Setup and Play a BigChadGuys Plus Server in Minecraft

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BigChadGuys Plus packs over 150 mods into a single Fabric modpack for Minecraft 1.20.1, and the results are striking. You get Pokemon from Cobblemon, biomes from Terralith and Oh The Biomes You’ll Go, weapons from Minecraft Dungeons, a full skill progression system, custom bosses, and enhanced Nether and End dimensions, all running together on a single server. The modpack has crossed 2 million downloads on CurseForge, developed by jflec and first released in April 2023. If you want a casual, open-ended experience with enough depth to keep a group of friends busy for weeks, BigChadGuys Plus is worth setting up. Getting it running on an Apex server takes just a few clicks and no prior server experience.

How to Install BigChadGuys Plus on Your Client

Before joining a server, you need CurseForge installed on your computer. This creates a dedicated profile for the modpack and keeps its files separate from your other Minecraft setups.

Navigate to CurseForge and click the Download button for your operating system.
Save and open this file on your computer to begin the installation process.
Once this finishes, launch CurseForge and press Browse Modpacks from the menu.
Type “BigChadGuys Plus” in the Search field, then click Install.
Wait for everything to download, then press Play from My Modpacks to load it.

If you want a full walkthrough of how to install CurseForge modpacks, Apex has a dedicated guide covering launcher setup and troubleshooting.

How to Install BigChadGuys Plus on Your Server

Before running through the steps, consider creating a new server profile first. This keeps BigChadGuys Plus files from conflicting with any pre-existing configurations.

Head to your Apex server panel and locate the Game File area.
Click on the currently selected option to reveal a dropdown list.
In the text field, type “Big Chad Guys Plus” and press it once found.
Click Change Version and Create New World when prompted.
Press Restart Now in the final prompt.
Wait for the installation to finish, then join with your installed modpack via CurseForge.

For more general help setting up a modded Minecraft server, see the linked guide.

Getting Started with BigChadGuys Plus

When you first join the server, you’ll receive two starter books: Paladin’s Furniture and Runic Grimoire. These cover some of the modpack’s mechanics and are worth a quick read. The JEI mod is also installed and gives you an in-game reference for every item and recipe.

From there, your first meaningful choice is picking a starter Pokemon.

Starter Pokemon

Press X on your keyboard when joining a new world to open the Pokemon selection screen. You can pick any type, fire, water, or others, as your starting companion. Pokemon fight alongside you against wild creatures, and you can catch more by winning battles. All Pokemon features come from Cobblemon, which includes Pokeballs, Apricorn crafting, and a full healing and storage system.

Healing and Storage

Use the healing station to restore your Pokemon after battles. The storage system lets you swap between Pokemon depending on what you need. These two features are central to the Cobblemon experience and worth setting up early. If Pokemon modpacks are not your focus, the rest of the modpack offers plenty without ever touching Cobblemon.

World, Biomes, and Wildlife

BigChadGuys Plus generates the world using Terralith and Oh The Biomes You’ll Go. The result is mountainous terrain, flowering valleys, oceanic zones, dense forests, and some genuinely dangerous areas, all layered on top of vanilla biomes with added properties. Other dimensions also get new biomes and structures, with the Nether becoming a colourful and loot-rich environment and the End gaining dense vegetation and mushroom-like trees.

Wildlife changes by biome and time of day. Nighttime brings harder mobs, biome-exclusive creatures appear throughout the world, and Pokemon populate the landscape alongside standard Minecraft mobs.

Structures and Loot

The modpack scatters custom structures across every dimension: towers, flying ships, underground campsites, and improved default buildings like the pillager outpost. Villages get unique layouts and include Waystones in place of the standard water well. Waystones let you fast-travel between discovered points, which is practical given how large and varied the world is.

Dungeons appear on the surface and underground. A mushroom tower dungeon, for example, is full of monsters and chest loot. Avoid these early, as they require strong gear to clear and often end with a boss fight.

Chests and barrels hold weapons, armor, bows, and collectibles with built-in rarities and enchantments. Finding these items is generally better than crafting from scratch, since discovered gear tends to have unique properties. Notable weapons from Minecraft Dungeons include Soul Fists, Firebrands, and Frost Scythes.

Building and Crafting

Beyond combat gear, the modpack adds a large variety of building blocks and furniture. The Create mod provides mechanical components for building machines. Decoration options from Paladin’s Furniture and other included mods give bases a highly customised look. Explore the available blocks and see what combinations suit your build style.

Combat and Skills

Combat animations depend on the weapon type and draw from Minecraft Dungeons-style moves. Swinging a scythe looks different from swinging a sword, and each weapon has its own feel.

Press K while in-game to open the skills menu. From here, you can put experience points into health, strength, defense, and other stats. Experience comes from killing mobs, mining ores, and smelting. Skills cap at level 100, and there is also a jobs system that contributes to leveling. Building a mob farm early pays off quickly given the depth of the skill tree.

Bosses

World bosses appear with a health bar at the top of the screen. Some are straightforward to defeat solo, while others are designed for groups. The Lich, for example, regenerates health faster than a solo player can deal damage and requires coordinated team attacks. Prepare with strong armor and weapons before engaging any boss.

Common Issues

Unable to Join the Server

Check that you have the latest version of BigChadGuys Plus installed in CurseForge. Mismatched versions between client and server are the most common cause of connection failures. If the modpack will not load at all, low allocated memory is usually the cause; increase the RAM allocation in CurseForge settings. If the connection still fails, confirm you selected “Big Chad Guys Plus” from the Game File dropdown and restarted the server. Creating a new server profile resolves persistent conflicts.

Server Lag

BigChadGuys Plus runs best with 6-8GB of RAM allocated to the server, especially with multiple players online. If the server is lagging, try reducing entity counts or adjusting global settings. Restarting too frequently can also cause temporary performance degradation.

Server Configs Are Outdated

A message reading “Server configs are outdated…” appears randomly in-game, often after dying. To clear it, run byg update_configs dismiss in the server console. Running byg update_configs update attempts a one-time fix but may require a server or client restart afterward. Use the dismiss command first.