Cobblemon or Pixelmon: Which Pokemon Mod to Pick in 2026?
In 2026, Cobblemon is the logical choice for most servers: the mod is free and open source, sits at over 25.5 million downloads on CurseForge, and a Cobblemon pack often runs perfectly well on 4 to 8 GB of RAM. Pixelmon delivers a more complete and more mainline-faithful Pokemon experience in a single mod, with HD models, but servers running it often needed 10 to 12 GB. On our budget range that is the difference between EUR 8.80 and EUR 13.20 per month for an otherwise identical server.
What is the difference between Cobblemon and Pixelmon?
Both bring the same idea to Minecraft: catching, training and trading Pokemon and battling with them. The difference lies in the approach, and that difference ultimately shapes your monthly bill too.
Cobblemon is an open source project with a blocky style that blends seamlessly into the rest of Minecraft. The base mod has deliberately been kept compact. Gyms, quests, an economy, extra regions and cosmetic additions all come from add-ons built by the community. That is at once Cobblemon's greatest strength, because the add-on ecosystem is huge, and its biggest pitfall: you decide what gets added, and therefore how heavy your server becomes.
Pixelmon takes the other route. Everything sits in a single mod, with HD models that look distinctly less blocky. That gives you a more complete experience straight away, closer to the mainline games, without having to make ten separate additions agree with one another. You pay for that completeness in memory use and loading time.
Important for your hosting: both of these are genuine mods, not plugins. Plugins such as EssentialsX or LuckPerms run purely server-side on otherwise vanilla mechanics, which means players need install nothing. Mods are loaded by a mod loader, add genuinely new blocks, items and mobs, and have to be at the same version on server and client. If you are new to modded servers, start by reading what a modpack actually is and how to install one.
Cobblemon versus Pixelmon side by side
The table below lines up the points that trip people up in practice. The RAM and price rows matter most, because those are the ones you pay for every month.
| Point | Cobblemon | Pixelmon |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads on CurseForge | 25.5+ million | No recent figure we can confirm |
| Approach | Free and open source | Everything in a single mod |
| Style | Blocky, fits vanilla Minecraft | HD models, closer to the mainline games |
| Completeness out of the box | Compact base, you extend it yourself | More complete, mainline-faithful from the start |
| Add-ons | Large add-on ecosystem | Less needed, less common |
| RAM for the server | Often 4 to 8 GB | Often 10 to 12 GB |
| Budget range cost per month | EUR 4.40 (4 GB) to EUR 8.80 (8 GB) | EUR 13.20 at 12 GB |
How much RAM do you need, and what does it cost per month?
On the budget range for Minecraft hosting at MC-Node you pay a flat EUR 1.10 per GB of RAM per month, with a lower rate at 6 GB (EUR 1.05) and 15 GB (EUR 1.00). That keeps the maths simple. A 4 GB Cobblemon server costs EUR 4.40 per month, 8 GB costs EUR 8.80. If you are on a heavy Pixelmon pack that needs 12 GB, you land at EUR 13.20 per month.
The hardware underneath is identical in both cases: AMD EPYC 7443P, NVMe SSD storage, automatic backups and DDoS protection all come as standard. You pay purely for the memory the mod demands.
What do those numbers mean in practice? With modded Minecraft, RAM is not a luxury but a hard floor. Every mod loads its blocks, items, entities and recipes into memory at start-up, before a single player has joined. If you are running tight, you will not see a tidy error message; you will see stuttering TPS (the server's tick rate), long chunk loads and, at worst, a server that crashes while starting.
So do not take the bare minimum. If you run Cobblemon with a handful of add-ons for a small group of friends, 8 GB is a comfortable spot you will not need to check on every week. If you are running a Pixelmon server with an active community, budget for the upper end of that 10 to 12 GB rather than the bottom.
Which mod suits your server?
Both mods are good. They are simply not good for the same person. This is the advice we give customers who ask.
