Palworld Server Setup

Your first hour: from order to a world friends can find

New servers are normally ready within 20 minutes of payment. Six moves take you from a fresh install to a named, protected world that your friends can find from inside the game.

1. Get into the panelIn the client area, open Services, choose your Palworld server and press Auto Login to Control Panel. If you have changed the panel password since, sign in by hand instead.
2. Stop it and open the settingsStop the server, then open PalWorldSettings.ini from Configuration Files with the Config Editor. Palworld reads the file only as it starts.
3. Name it and lock itSet ServerName (make it unique, because friends will search for it), ServerPassword if the world is private, and AdminPassword, your key to the admin commands.
4. Make it findableEdit Start.bat in the same section and make sure the Community Server option is ticked. Without it the server never shows in the in-game list, and Xbox and PS5 players have no way in.
5. Start and give it a minutePress Start and allow a few minutes for the server to come online.
6. Join and claim adminIn Palworld choose Join Multiplayer Game, open the Community Servers tab and search for your server's name, or type the IP:port from the panel into the box at the bottom and press Connect. In game, press Enter and type /AdminPassword with your password.

Where things live in the panel

PalWorldSettings.ini: the settings worth changing

Every world rule lives in PalWorldSettings.ini, under Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/, written as one long OptionSettings=(...) line. Pocketpair's docs are clear that editing DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini changes nothing, and since 1.0 the dedicated server's defaults sit close to single-player Normal. Values below show the format, not recommendations.

Server and access

Pace and rewards

Death and difficulty

Quality of life

Community server, direct connect and crossplay

Pocketpair describes two kinds of server. A dedicated server is joined with an IP address and port; a community server is the same server, registered in the game's own list. That difference decides who can reach you.

Crossplay

Since the Crossplay update (v0.5.0, March 2025), dedicated servers accept the Steam version, Xbox Series and the Microsoft Store PC version, PS5 and Mac by default. Four rules decide whether everyone actually gets in:

• List the server. Xbox and PS5 players can only join a community server, so keep the Community Server option on.
• Keep required mods off. Mods are a PC thing. If every player must install a mod to join, console players cannot; remove such mods before inviting them.
• Choose platforms on purpose. CrossplayPlatforms=(Steam,Xbox,PS5,Mac) admits everyone, (Steam,Xbox) keeps PS5 and Mac out. The AllowConnectPlatform line in older guides no longer works.
• Decide on modded clients. bAllowClientMod sets whether players running mods may join at all.

What Palworld 1.0 changed for server owners

Pocketpair released Palworld 1.0 on 10 July 2026, ending two and a half years of Early Access. Most of the changelog is new content, but a good share of it lands on the server side.

Patches have followed steadily since: a v1.0.2 build on 30 July improved stability when playing with mods, and v1.0.5 on 15 September 2026 is the latest at the time of writing. Pocketpair's server documentation is currently written for 1.0.4. Keep the server on the newest build: players' games update through their store, and a server left on an older build may turn them away.

Admin password, commands, RCON and the REST API

Admin rights on Palworld come from a single password. Set AdminPassword in PalWorldSettings.ini, restart, then press Enter in game and type /AdminPassword followed by it whenever you need admin powers.

When you edit the scheduled restart or update messages in Service Settings, keep each within 48 characters: that is as much as a Palworld broadcast shows.

RCON and the REST API

For bots and dashboards, Palworld offers RCON (RCONEnabled, RCONPort) and a REST API (RESTAPIEnabled, RESTAPIPort). The REST API can read server info, the player list, settings and metrics, and can announce, kick, ban, save or shut down. Each needs a port of its own, so ask support before switching either on.

Bases, guilds and Pal workers: rules for a shared world

On a server every base keeps working at once, so the settings for bases and guilds shape both the game and the load. Pocketpair flags several of them as raising processing load when you increase them.

Palworld 1.0 also gave guilds roles with their own permissions, login and logout notifications and a shared guild marker, and some structures can be limited to chosen roles. On a busy server, settle who leads each guild early.

PvP servers: Pocketpair's switches and suggested rules

PvP on dedicated servers is, in Pocketpair's words, a trial feature that their support does not cover. Three settings must all be True to switch it on.

bIsPvP=True
bEnablePlayerToPlayerDamage=True
bEnableDefenseOtherGuildPlayer=True

With PvP active, players can hurt each other, base Pals attack trespassers, other guilds' chests can be opened, bases must stand further apart, and you are told when your base is attacked, with no building or repairing inside it until the fight is over.

Pocketpair's suggested PvP settings

• No stat stacking: bAllowEnhanceStat_Health=False and bAllowEnhanceStat_Attack=False.
• Remove the outliers: DenyTechnologyList can switch off fast-moving Pal Gear, the Grappling Gun and Guild Chests by their technology IDs.
• No escape by travel or logout: bEnableFastTravelOnlyBaseCamp=True limits fast travel to trips between bases, and bExistPlayerAfterLogout=True leaves players asleep where they logged out.
• Losses that matter: DeathPenalty=All with bCanPickupOtherGuildDeathPenaltyDrop=True lets rivals take a fallen player's items and Pals.
• Smaller guilds, lighter load: GuildPlayerMaxNum=4, BaseCampMaxNumInGuild=2 and MaxBuildingLimitNum=1000.
• Escalating respawns: BlockRespawnTime 5.0, RespawnPenaltyTimeScale 2.0 and RespawnPenaltyDurationThreshold 1800.0 start at 5 seconds and double with each death, resetting after 30 minutes alive.
• Something to fight over: with the PvP drop settings on, each kill drops a Champion's Emblem, and the map can show how many every base and player holds.

