Palworld server: tutorials & guidesAll guides around your own Palworld server

A Palworld server is ordered and started in a few minutes - the real work begins afterwards. Palworld has two peculiarities that are better known before the first session than after it: the dedicated server has a known memory leak, so memory consumption keeps growing while it runs, and the game is strongly limited by single-thread performance - so more memory alone does not automatically make a session smoother. Both lead to the same consequence: scheduled restarts are part of running the server from day one, ideally at night or at times when hardly anyone plays anyway.

The second decision comes before the first start: do you begin a fresh world on the server, or does an existing single-player or co-op world move along? The move works, but requires the right GUID folder and a clean check of the configuration afterwards. Anyone who only moves after twenty hours of play has considerably more to lose than on the first evening. In this order, you get to a server that needs no reworking the fastest:

1. Choose the plan by the expected number of players active at the same time - Palworld itself allows up to 32 players on a server at once, and there is no slot limit on our side.
2. Decide whether a new world is created or an existing save comes along - and do the move before the first evening together.
3. Adjust PalWorldSettings.ini: XP rates, Pal spawns, damage and the day/night cycle. Then restart the server.
4. Set up admin access via the AdminPassword and activate RCON if needed.
5. Secure the server if the group is to stay closed - via server password and visibility.

One note in advance that saves half of all troubleshooting: the community server list is not a reliable test. It fills up with a delay and does not show every entry by a long way. What counts is always the direct connection via IP and port together - the Palworld default port 8211 only serves as orientation; the only valid port is the one shown for your server in the web interface. Several servers run on the same IP; only the port tells the game which one is meant. And backups are self-service with Palworld, as everywhere with us: the save is accessible to you at any time via SFTP or WebFTP - it is backed up when you do it.

Getting started: connect and manage

These four guides cover the first day: connecting, giving yourself admin rights and either opening or closing the server. If you play across platforms, start with the guide on joining - Steam PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 each take their own way onto the same server. RCON is worth it as soon as you want to make announcements or remove someone without being in the game yourself.

Configuration & world

This is where most of the customization happens. PalWorldSettings.ini determines how fast you level up, how many Pals spawn, how hard the world hits and how long a game day lasts. Two stumbling blocks explain almost every question about it: a wrong copy of the file is edited, or the server is still running while you save and overwrites the change when it shuts down. Change, save, restart - in this order, every setting takes effect reliably.

Sizing

The question before buying: how big does the server have to be? The starting point is the number of players active at the same time, not the size of the world - bases, Pals and dropped items remain and take up memory permanently. Pocketpair names at least 16 GB for larger groups, small groups of friends get by on noticeably less. Because of the memory leak, though, a bigger plan only postpones the point at which a restart is due - it does not replace it.

Troubleshooting

The community list is not a good test - the direct connection is. Almost every report that the server cannot be found resolves itself as soon as you enter IP and port by hand instead of searching the list. If timeouts or stutter that only appear after several hours of uptime remain afterwards, the growing memory consumption is usually the cause and a restart the answer. The ports guide also explains how the server address is put together and where a firewall on your side can get in the way.

Frequently asked questions