- Pick Cobblemon if budget matters, if you are running a server for friends, or if you want to decide for yourself what your server looks like. The open source approach and the range of add-ons mean you can start small at 4 GB and only expand once you notice you need to.
- Pick Cobblemon too if the art style matters to you and you want Pokemon to look as though it was always part of Minecraft. Blocky is a deliberate choice here, not a limitation.
- Pick Pixelmon if you want the most complete, mainline-faithful experience without assembling a pack yourself, and if HD models are what makes the difference for you. You get more in one go, and there is less for you to maintain.
- Pick Pixelmon as well if your community is already on it. Moving an existing player base to a different mod is almost always more work than the saving is worth.
Still unsure? Then run Cobblemon on 4 GB for a month first. That costs EUR 4.40 and afterwards you will know from experience whether you want more. It is cheaper than taking a big server straight away and leaving it half empty.
How do you set up a Cobblemon or Pixelmon server?
The steps are nearly identical for both mods. What differs is how much memory you choose at step two.
- Pick the mod and the pack first, and note which Minecraft version and mod loader the pack specifies. That is on the pack page and governs everything that follows.
- Order a server with enough RAM: 4 to 8 GB for most Cobblemon packs, 10 to 12 GB if you want a full Pixelmon server.
- Install the pack through the Pterodactyl panel, or upload the pack's server files manually if the pack is not in the list.
- Check which Java version the pack specifies and set it in the panel. The wrong Java version nearly always produces a crash on start-up rather than a polite warning.
- Boot the server fully once, wait until it has finished loading, then stop it cleanly, and only after that edit your configuration and server.properties.
- Share exactly the same pack at exactly the same version with your players. A client that is one version out will not get in.
- Take a backup before you add add-ons, and add them one at a time so you know which addition causes trouble.
If things still feel sluggish afterwards, the next step is measuring rather than guessing. Our guide to optimising your server and reducing lag goes into that in more depth.
Where does it usually go wrong?
Four things come up most often in our live chat when Pokemon servers are involved.
Versions that do not match. By far the most common report. Mods have to run at the same version on server and client, and that includes your add-ons. A player who lets their launcher update automatically will be locked out the next day.
Too many add-ons at once. Cobblemon invites stacking, and dropping in a pile of add-ons in one afternoon is tempting. The problem is that afterwards you no longer know which addition pushed memory use up. Adding them one at a time costs an evening and saves you a week of searching.
Expecting plugins to just work. A modded server runs on a mod loader, not on Paper or Purpur. Your familiar Bukkit plugins such as EssentialsX and LuckPerms will not simply run on it. For claims, permissions and homes, look for mods that do the same job rather than trying to force the plugin in.
Starting too tight to save money. Saving a few euros a month on a pack that wants more memory ends up costing you more time than it is worth.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cobblemon really free? Yes. Cobblemon is free and open source, and sits at over 25.5 million downloads on CurseForge. So you only pay for the server it runs on: on our budget range 4 GB costs EUR 4.40 per month and 8 GB costs EUR 8.80.
How much RAM do I need for a Cobblemon server? For most Cobblemon packs 4 to 8 GB is enough, and 8 GB (EUR 8.80 per month) is the safe choice once you start stacking add-ons or playing with more than a few people. Exactly how much you need depends on the number of add-ons in your pack.
Why does Pixelmon need more memory? Pixelmon packs the entire experience, HD models included, into a single mod, and all those models, entities and recipes are loaded into memory at start-up. That is why Pixelmon servers often needed 10 to 12 GB, which on the budget range works out at EUR 13.20 per month for 12 GB.
Do my players have to install anything themselves? Yes. Unlike plugins, mods have to be at the same version on server and client, so everyone installs the same pack. If you want players to have to do nothing, plugins on Paper or Purpur suit you better than a Pokemon mod.
Can I move from Pixelmon to Cobblemon with the same world? Not without losses. The two mods store their Pokemon, blocks and items in their own way, so everything that came from the old mod disappears or ends up corrupted. Take a backup first, test the switch on a separate server, and assume you will be starting with a new world.