Mods: Steam Workshop, UE4SS and PalModSettings.ini

Pocketpair's docs set the ground rules: server-side mods only run on the Windows dedicated server, and only mods built for servers work there. Mods can crash a server or corrupt saves, so take a backup first.

Installing a loader mod by hand

1. Install UE4SS firstStop the server, open the Mod Manager and install UE4SS from its Mod Loader section.
2. Prepare the modDownload the mod, for example from NexusMods, read its install notes and extract it on your PC.
3. Upload just the mod folderIn the File Manager, open \Pal\Binaries\Win64\ue4ss\Mods\, choose Upload, then Select Folder. Upload the mod's own folder only: no zip files and no extra folder around it.
4. Set up the playersIf the mod is needed on the client too, players run the UE4SS ModPack installer from the panel into their Palworld folder, usually under steamapps\common\Palworld.
5. Start and testStart the server and join. To remove a mod later, stop the server and delete its folder from the same path.

How the server decides what to load

Mods/PalModSettings.ini appears after the first start. bGlobalEnableMod switches every mod on or off at once, and each ActiveModList line names one mod by the PackageName in its Info.json, not by its folder name. Mods are deployed when the server restarts. A mod whose Info.json lacks "IsServer": true in its install rules was not made for servers, and the -NoMods launch option disables the lot.

[PalModSettings]
bGlobalEnableMod=true
ActiveModList=FirstModPackageName
ActiveModList=SecondModPackageName

Players, memory and performance

Pocketpair's requirements for a machine running the server ask for 4 CPU cores or more and 16GB of memory, recommend over 32GB, and warn that 8GB boots but risks out-of-memory crashes. Those figures cover a whole computer, operating system included.

• Slots: 10 to 32 on our order form; 32 is the most a Palworld dedicated server supports.
• Memory: up to 10GB included, with 12GB, 14GB, 16GB, 20GB, 24GB and 32GB on the order form. Our plan cards add memory as slots rise.
• CPU and storage: 5.0GHz with 5.2GHz+ and 5.6GHz+ upgrades, High or Realtime priority, and NVMe drives. Pocketpair warns that slow storage can corrupt saves.

Settings that change the load

• Bases and workers: BaseCampMaxNum, BaseCampMaxNumInGuild and BaseCampWorkerMaxNum all add processing load as they rise.
• Spawns: PalSpawnNumRate above 1.0 fills the world and costs performance.
• Sync distance: ServerReplicatePawnCullDistance, 5,000 to 15,000 centimetres, sets how far from players Pals are kept in sync.
• Dropped items: PhysicsActiveDropItemMaxNum caps how many dropped items use physics.
• Launch flags: older guides recommend -useperfthreads, -NoAsyncLoadingThread and -UseMultithreadForDS. Pocketpair now says that from 1.0, leaving them unset may perform better.
• Restarts: a scheduled restart every few hours keeps a long-running world fresh; our restart guide's example runs every six hours.

Watch Activity and Stats during your busiest evening. If memory sits near the top, move up a tier from the client area under Services, My Services, Upgrade/Downgrade options, and restart once the difference is paid.

Saves, backups, restarts and updates

Palworld 1.0 improved saving to reduce the risk of corrupted saves, but a world that dozens of hours went into deserves more than one safety net.

Start fresh or carry on?

Saves from Early Access carry on into 1.0, but Pocketpair recommends a new character to enjoy the new content. On a server you can have both: back up the old world, clear it with Wipe Server for a fresh one, and keep the copy for a nostalgic evening later.

When it breaks: the fixes we reach for first

Most Palworld tickets we see come back to a short list. Run through it before you reinstall anything.

• Friends cannot find the server under Community ServersTick Community Server in Start.bat, give the server a unique ServerName, start it and wait a few minutes before searching.
• Xbox or PS5 friends cannot joinConsoles need a community server, a CrossplayPlatforms list that includes their platform, and no mods that every player must install.
• Settings changes do nothingEdit PalWorldSettings.ini, never DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini, and only with the server stopped.
• Admin commands are ignoredSet AdminPassword in the settings, restart, then type /AdminPassword with it in chat before any other admin command.
• The server will not start after an updateA mod is the usual suspect. Set bGlobalEnableMod=False in PalModSettings.ini, restart, then turn mods back on one by one.
• A mod installs but does nothingIt may not be built for servers (no IsServer in its Info.json), it may need UE4SS installed first, or it sits in the wrong folder.
• Restart warnings are cut offPalworld broadcasts stop at 48 characters. Shorten the messages in Service Settings.
• Voice chat does not workSwitch on bEnableVoiceChat in the world settings. Pocketpair notes it is not supported on the WinGDK build of the game.
• Memory climbs until the server stuttersSchedule regular restarts and look at bases and worker counts, then consider a bigger memory tier.
• A .exe, .dll or .bat upload is refusedThose file types are blocked for security; send them to support. The UE4SS ModPack installer is meant for players' PCs, not the server.

Run it at home or rent it: what each takes

Pocketpair lets anyone run the dedicated server: on Windows with Steam or SteamCMD, on Linux, or from an official Docker image. The price is your time and your hardware.

At home you download the server (app 2394010 in SteamCMD), copy DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini into place and edit it, forward UDP port 8211 on your router, add firewall rules, and leave a machine with 16GB or more running. Pocketpair has deprecated Docker Desktop for the job because of the risk to save data.

If a few friends play together and someone has a strong spare PC, home hosting works. When the group spreads across time zones and consoles, or the world needs to be up for a raid at 2am, rent it. Plans are on our Palworld Server Hosting page.