MyPet: Add Companion Pets to Your Server

Want to give your Minecraft server players a reason to stick around? A pet system that actually works changes everything. MyPet turns your ordinary server into something players talk about - they're taming, training, and leveling up companions that feel genuinely rewarding.

What MyPet Does

This is a Spigot and Paper plugin that lets players catch, train, and level up pets. Your players can walk around with a tamed wolf, fox, dragon, or any other mob they've caught. These aren't just cosmetic companions either - they actually fight alongside your players, learn skills, and get stronger over time.

The plugin's been around since 2011. That means it's had over a decade to mature. It's got 202 stars on GitHub, and the Java codebase reflects real-world plugin development at scale. The latest version, 3.14.1, supports everything from 1.8.8 all the way up to 1.21.11, though the maintainer has made it clear that this version series is the last to support some of the older Minecraft versions.

Why Server Owners Use It

Pet systems feel good. Players get invested in leveling their companion, customizing it, showing it off to other players. For server owners, that's engagement - and engaged players come back.

Some servers use this for progression. Your pet's level becomes another stat to flex. Others use it more casually, where the real appeal is just having a buddy following you around while you mine. Both approaches work because MyPet doesn't force a playstyle.

It integrates cleanly without taking over your server. You're not locked into any one playstyle or theme. Want your players' pets to be purely visual? Fine. Want them to be combat machines that can solo dungeons? Also fine.

Setting Up MyPet on Your Server

This assumes you're running Paper or Spigot (actually, if you're still on base Spigot, 3.14.1 is your last chance - the maintainer's already announced Paper is the future, and honestly they're right. Paper's smoother, faster, and over 82% of servers have already made the switch).

Head to the GitHub releases page and grab MyPet-3.14.1.jar. Or build it yourself if you like that sort of thing - just clone the repo and run:

./gradlew clean build

Your compiled jar shows up in build/libs/. Take whichever jar you grabbed and drop it into your plugins/ folder. Restart the server.

That's it, really. The plugin creates its configuration on first run. Players can immediately start using /mypet help to see what commands are available. The new help system in 3.14.1 shows you categories - all, pet, skills, admin - so people aren't overwhelmed by a wall of commands.

Core Features That Stand Out

Pet Catching and Ownership. Players use a capture item to tame mobs. Once caught, that's their pet. You can configure which mobs are catchable, which makes this flexible enough for a pure vanilla server or something way more exotic.

Leveling and Skills. Your pet gains experience as it fights. Higher level means better stats, but also unlocked skills - things like critical strikes, fire resistance, or the ability to dodge attacks. Players get to invest time into building exactly the companion they want.

Configuration That Actually Works. I can't overstate this. The configuration files aren't black magic. You can adjust pet damage, experience rates, which mobs are allowed, permissions - whatever. Server admin controls are there if you want granular control, but the defaults are reasonable enough that most servers just run with them.

Multi-Version Support. Running 1.20.4 on some clients, 1.21 on others? This works. The plugin's built to handle it. You don't have to fragment your player base just to use it.

One thing that surprised me digging into this: the plugin is maintained primarily by one person doing it in spare time. No corporate backing, no Mojang involvement. And yet it still supports this many versions and features. Worth respecting.

What Trips People Up

Pet health can get confusing. Your pet doesn't have infinite durability - they can die. Some players get upset about this. You can mitigate it with configuration (healing items, respawn timers, etc.) but it's worth knowing going in. Combat pets will occasionally fail you, and that's by design.

Permission nodes exist but they're straightforward. If you're already managing Spigot permissions with something like LuckPerms, this slots in cleanly. If you're new to permissions, the docs walk you through it. The wiki at mypet-plugin.de is full, though admittedly outdated in spots.

Configuration files can be verbose. That's a feature, not a bug - it means flexibility - but it also means you need to read the actual file to understand what's happening, not just skim a changelog.

Other Pet Plugins Worth Knowing About

Citizens is more NPC-focused but includes pet functionality. If you want pets plus custom NPCs, Citizens could be worth comparing.

Adopts leans heavier into cosmetics and roleplay. Look, less combat-oriented, more about variety and customization for the sake of it.

MythicMobs is more powerful overall but also way more complex. If you already have it installed for boss fights, adding pets is just one feature among dozens. But it's overkill if pets are all you need.

MyPet finds a good middle ground - it does one thing (pet system) and does it well. It's not trying to be a boss framework or a full NPC system. That focus is actually its strength.

Before You Install

MyPet assumes Paper or modern Spigot. If you're on an ancient version or a fork that's diverged significantly, you might hit issues. Test it on a dev server first if you're unsure.

The plugin needs world management for persistence. Pets are saved to disk. Make sure your server's data directory is writable, obviously.

Players will want to know how to use this. Drop a guide in your Discord or wiki. Something simple - "use /mypet catch [item] to tame, /mypet level to check progress" - goes a long way. You could even create a quick guide using our Minecraft Whitelist Creator template as a starting point for server documentation.

And if you're setting up complex survival servers with custom items, the Minecraft Block Search tool can help you identify which items make good capture tools.