How Breeding Works in Cobblemon
Breeding in Cobblemon works through the Ranch Block — a crafted block you place in the world. Put two compatible Pokémon inside and they'll eventually produce an egg. The egg hatches when you walk around with it in your party.
Two Pokémon are compatible for breeding if they share an egg group and are opposite genders — or if one of them is a Ditto. Ditto is the universal breeding partner and can breed with almost any Pokémon regardless of gender or egg group.
The Ranch Block
Craft the Ranch Block and place it anywhere in your world. Right-click to open it and place your two breeding Pokémon inside. They'll produce eggs at regular intervals — you don't need to do anything except come back and collect them.
The Pokémon inside the Ranch Block don't need to be in your party. You can set it up, leave it running and come back later to collect a stack of eggs.
Understanding IVs
IVs (Individual Values) are hidden stats every Pokémon has at birth — six values between 0 and 31, one for each stat: HP, Attack, Defence, Special Attack, Special Defence and Speed. A value of 31 is perfect. For most competitive teams you want 31 in every relevant stat.
Here's what a perfect competitive Pokémon's IVs look like:
You can check a Pokémon's IVs in Cobblemon by pressing the stats button in its summary screen. IVs are displayed numerically — no need to guess or calculate.
Breeding Items — What Each One Does
Held items are the core mechanic that makes IV breeding efficient. Without them you're relying on pure luck. With them you can reliably pass down specific IVs and natures in a predictable number of egg cycles.
Natures — What They Are and How to Pass Them Down
Natures provide a 10% boost to one stat and a 10% reduction to another. For competitive play, picking the right nature is as important as having perfect IVs. A Garchomp with a Jolly nature (Speed+ / SpAtk-) will outspeed threats that an Adamant one (Attack+ / Speed-) would lose to.
Here are the most commonly used competitive natures:
| Nature | Stat +10% | Stat -10% | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jolly | Speed | Sp. Attack | Physical sweepers that need speed |
| Adamant | Attack | Sp. Attack | Physical sweepers that don't need speed |
| Timid | Speed | Attack | Special sweepers that need speed |
| Modest | Sp. Attack | Attack | Special sweepers that don't need speed |
| Bold | Defence | Attack | Physical walls and tanks |
| Calm | Sp. Defence | Attack | Special walls and support Pokémon |
| Impish | Defence | Sp. Attack | Physical walls that don't use special moves |
| Careful | Sp. Defence | Sp. Attack | Special walls that don't use special moves |
To lock a nature, give the parent with your desired nature an Everstone to hold. Every egg produced will inherit that nature — no more RNG on natures once you have an Everstone set up.
Egg Moves
Egg moves are moves a Pokémon can only learn at birth — they're not available through levelling, TMs or move tutors. Many of the best competitive moves are egg moves. Getting them requires one parent to already know the move and passing it down through breeding.
To pass down an egg move, the father (or the Ditto alternative) needs to know the move. If both parents know the same egg move, the offspring will always inherit it. If only one parent knows it, it's still guaranteed to pass down as long as it's a legal egg move for that species.
Egg Groups
Every Pokémon belongs to one or two egg groups. Two Pokémon can only breed together if they share at least one egg group. Understanding egg groups is key for passing egg moves between species.
| Egg Group | Example Pokémon | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Field | Eevee, Growlithe, Rattata, Vulpix | Largest group — most common land mammals |
| Water 1 | Squirtle, Poliwag, Tentacool | Aquatic Pokémon that live near water |
| Water 2 | Magikarp, Horsea, Goldeen | Fish-like water Pokémon |
| Water 3 | Cloyster, Kabuto, Corsola | Crustaceans and molluscs |
| Flying | Pidgey, Spearow, Aerodactyl | Bird and bat-like Pokémon |
| Bug | Caterpie, Weedle, Scyther | Insect-type Pokémon |
| Dragon | Dratini, Charmander, Horsea | Dragon and some lizard Pokémon |
| Monster | Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle | The starter trio — overlaps with Dragon and Field |
| Fairy | Jigglypuff, Clefairy, Snubbull | Cute and fairy-type Pokémon |
| Amorphous | Gastly, Grimer, Misdreavus | Ghost and formless Pokémon |
| Ditto | Ditto only | Can breed with almost any Pokémon regardless of group |
| Undiscovered | Legendaries, baby forms | Cannot breed at all |
Step-by-Step: Breeding a 6IV Pokémon
Here's the full process from scratch. This works for any Pokémon species — just substitute the target Pokémon where relevant.
Ditto spawns in plains and some cave biomes. Catch several and check their IVs. A Ditto with 4 or 5 perfect IVs will significantly speed up your breeding process. If you find a 6IV Ditto, congratulations — you've hit the jackpot.
The Destiny Knot can be found in treasure chests or purchased from certain NPCs depending on your server. The Everstone drops from some wild Pokémon or can be found underground. You need both before serious breeding begins.
Find a wild Pokémon of your target species with the correct nature. Check the summary screen — nature is listed directly. Give it an Everstone to hold so it always passes the nature to offspring.
Put your Ditto (holding Destiny Knot) and your nature-locked parent (holding Everstone) in the Ranch Block. Start collecting eggs.
Hatch eggs with a Flame Body Pokémon in your party to halve hatch time. Check IVs on each hatchling. When you get one with better IVs than your current parent, swap it in as the new parent. Repeat until you have a parent with 5 or 6 perfect IVs.
Once you have a high-IV parent of the correct species, do a final breeding run. With a 5-6IV parent holding Destiny Knot paired with a good Ditto, most eggs will have 4-6 perfect IVs. Keep hatching until you get your target.
Fast Track — Bottlecaps & Commands
Don't want to grind through the full breeding process? There are shortcuts.
Brendon's Bottlecaps Addon
The Brendon's Bottlecaps addon adds craftable items that instantly max a Pokémon's IVs — a Gold Bottlecap maxes all 6 stats, a Silver Bottlecap maxes one stat of your choice. If you're on a server or modpack that includes this addon, you can skip most of the IV breeding process entirely.
Admin Commands (Servers)
On some servers, players can use commands to set IVs or give themselves breeding items. Check your server's Discord for command lists — admins sometimes run events where players can claim IV stones or other competitive shortcuts.