Frequently Asked Questions

When you pick a server and hit PLAY, the Zircon Launcher connects to the server and retrieves its cryptographic mod manifest (BOM). It compares this against your local instance folder, verifies SHA-512 hashes and CurseForge fingerprints against official repositories, and downloads any missing or updated mods automatically.

Yes! Zircon natively supports both Modrinth and CurseForge with zero API keys required. Whether configuring an instance in the Server Manager or playing on a server, mods from both repositories are handled seamlessly with automatic hash verification.

Yes. The launcher includes a full offline instance manager. You can create local single-player instances with choice of Minecraft version (1.16 through latest), mod loader (Fabric, Quilt, Forge, NeoForge), custom RAM allocation, and local mods.

The skin selector lets you pick from saved skins or upload a custom PNG, preview your character in live rotating 3D (with Steve and Alex geometry options), and sync directly to Mojang. In addition, the Community Skin Library lets you browse thousands of trending community skins fetched live via API and apply them with one click.

Zircon Server Manager multiplexes both standard Minecraft game traffic (port 25565) and HTTP REST mod manifest traffic on the same single port. Players simply enter your server address once (e.g. play.example.com) and the launcher fetches the mod manifest and connects the game over port 25565 without requiring secondary ports.

When you start the server manager, an admin password is generated and printed to your console. Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:25564 (or your private IP) to log in. For security, keep port 25564 local or behind a VPN/reverse proxy.

When all players leave the server, Zircon gracefully pauses the Minecraft server process to conserve CPU and RAM. When any player clicks PLAY in their launcher, a pre-join intent wakes the server up before the player enters the game.

No. Both Modrinth and CurseForge support are pre-configured and bundled directly into Zircon. Server owners and players can search, download, and sync mods from both platforms immediately with zero API keys or manual setup required.

Yes. Authentication is performed via standard Microsoft OAuth 2.0 PKCE in your system web browser. Your credentials are submitted directly to Microsoft login servers. Zircon never sees, handles, or stores your Microsoft password.

Yes, Zircon is free and source-available under the Business Source License 1.1 (BSL 1.1). The entire codebase (companion launcher and self-hosted server manager) is available for public inspection, auditing, and personal/community deployment on GitHub.

Yes. Mod files are verified using SHA-512 cryptographic hashes and CurseForge murmur2 fingerprints against official Modrinth and CurseForge APIs before they are ever placed in your active instance folder.

This is standard for new open-source software that has not yet built up Microsoft SmartScreen certificate reputation. Click More info and then click Run anyway. You can also inspect the full source code on GitHub for transparency.

No. Zircon automatically detects your system Java, and if a required version (e.g. Java 17 or Java 21) is missing, it downloads and caches the verified Eclipse Temurin JDK from Adoptium automatically.

In the Zircon Launcher, click the Settings icon in the sidebar. Use the memory allocation slider to adjust allocated RAM (4 GB to 8 GB is recommended for medium-to-large modpacks).