diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e65cc30aecd7e..b7d4c73386a7a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 - [BWC and API enforcement] Decorate the existing APIs with proper annotations (part 1) ([#9520](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/9520))
 - Add concurrent segment search related metrics to node and index stats ([#9622](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/issues/9622))
 - Decouple replication lag from logic to fail stale replicas ([#9507](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/9507))
+- Introducing ZStd as a plugin ([#9658](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/9658))
 
 ### Dependencies
 - Bump `org.apache.logging.log4j:log4j-core` from 2.17.1 to 2.20.0 ([#8307](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/8307))
diff --git a/modules/reindex/build.gradle b/modules/reindex/build.gradle
index cad7d67f3ef84..1bd02415db909 100644
--- a/modules/reindex/build.gradle
+++ b/modules/reindex/build.gradle
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ dependencies {
   testImplementation project(':modules:transport-netty4')
   // for parent/child testing
   testImplementation project(':modules:parent-join')
+  testImplementation project(':plugins:custom-codecs')
 }
 
 restResources {
diff --git a/modules/reindex/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecReindexIT.java b/modules/reindex/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecReindexIT.java
index 7c2fe8d99c330..60afe44babc26 100644
--- a/modules/reindex/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecReindexIT.java
+++ b/modules/reindex/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecReindexIT.java
@@ -15,14 +15,19 @@
 import org.opensearch.action.support.ActiveShardCount;
 import org.opensearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetadata;
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.CustomCodecPlugin;
 import org.opensearch.index.engine.Segment;
 import org.opensearch.index.reindex.BulkByScrollResponse;
 import org.opensearch.index.reindex.ReindexAction;
+import org.opensearch.index.reindex.ReindexModulePlugin;
 import org.opensearch.index.reindex.ReindexRequestBuilder;
 import org.opensearch.index.reindex.ReindexTestCase;
+import org.opensearch.plugins.Plugin;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.UUID;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
@@ -40,6 +45,11 @@
 
 public class MultiCodecReindexIT extends ReindexTestCase {
 
+    @Override
+    protected Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> nodePlugins() {
+        return List.of(CustomCodecPlugin.class, ReindexModulePlugin.class);
+    }
+
     public void testReindexingMultipleCodecs() throws InterruptedException, ExecutionException {
         internalCluster().ensureAtLeastNumDataNodes(1);
         Map<String, String> codecMap = Map.of(
diff --git a/plugins/custom-codecs/build.gradle b/plugins/custom-codecs/build.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c016b05040d74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/build.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ *
+ * Modifications Copyright OpenSearch Contributors. See
+ * GitHub history for details.
+ */
+
+apply plugin: 'opensearch.opensearchplugin'
+apply plugin: 'opensearch.yaml-rest-test'
+apply plugin: 'opensearch.internal-cluster-test'
+
+opensearchplugin {
+  name 'custom-codecs'
+  description 'A plugin that implements custom compression codecs.'
+  classname 'org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.CustomCodecPlugin'
+  licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/APACHE-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+  noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
+}
+
+dependencies {
+  api "com.github.luben:zstd-jni:1.5.5-5"
+}
+
+yamlRestTest.enabled = false;
+testingConventions.enabled = false;
diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecCompressionLevelIT.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecCompressionLevelIT.java
similarity index 89%
rename from server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecCompressionLevelIT.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecCompressionLevelIT.java
index 5f3e53f1454fc..9bef3e2d3d235 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecCompressionLevelIT.java
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecCompressionLevelIT.java
@@ -12,14 +12,24 @@
 import org.opensearch.action.admin.indices.settings.put.UpdateSettingsRequest;
 import org.opensearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetadata;
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.CustomCodecPlugin;
+import org.opensearch.plugins.Plugin;
 import org.opensearch.test.OpenSearchIntegTestCase;
 
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.concurrent.ExecutionException;
 
+import static org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.CustomCodecService.ZSTD_CODEC;
+import static org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.CustomCodecService.ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC;
 import static org.opensearch.test.hamcrest.OpenSearchAssertions.assertAcked;
 
