How to Make a Cobblemon Server and Play With Friends (2026)
Checked October 25, 2026 against the official Cobblemon modpack 1.8.2 and COBBLEVERSE 1.7.42 as installed on our own test server. The official modpack moved to 1.8.3 the same day.
Cobblemon is a mod for Minecraft Java Edition, for Fabric and NeoForge, that adds Pokémon to catch, battle and breed. The Cobblemon team runs no official server, and its own site keeps a list of public servers for people who want to join one. To play with your own friends, someone has to run a server, and every player has to run the same pack version as that server. This guide covers which pack to run, how much RAM it takes, how your friends join, and the settings and commands an owner needs on day one.
What a Cobblemon server runs
Most groups run one of two packs. Both are built for Minecraft 1.21.1 with the Fabric loader and Java 21; they differ in size and in the Cobblemon version inside them.
| Official Cobblemon modpack | COBBLEVERSE | |
|---|---|---|
| Pack version checked | 1.8.2 (1.8.3 out since October 25) | 1.7.42 |
| Cobblemon mod inside | 1.8.2 | 1.7.3 |
| Minecraft, loader, Java | 1.21.1, Fabric, Java 21 | 1.21.1, Fabric, Java 21 |
| Mod files | 34 (Fabric's log counts 113 with the libraries they bundle) | 137 (251 in Fabric's count) |
| RAM its authors give | at least 2.5 GB, 3 GB or more for best performance | 6 GB or more for a multiplayer server |
| Launch to ready on our test server | 40 to 43 seconds | about 48 seconds, on a world it had already generated |
The official pack is the lighter, vanilla-style choice. COBBLEVERSE is a full Pokémon adventure with gyms, structures and many add-ons, and it still runs the older Cobblemon 1.7.3. Pick one before anyone joins: a COBBLEVERSE player cannot join an official-pack server, and the reverse fails too.
Step 1: set up the server
Whatever you host on, the server needs four things in place before your friends connect:
- Java 21. Minecraft 1.21.1 and Cobblemon both require it.
- A Fabric server for Minecraft 1.21.1, using the Fabric loader version your pack pins.
- The pack's mods on the server, in the same versions the players install. Client-only mods such as shaders and minimaps stay on the players' side.
- A new world, ideally. Cobblemon's structures and spawns appear in newly generated chunks, so a world started with the pack installed gets all of them.
On a home PC you also have to keep the machine running and forward TCP port 25565 (or the port in server.properties) on your router. On a Supercraft Minecraft Java server, the panel's modpack installer takes a Modrinth modpack link and does steps 1 to 3 for you: it switches the server to Minecraft 1.21.1 with the Fabric loader and Java 21 and installs the pack. An unplayed world from a newer Minecraft version is set aside, never deleted. Our Cobblemon server hosting plans go one step further and install the official pack before the server's first start, and the Cobbleverse plan does the same with COBBLEVERSE.
Step 2: get your friends in
- Each player installs the same pack, at the same version as the server, in the Modrinth app or Prism Launcher. Both install it from Modrinth in one click.
- They start the game from that profile, open Multiplayer, choose Add Server and paste the server address.
- If the game refuses with a mod or version mismatch, compare the pack version in the launcher with the server's. The official pack and its server package also connect with a plain Cobblemon install of the same version, which is what the Cobblemon team means when it calls them compatible with vanilla Cobblemon.
Keep it private: turn on the whitelist (on Supercraft, Enable whitelist in the panel) and add your friends, so a public scan of server addresses cannot walk in.
How much RAM a Cobblemon server needs
Start from the pack authors' own figures and add room for your group: the official pack asks for at least 2.5 GB and recommends 3 GB or more, and COBBLEVERSE recommends a server plan with 6 GB or more for multiplayer, more as you invite more friends. Exploration is what grows memory use, because every player loads new chunks and Cobblemon spawns Pokémon around each of them.
| Group | Pack | What we run it on |
|---|---|---|
| A few friends | Official Cobblemon modpack | Plan M (6 GB RAM) |
| A bigger group, or extra Fabric mods next to the pack | Official Cobblemon modpack | Plan L (8 GB RAM) |
| Any group | COBBLEVERSE | Plan L (8 GB RAM) |
Our Cobblemon servers start with view and simulation distance at 8 chunks, which keeps memory and CPU in check. Per-pack numbers for other modpacks are in the modpack server sizing guide.
