Well, there's a Serverside Simulations mod that makes that less true and apparently that one's compatible with Torches Eternal, so I'm wondering if there are other simple things that work. Will experiment and report any successes here.

There may be new methods for server-side modding only, but AFAIK, everything is run through the client and whatever is on the server is just pushing the configs to the client.

Shorter answer, naw, you'll have to create a mod pack and distribute it to your players.