 @OpenSearchIntegTestCase.ClusterScope(scope = OpenSearchIntegTestCase.Scope.TEST)
 public class CodecCompressionLevelIT extends OpenSearchIntegTestCase {
+    @Override
+    protected Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> nodePlugins() {
+        return Collections.singletonList(CustomCodecPlugin.class);
+    }
 
     public void testLuceneCodecsCreateIndexWithCompressionLevel() {
 
@@ -62,7 +72,7 @@ public void testZStandardCodecsCreateIndexWithCompressionLevel() {
             Settings.builder()
                 .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
                 .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
-                .put("index.codec", randomFrom(CodecService.ZSTD_CODEC, CodecService.ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC))
+                .put("index.codec", randomFrom(ZSTD_CODEC, ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC))
                 .put("index.codec.compression_level", randomIntBetween(1, 6))
                 .build()
         );
@@ -81,7 +91,7 @@ public void testZStandardToLuceneCodecsWithCompressionLevel() throws ExecutionEx
             Settings.builder()
                 .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_SHARDS, 1)
                 .put(IndexMetadata.SETTING_NUMBER_OF_REPLICAS, 0)
-                .put("index.codec", randomFrom(CodecService.ZSTD_CODEC, CodecService.ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC))
+                .put("index.codec", randomFrom(ZSTD_CODEC, ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC))
                 .put("index.codec.compression_level", randomIntBetween(1, 6))
                 .build()
         );
@@ -164,7 +174,7 @@ public void testLuceneToZStandardCodecsWithCompressionLevel() throws ExecutionEx
                 .updateSettings(
                     new UpdateSettingsRequest(index).settings(
                         Settings.builder()
-                            .put("index.codec", randomFrom(CodecService.ZSTD_CODEC, CodecService.ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC))
+                            .put("index.codec", randomFrom(ZSTD_CODEC, ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC))
                             .put("index.codec.compression_level", randomIntBetween(1, 6))
                     )
                 )
diff --git a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecMergeIT.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecMergeIT.java
similarity index 95%
rename from server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecMergeIT.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecMergeIT.java
index 23d5cc3b35486..82633513a2f50 100644
--- a/server/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecMergeIT.java
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/internalClusterTest/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/MultiCodecMergeIT.java
@@ -15,11 +15,15 @@
 import org.opensearch.action.admin.indices.settings.put.UpdateSettingsRequest;
 import org.opensearch.cluster.metadata.IndexMetadata;
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.CustomCodecPlugin;
 import org.opensearch.index.engine.Segment;
+import org.opensearch.plugins.Plugin;
 import org.opensearch.test.OpenSearchIntegTestCase;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.UUID;
@@ -40,6 +44,11 @@
 @OpenSearchIntegTestCase.ClusterScope(scope = OpenSearchIntegTestCase.Scope.TEST)
 public class MultiCodecMergeIT extends OpenSearchIntegTestCase {
 
+    @Override
+    protected Collection<Class<? extends Plugin>> nodePlugins() {
+        return Collections.singletonList(CustomCodecPlugin.class);
+    }
+
     public void testForceMergeMultipleCodecs() throws ExecutionException, InterruptedException {
 
