Mod requires a version you do not have: dependency errors

Missing dependency, requires version 0.92.0 or above, and Incompatible mods found all say the same thing. Read the version numbers and install what is asked for.

Dependency errors are the friendliest crashes modded Minecraft produces. They tell you the mod, the thing it needs, and the version. The work is reading them rather than diagnosing them.

#What the error looks like

Forge and NeoForge:

Mod examplemod requires libraryname 1.2.0 or above
Missing or unsupported mandatory dependencies

Fabric:

net.fabricmc.loader.impl.FormattedException: Incompatible mods found!
 - Mod 'Example Mod' (examplemod) 2.1.0 requires version 0.92.0 or later of fabric-api

Both are saying: this mod needs that mod, at least this version, and you have not got it.

#Fixing it in four steps

1. Read the dependency name and the version. Both are in the message. Write them down; you will misremember the version otherwise.
2. Find that exact mod. Search the name on Modrinth or CurseForge. Watch for mods with similar names, which is a real hazard in this ecosystem.
3. Download the build for your Minecraft version and loader. A dependency at the right version but the wrong Minecraft version does not satisfy anything.
4. Upload to /data/mods and restart.

Repeat if a second dependency appears. Loaders report the first blocking problem, not all of them, so working through a chain of two or three is normal rather than a sign that something is wrong.

#The usual suspects

Some dependencies account for most of these errors:

• Fabric API on Fabric. Required by the large majority of Fabric mods and not included with the loader.
• Architectury API for mods published on multiple loaders.
• Cloth Config for mods with in-game configuration screens.
• Kotlin for Forge for mods written in Kotlin, which fail with a message about Kotlin runtime classes rather than a clean dependency error.
• Collective, Balm, Puzzles Lib and similar shared libraries used across an author's mods.

If you are hitting several of these in a row, you are assembling a pack by hand. That is fine, it just takes the passes it takes.

#"Or above" does not mean "the newest"

The message says the minimum. It does not say the newest version will work.

A mod requiring Fabric API 0.92.0 or above will usually accept 0.100.0. It will not accept an API build for a different Minecraft version, and mod authors occasionally break compatibility in a way that makes a much newer dependency worse than a slightly newer one.

Install the newest build for your Minecraft version, not the newest build overall.

#Do not update everything

The instinct when a dependency error appears is to update the whole mods folder. Resist it.

Mod dependencies interlock. Updating twenty mods to fix one error means that if the server still does not start, you now have twenty changes and no idea which one is responsible. Update what the error names, restart, and read the next error if there is one.

This is slower per step and much faster overall.

#When the dependency is already installed

Occasionally the error names something you are certain is present. Check three things:

• Version. Open the jar filename; most include the version. It may be older than required.
• Minecraft version. The dependency may be for a different one, in which case the loader does not count it.
• Duplicates. Two copies of the same library at different versions can leave the loader resolving the wrong one. See duplicate mods.

#On a modpack

If a pack throws dependency errors on a clean install, something has gone wrong with the install rather than with the pack. Reinstall it from the Modpack tab rather than hand-patching dependencies: a pack that needs manual dependency fixing on first boot has not installed correctly.

Written and maintained by the Hostd engineering team. Last updated 2026-08-05. Notice a mistake? Tell us.