NodeCraft
A ranch block is a block that is required to breed Pokémon. Unlike daycares in the Pokémon games, Pokémon do not gain experience while inside a ranch block.
Up to six Pokémon from the player's PC can be placed inside a ranch block, and Pokémon placed inside will begin to wander around in a 9×9 block area around the ranch block. This wander area can be seen by hovering over the ranch block for about one second. The wander area can be increased with the use of ranch upgrades, up to a maximum of 15×15. While a Pokémon is inside a ranch block, it cannot be moved to the player's party or within the PC and will have a lock icon next to it when viewed inside the PC.
Only Pokémon that are inside a ranch block can be bred; attempting to conduct the breeding process without a ranch block will produce no results. If the breeding process is successful, the resultant Egg will be visible inside the ranch block and can be claimed. A single Pokémon or a group of Pokémon that cannot breed with each other can be placed inside the ranch block with no repercussions. However, this will not result in anything material and is purely aesthetic.
A ranch block can be destroyed with a single punch and requires no tool to retrieve, but this will reset any progress that was made with the breeding process and any ranch upgrades that were previously applied to it. Any Pokémon that were inside the ranch block will be returned to the PC.
If the player is outside the ranch block's range, the block will descend into the ground, leaving only its blue flower visible. Moving back into the ranch block's range will cause it to emerge from the ground again.
A ranch block with only its flower visible
A ranch block with an Egg inside of it, ready to be claimed
Config settings
- "Allow crafting and placing of ranch blocks": If this setting is set to false, ranch blocks cannot be crafted or placed, making breeding impossible.
Trivia
- In developmental versions of Pixelmon, the ranch block's design resembled the Companion Cube from Portal. The block item of the ranch block still has this texture, so it is possible to see remnants of this texture when breaking a ranch block.
The former ranch block design
