diff --git a/core/src/mindustry/mod/Mods.java b/core/src/mindustry/mod/Mods.java
index ba51c54c1b..43845886d7 100644
--- a/core/src/mindustry/mod/Mods.java
+++ b/core/src/mindustry/mod/Mods.java
@@ -723,7 +723,7 @@ public class Mods implements Loadable{
 
             if(!metaf.exists()){
                 Log.warn("Mod @ doesn't have a '[mod/plugin].[h]json' file, skipping.", sourceFile);
-                throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid file: No mod.json found.");
+                throw new ModLoadException("Invalid file: No mod.json found.");
             }
 
             ModMeta meta = json.fromJson(ModMeta.class, Jval.read(metaf.readString()).toString(Jformat.plain));
@@ -750,7 +750,7 @@ public class Mods implements Loadable{
                     //unload
                     mods.remove(other);
                 }else{
-                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("A mod with the name '" + baseName + "' is already imported.");
+                    throw new ModLoadException("A mod with the name '" + baseName + "' is already imported.");
                 }
             }
 
@@ -779,7 +779,7 @@ public class Mods implements Loadable{
                 (meta.getMinMajor() >= 105 || headless)
             ){
                 if(ios){
-                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Java class mods are not supported on iOS.");
+                    throw new ModLoadException("Java class mods are not supported on iOS.");
                 }
 
                 loader = platform.loadJar(sourceFile, mainLoader);
@@ -789,7 +789,7 @@ public class Mods implements Loadable{
                 //detect mods that incorrectly package mindustry in the jar
                 if((main.getSuperclass().getName().equals("mindustry.mod.Plugin") || main.getSuperclass().getName().equals("mindustry.mod.Mod")) &&
                     main.getSuperclass().getClassLoader() != Mod.class.getClassLoader()){
-                    throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    throw new ModLoadException(
                         "This mod/plugin has loaded Mindustry dependencies from its own class loader. " +
                         "You are incorrectly including Mindustry dependencies in the mod JAR - " +
                         "make sure Mindustry is declared as `compileOnly` in Gradle, and that the JAR is created with `runtimeClasspath`!"
@@ -1028,6 +1028,12 @@ public class Mods implements Loadable{
         }
     }
 
+    public static class ModLoadException extends RuntimeException{
+        public ModLoadException(String message){
+            super(message);
+        }
+    }
+
     public enum ModState{
         enabled,
         contentErrors,