Empack manages Minecraft modpacks from an editable empack.yml. It resolves exact
dependencies into empack.lock, builds launcher and server distributions, and can
install and update native pack releases while preserving player-owned files.
This documentation describes the v0.8.3-beta development target. It uses author schema 5 and optional integration bindings schema 1. Older author documents require a new manifest or re-import from a supported Modrinth or CurseForge archive; no schema converter is provided. Use the documentation at your installed release tag when running a downloaded binary.
Download the archive for your operating system and architecture from
GitHub Releases, extract it,
and place empack or empack.exe in a directory on your PATH.
empack --version
empack --helpChoose the beta release explicitly; GitHub's “latest” link may point to a different
release. Empack is a native executable and does not require packwiz, its installer
JARs, or a system 7z command. Java is needed for Minecraft and applicable server
loader installation. Client launchers manage their own Java and game runtime.
Create a Fabric pack, add a mod, and export it for a launcher. These commands need network access; initialization prompts for any missing project settings.
empack init my-pack --modloader fabric --mc-version 1.21.1
empack --workdir my-pack add --platform modrinth sodium
empack --workdir my-pack build modrinthImport the .mrpack from my-pack/dist/ into a compatible launcher such as Prism.
Add authored configuration under my-pack/pack/. After editing empack.yml, run
empack --workdir my-pack sync; use update when you deliberately want newer
compatible dependencies. outdated reports provider update evidence;
migrate --minecraft VERSION --loader FAMILY --plan previews a runtime change.
Commit empack.yml, empack.lock and any empack.bindings.yml with your sources.
For an existing pack archive, use empack init my-pack --from ./pack.mrpack or a
CurseForge manifest ZIP. Preview changes with --dry-run. See usage
for imports, optional files, restricted downloads and installed-instance commands.
Authors edit empack.yml; empack.lock records exact selections. Authoring operations
resolve dependencies and verify content before publication. Named build profiles
select a consumer, dependency delivery, update authority and format. Use
empack build --explain to inspect configured defaults before building. An installed instance records its owned files and optional choices separately from the authoring project.
The manifest guide describes compact sources, pins and build profiles. User guides cover commands and workflows, running a server and publishing pack updates. The documentation index separates these guides from development references and engine contracts.
See CONTRIBUTING.md. Empack is licensed under Apache 2.0.