How to Fix an Evil Hunter & Twixxel's Stalker Server That Keeps Crashing
Evil Hunter & Twixxel's Stalker is a psychological horror modpack on Forge 1.20.1 that stacks two community-favourite stalker mods — Evil Hunter by Dreglr and Twixxel's Stalker by MrPerkasc — each running its own hostile entity that hunts players. Running two independent stalking-AI systems at once is exactly the kind of setup that looks fine in testing and then degrades under real play, so most crash reports trace back to either a Java version mismatch, AI load compounding over a long session, or a corrupted config from one of the two mods.
See the Evil Hunter & Twixxel's Stalker pack page for the full RAM and setup breakdown before you chase anything else.
1. Check your Java version first
Forge 1.20.1 requires Java 17. If this server was migrated from an older modpack or the host's default Java install was never updated, the server will fail to boot or crash almost immediately — before either stalker mod even gets a chance to load. This is the fastest thing to rule out and takes under a minute.
- Check the startup log for a Java version error near the top, before any mod-loading lines
- Confirm the server is launched with Java 17, not Java 8 or Java 11
2. Two stalker AI systems compounding over a long session
Evil Hunter and Twixxel's Stalker each add their own hostile entity with its own pathing and player-tracking logic. Running both simultaneously means two separate AI systems are drawing on the same tick budget, and the cost compounds the longer both stalkers stay active — not because of a direct conflict, but because the combined load climbs over time.
If the server runs fine for a while and then gradually gets choppier the longer a session goes, this stacked AI load is the most likely explanation, rather than a one-off crash cause.
3. Isolate which stalker is actually responsible
Before assuming the two mods are conflicting, test them separately if you can. If only encountering Evil Hunter or only encountering Twixxel's Stalker reliably triggers the crash, that's a strong signal the issue lives inside that one mod's own AI or pathing code rather than an interaction between the two. In that case, check that specific mod's changelog or issue tracker for a known fix.
4. Corrupted or misconfigured stalker settings
Both mods ship their own config files controlling entity spawn rate, detection range, and behavior tuning. A config file left in a bad state after a crash — or edited incorrectly while trying to tune difficulty — can cause the affected mod to throw errors repeatedly on world load. If crashes started right after you changed a stalker-related setting, reverting that config to default is a quick way to confirm or rule it out.
5. RAM under the pack's realistic floor
4 GB is the real floor for Evil Hunter & Twixxel's Stalker. Under-provisioning rarely shows up as a single clean crash — what you'll actually see is cascading lag as garbage collection pauses get longer and more frequent, tick time creeping up, and eventually a tick timeout or watchdog crash once the heap can't keep up with two active AI-heavy entities plus normal world load.
FAQ
Why does the server lag more the longer both stalkers are active, instead of crashing right away?+
Each stalker mod runs its own AI and player-tracking system independently. Running Evil Hunter and Twixxel's Stalker together means two separate pathing/tracking routines competing for the same tick budget, and that cost compounds the longer both entities stay active in the world — rather than causing one single clean error. This usually shows up as slowly climbing tick time rather than an instant crash.
Only one of the two stalkers crashes my server — is that a mod conflict?+
Not necessarily. If encountering only Evil Hunter or only Twixxel's Stalker reliably triggers the crash, that points to an issue inside that specific mod's AI or pathing logic rather than a conflict between the two. Treat it as a single-mod bug report (check that mod's issue tracker and changelog) instead of assuming the two horror mods are fighting each other.
What Java version does this modpack need?+
Forge 1.20.1 requires Java 17. If your server was set up for an older Minecraft version or an old Java install was reused, a Java version mismatch is one of the most common reasons a Forge 1.20.1 server fails to boot or crashes immediately on startup — check your server's Java version before digging into mod-specific causes.
Host Evil Hunter & Twixxel's Stalker on hardware sized for its real floor
Give this pack at least 4 GB of RAM to handle two concurrent stalker AI systems without cascading lag, and take a backup before testing any config change to the stalkers.
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