Cobblemon vs Pixelmon: how they differ and how to join a server

Pixelmon and Cobblemon are both mods that add Pokémon to Minecraft Java Edition, so to play on a server you install the same mod, at the same version, as the server runs. Pixelmon is the older and fuller recreation of the Pokémon games, with its own battle screen and more than a thousand species, while Cobblemon is a newer open-source mod built to feel like part of Minecraft, with battles that happen in the world around you.

To see what you can join right now, check the Cobblemon server list and the Pixelmon server list: 2 Cobblemon and 1 Pixelmon listings were playable at the latest ping. Both hubs are small on our list today, so the modded server list is worth a look too.

The short answer

Pick Pixelmon if you want the closest thing to the handheld games, with the most species and battle mechanics. Pick Cobblemon if you want Pokémon to fit into a survival world you keep building in. Either way the server decides for you: you play the mod, version and loader it runs, and the quickest way in is the server's own modpack.

Both are fan projects. Neither is made or endorsed by Nintendo, Game Freak or The Pokémon Company.

Where each came from, and where they stand now

Pixelmon

Pixelmon first came out in 2012. In July 2017 the original team stopped development and pulled its downloads after a request from The Pokémon Company. Development carried on as Pixelmon Reforged, made by a different team and distributed through reforged.gg, CurseForge and Modrinth, and that is what servers mean by Pixelmon today.

Its version lines are worth knowing, because servers do not all move at once:

• Older builds still exist for 1.12.2, and 9.1.x runs on Minecraft 1.16.5, both with Forge.
• 9.2.x runs on 1.20.2 with Forge.
• 9.3.x and later run on 1.21.1 with NeoForge only. A Forge install will not load them.

On 18 October 2026, reforged.gg listed 9.3.16 as the recommended download, which needs NeoForge 21.1.200 or newer, and 9.4.1 as a beta, which needs NeoForge 21.1.248 or newer. The 9.4 line adds the last Generation 9 species, Terastallization, Tera Raids, a research system and wild trainer NPCs. Both builds need Java 21, which the common launchers install for you.

Cobblemon

Cobblemon released version 1.0.0 on 12 November 2022, for Fabric and Forge. It is open source, and its stated goal is "to be the Pokémon mod for everyone, and to integrate much better into modpacks and Minecraft itself than other Pokémon mods". It has moved fast since:

• 1.7.0, the Set Course Update (22 November 2025), added riding Pokémon and campfire pot cooking.
• 1.8.0, the Make Your Move Update (6 September 2026), added Alpha Pokémon, TMs and a Habitat block, which the changelog describes as "a spawner block for servers and adventure maps".
• 1.8.2 (11 October 2026) added 17 more species, Eternatus among them.

Cobblemon still adds species in batches as their models are finished, so a Pokémon you want may not be in yet. Servers often stay a version behind for a while after a release, because their add-ons have to catch up first.

A nerdy detail that explains a lot about how Cobblemon battles feel: the battle logic is Pokémon Showdown, the open-source simulator used for competitive play online, running inside the game through a JavaScript engine. Move, ability and item interactions follow the competitive rules closely because they are the same code.

How they play differently

Battles. Pixelmon opens a battle screen with move menus, close to the handheld games. Cobblemon keeps you in the world: your Pokémon fight in front of you, and you can flee a wild battle simply by walking away, the way Pokémon Legends: Arceus does it.

Look. Pixelmon's models aim at the look of the main games. Cobblemon's are made to sit next to cows and creepers without looking out of place.

Depth. Pixelmon had a head start of about ten years, and it shows in the systems: Mega Evolution, Dynamax and Max raid dens, gym towns, Poké Centres and a Day Care, with Terastallization and Tera Raids arriving in the 9.4 beta. Cobblemon leans on survival play instead: Poké Balls crafted from apricorns, berries you farm, cooking, riding, Alphas leading herds, and TMs made from type gems you grow.

What servers build on top. The mod is only the base. One server turns it into a Pokémon game run as a network, with staff-built gyms, player gym leaders, tournaments and legendary events. Another runs it as an SMP where Pokémon are part of a shared world of bases and farms. Either mod can be run both ways, so the server's description tells you more about your evenings than the mod name does.

How to join a Pixelmon server

1. Find out exactly what the server runs: Minecraft version, Pixelmon version, and whether it has its own modpack. The listing, the server's Discord or its website usually says. Our server pages also show the version the server reports to our pinger.
2. Use the server's modpack if it has one. Install it in a launcher that handles modpacks. Pixelmon's download page lists ATLauncher, CurseForge, Technic and Modrinth. A server pack includes the extra client mods the server expects, and missing one of those is an easy way to get refused.
3. Or install it by hand. Run the NeoForge installer for 1.21.1 from neoforged.net (21.1.200 or newer for 9.3.16) and choose Install client. Start the new NeoForge profile once, close the game, and put the Pixelmon jar for the server's exact version into the mods folder of your Minecraft directory.
4. Give it memory. Pixelmon packs need more than vanilla. Use the amount the pack's page recommends in your launcher's settings for that installation.
5. Join. Start the profile, open Multiplayer, choose Add Server, paste the address and select Join Server.

If the server refuses you, the disconnect screen lists missing or mismatched mods. Match the build number exactly. A client one patch behind the server is a common reason a Pixelmon join fails. For anything else, see why a Minecraft server will not connect.

Download Pixelmon only from reforged.gg, its official CurseForge and Modrinth pages, or a launcher that pulls from them. Reuploads on random sites are a classic way to spread malware to players looking for a mod.

