Configuration Overview

Frontier’s configuration lives in config/frontier/. Every file uses HOCON format and auto-generates with sensible defaults on first launch. Change anything, reload, done.

Directory Structure

config/frontier/
├── config.conf           # Main configuration
├── random-battles.conf   # Random team generation settings
├── formats.conf          # Format definitions
├── clauses.conf          # Clause definitions
├── messages.conf         # Player-facing messages
├── arenas.conf           # Arena definitions
├── gimmick-items.conf    # Mega stones and Z-crystal IDs
├── ladders.conf          # Ladder definitions
├── seasons/              # Season configurations
│   └── ...
├── tournaments/          # Tournament configurations
│   └── <id>/tournament.conf
├── random-battles/       # Random team data files
│   └── ...
└── guis/                 # GUI layout files
    └── ...

HOCON Format

HOCON (Human-Optimized Config Object Notation) is a superset of JSON with a more relaxed syntax. No quotes required around most keys, comments with #, and lists don’t need commas between entries.

# Comments with #
queue {
    tickInterval = 20
    maxRatingExpansionPerSecond = 10.0
}

# Lists don't need commas
clauses = [
    "species_clause"
    "sleep_clause"
    "evasion_clause"
]

Tip

If you’ve worked with JSON before, HOCON is friendlier. Braces and colons are optional for simple key-value pairs, and trailing commas are fine.

Hot-Reload

All config files can be reloaded without a server restart:

/ranked reload

This reloads config.conf, messages.conf, clauses.conf, formats.conf, ladders.conf, arenas.conf, random-battles.conf, gimmick-items.conf, all season files, all tournament files, and all GUI definitions. Player data (ratings, stats) is unaffected.

Note

GUI layouts refresh the next time a player opens them. Players currently viewing a GUI won’t see changes until they reopen it.

Config File Reference

File	Doc Page	What It Controls
config.conf	Main Config	Queue, match, anti-boost, replay, sounds, arena return, and cross-server settings
formats.conf	Formats	Format rules, clauses, bans, team preview
clauses.conf	Clauses	Clause definitions (Showdown rules, MoLang, validation)
ladders.conf	Ladders	Ladder definitions, rating algorithm, rank tiers
arenas.conf	Arenas	Arena positions and restrictions
gimmick-items.conf	Gimmick Items	Mega stone and Z-crystal Showdown IDs
random-battles.conf	Updates Since 1.0.0	Random team generation tuning and role-item logic
seasons/*.conf	Seasons	Season dates, ladder bindings, rewards
tournaments/<id>/tournament.conf	Tournaments	Tournament definitions
random-battles/	Random Battles	Random team generation data
messages.conf	Messages	All player-facing text
crossServer block in config.conf	Cross-Server Setup	ORCHESTRATOR / PARTICIPANT matchmaking topology
sounds block in config.conf	Sounds	Sound effects for queue, matches, preview, challenges, and misc events
guis/*.conf	GUI Layouts	GUI layout customization
Post-1.0 additions	Updates Since 1.0.0	New config blocks, defaults, and commands added after the initial release