diff --git a/mc-service-setup.sh b/mc-service-setup.sh
index 3c6e237..cc004b2 100755
--- a/mc-service-setup.sh
+++ b/mc-service-setup.sh
@@ -87,6 +87,10 @@ fi
 info "setting ownership of $SHARE to $MCUSER"
 chown -R "$MCUSER":"$MCUSER" "$SHARE"
 
+# The server creates mods/ on first run, but the pack setup needs it to exist
+# before that. Setgid so jars dropped in by either side stay group-readable.
+install -d -o "$MCUSER" -g "$MCUSER" -m 2775 "$SHARE/mods"
+
 # Without this the chown above locks the human out of the share they author the
 # pack on. Share root and packs/ become group-writable and setgid, so files
 # created by either side stay readable to both.
diff --git a/packwiz-setup.sh b/packwiz-setup.sh
index 8998e58..4f94689 100755
--- a/packwiz-setup.sh
+++ b/packwiz-setup.sh
@@ -98,7 +98,12 @@ mkdir -p "$PACKROOT" 2>/dev/null || true
 [ -n "$BASEURL" ] && [ -z "$MODSDIR" ] && MODSDIR="$SHARE/mods"
 if [ -n "$MODSDIR$BASEURL" ]; then
     [ -n "$BASEURL" ] || die "-M given without -u <http base url>"
-    [ -d "$MODSDIR" ] || die "mods dir does not exist: $MODSDIR"
+    # On a first deploy the server has not run yet, so mods/ may not exist.
+    # That is not an error — create it and carry on with an empty pack.
+    if [ ! -d "$MODSDIR" ]; then
+        info "creating $MODSDIR"
+        mkdir -p "$MODSDIR" || die "could not create $MODSDIR"
+    fi
 fi
 BASEURL="${BASEURL%/}"
 
@@ -242,10 +247,14 @@ if [ -n "$MODSDIR" ]; then
     shopt -s nullglob
     jars=("$MODSDIR"/*.jar)
     shopt -u nullglob
-    [ "${#jars[@]}" -gt 0 ] || die "no .jar files found in $MODSDIR"
 
-    info "adding ${#jars[@]} mods from the mirror"
     failed=()
+    if [ "${#jars[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
+        # An empty pack is a valid starting point: drop jars in later and run
+        # mc-refresh-restart.sh to register them.
+        warn "no .jar files in $MODSDIR yet — creating an empty pack"
+    else
+    info "adding ${#jars[@]} mods from the mirror"
     for jar in "${jars[@]}"; do
         file="$(basename "$jar")"
 
@@ -266,6 +275,8 @@ if [ -n "$MODSDIR" ]; then
         fi
     done
 
+    fi
+
     "$PACKWIZ" refresh
 
     if [ "${#failed[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then