         Map<String, String> codecMap = Map.of(
diff --git a/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecPlugin.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecPlugin.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..91a13a1d924a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecPlugin.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+package org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs;
+
+import org.opensearch.index.IndexSettings;
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.CodecServiceFactory;
+import org.opensearch.index.engine.EngineConfig;
+import org.opensearch.plugins.EnginePlugin;
+import org.opensearch.plugins.Plugin;
+
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+/**
+ * A plugin that implements custom codecs. Supports these codecs:
+ * <ul>
+ * <li>ZSTD
+ * <li>ZSTDNODICT
+ * </ul>
+ *
+ * @opensearch.internal
+ */
+public final class CustomCodecPlugin extends Plugin implements EnginePlugin {
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new instance
+     */
+    public CustomCodecPlugin() {}
+
+    /**
+     * @param indexSettings is the default indexSettings
+     * @return the engine factory
+     */
+    @Override
+    public Optional<CodecServiceFactory> getCustomCodecServiceFactory(final IndexSettings indexSettings) {
+        String codecName = indexSettings.getValue(EngineConfig.INDEX_CODEC_SETTING);
+        if (codecName.equals(CustomCodecService.ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC) || codecName.equals(CustomCodecService.ZSTD_CODEC)) {
+            return Optional.of(new CustomCodecServiceFactory());
+        }
+        return Optional.empty();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecService.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecService.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c9f2d53c9d338
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+package org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
+import org.apache.lucene.codecs.Codec;
+import org.opensearch.common.collect.MapBuilder;
+import org.opensearch.index.IndexSettings;
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.CodecService;
+import org.opensearch.index.mapper.MapperService;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import static org.opensearch.index.engine.EngineConfig.INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING;
+
+/**
+ * CustomCodecService provides ZSTD and ZSTD_NO_DICT compression codecs.
+ */
+public class CustomCodecService extends CodecService {
+    private final Map<String, Codec> codecs;
+    /**
+     * ZStandard codec
+     */
+    public static final String ZSTD_CODEC = "zstd";
+    /**
+     * ZStandard without dictionary codec
+     */
+    public static final String ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC = "zstd_no_dict";
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new CustomCodecService.
+     *
+     * @param mapperService The mapper service.
+     * @param indexSettings The index settings.
+     * @param logger        The logger.
+     */
+    public CustomCodecService(MapperService mapperService, IndexSettings indexSettings, Logger logger) {
+        super(mapperService, indexSettings, logger);
+        int compressionLevel = indexSettings.getValue(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING);
+        final MapBuilder<String, Codec> codecs = MapBuilder.<String, Codec>newMapBuilder();
+        if (mapperService == null) {
+            codecs.put(ZSTD_CODEC, new ZstdCodec(compressionLevel));
+            codecs.put(ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC, new ZstdNoDictCodec(compressionLevel));
+        } else {
+            codecs.put(ZSTD_CODEC, new ZstdCodec(mapperService, logger, compressionLevel));
+            codecs.put(ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC, new ZstdNoDictCodec(mapperService, logger, compressionLevel));
+        }
+        this.codecs = codecs.immutableMap();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Codec codec(String name) {
+        Codec codec = codecs.get(name);
+        if (codec == null) {
+            return super.codec(name);
+        }
+        return codec;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String[] availableCodecs() {
+        ArrayList<String> ac = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList(super.availableCodecs()));
+        ac.addAll(codecs.keySet());
+        return ac.toArray(new String[0]);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecServiceFactory.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecServiceFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d634616162684
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecServiceFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+package org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs;
+
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.CodecService;
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.CodecServiceConfig;
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.CodecServiceFactory;
+
+/**
+ * A factory for creating new {@link CodecService} instance
+ */
+public class CustomCodecServiceFactory implements CodecServiceFactory {
+
+    /** Creates a new instance. */
+    public CustomCodecServiceFactory() {}
+
+    @Override
+    public CodecService createCodecService(CodecServiceConfig config) {
+        return new CustomCodecService(config.getMapperService(), config.getIndexSettings(), config.getLogger());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomCodec.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomCodec.java
similarity index 79%
rename from server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomCodec.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomCodec.java
index 8aa422a47a073..1a79582d772ee 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomCodec.java
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomCodec.java
@@ -23,11 +23,15 @@
  * @opensearch.internal
  */
 public abstract class Lucene95CustomCodec extends FilterCodec {
+
+    /** Default compression level used for compression */
     public static final int DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL = 3;
 
     /** Each mode represents a compression algorithm. */
     public enum Mode {
+        /** ZStandard mode with dictionary*/
         ZSTD,
+        /** ZStandard mode without dictionary*/
         ZSTD_NO_DICT
     }
 
