Palworld Server Quickstart

A Palworld dedicated server lets your group keep a persistent world running whether the host is online or not. This quickstart covers joining, the settings file everyone edits, admin commands, and where the saves live. Panel basics are in Access Your Game Server Panel.

Connect#

In Palworld choose Join Multiplayer Game, enter IP:8211 (or your allocated port) in the address box at the bottom of the screen, and connect. Give friends the password if you set one.

PalWorldSettings.ini#

All gameplay settings live in one file: Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini. The most common values are also exposed as variables on the Startup tab. If you edit the file by hand, stop the server first, keep the whole OptionSettings=(...) line on a single line, and restart afterwards.

[/Script/Pal.PalGameWorldSettings]
OptionSettings=(Difficulty=None,DayTimeSpeedRate=1.000000,NightTimeSpeedRate=1.000000,ExpRate=1.000000,PalCaptureRate=1.000000,PalSpawnNumRate=1.000000,DeathPenalty=All,bEnablePlayerToPlayerDamage=False,bEnableFriendlyFire=False,bEnableInvaderEnemy=True,DropItemMaxNum=3000,BaseCampMaxNum=128,BaseCampWorkerMaxNum=15,GuildPlayerMaxNum=20,ServerPlayerMaxNum=32,ServerName="My NoBull Networks Palworld",ServerDescription="",AdminPassword="change-me",ServerPassword="",PublicPort=8211,PublicIP="",RCONEnabled=False,RCONPort=25575,bUseAuth=True)

Popular tweaks: ExpRate and PalCaptureRate for pace, DeathPenalty (None, Item, ItemAndEquipment, All), bEnablePlayerToPlayerDamage for PvP, and ServerPlayerMaxNum up to 32. If a value seems ignored, the file has a syntax error; the default file DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini in the same tree is the reference.

Admin commands#

In the in-game chat, log in with the admin password, then use commands (each starts with a slash):

/AdminPassword change-me
/ShowPlayers
/Save
/Broadcast Restart_in_5_minutes
/KickPlayer 7656119...
/BanPlayer 7656119...
/Shutdown 60 Server_restart

Broadcast text cannot contain spaces; underscores are the convention. With RCON enabled (and a separate allocation for its port), the same commands work from an RCON client without being in game.

Saves and backups#

World and player saves live under Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<world id>/. Palworld autosaves regularly; run /Save before restarts and schedule nightly backups. To move a save from a co-op or another host, copy the whole world id folder in and make sure the file Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini points DedicatedServerName at that id.

Restarts help#

Palworld's server has been known to leak memory over long sessions. A scheduled restart every 12 or 24 hours with a broadcast warning keeps it smooth; set it up on the Schedules tab. Watch memory on the panel graphs, and if 20+ players and large bases push it, a bigger plan is a prorated upgrade.

Updates#

When Palworld updates, players on the new client cannot join an old server. Restart the server from the panel; the install routine fetches the current build. If your PalWorldSettings.ini gains new options after an update, compare it with the fresh default file.