How to Identify a Problematic Mod Using the Divide and Conquer Method

When you experience crashes or issues on a modded server, it’s often caused by one incompatible or broken mod. If you have dozens or even hundreds of mods, it can feel overwhelming to figure out which one is causing the problem. Fortunately, there’s an efficient way to find the culprit: the Divide and Conquer method.

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What Is Divide and Conquer?

Divide and Conquer is a troubleshooting technique that drastically reduces the time it takes to isolate a problem mod. Instead of testing each mod one by one, you remove or add large groups of mods at a time, cutting the list in half repeatedly until you find the single mod causing the issue.

For example:

• Testing 400 mods individually could take hours.
• Using Divide and Conquer, you can find the problem in about 10 steps.

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Step-by-Step Guide

Follow these steps:

1. Split Your Mods in Half

• If you have 100 mods, disable 50 and restart your server/game.
• If the issue still happens, you know the problematic mod is among the 50 still loaded.
• If the issue no longer happens, the problematic mod is among the 50 you removed.

Tip: You don’t have to delete mods to test them. Simply rename the file extension from .jar to .disabled (for example: ExampleMod.jar → ExampleMod.disabled).

The server won’t load files with a non-.jar extension, and you can easily rename them back when needed.

2. Halve the Group Again

• Take the group of mods that contains the issue and split it in half again.
• For example:
  • If the issue persists in 50 mods, disable 25 and test again.
  • If the issue stops, the problematic mod is in the 25 removed.
  • If it continues, the problematic mod is in the 25 still loaded.

3. Repeat Until One Mod Remains

• Continue halving the suspect group: 25 → 12 → 6 → 3 → 2 → 1.
• Each round brings you closer to the specific mod causing the issue.

Each time you cut the list in half, you eliminate half of the possible culprits. Even with 400 mods, it only takes about 10 rounds

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Tips for Best Results

• Backup your world and mod list before starting.
• Test consistently under the same conditions after each change.
• Keep track of which mods you remove/add so you don’t lose your place.

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