@@ -55,6 +59,16 @@ public Lucene95CustomCodec(Mode mode, int compressionLevel) {
         this.storedFieldsFormat = new Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat(mode, compressionLevel);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Creates a new compression codec with the given compression level. We use
+     * lowercase letters when registering the codec so that we remain consistent with
+     * the other compression codecs: default, lucene_default, and best_compression.
+     *
+     * @param mode The compression codec (ZSTD or ZSTDNODICT).
+     * @param compressionLevel The compression level.
+     * @param mapperService The mapper service.
+     * @param logger The logger.
+     */
     public Lucene95CustomCodec(Mode mode, int compressionLevel, MapperService mapperService, Logger logger) {
         super("Lucene95CustomCodec", new PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec(Lucene95Codec.Mode.BEST_SPEED, mapperService, logger));
         this.storedFieldsFormat = new Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat(mode, compressionLevel);
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat.java
similarity index 98%
rename from server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat.java
index 2816e2907a5f6..81be0a37e34aa 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat.java
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat.java
@@ -125,6 +125,9 @@ Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode getMode() {
         return mode;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the compression level.
+     */
     public int getCompressionLevel() {
         return compressionLevel;
     }
diff --git a/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..f1c64853bca40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec.java
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+package org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs;
+
+import org.opensearch.index.mapper.MapperService;
+
+/** PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec. {@link org.opensearch.index.codec.PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec} */
+public class PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec extends Lucene95CustomCodec {
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new instance.
+     *
+     * @param compressionMode The compression mode (ZSTD or ZSTDNODICT).
+     * @param mapperService The mapper service.
+     */
+    public PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode compressionMode, MapperService mapperService) {
+        super(compressionMode);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCodec.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCodec.java
similarity index 88%
rename from server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCodec.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCodec.java
index 042f7eaa29e53..df5e571dc5391 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCodec.java
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCodec.java
@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ public ZstdCodec(int compressionLevel) {
         super(Mode.ZSTD, compressionLevel);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Creates a new ZstdCodec instance.
+     *
+     * @param mapperService The mapper service.
+     * @param logger The logger.
+     * @param compressionLevel The compression level.
+     */
     public ZstdCodec(MapperService mapperService, Logger logger, int compressionLevel) {
         super(Mode.ZSTD, compressionLevel, mapperService, logger);
     }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCompressionMode.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCompressionMode.java
similarity index 100%
rename from server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCompressionMode.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCompressionMode.java
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCodec.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCodec.java
similarity index 88%
rename from server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCodec.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCodec.java
index a7e8e0e42ee68..4a6da3a480967 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCodec.java
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCodec.java
@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ public ZstdNoDictCodec(int compressionLevel) {
         super(Mode.ZSTD_NO_DICT, compressionLevel);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Creates a new ZstdNoDictCodec instance.
+     *
+     * @param mapperService The mapper service.
+     * @param logger The logger.
+     * @param compressionLevel The compression level.
+     */
     public ZstdNoDictCodec(MapperService mapperService, Logger logger, int compressionLevel) {
         super(Mode.ZSTD_NO_DICT, compressionLevel, mapperService, logger);
     }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCompressionMode.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCompressionMode.java
similarity index 100%
rename from server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCompressionMode.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCompressionMode.java
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/package-info.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/package-info.java
similarity index 100%
rename from server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/package-info.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/package-info.java
diff --git a/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/plugin-metadata/plugin-security.policy b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/plugin-metadata/plugin-security.policy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8161010cfa897
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/plugin-metadata/plugin-security.policy
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+grant codeBase "${codebase.zstd-jni}" {
+  permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "loadLibrary.*";
+};
diff --git a/server/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.apache.lucene.codecs.Codec b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.apache.lucene.codecs.Codec
similarity index 100%
rename from server/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.apache.lucene.codecs.Codec
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.apache.lucene.codecs.Codec
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/AbstractCompressorTests.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/AbstractCompressorTests.java
similarity index 100%
rename from server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/AbstractCompressorTests.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/AbstractCompressorTests.java
diff --git a/plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecTests.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0460da0132566
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/CustomCodecTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,229 @@
+/*
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ *
+ * The OpenSearch Contributors require contributions made to
+ * this file be licensed under the Apache-2.0 license or a
+ * compatible open source license.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+/*
+ * Modifications Copyright OpenSearch Contributors. See
+ * GitHub history for details.
+ */
+
+package org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs;
+
+import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
+import org.apache.lucene.codecs.Codec;
+import org.apache.lucene.codecs.lucene90.Lucene90StoredFieldsFormat;
+import org.apache.lucene.codecs.lucene95.Lucene95Codec;
+import org.apache.lucene.document.Document;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.DirectoryReader;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.IndexWriter;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.IndexWriterConfig;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.SegmentReader;
+import org.apache.lucene.store.Directory;
+import org.apache.lucene.tests.util.LuceneTestCase.SuppressCodecs;
+import org.opensearch.common.settings.IndexScopedSettings;
+import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings;
+import org.opensearch.env.Environment;
+import org.opensearch.index.IndexSettings;
+import org.opensearch.index.analysis.IndexAnalyzers;
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.CodecService;
+import org.opensearch.index.codec.CodecSettings;
+import org.opensearch.index.engine.EngineConfig;
+import org.opensearch.index.mapper.MapperService;
+import org.opensearch.index.similarity.SimilarityService;
+import org.opensearch.indices.mapper.MapperRegistry;
+import org.opensearch.plugins.MapperPlugin;
+import org.opensearch.test.IndexSettingsModule;
+import org.opensearch.test.OpenSearchTestCase;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Collections;
+
+import static org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.CustomCodecService.ZSTD_CODEC;
+import static org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.CustomCodecService.ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC;
+import static org.opensearch.index.engine.EngineConfig.INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING;
+
+@SuppressCodecs("*") // we test against default codec so never get a random one here!
+public class CustomCodecTests extends OpenSearchTestCase {
+
