The HOUDINICRAFT custom Minecraft server hosts 50+ mods that modify vanilla gameplay, cosmetics, mobs, and environmental generation such as:
There are also community-standard quality-of-life, graphical, and network optimizations like Xaero's Minimap and Voice Chat. Click here to view a full list of client-side mods used in-game.
This Minecraft server and associated webpage is hosted for members of the official HOUDINI Magazine Discord server, The Velvet Room. The in-game chat is broadcasted to a channel in the server. Please do not share the server information with outside entities.
If you aren't a member yet, join up here and apply to join the server.
You must own a digital license for Minecraft: Java Edition to connect to the server. Unfortunately, there is no way around this. All my homies hate Microsoft.
A license may be purchased via the Microsoft Store or on the Xbox website. You will need to link the license to a new or pre-existing Microsoft account. When that's done, you'll need this account information during the setup process detailed below.
These instructions are for modern versions of Windows (10 and 11). If you're on Linux, I'm sure you can figure it out! 🤓 I also plan to write instructions for Steam Deck users in the future.
Steam Deck users - you will be able to follow most of this guide, but I recommend referring to this guide for slight differences in setup, screenshots, and controller mapping information.
Connecting to the HOUDINICRAFT server is only officially supported using Prism, an open source Minecraft launcher. If you are not using this launcher, I cannot guarantee the client will run properly.
Navigate to the Downloads page.
Select the appropriate installer for your version of Windows.
Once the download completes, launch the installer and click Next.
On the Choose Components screen:
On the Choose Install Location screen:
Click Next. The launcher will now install.
Once Prism is finished installing, launch the client and move to the next part of the guide.
Once you've launched Prism for the first time, complete these steps:
Enter your desired display language and click Next.
Select your desired client theme and click Next.
On the next screen, click "Add Microsoft account" and sign into the account associated with your Minecraft: Java Edition digital license.
Once your account is logged in and verified, click Next.
You should now be presented with the main Prism window. Unless you've used the client previously, the list of instances should be blank.
Now that your Prism launcher is configured, you will need to import our custom HOUDINICRAFT instance of Minecraft. This file is pre-loaded with all client-side mods, resource/shader packs, and configuration files intended for use with the server.
It is imperative that you follow these steps exactly or you may experience issues:
Click Add Instance at the top-left portion of the window; this opens the "New Instance" dialog window.
Click Import.
Click Browse.
Locate and double-click the HOUDINICRAFT_1.20.1.zip file, which will be provided to you in the Discord server.
Press OK.
Once Prism finishes the import, the window should auto-close and you will see a new instance in your named HOUDINICRAFT_1.20.1.
Now that you've imported the pre-configured client into Prism, you'll need to launch the game and connect to the HOUDINICRAFT server. This is the final step in the setup process.
Double-click the HOUDINICRAFT_1.20.1 icon to launch the Minecraft client. This may take a minute or two to launch the game the first time you do it.
Once you are presented with the Minecraft main menu, click Multiplayer.
Double-click the HOUDINICRAFT server entry. You should now load into the game.
YOU MAY NOW ENJOY YOUR HOUDINICRAFT EXPERIENCE.
Check out the FAQ below if you are unsure how to change your skin, graphics settings, or setup voice chat.
If you experience a server-side issue such as consistent crashing when performing a specific action, an inability to connect to the server, or a degradation in performance for all users:
When sending an issue in Discord, please include as much information about it as possible. This includes things like your operating system version, what you were doing when the issue occurred, and if others are experiencing the issue.
If you experience an issue with another player(s) that you feel should be addressed, please send a message to me (Salty P. Slug) or a moderator on the Discord server.
If you are accessing the HOUDINICRAFT server from a Macintosh or iOS device, I cannot guarantee support for your connection. I do not own any Apple devices, nor will I ever, so I can only do limited troubleshooting if you experience an issue.
Click any of the questions below to reveal the instructions for each:
Prism allows you to easily change your in-game skin within the settings. There are plenty of sites out there that provide skins; my personal favorite is The Skindex. Once you've downloaded a skin (or ten) follow these steps within the Prism launcher:
Please note that you cannot change your skin when in-game. You'll need to disconnect from the HOUDINICRAFT server and close your Minecraft client window in order to modify your skin or body style.
Click Settings
Click Accounts
Click your account username. Under Status, your account should be marked as Ready; if this is the case, proceed to step 4. If not, you'll need to click Add Microsoft Account and sign in to your account again.
Click Manage Skins.
Import one of your downloaded skins by clicking Import File and browsing to its file location.
Once you've selected a skin, click OK and it should appear in the list of available skins.
Click your desired skin from the list, click OK, and your skin will now be uploaded to your Minecraft account.
Access the in-game voice chat settings by pressing the V key.
You can adjust how much RAM you would like to allocate to the client by editing the HOUDINICRAFT instance within Prism. In the main Prism window: navigate to Settings, tick Memory, then change the allocation limits to your desired value(s).
Your hardware likely cannot handle the default settings of the shaders included with the HOUDINICRAFT client. To lower the intensity of the graphics: