Installing & managing instances
An instance is one installed copy of Minecraft — a version, an optional mod loader, and its own mods, packs, and settings. The Instances tab lists every instance you have; Browse is where new stuff comes from.
Install a modpack
A modpack installs as its own instance with the right Minecraft version, mod loader, and mods bundled — nothing to match up by hand.
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Find a pack in Browse
Open the Browse tab and pick the Modpacks category. Search, or narrow the list with the Game version and Loader filters — and switch between Modrinth and CurseForge with the source picker next to the page title.
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Open the pack and press Install
Click a pack to open its page — description, gallery, changelog, and versions — then press Install.
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Pick a version and a name
Choose the pack Version and give it a Profile name — that's the name it shows up under in Instances. Press Install. Packs install locked, so their content stays exactly as the author curated it; you can unlock later to customize.
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Play it from Instances
The download runs in the background — follow it from the downloads icon in the title bar. When it finishes, the pack appears in the Instances tab; press Launch and you're in.
Some mods couldn't be downloaded?
A few CurseForge authors only allow downloads on curseforge.com. If a pack includes mods like that, Lobbify installs everything else, offers to Recover from Modrinth, and lists anything still unresolved under Needs a manual download with a link for each. See why some downloads say “Get on CurseForge”.
Install mods, resource packs & shaders
Individual mods, resource packs, and shaders install into an instance you already have.
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Find it in Browse
In the Browse tab, pick the Mods, Resourcepacks, or Shaders category, open the project you want, and press Install.
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Choose where it goes
In the install dialog, Install to lists your compatible instances — same Minecraft version and, for mods, the same loader. Pick one, pick the file Version, and press Install.
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Unlock a pack to edit it
Modpack instances install locked, which keeps their curated content read-only. To customize one, unlock it: in Instances, open the instance's ⋮ menu and choose Unlock pack — you can lock it back any time.
Or add from the instance itself
In Instances, open an instance's ⋮ menu and choose Resources — a drawer with the instance's Mods, Resource packs, Shaders, and Worlds. The Add mods button there searches Browse for content that fits that instance, and the same drawer is where you remove things later.
Create an instance (vanilla or modded)
Want plain Minecraft, or your own Fabric, Forge, or NeoForge setup to build on? Install any version straight from the Instances tab.
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Press Install version
Open the Instances tab and press Install version in the top-right corner.
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Pick a loader and a Minecraft version
In the Install Minecraft dialog, choose a Loader — Vanilla, Fabric, Forge, or NeoForge (modded loaders also get a Loader version, with Recommended picked for you) — then pick the Minecraft version. The Type filter switches the list between Release, Snapshot, Beta, and April Fools versions.
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Name it and install
Adjust the Profile name if you like and press Install. Lobbify downloads the game files and a matching Java runtime automatically — nothing to set up by hand.
Manage your instances
Everything you've installed lives in the Instances tab — search it, filter by Game version or Loader, and manage each instance from the ⋮ menu on its row:
- ResourcesBrowse and manage the instance's mods, resource packs, shaders, and worlds — plus per-instance launch settings like memory and window size.
- Open folderJump straight to the instance's files on disk.
- RenameChange the display name. A version chip stays on the row, so you always see what actually launches.
- Lock pack / Unlock packModpack instances only — locked keeps the pack exactly as curated; unlocked lets you add and remove content.
- UninstallRemoves the instance and its files, and cleans up base game files nothing else uses.
Two more buttons live in the page header: Java runtimes shows the Java versions Lobbify manages for you, and Synced instances lists setups Lobbify installed automatically to match a host's room — use Keep a copy there to turn one into a permanent instance of your own.
Choose where game files live
Instances, versions, and Java runtimes all live in one folder — you can move it to another drive whenever you like.
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Open Settings → Install location
The Install location section in Settings shows the folder Lobbify currently keeps game data in.
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Press Change and pick a new folder
Confirm the Move game data? prompt and Lobbify does the rest — it copies everything over, verifies the copy, then cleans up the old folder. Keep the app open until it finishes.
Mod authors on CurseForge choose whether apps like Lobbify may download their files directly. Most allow it, and those projects install right in the app. When an author has opted out, the button on their project reads Get on CurseForge instead of Install — it opens the project's page on curseforge.com in your browser, because the author requires downloading it there.
If a mod like that is part of a modpack you install, Lobbify still installs the rest of the pack, then helps fill the gaps: it offers to Recover from Modrinth — the same mod from a source that allows in-app downloads — and lists whatever's left under Needs a manual download, with a Get on CurseForge link for each. This isn't a bug: it's the author's distribution choice, and the hand-off respects it.