+    public void testZstd() throws Exception {
+        Codec codec = createCodecService(false).codec("zstd");
+        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD, codec);
+        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
+        assertEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
+    }
+
+    public void testZstdNoDict() throws Exception {
+        Codec codec = createCodecService(false).codec("zstd_no_dict");
+        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD_NO_DICT, codec);
+        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
+        assertEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
+    }
+
+    public void testZstdWithCompressionLevel() throws Exception {
+        int randomCompressionLevel = randomIntBetween(1, 6);
+        Codec codec = createCodecService(randomCompressionLevel, "zstd").codec("zstd");
+        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD, codec);
+        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
+        assertEquals(randomCompressionLevel, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
+    }
+
+    public void testZstdNoDictWithCompressionLevel() throws Exception {
+        int randomCompressionLevel = randomIntBetween(1, 6);
+        Codec codec = createCodecService(randomCompressionLevel, "zstd_no_dict").codec("zstd_no_dict");
+        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD_NO_DICT, codec);
+        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
+        assertEquals(randomCompressionLevel, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
+    }
+
+    public void testBestCompressionWithCompressionLevel() {
+        final Settings zstdSettings = Settings.builder()
+            .put(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING.getKey(), randomIntBetween(1, 6))
+            .put(EngineConfig.INDEX_CODEC_SETTING.getKey(), randomFrom(ZSTD_CODEC, ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC))
+            .build();
+
+        // able to validate zstd
+        final IndexScopedSettings zstdIndexScopedSettings = new IndexScopedSettings(
+            zstdSettings,
+            IndexScopedSettings.BUILT_IN_INDEX_SETTINGS
+        );
+        zstdIndexScopedSettings.validate(zstdSettings, true);
+    }
+
+    public void testLuceneCodecsWithCompressionLevel() {
+        String codecName = randomFrom(Codec.availableCodecs());
+        Codec codec = Codec.forName(codecName);
+
+        final Settings customCodecSettings = Settings.builder()
+            .put(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING.getKey(), randomIntBetween(1, 6))
+            .put(EngineConfig.INDEX_CODEC_SETTING.getKey(), "Lucene95CustomCodec")
+            .build();
+
+        final IndexScopedSettings customCodecIndexScopedSettings = new IndexScopedSettings(
+            customCodecSettings,
+            IndexScopedSettings.BUILT_IN_INDEX_SETTINGS
+        );
+        customCodecIndexScopedSettings.validate(customCodecSettings, true);
+    }
+
+    public void testZstandardCompressionLevelSupport() throws Exception {
+        CodecService codecService = createCodecService(false);
+        CodecSettings zstdCodec = (CodecSettings) codecService.codec("zstd");
+        CodecSettings zstdNoDictCodec = (CodecSettings) codecService.codec("zstd_no_dict");
+        assertTrue(zstdCodec.supports(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING));
+        assertTrue(zstdNoDictCodec.supports(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING));
+    }
+
+    public void testDefaultMapperServiceNull() throws Exception {
+        Codec codec = createCodecService(true).codec("default");
+        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95Codec.Mode.BEST_SPEED, codec);
+    }
+
+    public void testBestCompressionMapperServiceNull() throws Exception {
+        Codec codec = createCodecService(true).codec("best_compression");
+        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95Codec.Mode.BEST_COMPRESSION, codec);
+    }
+
+    public void testZstdMapperServiceNull() throws Exception {
+        Codec codec = createCodecService(true).codec("zstd");
+        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD, codec);
+        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
+        assertEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
+    }
+
+    public void testZstdNoDictMapperServiceNull() throws Exception {
+        Codec codec = createCodecService(true).codec("zstd_no_dict");
+        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD_NO_DICT, codec);
+        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
+        assertEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
+    }
+
+    // write some docs with it, inspect .si to see this was the used compression
+    private void assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95Codec.Mode expected, Codec actual) throws Exception {
+        SegmentReader sr = getSegmentReader(actual);
+        String v = sr.getSegmentInfo().info.getAttribute(Lucene90StoredFieldsFormat.MODE_KEY);
+        assertNotNull(v);
+        assertEquals(expected, Lucene95Codec.Mode.valueOf(v));
+    }
+
+    private void assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode expected, Codec actual) throws Exception {
+        SegmentReader sr = getSegmentReader(actual);
+        String v = sr.getSegmentInfo().info.getAttribute(Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat.MODE_KEY);
+        assertNotNull(v);
+        assertEquals(expected, Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.valueOf(v));
+    }
+
+    private CodecService createCodecService(boolean isMapperServiceNull) throws IOException {
+        Settings nodeSettings = Settings.builder().put(Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), createTempDir()).build();
+        if (isMapperServiceNull) {
+            return new CodecService(null, IndexSettingsModule.newIndexSettings("_na", nodeSettings), LogManager.getLogger("test"));
+        }
+        return buildCodecService(nodeSettings);
+    }
+
+    private CodecService createCodecService(int randomCompressionLevel, String codec) throws IOException {
+        Settings nodeSettings = Settings.builder()
+            .put(Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), createTempDir())
+            .put("index.codec", codec)
+            .put("index.codec.compression_level", randomCompressionLevel)
+            .build();
+        return buildCodecService(nodeSettings);
+    }
+
+    private CodecService buildCodecService(Settings nodeSettings) throws IOException {
+
+        IndexSettings indexSettings = IndexSettingsModule.newIndexSettings("_na", nodeSettings);
+        SimilarityService similarityService = new SimilarityService(indexSettings, null, Collections.emptyMap());
+        IndexAnalyzers indexAnalyzers = createTestAnalysis(indexSettings, nodeSettings).indexAnalyzers;
+        MapperRegistry mapperRegistry = new MapperRegistry(Collections.emptyMap(), Collections.emptyMap(), MapperPlugin.NOOP_FIELD_FILTER);
+        MapperService service = new MapperService(
+            indexSettings,
+            indexAnalyzers,
+            xContentRegistry(),
+            similarityService,
+            mapperRegistry,
+            () -> null,
+            () -> false,
+            null
+        );
+        return new CodecService(service, indexSettings, LogManager.getLogger("test"));
+    }
+
+    private SegmentReader getSegmentReader(Codec codec) throws IOException {
+        Directory dir = newDirectory();
+        IndexWriterConfig iwc = newIndexWriterConfig(null);
+        iwc.setCodec(codec);
+        IndexWriter iw = new IndexWriter(dir, iwc);
+        iw.addDocument(new Document());
+        iw.commit();
+        iw.close();
+        DirectoryReader ir = DirectoryReader.open(dir);
+        SegmentReader sr = (SegmentReader) ir.leaves().get(0).reader();
+        ir.close();
+        dir.close();
+        return sr;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormatTests.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormatTests.java
similarity index 100%
rename from server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormatTests.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormatTests.java
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCompressorTests.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCompressorTests.java
similarity index 100%
rename from server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCompressorTests.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdCompressorTests.java
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCompressorTests.java b/plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCompressorTests.java
similarity index 100%
rename from server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCompressorTests.java
rename to plugins/custom-codecs/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/customcodecs/ZstdNoDictCompressorTests.java
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecService.java
index a1913d5fa2061..f9907c06d8d35 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecService.java
@@ -39,8 +39,6 @@
 import org.opensearch.common.Nullable;
 import org.opensearch.common.collect.MapBuilder;
 import org.opensearch.index.IndexSettings;
-import org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.ZstdCodec;
-import org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.ZstdNoDictCodec;
 import org.opensearch.index.mapper.MapperService;
 
