You're standing in the middle of a flower forest, your inventory is screaming because it’s full of Apricorns, and you just realized you have nowhere to put that level 50 Garchomp you just caught. It happens. We’ve all been there, staring at a screen wondering why the game doesn't just hand you a storage system the second you spawn in. Honestly, learning how to make a pc pixelmon users actually find reliable is the first real hurdle of the mod. Without it, you're basically just a hiker with a few Poke Balls and zero long-term prospects.
The PC—or the Pokemon Storage System, if you want to be formal about it—is the literal backbone of your journey. It isn't just a box. It’s the gateway to your entire collection.
The Basic Recipe (And Why It Costs So Much Iron)
To get started, you need to understand that a PC isn't a single item you craft in one click. It’s a multi-stage process. Most people get frustrated because they have the aluminum but forgot the glass, or they have the redstone but haven't hammered out their plates. You’re going to need a Crafting Table, obviously.
First, grab six Aluminum Plates. If you’re playing on a newer version of the Reforged mod, you might be using Iron instead of Aluminum depending on your specific config, but standard Pixelmon usually demands Aluminum. You get these by taking Aluminum Ingots to an Anvil and hitting them with a Hammer until they're flat. It’s tedious. It’s loud. But it’s necessary.
Once you have your plates, you need a single Glass Pane and one piece of Redstone Dust. The layout is pretty specific: place the Glass Pane in the top middle slot of your crafting grid. Put the Redstone Dust right in the center. Then, surround those with your six Aluminum Plates in the remaining outer slots.
Boom. You have a PC.
But wait. You can't actually use it properly if you don't have a way to power your setup or heal your team nearby. It’s knda useless to have a PC in the middle of nowhere if your team is fainted. That's why most veteran players build their PC and their Healer at the exact same time.
Aluminum vs. Iron: The Great Material Debate
There is a lot of misinformation floating around about which metals you can use. In older versions of Pixelmon, like the legendary 1.12.2 builds that many servers still run, Aluminum was king. You had to find Bauxite ore, smelt it, and then hammer it.
In some of the 1.16.5 and 1.20+ updates, the developers have toyed with recipe consistency. Some sub-mods or "modpacks" might swap these for Iron Plates or even Steel if you have something like Mekanism or Immersive Engineering installed. But if you are playing "Vanilla" Pixelmon Reforged, stick to Aluminum. It’s that silvery-white ore that looks a bit like Iron but spawns at different Y-levels. Don't ignore it when you're mining for diamonds. You'll regret it later when you have thirty boxes of Pokemon and no way to access them.
Why Placement Matters More Than You Think
Don't just slap your PC on a dirt block and call it a day. I’ve seen players lose access to their storage because a Creeper wandered into their "temporary" camp and blew the PC into item form, which then despawned because they were busy fighting off a boss-level Gyarados.
Put it inside.
Ideally, you want your PC positioned at eye level. It sounds like a small detail, but when you're doing mass-breeding or checking IVs for hours on end, having to look down at a floor-mounted PC is a literal pain in the neck. Set it on a sturdy block—Stone Bricks or Wood Planks work fine.
One thing most people don't realize is that the PC doesn't actually store the Pokemon "inside" the block. The block is just a terminal. Your Pokemon data is saved to your player file on the server or your local world save. This means if your PC breaks, you haven't lost your shiny Mewtwo. You just lost the ability to look at him until you craft a new one.
Troubleshooting the "I Can't Click It" Bug
Sometimes you'll craft the perfect setup, right-click the PC, and... nothing. This is usually a ghosting issue or a claim-related problem if you're on a multiplayer server like Complex or Pixelmon Realms.
- Check your claims: If you are using GriefPrevention or a similar plugin, make sure the PC is inside your claimed land. If it’s right on the border, the server might think you’re trying to "interact" with a block in the wilderness or someone else's property.
- The "Empty Hand" Rule: Pixelmon can be finicky. Sometimes, if you're holding a specific item—like a Mega Ring or a certain held item—the right-click action defaults to the item's use rather than the PC interface. Try clicking with an empty hand.
- Server Lag: If the PC opens but stays "loading," that's a communication issue between your client and the server's database. Just wait. Don't spam click, or you might accidentally release a Pokemon once the screen finally pops up.
Advanced Setup: The Trading Machine and Beyond
Once you've mastered how to make a pc pixelmon style, you're going to want to expand. A PC is just the start. To get Golem, Alakazam, or Machamp, you need a Trade Machine.
The Trade Machine is way more expensive. You’re looking at more Aluminum Plates, but also Emeralds and a Charge Pad. Most players realize too late that the PC is the "cheap" part of the lab. If you’re serious about completing the Pokedex, start saving your Redstone and Gold now. You’re going to need a lot of it for the electronic components.
Essential Next Steps for Your Pixelmon Base
Now that you have your storage sorted, you need to optimize the area around it. A PC works best when it's part of a functional hub.
- Craft a Healer immediately: You’ll need four Aluminum Plates, an Iron Ingot, and a Diamond. It’s expensive but saves you from running back to a PokeCenter every five minutes.
- Organize your Boxes: Don't just dump everything into Box 1. Use the "Rename" feature in the PC interface. Label boxes by Type (Fire, Water, etc.) or by Purpose (Breeders, Synchronizers, Legendaries).
- Set up an Apricorn Farm: Your PC will fill up fast if you’re catching everything you see. You'll need a steady supply of Poke Balls, and that starts with rows and rows of Apricorn trees.
- Check your Configs: If you’re the server owner, you can actually change how many boxes a player has. The default is usually 30, but for hardcore collectors, that’s nowhere near enough. You can bump this up in the
pixelmon.hoconfile.
Having a PC is the difference between playing a mini-game and playing a full-scale RPG. It changes the way you interact with the world because suddenly, every Pokemon you see is a potential addition to your permanent roster rather than just something you're passing by. Get those Aluminum Plates hammered out, find some Redstone, and get your digital storage online. You've got a Pokedex to fill.
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Actionable Next Steps:
Locate an Aluminum vein between Y-levels 0 and 60. Smelt at least six ingots and craft a Hammer (two sticks and five units of wood, stone, or metal) to begin shaping the plates required for your first PC unit. While smelting, gather at least one sand block to smelt into glass for the monitor component. Once your PC is placed, immediately rename your first three boxes to "Current Team," "To Level," and "Trade" to prevent your storage from becoming a cluttered mess within the first hour of play.