First-day problems
Friends cannot break blocks near spawn
Once a server has at least one operator, Minecraft's spawn protection stops everyone who is not an operator from breaking or placing blocks within 16 blocks of the world spawn, and 16 is the default in server.properties (spawn-protection=16). Set it to 0, or make the builders operators. On Supercraft it is the Spawn protection radius field in the panel. If the blocks are far from spawn, look for a land-claim mod in the pack instead.
The server crashes after a trainer battle
In October 2026 several players on the Cobblemon subreddit reported a crash right after winning a battle on servers that run Radical Cobblemon Trainers together with the Legendary Monuments add-on, and one traced gym-leader errors to Legendary Monuments. If your crash report names either mod, update both, and if it keeps happening, remove one of them. This is a report from players, not something we reproduced.
A player gets a version or mod mismatch
The player's pack and the server's pack differ. Update the launcher profile to the server's version, or, when the pack has moved on, move the server to the same version first and keep a backup of the world before you do.
The Cobblemon config: main.json
Cobblemon keeps its server settings in config/cobblemon/main.json. Edit it while the server is stopped, then start the server again. COBBLEVERSE adds more files in the same folder, such as spawning and starters.json. Defaults in Cobblemon 1.8.2:
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
shinyRate | 8192.0 | The odds of a shiny spawn, 1 in this number. Lower it for more shinies. |
maxPokemonLevel | 100 | The level cap. |
experienceMultiplier | 2.0 | Battle experience scaling. |
enableSpawning | true | Turns natural Pokémon spawning on or off. |
maximumSpawnsPerPass | 8 | How many Pokémon one spawning pass can place. |
ticksBetweenSpawnAttempts | 20.0 | Ticks between spawning passes (20 ticks is one second). |
minimumSpawningZoneDistanceFromPlayer / maximumSpawningZoneDistanceFromPlayer | 16.0 / 64.0 | The ring around each player where Pokémon appear, in blocks. |
allowExperienceFromPvP | true | Whether battles between players award experience. |
battlePvPMaxDistance | 32.0 | How far apart two players can be to start a battle. |
Cobblemon also registers a /cobblemonconfig reload command.
Admin commands
Make yourself an operator first: type op YourName in the server console, or use the operator list in your host's panel. Most Cobblemon commands need operator rights. The command names below are the ones registered in Cobblemon 1.8.2; each short name is an alias of the long one.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/pokegive (/givepokemon) | Gives you a Pokémon: /pokegive pikachu level=50 shiny |
/pokegiveother (/givepokemonother) | Gives a Pokémon to another player: /pokegiveother Steve eevee |
/pokespawn (/spawnpokemon) | Spawns a wild Pokémon where you stand; /pokespawnat takes a position |
/pokeheal (/healpokemon) | Heals a party |
/pc | Opens the PC storage |
/checkspawn <bucket> | Lists what can spawn where you stand in a rarity bucket (common, uncommon, rare, ultra-rare), useful when a Pokémon "never spawns" |
/pokemonedit, /levelup, /teach | Change a Pokémon's details, level and moves |
/friendship | Shows a party Pokémon's friendship |
/clearparty, /clearpc | Empty a player's party or PC |
/stopbattle | Ends a stuck battle |
/openstarterscreen | Shows the starter choice again |
Every command with its full syntax and permission level is on the Cobblemon commands page. The words after the species are Pokémon properties. Cobblemon reads level (or lvl), shiny, nature, gender, ability, form, friendship, held_item, moves, nickname, pokeball, ivs and evs, among others.
FAQ
Can I play Cobblemon with friends without a server?
For a quick session, the host can open a single-player world to LAN or share it through a tunnel, but the world is only up while that player is online. A server keeps the world running for everyone.
Do my friends need to install anything?
Yes. Every player needs the same pack and the same version as the server, from the Modrinth app or Prism Launcher.
Can I add more mods to a Cobblemon server?
Yes, as long as they are Fabric mods for Minecraft 1.21.1 and every player has the same ones where the mod needs a client side. Give an extra-mod server more RAM than the pack alone.
Related: modpack server sizing, modded save tick lag and the Minecraft modding guide.
Cobblemon server hosting on Supercraft: the official Cobblemon modpack installed before your first start, on Minecraft 1.21.1 with the Fabric loader and Java 21, daily backups and four regions. Running COBBLEVERSE instead? See the Cobbleverse plan.