What is Cobblemon? The Pokemon mod for Minecraft, explained

Updated 2026-08-22

Cobblemon is a free, open source mod for Minecraft Java Edition that adds Pokemon to the game: catching, battling, breeding, evolution, shiny hunting and hundreds of species, all rendered in a style that fits Minecraft instead of fighting it.

It runs on the Fabric and NeoForge mod loaders and targets modern Minecraft versions (most servers today run Minecraft 1.21.1). Battles use a proper turn-based system built on the Pokemon Showdown engine, so moves, abilities, natures, IVs and EVs all work the way you would expect from the real games.

What you actually do in Cobblemon

• Catch Pokemon that spawn naturally in the world based on biome, time of day and weather. Craft Poke Balls from apricorns you grow and harvest.
• Battle wild Pokemon, NPC trainers and other players in turn-based battles.
• Train and evolve your team through levels, friendship, trades, held items and evolution stones you can mine as ore.
• Breed Pokemon at pastures, hunt shinies, and fill out a Pokedex that spans multiple generations.
• Revive fossils you dig up at excavation sites into ancient Pokemon.

Cobblemon vs Pixelmon

Pixelmon is the older Pokemon mod. Cobblemon is the newer one, and it has become the default choice for new servers for a few reasons: it is open source, it updates to new Minecraft versions quickly, its art direction matches vanilla Minecraft, and it is built to be extended with datapacks, so servers can add custom species, spawns and forms without shipping a new mod.

Do I need a special client to play?

Yes. Cobblemon is a Java Edition mod, so you install it (or a server's modpack) on your own game before joining a server. It is not available on Bedrock Edition, consoles or phones. Most servers ship a one click modpack on Modrinth or CurseForge that sets everything up for you. See our guide on installing Cobblemon.

Playing multiplayer

Cobblemon singleplayer is fun, but the mod really opens up on multiplayer servers: gyms run by real teams, player economies, legendary events, tournaments and trading. Our ranked list of the best Cobblemon servers is a good place to pick one, and TalonMC is our current number one for feature depth.