diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index cb8256ab..a00b0292 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ RUN easy-add --var os=${TARGETOS} --var arch=${TARGETARCH}${TARGETVARIANT} \
   --var version=0.1.1 --var app=maven-metadata-release --file {{.app}} \
   --from https://github.com/itzg/{{.app}}/releases/download/{{.version}}/{{.app}}_{{.version}}_{{.os}}_{{.arch}}.tar.gz
 
-ARG MC_HELPER_VERSION=1.27.7
+ARG MC_HELPER_VERSION=1.27.8
 ARG MC_HELPER_BASE_URL=https://github.com/itzg/mc-image-helper/releases/download/${MC_HELPER_VERSION}
 RUN curl -fsSL ${MC_HELPER_BASE_URL}/mc-image-helper-${MC_HELPER_VERSION}.tgz \
   | tar -C /usr/share -zxf - \
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index adc1fbb3..bb32405e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -678,6 +678,8 @@ For example:
 -e TYPE=AUTO_CURSEFORGE -e CF_SLUG=all-the-mods-8
 ```
 
+For mod, modpacks, and world files that are not allowed for automated download, the container path `/downloads` can be attached and matching files will be retrieved from there. The subdirectories `mods`, `modpacks`, and `worlds` will also be checked accordingly. To change the source location of downloaded files, set `CF_DOWNLOADS_REPO` to an existing container path. To disable this feature, set `CF_DOWNLOADS_REPO` to an empty string.
+
 If the authors of the modpack have disallowed project distribution, then the desired **client** modpack zip will need to be manually downloaded and made available to the container. The path to that file must be passed to `CF_MODPACK_ZIP`.
 
 The latest file will be located and used by default, but if a specific version is desired you can use one of the following options. With any of these options **do not select a server file** -- they lack the required manifest and defeat the ability to consistently automate startup.
diff --git a/docs/example-autocf-downloads.drawio.png b/docs/example-autocf-downloads.drawio.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f2a9dc46
Binary files /dev/null and b/docs/example-autocf-downloads.drawio.png differ
diff --git a/examples/atm8/docker-compose.yml b/examples/atm8/docker-compose.yml
index a9b09678..ae057e41 100644
--- a/examples/atm8/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/examples/atm8/docker-compose.yml
@@ -8,12 +8,11 @@ services:
     environment:
       EULA: "true"
       TYPE: AUTO_CURSEFORGE
-      CF_API_KEY: # allocate from https://console.curseforge.com/
+      # allocate from https://console.curseforge.com/ and set in .env file
+      CF_API_KEY: ${CF_API_KEY}
       CF_PAGE_URL: https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/modpacks/all-the-mods-8
       CF_FILENAME_MATCHER: "1.0.6"
       MEMORY: 4G
     volumes:
-      - mc-data:/data
-
-volumes:
-  mc-data: {}
\ No newline at end of file
+      - ./data:/data
+      - ./downloads:/downloads
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/start-deployAutoCF b/scripts/start-deployAutoCF
index ddac94a0..0e5fe719 100644
--- a/scripts/start-deployAutoCF
+++ b/scripts/start-deployAutoCF
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ set -eu
 : "${CF_FORCE_INCLUDE_MODS:=}"
 : "${CF_SET_LEVEL_FROM:=}" # --set-level-from
 : "${CF_OVERRIDES_SKIP_EXISTING:=false}" # --overrides-skip-existing
-
+: "${CF_DOWNLOADS_REPO=$([ -d /downloads ] && echo '/downloads' || echo '')}"
 
 resultsFile=/data/.install-curseforge.env
 
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@ fi
 if [[ $CF_EXCLUDE_INCLUDE_FILE ]]; then
   args+=( --exclude-include-file="$CF_EXCLUDE_INCLUDE_FILE" )
 fi
+if [[ $CF_DOWNLOADS_REPO ]]; then
+  args+=( --downloads-repo="$CF_DOWNLOADS_REPO" )
+fi
 
 if ! mc-image-helper install-curseforge "${args[@]}"; then
     log "ERROR failed to auto-install CurseForge modpack"