How to join a Cobblemon server

1. Check the loader as well as the version. Cobblemon servers run either Fabric or NeoForge, and a Fabric client cannot join a NeoForge server. Current releases are for 1.21.1.
2. Use the server's modpack if it has one, in the Modrinth App or the CurseForge app.
3. If the server runs plain Cobblemon, the Cobblemon team publishes official modpacks on Modrinth, one for Fabric and one for NeoForge. Pick the one matching the server's loader, and check that its Cobblemon version matches the server's.
4. Or install it by hand. For Fabric, run the Fabric installer for 1.21.1, then put Fabric API and the Fabric build of Cobblemon in your mods folder. For NeoForge, install NeoForge for 1.21.1, then add Kotlin for Forge and the NeoForge build of Cobblemon. Those are the required dependencies Modrinth lists for 1.8.2.
5. Join from Multiplayer with Add Server, as on any Java server. Our guide to joining a Java server covers addresses, ports and the resource pack prompt.

Before a long session, open a single-player world with the same setup. If Pokémon spawn there, your install works, and a refusal from the server is down to versions or extra mods.

Bedrock players: what is possible

Neither mod runs on Bedrock Edition, so phones, tablets, Windows Bedrock and consoles are out. Geyser, the usual bridge for crossplay, does not change that. Its FAQ puts it plainly: "if a vanilla client can join the server, then so can Geyser", and "there is no way for Geyser to translate the features that most mods add". Both mods need to be installed on the player's side, so a Geyser player would have nothing to play with. On top of that, Geyser's Fabric and NeoForge builds support only the newest Java version, while both mods sit on 1.21.1.

If a listing promises Pokémon to Bedrock players, it is most likely something else, such as a plugin server with custom models from a resource pack. Ask what Bedrock players actually see before you count on it. For how crossplay works in general, read can Java and Bedrock players play together.

What to check on a server

• Mod, version and loader. Write them down before you install anything, and look for a pack link.
• Wipes. Ask whether Pokémon, PC boxes and the world reset at the end of a season, and how long the current season has to run. Months of catching mean little if the wipe is next week.
• Legendary and shiny rules. Are legendary spawns announced to the whole server and first come, first served? Has the server changed shiny rates? These decide how fair the hunt feels.
• Battle rules. Look for ranked or tournament formats, level caps and banned Pokémon or items, especially if you came to battle other players.
• Trading. Is there a market or trade command, and does the server forbid selling Pokémon for real money? Off-server deals are where scams happen.
• The store. Mojang's Usage Guidelines allow servers to sell gameplay perks only "provided they don't ruin other players' experience or give a competitive advantage in the game" (read on 18 October 2026). Shiny or legendary Pokémon in paid crates deserve a hard look.
• Spawn protection and claims. Pokémon servers are survival worlds too. Check how builds are protected.

Servers online now

We ping every listed server once a minute. Right now 2 of 3 Cobblemon listings and 1 of 2 Pixelmon listings are playable, and 4 of 8 modded listings. Playable Cobblemon listings with at least three players online appear below, up to three of them.

1. 

   BlockeMon BlockéMon ||| blockemon.gg ||| BlockéMon SURVIVAL | COBBLEMON | EVENTS

   6/80

   Up 99.68% in 30 days109 votes in 30 daysplay.blockemon.gg

See all 3 Cobblemon servers

Measured 19 Oct 2026, 22:55 UTCHow we measure

Mode	Listed	Playable now	Players now	Players, 7 day average	Busiest hour	Votes, 30 days
Modded	8	4	5	8	17:00 UTC	110
Cobblemon	3	2	5	8	17:00 UTC	109
Pixelmon	2	1	0	1	12:00 UTC	0

A server tagged with three modes counts in all three, so the rows overlap and do not add up to the network total.

Measured 19 Oct 2026, 22:55 UTCHow we measure

As of 18 October 2026, the picture is small:

• Three Cobblemon listings, two Pixelmon listings. The two Pixelmon listings are also two of the three Cobblemon listings, and each of them carries more than 30 tags.
• One of those two has not answered a single ping in the last 30 days.
• The other answers as Paper 26.2. Paper loads plugins, not NeoForge or Fabric mods, and neither mod has a build for 26.2, so the address we ping is not running either mod itself.
• That leaves one listing whose answer matches a Pokémon mod server. It reports 1.21.1, the version both mods are built for today, was playable 99.7% of the time over the last 30 days, and averaged about 9 players, with a peak of 26.

Live, 1 of 2 Pixelmon or Cobblemon listings playable in the last 7 days report a Minecraft version that one of the two mods supports. That check is a quick test you can run on any listing yourself: if the version on the page is one neither mod has a build for, ask the server before you install anything.

On that date both hubs had fewer than five playable servers, the point where we start treating a hub as a full list, and we would rather say so than pad them. The methodology page explains how we ping and what counts as playable, and Minecraft server types A to Z covers every other mode in a few sentences.

FAQ

Can I move my Pokémon from one server to another?

No. Your Pokémon, party and PC boxes are stored by the server you caught them on, the same way your inventory is. A new server means a new team, and a wipe on the same server usually means one too.

Can I play Pixelmon or Cobblemon on my own first?

Yes. Both work in single-player worlds once installed, which is a good way to learn the basics before joining a server with older players who have been catching for months. Use the same versions as the server you plan to join, so the switch costs you nothing.