which disables this custom functionality, keeping only the incredible world-generation changes.
No More Phantoms. This can actually be replaced by the doInsomnia gamerule!
Spawn Animations runs on the server, meaning it's processing a spawn animation (through commands) for every entity that's spawning on your server. (a lot!)
True Ending. We’ve gotten reports that it impacts server performance even once the dragon has been killed, so I would recommend checking to see if that's the case here too.
Vanilla Refresh. In order to implement its custom functionality, it uses the execute command, as well as others, every tick. This is normal for data packs that use command functions, however it can eat up performance quickly!
Vein Miner. Projects like this are very complex, listening for every block that a player is breaking and checking each block around it. Computers are quite good at both of these processes, however commands are not.