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -67,8 +65,6 @@ public class CodecService {
      * the raw unfiltered lucene default. useful for testing
      */
     public static final String LUCENE_DEFAULT_CODEC = "lucene_default";
-    public static final String ZSTD_CODEC = "zstd";
-    public static final String ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC = "zstd_no_dict";
 
     public CodecService(@Nullable MapperService mapperService, IndexSettings indexSettings, Logger logger) {
         final MapBuilder<String, Codec> codecs = MapBuilder.<String, Codec>newMapBuilder();
@@ -79,15 +75,11 @@ public CodecService(@Nullable MapperService mapperService, IndexSettings indexSe
             codecs.put(LZ4, new Lucene95Codec());
             codecs.put(BEST_COMPRESSION_CODEC, new Lucene95Codec(Mode.BEST_COMPRESSION));
             codecs.put(ZLIB, new Lucene95Codec(Mode.BEST_COMPRESSION));
-            codecs.put(ZSTD_CODEC, new ZstdCodec(compressionLevel));
-            codecs.put(ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC, new ZstdNoDictCodec(compressionLevel));
         } else {
             codecs.put(DEFAULT_CODEC, new PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec(Mode.BEST_SPEED, mapperService, logger));
             codecs.put(LZ4, new PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec(Mode.BEST_SPEED, mapperService, logger));
             codecs.put(BEST_COMPRESSION_CODEC, new PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec(Mode.BEST_COMPRESSION, mapperService, logger));
             codecs.put(ZLIB, new PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec(Mode.BEST_COMPRESSION, mapperService, logger));
-            codecs.put(ZSTD_CODEC, new ZstdCodec(mapperService, logger, compressionLevel));
-            codecs.put(ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC, new ZstdNoDictCodec(mapperService, logger, compressionLevel));
         }
         codecs.put(LUCENE_DEFAULT_CODEC, Codec.getDefault());
         for (String codec : Codec.availableCodecs()) {
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java
index 3351931a6b068..5872900e79afc 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/index/engine/EngineConfig.java
@@ -133,15 +133,15 @@ public Supplier<RetentionLeases> retentionLeasesSupplier() {
             case "lz4":
             case "best_compression":
             case "zlib":
-            case "zstd":
-            case "zstd_no_dict":
             case "lucene_default":
                 return s;
             default:
+                if (("zstd".equals(s) || "zstd_no_dict".equals(s)) && Codec.availableCodecs().contains("Lucene95CustomCodec")) {
+                    return s;
+                }
                 if (Codec.availableCodecs().contains(s) == false) { // we don't error message the not officially supported ones
                     throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-                        "unknown value for [index.codec] must be one of [default, lz4, best_compression, zlib, zstd, zstd_no_dict] but was: "
-                            + s
+                        "unknown value for [index.codec] must be one of [default, lz4, best_compression, zlib] but was: " + s
                     );
                 }
                 return s;
@@ -181,9 +181,6 @@ public void validate(String key, Object value, Object dependency) {
 
