Matchmaking

Frontier’s matchmaking queue pairs players by rating and progressively widens the search the longer someone waits. Tight matches when players are available, no indefinite waits when they’re not.

The Matchmaking Flow

Here’s what happens from the moment a player hits “queue” to when the battle starts:

1. Queue join — The player’s current rating is snapshotted. Their team is validated against the ladder’s format clauses. Validation failure? Can’t join.
2. Queue processing — Every tickInterval ticks (default 20 = once per second), the queue runs:
   • Timed-out entries are removed (past defaultQueueTimeoutSeconds).
   • Remaining players are sorted by wait time, longest first.
   • Each player is checked against every other queued player for a valid match.
3. Rating expansion — The longer a player waits, the wider their acceptable rating range grows (see below).
4. Match condition — Two players match when both of their expanded ranges overlap each other’s rating.
5. Anti-boost check — If blockSameIp = true, players on the same IP can’t match.
6. Arena allocation — An available arena is assigned. No free arenas? The match enters a waiting queue.
7. Team preview — If the format has teamPreview = true, both players see each other’s teams and select leads/picks.
8. Battle start — Players teleport to the arena and the Cobblemon battle begins.

Queue Configuration

queue {
    tickInterval = 20
    maxRatingExpansionPerSecond = 10.0
    maxRatingExpansionCap = 500.0
    defaultQueueTimeoutSeconds = 600
}

Field	Type	Default	Description
tickInterval	Int	20	Queue processing frequency in ticks. 20 = once per second.
maxRatingExpansionPerSecond	Double	10.0	Rating points the search range expands per second of waiting.
maxRatingExpansionCap	Double	500.0	Maximum total expansion. At cap, a 1500-rated player matches anyone from 1000—2000.
defaultQueueTimeoutSeconds	Int	600	Seconds before automatic queue removal (10 minutes).

Rating Expansion

Each player’s search range starts at exactly their rating and grows outward every second:

expansion = waitSeconds * maxRatingExpansionPerSecond

Capped at maxRatingExpansionCap. With the defaults (maxRatingExpansionPerSecond = 10.0, cap at 500), a player rated 1500 looks like this:

Wait Time	Expansion	Matchable Range
0 seconds	±0	1500 only
10 seconds	±100	1400 — 1600
30 seconds	±300	1200 — 1800
50 seconds	±500 (cap)	1000 — 2000

Both sides matter

Both players must have sufficient expansion for a match to happen. A player who just joined with 0 expansion won’t match a 1500-rated veteran even if the veteran’s range covers them.

Match Settings

match {
    teamPreviewSeconds = 30
    turnTimerInitial = 150
    turnTimerRegenPerTurn = 10
    turnTimerMax = 180
    declineQueueCooldownSeconds = 30
    maxMatchDurationTicks = 36000
}

Field	Type	Default	Description
teamPreviewSeconds	Int	30	Duration of the team preview phase in seconds.
turnTimerInitial	Int	150	Starting turn timer in seconds (2.5 minutes).
turnTimerRegenPerTurn	Int	10	Seconds added back to the timer after each turn.
turnTimerMax	Int	180	Maximum the timer can reach with regen (3 minutes).
declineQueueCooldownSeconds	Int	30	Cooldown applied when a player declines a found match.
maxMatchDurationTicks	Int	36000	Maximum match length in ticks (36000 = 30 minutes). 0 = no limit.

Turn Timer

Each player gets a chess-clock style timer that ticks down only while it’s their turn to choose a move.

1. Starts at turnTimerInitial seconds (default 150 — two and a half minutes).
2. Counts down while the player is choosing.
3. After each turn, turnTimerRegenPerTurn seconds are added back, up to turnTimerMax.
4. Warnings fire at 60, 30, and 10 seconds remaining.
5. When the timer hits 0, a random move is selected automatically.

Regen keeps things fair

The regen mechanic means quick decisions are rewarded. A player who picks moves fast builds up a time buffer; someone who stalls every turn burns through their clock.

Challenges

Players can skip the queue entirely with direct challenges:

Command	What it does
/ranked challenge <player> <ladder>	Send a challenge to another player on a specific ladder.
/ranked accept	Accept an incoming challenge.
/ranked deny	Decline an incoming challenge.
/ranked togglechallenges	Toggle whether you receive challenge requests.

Challenges follow the same format rules and use the same arena system as queue matches. Team validation still applies. The one difference: challenges don’t affect anti-boost tracking windows, so repeated friendly matches won’t tank your rating gains on the ladder.

Queue Commands

Command	What it does
/ranked queue <ladder>	Join a queue for a specific ladder.
/ranked queue leave	Leave the queue.
/ranked queue	Show your current queue status.
/ranked queue info	Show queue sizes for all ladders.
/ranked queue info <ladder>	Show queue size for a specific ladder.