12.2.2 Modded Server Mods Not Working

[Alakatair]

Hello, I've been trying to start a 12.2.2 server with me and my friend, and I cannot seem to get the mods to work.  They show up as loaded upon entering the server world, but won't show up or place.  I understand that the client is fine, but the server is vanilla still.  When I go to enter the server, it is labeled as Vanilla.  I have tried different Forge version downloads (currently trying to get 2844 to work, which is the latest version as of posting this).  When I download the server, the mods folder does not get created, and creating one manually doesn't seem to work.  I've tried watching and following tutorials, and all of the ones so far have had mod files created automatically except me.  Also, the forge-1.12.2-14.23.5.2847-universal.jar will not open, except with WinRAR (Java doesn't seem to want to run it).  I am running Java 8.  Here is a link to a picture of my file directory: https://imgur.com/8eQOtYI .  Below is my server prompts if that becomes important somehow.  Forgive me, I am not amazing with computers.  Hope someone can help, and I can answer any more questions!  I'm really confusing myself at this point, so a fresh perspective might help.

 

[22:05:59 INFO]: Starting minecraft server version 1.12.2
[22:05:59 INFO]: Loading properties
[22:05:59 ERROR]: Exception handling console input
java.io.IOException: The handle is invalid
    at java.io.FileInputStream.readBytes(Native Method) ~[?:?]
    at java.io.FileInputStream.read(FileInputStream.java:273) ~[?:?]
    at java.io.BufferedInputStream.read1(BufferedInputStream.java:283) ~[?:?]
    at java.io.BufferedInputStream.read(BufferedInputStream.java:344) ~[?:?]
    at sun.nio.cs.StreamDecoder.readBytes(StreamDecoder.java:297) ~[?:?]
    at sun.nio.cs.StreamDecoder.implRead(StreamDecoder.java:339) ~[?:?]
    at sun.nio.cs.StreamDecoder.read(StreamDecoder.java:188) ~[?:?]
    at java.io.InputStreamReader.read(InputStreamReader.java:185) ~[?:?]
    at java.io.BufferedReader.fill(BufferedReader.java:161) ~[?:?]
    at java.io.BufferedReader.readLine(BufferedReader.java:326) ~[?:?]
    at java.io.BufferedReader.readLine(BufferedReader.java:392) ~[?:?]
    at nz$2.run(SourceFile:100) [minecraft_server.1.12.2.jar:?]
[22:05:59 INFO]: Default game type: SURVIVAL
[22:05:59 INFO]: Generating keypair
[22:05:59 INFO]: Starting Minecraft server on 25.87.60.242:25565
[22:05:59 INFO]: Using default channel type
[22:06:00 INFO]: Preparing level "scp"
[22:06:00 INFO]: Loaded 488 advancements
[22:06:00 INFO]: Preparing start region for level 0
[22:06:00 WARN]: Skipping Piece with id waystones:village_waystone
[22:06:01 INFO]: Preparing spawn area: 24%
[22:06:01 WARN]: Skipping BlockEntity with id scp:data_bank
[22:06:02 INFO]: Done (2.072s)! For help, type "help" or "?"

[DaemonUmbra]

minecraft_server_1.12.2.jar will not start a Forge server, only the Forge jar will.

WinRAR is naughty and takes control of any file extension that COULD be an archive, regardless of whether or not another program already controls that file extension.

Run this once, then try running the Forge jar again.