Catching and releasing mobs with a Capture Net

ChoiceCraft has lightweight mob catching. You catch a mob with a Capture Net and release it again later: right-click to catch, right-click to release. No resource pack is required, and nothing needs installing on your side.

A caught mob is not a copy of a mob. It is the same one, folded into an item and waiting to be let out again, which is a considerably tidier way to move a cow than pushing it home one boat at a time.

Catch chance, net uses, cost, and which mobs are off limits are all settings, so the values on the server you are playing on are the real ones. This page explains the behaviour rather than the numbers.

How do I catch a mob?

Hold a Capture Net in your main hand and right-click the mob you want. If the catch succeeds, the mob disappears and a Captured <Mob Name> item arrives in your inventory, named after whatever you just caught.

The catch chance is a flat rate. It does not depend on the mob's health, so weakening something first does nothing at all — a full-health cow and a nearly departed one are equally catchable. There is no reason to hit anything first, and several good reasons not to.

There is a short cooldown between attempts. Right-clicking faster than the cooldown does not improve your odds; it improves nothing whatsoever, which is a lesson many clicking-based strategies eventually deliver.

How do I get a Capture Net?

Craft it from 5 string and a stick, in a mesh over a handle:

S S S      S = string
S   S      T = stick
  T

Staff can also hand one out directly. If the recipe does not work on the server you are on, crafting has been turned off there and staff are the only source; ask in /ticket open rather than assuming the recipe is broken.

Why did the mob break free?

Because the roll went against you. A failed catch says so and shows the chance it was working with, so the number in that message is the current setting on that server — more reliable than any guide, including this one.

A failed attempt still spends a net use. The net does not refund a miss, so a run of bad luck costs charges just as a run of good luck does. If money is involved, though, a failure costs nothing: you are only charged when the catch actually succeeds.

Nothing is lost when a catch fails except the use and your composure. The mob is still standing there, and you can try again once the cooldown is up.

How many mobs can one net catch?

A limited number, set per server, after which the net breaks and tells you so. Every attempt counts against that total whether it succeeds or not.

The net is not repairable in the way tools are. When it breaks, craft or obtain another one. Nets are cheap; that is rather the point of a plugin whose core ingredient is string.

How do I release a mob I caught?

Right-click a block, or the air, while holding the captured-mob item. It works from either hand. The mob comes back where you clicked and the item is used up.

The release needs somewhere to put a mob — roughly two blocks of clear space. If there is no room, you get a message saying so and the item is not consumed, so a failed release costs you nothing. Step out of the tunnel and try again.

A captured-mob item only ever releases the type it was caught as. It cannot be persuaded to produce something else, whatever the internet suggests.

Does the mob come back the same?

Yes, in the ways that matter. A released mob keeps its name, health, and age, so a baby stays a baby rather than growing up in storage. It keeps its variant and colour, its tamed state and its owner, and equipment or inventory such as a horse's saddle or a villager's trades.

There is one limit worth knowing. The mob's details ride along on the item, and a mob carrying a great deal of it — a fully traded villager, a llama with a chest — can exceed what the item will hold. That mob is still caught and still released, but comes back with its type, name and health only.

If a particular villager's trades are the entire reason you want it, that is the case to be careful with. A cow will be fine. A cow is always fine.

Which mobs cannot be caught?

Some types are excluded outright, and the net simply says the mob cannot be caught. The usual exclusions are the boss mobs and things that are not really mobs — the ender dragon, the wither, armour stands, and giants — but the list is a server setting and can differ.

Players are never catchable, and a player can never be released. This is non-negotiable in the plugin itself rather than a setting somebody might have left switched on, which we mention because somebody always asks.

Staff can add types to the exclusion list. If a mob you expect to catch refuses, that is the likely reason rather than a bug.

Does catching cost money?

It can. Where the server charges for catching, the cost is taken only when the catch succeeds — a failed roll never touches your balance, and if you cannot afford the cost the mob is left alone and nothing is deducted.

Check /balance on the server you are playing on for the money that applies there. Survival coins stay on Survival and SkyBlock coins stay on SkyBlock, and catching does not change that.

Where no cost is configured, catching is simply free, and the messages will not mention money at all.

Can another player catch my pets or my farm animals?

Yes, and this is the part to read twice. The Capture Net performs no ownership check. A tamed pet, a named villager, or your animals standing in unclaimed land can be caught by any player who is allowed to use a net.

Protect animals the way you protect anything else: keep them inside land you have claimed, and do not leave a prize horse standing in the open on the assumption that its name tag is a legal document. A claim is the protection; the net is not aware of your feelings.

If somebody has taken your animals, that is the same problem as any other theft. Open /ticket open, choose Griefing or stolen items, and include your Minecraft name, the server, the rough time, the location, and what is missing. Staff can investigate; this page does not promise a particular outcome.

Can I use a captured mob as an unlimited spawner?

No. Releasing consumes the item, so one catch produces exactly one release. Catch a chicken, release a chicken, and the item is gone.

Mobs move through the net rather than being created by it, which is the whole design: a released mob is one that already existed. Anything that turned an item into an endless supply would be a duplication bug, and it is worth reporting as one — /ticket open, with the steps that produced it.

If you would like a feature the net does not have, /suggest <your idea> in Discord puts it in front of staff and the community. It is a proposal, not a delivery, but it is the door that actually opens.