     private static void doValidateCodecSettings(final String codec) {
         switch (codec) {
-            case "zstd":
-            case "zstd_no_dict":
-                return;
             case "best_compression":
             case "zlib":
             case "lucene_default":
@@ -191,6 +188,9 @@ private static void doValidateCodecSettings(final String codec) {
             case "lz4":
                 break;
             default:
+                if (("zstd".equals(codec) || "zstd_no_dict".equals(codec)) && Codec.availableCodecs().contains("Lucene95CustomCodec")) {
+                    return;
+                }
                 if (Codec.availableCodecs().contains(codec)) {
                     Codec luceneCodec = Codec.forName(codec);
                     if (luceneCodec instanceof CodecSettings
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecTests.java
index 3ca759eaf0781..6f9ff78aa0143 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/index/codec/CodecTests.java
@@ -48,8 +48,6 @@
 import org.opensearch.env.Environment;
 import org.opensearch.index.IndexSettings;
 import org.opensearch.index.analysis.IndexAnalyzers;
-import org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.Lucene95CustomCodec;
-import org.opensearch.index.codec.customcodecs.Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat;
 import org.opensearch.index.engine.EngineConfig;
 import org.opensearch.index.mapper.MapperService;
 import org.opensearch.index.similarity.SimilarityService;
@@ -95,49 +93,7 @@ public void testZlib() throws Exception {
         assert codec instanceof PerFieldMappingPostingFormatCodec;
     }
 
-    public void testZstd() throws Exception {
-        Codec codec = createCodecService(false).codec("zstd");
-        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD, codec);
-        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
-        assertEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
-    }
-
-    public void testZstdNoDict() throws Exception {
-        Codec codec = createCodecService(false).codec("zstd_no_dict");
-        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD_NO_DICT, codec);
-        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
-        assertEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
-    }
-
-    public void testZstdWithCompressionLevel() throws Exception {
-        int randomCompressionLevel = randomIntBetween(1, 6);
-        Codec codec = createCodecService(randomCompressionLevel, "zstd").codec("zstd");
-        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD, codec);
-        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
-        assertEquals(randomCompressionLevel, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
-    }
-
-    public void testZstdNoDictWithCompressionLevel() throws Exception {
-        int randomCompressionLevel = randomIntBetween(1, 6);
-        Codec codec = createCodecService(randomCompressionLevel, "zstd_no_dict").codec("zstd_no_dict");
-        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD_NO_DICT, codec);
-        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
-        assertEquals(randomCompressionLevel, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
-    }
-
     public void testBestCompressionWithCompressionLevel() {
-        final Settings zstdSettings = Settings.builder()
-            .put(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING.getKey(), randomIntBetween(1, 6))
-            .put(EngineConfig.INDEX_CODEC_SETTING.getKey(), randomFrom(CodecService.ZSTD_CODEC, CodecService.ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC))
-            .build();
-
-        // able to validate zstd
-        final IndexScopedSettings zstdIndexScopedSettings = new IndexScopedSettings(
-            zstdSettings,
-            IndexScopedSettings.BUILT_IN_INDEX_SETTINGS
-        );
-        zstdIndexScopedSettings.validate(zstdSettings, true);
-
         final Settings settings = Settings.builder()
             .put(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING.getKey(), randomIntBetween(1, 6))
             .put(EngineConfig.INDEX_CODEC_SETTING.getKey(), randomFrom(CodecService.DEFAULT_CODEC, CodecService.BEST_COMPRESSION_CODEC))
@@ -152,17 +108,6 @@ public void testLuceneCodecsWithCompressionLevel() {
         String codecName = randomFrom(Codec.availableCodecs());
         Codec codec = Codec.forName(codecName);
 
