getNeoForge() {
  SERVER_TYPE="NeoForge Server"

  if [[ -z "${MC_VERSION}" ]]; then
    die "MC_VERSION is required for NeoForge loader"
  fi

  local VER_MINECRAFT DL_URL
  VER_MINECRAFT="${MC_VERSION}"

  if [[ -n "${NEOFORGE_VERSION}" ]]; then
    VER_LOADER="${NEOFORGE_VERSION}"
  else
    log "Auto-detecting latest NeoForge version for MC ${MC_VERSION}..."
    local MC_MINOR ALL_VERSIONS
    MC_MINOR="${MC_VERSION#1.}"
    ALL_VERSIONS=$(curl -sf --connect-timeout 10 --max-time 30 \
      "https://maven.neoforged.net/releases/net/neoforged/neoforge/maven-metadata.xml" |
      xmllint --xpath "/metadata/versioning/versions/version/text()" - 2>/dev/null |
      tr ' ' '\n' | grep "^${MC_MINOR}\." | sort -V || true)

    # Prefer stable versions, fall back to beta/alpha if none exist
    VER_LOADER=$(echo "$ALL_VERSIONS" | grep -v -- '-beta\|-alpha' | tail -1 || true)
    if [[ -z "$VER_LOADER" ]]; then
      VER_LOADER=$(echo "$ALL_VERSIONS" | tail -1)
      if [[ -n "$VER_LOADER" ]]; then
        warn "No stable NeoForge version for MC ${MC_VERSION}, using ${VER_LOADER}"
      fi
    fi

    if [[ -z "$VER_LOADER" ]]; then
      die "Could not auto-detect NeoForge version for MC ${MC_VERSION}"
    fi
  fi

  DL_URL="https://maven.neoforged.net/releases/net/neoforged/neoforge/${VER_LOADER}/neoforge-${VER_LOADER}-installer.jar"

  log "Downloading NeoForge ${VER_LOADER} installer..."
  rm -f server.jar
  curl -fL -o "neoforge-${VER_LOADER}-installer.jar" "${DL_URL}"

  log "Running NeoForge installer..."
  $JAVA -jar "neoforge-${VER_LOADER}-installer.jar" --installServer --server.jar

  mv server.jar "neoforge-${VER_LOADER}.jar"
  ln -sf "neoforge-${VER_LOADER}.jar" server.jar

  rm -f "neoforge-${VER_LOADER}-installer.jar" \
       "neoforge-${VER_LOADER}-installer.jar.log" \
       README.txt \
       run.bat

  touch server.properties
  log "NeoForge ${MC_VERSION}-${VER_LOADER} installed."
}