Club Penguin was the snowy virtual world where millions of young players first went online. Canadian studio New Horizon Interactive launched it in 2005, Disney bought it in 2007, and Disney closed the original game on March 30, 2017, replacing it with Club Penguin Island, which shut down the following year. Fans had been running their own copies of the island even before the closure, rebuilt from the game's Flash files, and afterwards those servers became the only way to play. The community calls them CPPS - Club Penguin Private Servers.

CPPS are fan-run and unofficial, and they range from faithful recreations of a particular year to heavily customized islands with new items and rooms. This guide covers how they differ and what to check, especially if you are choosing one for a younger player.

Igloos, Puffles and Coins

You play a penguin, earn coins in mini-games such as sled racing, ice fishing and Cart Surfer, and spend them on clothing, furniture for your igloo and pet puffles. Rooms like the Town, the Plaza, the Dock and the Ski Village filled up for themed parties with decorations and free items, and collecting those items was half the fun. Card-Jitsu let players earn ninja belts in a card battle game, and secret agent missions gave the island its own stories. On the official game, membership unlocked most clothing and igloo upgrades.

What to Look For in a Club Penguin Private Server

AS2 or AS3 Era

The community splits Club Penguin into two eras named after the Flash version the game ran on. AS2 servers recreate the older island, roughly the late 2000s into the early 2010s, which is what many players picture when they think of the game. AS3 servers recreate the later Club Penguin up to its closure, with the redesigned interface and later parties. Pick the era you remember, because rooms, catalogs and mini-games differ between them.

How You Connect

Browsers dropped Flash at the end of 2020, so servers now use downloadable clients, Flash emulation or rewrites in newer web technology. A server that runs in your browser is the simplest option. A downloadable client means running a program from a fan project, so get it only from the server's own site.

Moderation and Chat Safety

The official game was built for children, with filtered chat and moderators watching the rooms. A fan server has to provide that itself. Look for active moderators, a chat filter, clear rules and a working report system. If a child will be playing, this matters more than anything else on this list.

Account Security

Fan servers do not have a large company's security team behind them, and the community's own guides warn that any CPPS carries some risk of user data leaking. Use a password you do not use anywhere else, and keep personal details off your penguin account.

Custom Content and Events

Some servers replay the original parties and catalogs on their old dates; others add their own items, rooms and games. Decide whether you want the Club Penguin you remember or something new built on top of it, and see how busy the party rooms are on an event day.

Islands Come and Go

CPPS have always been short-lived compared with the original. In May 2020 many closed after Disney sent copyright takedown requests, and in April 2022 one of the best-known was shut down at Disney's request. Enjoy a server while it lasts, think twice before paying for anything on one, and keep your expectations modest about how long any island will stay online.

Getting Started

Choose your era, check how the server connects and how it is moderated, then make a penguin and visit the Town at a busy hour. If a server feels like the island you remember, vote for it. The ranking below lists the Club Penguin servers players vote for here, and it starts again every month.