Transfer a single-player world to the serverMove your Palworld save via FTP

Published on August 5, 2026 · last updated on October 21, 2026

Step by step

1. Find your save: open %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames\<SteamID>\. The folder with the long GUID is your world.
2. Create a backup: copy the complete world folder to a safe place first.
3. Stop the server: stop your Palworld server in the web interface so that no files are overwritten.
4. Connect via FTP: connect to your server with the FTP credentials from the web interface.
5. Upload the world: transfer the world files (including Level.sav, LevelMeta.sav, the Players folder and WorldOption.sav, if present) into the server's save folder.
6. Start the server: start the server again and connect to check the move.

Which file does what

The world folder looks confusing, but at its core consists of only a few building blocks. If you know what is in which file, you immediately see what the cause is when something is missing after the move:

If the world is missing completely after the move, Level.sav is not in the right place. If the world is there but your character starts from zero, it concerns the file in the Players folder.

The GUID stumbling block

Palworld does not link characters via the Steam name, but via a GUID - a long string of characters that is also the file name in the Players folder. In single-player, your character carries a different GUID than on the server, where it is derived from your SteamID.

In practice, that means: the world moves over cleanly, but the character may end up as a new, empty player. The bases are still standing, but no longer belong to you. If you want to fix exactly that, rename your own player file to the GUID that the server creates when you first join - to do so, join once, leave again, then look for the newly created file in the Players folder and replace it with the old one. Make a copy beforehand without fail; a slip costs your entire character progress.

Guilds are the second pitfall: they store the GUIDs of their members. If one changes, the player may have to be accepted into the guild again before they can get back to the shared bases.

After the move: check the settings

A transferred world brings its own rules along. If there is a WorldOption.sav from single-player in the save folder, it wins over PalWorldSettings.ini - your server settings for experience rate, damage or Pal density then simply do not take effect, even though they are entered correctly.

If the server configuration should be decisive, do not upload the WorldOption.sav in the first place. If, on the other hand, the familiar single-player rules should continue to apply, take it along and leave the corresponding values in the INI alone. Maintaining both at the same time only leads to confusion.

After that, a quick walk-through is worth it: is the base complete? Are the Pals in their work assignments? Are level and technologies right? Only when that fits do you open the server to the group - until then, the way back is just one file copy away. How your friends join afterwards is explained under Join a server.

Why a dedicated server?

Unlike hosting from inside the game, a dedicated server runs around the clock - even when you are offline. Your friends can keep playing at any time, the world stays persistent and you benefit from scheduled restarts against the Palworld memory leak.

One point stays in your hands afterwards, though: backups are self-service with us throughout. You fetch the save folder via WebFTP or SFTP, just as with the move - only in the other direction. Before every update and every larger change to the world, that is worth the half minute, see Update your server. Which plan fits a world that keeps growing is explained in How much RAM does a Palworld server need?.

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