The Unseelie Community server is currently on version 1.21.8 of Minecraft Java Edition. Other versions will not be able to access the server!
Modpacks are what they say on the tin: premade packs of Minecraft mods. No experimentation, testing, or rebalancing needed—modpacks come ready to use with your launcher of choice. You can find modpacks on sites like Modrinth and Curseforge.
A mod loader facilitates the use of Minecraft mods. They come with useful tools and features developers can leverage to change Minecraft in new and interesting ways. Imagine the mod loader as the key that lets mods into Minecraft. At this point in time, there are two major mod loaders for Minecraft: NeoForge (forked from the Forge launcher) and Fabric. While others exist, such as Forge and Quilt, the majority of mods you will encounter are made for NeoForge, Fabric, or both. Each loader has its pros and cons in terms of ease of development, compatibility, developer tools, etc. You do not need to install any mod loader to access the server.
The moderators of the Unseelie Community Server are more familiar with the Fabric loader and ecosystem and are therefore better equipped to troubleshoot for Fabric.
As an aside, you might be familiar with OptiFine, an old optimization suite meant to improve Minecraft performance and quality. However, the Unseelie Community Server moderators do not recommend OptiFine for the same reasons laid out by the UsefulMods team and the Prism Launcher team. You can use it if you want, but we will not troubleshoot for OptiFine problems.
Launchers are the software used to start Minecraft and install modloaders. If you're only familiar with vanilla Minecraft, then the program you use to login to your Microsoft account, choose what version of Minecraft you're using, and start Minecraft is the vanilla launcher. The moderators recommend using the Prism Launcher with our modpacks. Prism is integrated with both the Modrinth and the CurseForge ecosystems for mod, modpack, resource pack, and shaderpack downloads, and can install both CurseForge and Modrinth modpack files. Both Modrinth and CurseForge have their own launchers, but these are locked into only their respective ecosystems and modpack formats. Prism has a great guide to Getting Started with using it.
These modpacks are tailored specifically toward squeezing as much performance as possible out of Minecraft. Currently, our choice of potato PC modpack, Adrenaline, is waiting for its update to 1.21.8—however, many of its constituent mods are available for 1.21.8, and you can find a full list of those mods here.
These provide a combination of optimization mods and nice additions to the Minecraft visual experience.