Formats

File: config/frontier/formats.conf

Formats define the competitive rules for battles — which clauses apply, what’s banned, level caps, team sizes, and team preview behavior. Each ladder references a format by ID.

Quick Example

formats {
    standard {
        displayName = Standard
        clauses = [
            "species_clause"
            "sleep_clause"
            "evasion_clause"
            "ohko_clause"
            "gimmick_ban"
        ]
        bans {
            species = ["mewtwo", "arceus"]
            moves = []
            abilities = ["moody"]
            items = []
            gimmicks = []
        }
        teamPreview = true
        teamSize = 6
        validateLegality = true
    }
}

All Fields

Field	Type	Default	Description
displayName	String	"Standard"	Human-readable name shown in GUIs and messages.
includes	List<String>	[]	Other format IDs to compose rules from. Clauses and bans are merged.
clauses	List<String>	[]	Clause IDs to apply. Must match keys in clauses.conf.
bans.species	List<String>	[]	Species to ban. Uses Showdown IDs. Supports conditional bans (e.g. "greninja ability=battlebond").
bans.moves	List<String>	[]	Moves to ban.
bans.abilities	List<String>	[]	Abilities to ban.
bans.items	List<String>	[]	Items to ban.
bans.inventoryItems	List<String>	[]	Items banned from the player’s inventory on queue join. Supports full Minecraft item syntax including components (e.g. "cobblemon:tera_orb", "minecraft:diamond_sword[minecraft:enchantments={levels:{sharpness:5}}]").
bans.gimmicks	List<String>	[]	Battle gimmicks to ban. Valid values: "mega", "zmove", "dynamax", "terastallization".
targetLevel	Int?	null	If set, all Pokemon are scaled to this level during battle. null = use actual levels.
teamSize	Int	6	Maximum Pokemon allowed on a team.
pickCount	Int?	null	Number of Pokemon to pick from the team for battle (bring X, pick Y). null = use all.
requireUnevolved	Boolean	false	Only allow Pokemon that can still evolve (for Little Cup).
randomTeams	Boolean	false	Generate random teams instead of using the player’s party.
teamPreview	Boolean	true	Show team preview phase before battle.
randomGens	List<Int>	[9]	Generations to draw random team sets from. Only used when randomTeams = true.
validateLegality	Boolean	false	Check that each Pokemon’s moves, abilities, and held items are legal for its species/form.
previewSettings.hideOpponentTeam	Boolean	false	Hide the opponent’s team during preview.
previewSettings.randomLeadSelection	Boolean	false	Leads are chosen randomly instead of by the player.

Conditional Species Bans

Species bans support simple IDs and conditional qualifiers:

bans {
    species = [
        "mewtwo"                          # Ban all forms
        "greninja ability=battlebond"     # Ban only Battle Bond Greninja
    ]
}

A plain species ID like "mewtwo" bans all forms of that species. Adding a qualifier like ability=battlebond narrows the ban to only the specific variant that matches the condition.

Inventory Item Bans

Inventory item bans check the player’s actual Minecraft inventory when they join the queue. This prevents players from using gimmick activation items from mods like genesisforms, mega_showdown, or gimme-that-gimmick.

bans {
    inventoryItems = [
        "cobblemon:tera_orb"
        "mega_showdown:mega_bracelet"
    ]
}

Items use full Minecraft item syntax and support component matching (e.g. "minecraft:diamond_sword[minecraft:enchantments={levels:{sharpness:5}}]"). All default formats with a gimmick_ban clause automatically include appropriate inventory item bans for popular gimmick mods. VGC format bans mega/zmove/dynamax items but allows tera items.

When using includes to compose formats, inventory item bans are merged from all included formats.

Gimmick Bans

Gimmick bans control which battle mechanics are allowed in a format:

bans {
    gimmicks = [
        "mega"               # Mega Evolution
        "zmove"              # Z-Moves
        "dynamax"            # Dynamax / Gigantamax
        "terastallization"   # Terastallization
    ]
}

A format that bans "mega", "zmove", and "dynamax" but does not ban "terastallization" allows Tera while blocking the other gimmicks. Only list the gimmicks you want to prohibit — unlisted gimmicks remain available.

When a format uses gimmick-related clause IDs (e.g. gimmick_ban) but has no explicit gimmick bans configured, the system auto-derives the appropriate gimmick ban lists from the clause IDs.

Default Formats

Frontier ships with nine formats out of the box:

ID	Display Name	Key Rules
standard	Standard	6v6, standard clauses, legality checks
doubles	Doubles	6v6 doubles, standard clauses
vgc	VGC (Regulation F)	Bring 6 pick 4, level 50, standard clauses, species bans, mega/zmove/dynamax banned, tera allowed
vgc_no_gimmick	VGC No Gimmicks	Same as VGC but all gimmicks banned including terastallization
open	Open	No restrictions, no clauses, no bans
little_cup	Little Cup	Level 5, unevolved only, standard clauses
monotype	Monotype	All team members must share a type
random	Random Battle	Random teams generated from set data, team preview enabled
random_doubles	Random Doubles	Random teams, doubles format, pick 4

Here’s what the VGC format looks like in the actual config:

vgc {
    displayName = "VGC (Regulation F)"
    clauses = [
        "species_clause"
        "item_clause"
        "sleep_clause"
        "evasion_clause"
        "ohko_clause"
        "ban_mega"
        "ban_dynamax"
        "ban_zmoves"
    ]
    bans {
        species = [
            "mewtwo", "mew", "lugia", "hooh", "celebi", "kyogre", "groudon",
            "rayquaza", "jirachi", "deoxys", "dialga", "palkia", "giratina",
            "phione", "manaphy", "darkrai", "shaymin", "arceus", "victini",
            "reshiram", "zekrom", "kyurem", "keldeo", "meloetta", "genesect",
            "xerneas", "yveltal", "zygarde", "diancie", "hoopa", "volcanion",
            "cosmog", "cosmoem", "solgaleo", "lunala", "necrozma", "magearna",
            "marshadow", "zeraora", "zacian", "zamazenta", "eternatus",
            "calyrex", "koraidon", "miraidon"
        ]
        gimmicks = ["mega", "zmove", "dynamax"]
    }
    targetLevel = 50
    teamSize = 6
    pickCount = 4
    validateLegality = true
    teamPreview = true
}

Format Inheritance

The includes field lets you build formats on top of other formats. Clauses and ban lists are merged from all included formats. Scalar fields (like displayName and teamSize) use the top-level format’s values.

formats {
    base_ou {
        clauses = ["species_clause", "sleep_clause", "evasion_clause", "ohko_clause"]
        bans {
            species = ["mewtwo", "arceus", "zacian"]
            abilities = ["moody", "shadow_tag"]
        }
        validateLegality = true
    }
    ou_no_tera {
        displayName = "OU (No Tera)"
        includes = ["base_ou"]
        # Inherits all clauses and bans from base_ou
        bans {
            gimmicks = ["terastallization"]
        }
    }
}

In this example, ou_no_tera inherits all clauses and bans from base_ou, then adds a terastallization ban on top. Clauses and ban lists are merged from all included formats, while scalar fields use the top-level format’s values.

Tip

Use includes to avoid duplicating ban lists across similar formats. Define a base format with shared rules, then create variants that add or override specific settings.

Note

A format with includes doesn’t need to be used by a ladder directly. It’s fine to have “base” formats that only exist to be inherited by others.