How to host a Palworld dedicated server

Three ways to host

The player numbers are Pocketpair's own, from the game's Steam page: online co-op is for up to four, and a dedicated server allows up to 32.

Co-op from the game

Palworld's online co-op mode lets up to four people play in a world that one of them hosts from their own game. There's nothing to install, no settings file and no router to configure.

Its limits are the reasons people move to a dedicated server. Four players is the ceiling, and the world runs in the host's game, so it's only there when the host is playing. A dedicated server is a separate program that keeps the world running with nobody in it. For a group of four or fewer who always play at the same time, co-op is enough.

How much RAM a Palworld server needs

Pocketpair's answer is 16 GB, with more than 32 GB recommended. That's for the server alone: if you'd run it on the PC you also play on, the game needs its own memory on top. These are Pocketpair's figures from its server guide, which is labelled version 1.0.4; the game itself is on v1.0.5.

In our tests the server files took about 5 GB of disk. Older guides that say 8 GB of memory is enough date from Early Access. Pocketpair also say that a higher BaseCampWorkerMaxNum (Pals working at each base) increases the load on the server. The RAM calculator gives our estimate for your group.

Ports to open on your router

That is the only port Pocketpair's guide lists. Forward it on UDP to the PC running the server, and allow the server through that PC's firewall.

Two things not to do. Don't open the server's RCON or REST API to the internet: Pocketpair say these “are not designed to be exposed directly to the Internet”, and both are off in the default settings. And don't mistake PublicPort in the settings file for the listening port: Pocketpair say it doesn't change the port the server listens on. Only -port= does that.

Set it up, step by step

1. Install the server. In Steam, search your library for Palworld Dedicated Server; if it isn't there, tick the Tools filter. Or, with SteamCMD:

   steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

2. Start it once so it creates its folders, then stop it. The Saved/Config folders don't exist until it has run. With SteamCMD on Windows:

   cd .\steamapps\common\PalServer
   PalServer.exe

   On Linux:

   cd ~/Steam/steamapps/common/PalServer
   ./PalServer.sh

3. From the PalServer folder, copy the default settings into place. Windows:

   copy DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini Pal\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\PalWorldSettings.ini

   Linux:

   cp DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini

4. With the server stopped, edit that copy. The next section covers what to change.
5. Forward UDP port 8211 to this PC.
6. Start the server again. To put it in the in-game server list, and to let Xbox and PS5 players join, start it as a community server: PalServer.exe -publiclobby or ./PalServer.sh -publiclobby. From the Steam client, choose Open and start as a community server.
7. Give your friends your public address and the port.

The settings to change first

Every setting sits on one long line of PalWorldSettings.ini, inside OptionSettings=( … ). Change the values where they already are, rather than adding lines; this is what those keys look like with values in:

ServerName="Friday Night Pals",ServerDescription="Guild nights, Fridays",AdminPassword="pick-an-admin-password",ServerPassword="pick-a-join-password",ServerPlayerMaxNum=16

The server autosaves on its own (AutoSaveSpan=30.000000 in the default file) and keeps backup saves (bIsUseBackupSaveData=True). Pocketpair warn that the backups increase disk load, which is one more reason for the SSD. For XP, capture rate, death penalty and the other gameplay settings, see Palworld server settings explained, or let the PalWorldSettings.ini generator write the line for you.

Make yourself admin

Pocketpair's steps: set AdminPassword in the settings file before the server starts, join, press Enter to open the chat and type /AdminPassword followed by that password. Commands such as /Save, /Broadcast, /KickPlayer and /Shutdown then work for you.

How friends join

In Palworld, friends choose Join Multiplayer Game and type your address and port into the box below the server list, for example 203.0.113.10:8211. If you started the server with -publiclobby, they can also find it under Community server in that list.

Servers are cross-play by default between Steam, Xbox and the Microsoft Store on PC, macOS and PS5. There's a catch for consoles: Pocketpair say that to join “from the Xbox version or the PS5 version, you need to deploy it as a community server”. So if anyone in your group is on a console, -publiclobby isn't optional.

If friends outside can connect but you can't from inside your own home, your router probably lacks Hairpin NAT. Pocketpair say that without it you can't connect to a community server hosted on your own network.

Moving a co-op world to your server

Pocketpair's guide doesn't cover this, so this is the method server hosts use, and the one our own import follows. On Windows, a co-op world is a folder with a long code for a name, in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames\<Steam ID>\. It holds Level.sav and a Players folder.

1. Stop the server.
2. Copy the world's folder into Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/ in the server's folder.
3. In Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/GameUserSettings.ini (LinuxServer on Linux), under [/Script/Pal.PalGameLocalSettings], set DedicatedServerName= to the folder's name. Then start the server.

Everyone's characters come over except the host's: the game ties the host's character to the host, so it doesn't carry across. If the world's folder has a WorldOption.sav, see the settings guide's note on it, because hosts report it overriding your settings file.

The full walkthrough, including the host's character and the fix tools, is in how to move a Palworld co-op world to a dedicated server.

Mods on a server

Pocketpair say that, for now, “server-side mods work only on the dedicated server with Windows edition”, and only mods built to run on servers. Their guide also warns that mods “may cause save-data corruption or crashes”. A Linux server, at home or rented, runs without them.

Traps

• Editing the wrong file. Pocketpair: “Editing DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini will not affect the changes.” Edit the copy.
• Looking for the folder before the first start. The Saved/Config folders only appear once the server has run.
• Editing while it runs. In our tests the game overwrote an edit made while the server was running when it stopped. Stop, edit, start.
• Console friends can't see it. They need a community server, started with -publiclobby.
• Old performance flags. Older guides add -useperfthreads -NoAsyncLoadingThread -UseMultithreadForDS. Pocketpair now say that in v1.0 and later, leaving them unset may improve performance.
• RCON tools. Pocketpair have deprecated RCON and say it's scheduled to stop working in an upcoming update. They point to the REST API instead.
• The next big update. Pocketpair have announced “Palworld: Side by Side” for winter 2026. After any Palworld update, restart the server so it updates too.

Renting a server instead

This section is about our Palworld servers only.

• Memory is the thing to get right, because Pocketpair's 16 GB applies wherever the server runs. Ours start at 16 GB.
• You choose the server name and both passwords when you create the server. The name, description, passwords, player cap and allowed platforms are then set from the panel's server settings every time it starts, so change them there.
• The rest of PalWorldSettings.ini is in the panel's settings editor, which checks the options it knows before you save, so there's no file to copy and no stray quote to break the line.
• Our servers start as community servers, with -publiclobby already set.
• To bring a co-op or single-player world, zip its folder and use the guided import on the panel's Files page. The server switches to the imported world and keeps the old one for 7 days, so you can undo.
• Stopping a server sends Palworld's own shutdown command, so the world saves on the way out. Each server checks for a game update every time it starts.
• Keep your own copy: download your files from the panel's Files page, as one .zip or over SFTP.
• A pass lasts a day, a week or a month. At checkout you choose whether it renews until you cancel or runs once. When a pass ends the server stops and its files are kept for 30 days.

The RAM calculator suggests a size for your group and the pricing page shows the sizes.

Game facts checked against Palworld v1.0.5 on 11 November 2026.