The --modListFile argument is not working on the latest versions.
I can't immediately tell what's wrong in the code, however the same launch args which worked with the older version noted above are no longer working. The mods are not being loaded.
Related: https://github.com/MinecraftForge/MinecraftForge/issues/5207
Seemingly fixed by https://github.com/MinecraftForge/MinecraftForge/commit/8ace535995522bec0557d4217e0d98b3dc76cf1e, however changes were reverted in https://github.com/MinecraftForge/MinecraftForge/commit/10dbbf9c1915b7f5b2fc879a630b199aedbd192a
After some more digging, I found the issue.
The following line needs to be changed from launchArgs to forgeLaunchArgs.
https://github.com/MinecraftForge/MinecraftForge/blob/5771c8ffea9a4b31043358a26ec456218a724ac0/src/main/java/net/minecraftforge/fml/relauncher/libraries/ModList.java#L66
Most helpful comment
After some more digging, I found the issue.
The following line needs to be changed from
launchArgstoforgeLaunchArgs.https://github.com/MinecraftForge/MinecraftForge/blob/5771c8ffea9a4b31043358a26ec456218a724ac0/src/main/java/net/minecraftforge/fml/relauncher/libraries/ModList.java#L66