-        final Settings customCodecSettings = Settings.builder()
-            .put(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING.getKey(), randomIntBetween(1, 6))
-            .put(EngineConfig.INDEX_CODEC_SETTING.getKey(), "Lucene95CustomCodec")
-            .build();
-
-        final IndexScopedSettings customCodecIndexScopedSettings = new IndexScopedSettings(
-            customCodecSettings,
-            IndexScopedSettings.BUILT_IN_INDEX_SETTINGS
-        );
-        customCodecIndexScopedSettings.validate(customCodecSettings, true);
-
         final Settings settings = Settings.builder()
             .put(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING.getKey(), randomIntBetween(1, 6))
             .put(EngineConfig.INDEX_CODEC_SETTING.getKey(), codecName)
@@ -178,14 +123,6 @@ public void testLuceneCodecsWithCompressionLevel() {
         }
     }
 
-    public void testZstandardCompressionLevelSupport() throws Exception {
-        CodecService codecService = createCodecService(false);
-        CodecSettings zstdCodec = (CodecSettings) codecService.codec("zstd");
-        CodecSettings zstdNoDictCodec = (CodecSettings) codecService.codec("zstd_no_dict");
-        assertTrue(zstdCodec.supports(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING));
-        assertTrue(zstdNoDictCodec.supports(INDEX_CODEC_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SETTING));
-    }
-
     public void testDefaultMapperServiceNull() throws Exception {
         Codec codec = createCodecService(true).codec("default");
         assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95Codec.Mode.BEST_SPEED, codec);
@@ -196,20 +133,6 @@ public void testBestCompressionMapperServiceNull() throws Exception {
         assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95Codec.Mode.BEST_COMPRESSION, codec);
     }
 
-    public void testZstdMapperServiceNull() throws Exception {
-        Codec codec = createCodecService(true).codec("zstd");
-        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD, codec);
-        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
-        assertEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
-    }
-
-    public void testZstdNoDictMapperServiceNull() throws Exception {
-        Codec codec = createCodecService(true).codec("zstd_no_dict");
-        assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.ZSTD_NO_DICT, codec);
-        Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat storedFieldsFormat = (Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat) codec.storedFieldsFormat();
-        assertEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.DEFAULT_COMPRESSION_LEVEL, storedFieldsFormat.getCompressionLevel());
-    }
-
     public void testExceptionCodecNull() {
         assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> createCodecService(true).codec(null));
     }
@@ -226,13 +149,6 @@ private void assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95Codec.Mode expected, Co
         assertEquals(expected, Lucene95Codec.Mode.valueOf(v));
     }
 
-    private void assertStoredFieldsCompressionEquals(Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode expected, Codec actual) throws Exception {
-        SegmentReader sr = getSegmentReader(actual);
-        String v = sr.getSegmentInfo().info.getAttribute(Lucene95CustomStoredFieldsFormat.MODE_KEY);
-        assertNotNull(v);
-        assertEquals(expected, Lucene95CustomCodec.Mode.valueOf(v));
-    }
-
     private CodecService createCodecService(boolean isMapperServiceNull) throws IOException {
         Settings nodeSettings = Settings.builder().put(Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), createTempDir()).build();
         if (isMapperServiceNull) {
@@ -241,15 +157,6 @@ private CodecService createCodecService(boolean isMapperServiceNull) throws IOEx
         return buildCodecService(nodeSettings);
     }
 
-    private CodecService createCodecService(int randomCompressionLevel, String codec) throws IOException {
-        Settings nodeSettings = Settings.builder()
-            .put(Environment.PATH_HOME_SETTING.getKey(), createTempDir())
-            .put("index.codec", codec)
-            .put("index.codec.compression_level", randomCompressionLevel)
-            .build();
-        return buildCodecService(nodeSettings);
-    }
-
     private CodecService buildCodecService(Settings nodeSettings) throws IOException {
 
         IndexSettings indexSettings = IndexSettingsModule.newIndexSettings("_na", nodeSettings);
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
index c04b5997d49b1..693e56625cb5d 100644
--- a/settings.gradle
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -153,3 +153,6 @@ if (extraProjects.exists()) {
     addSubProjects('', extraProjectDir)
   }
 }
+include 'plugins:custom-codecs'
+findProject(':plugins:custom-codecs')?.name = 'custom-codecs'
+
diff --git a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/OpenSearchIntegTestCase.java b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/OpenSearchIntegTestCase.java
index 382152652cafe..917f2ba560142 100644
--- a/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/OpenSearchIntegTestCase.java
+++ b/test/framework/src/main/java/org/opensearch/test/OpenSearchIntegTestCase.java
@@ -283,9 +283,7 @@ public abstract class OpenSearchIntegTestCase extends OpenSearchTestCase {
         CodecService.DEFAULT_CODEC,
         CodecService.LZ4,
         CodecService.BEST_COMPRESSION_CODEC,
-        CodecService.ZLIB,
-        CodecService.ZSTD_CODEC,
-        CodecService.ZSTD_NO_DICT_CODEC
+        CodecService.ZLIB
     );
 
     /**