Set up a Palworld dedicated server

A Palworld dedicated server keeps your world running when the co-op host logs off, and takes up to 32 players instead of 4. It's a free download from Steam, for Windows and Linux.

1. Install the server

In the Steam library, show Tools and install Palworld Dedicated Server. Or, on a machine without Steam, use SteamCMD; the server needs no Steam account:

steamcmd +force_install_dir /opt/palworld +login anonymous +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

The download is about 4.8 GB. Run the same command again to update the server; players can only join a server on the same version as their game.

2. Write PalWorldSettings.ini

The first start creates Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini (WindowsServer on Windows), but leaves it empty, and the server runs on its defaults. Stop it, copy the [/Script/Pal.PalGameWorldSettings] section and its long OptionSettings=(...) line from DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini in the server folder, and change what you need. Editing DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini itself does nothing.

• ServerName and ServerDescription, in double quotes.
• ServerPassword: what players type to join. Leave it empty for an open server.
• AdminPassword: players type /AdminPassword and this password in the chat to become admin. It is also the REST API's password.
• ServerPlayerMaxNum: up to 32.
• PublicPort: the port players connect to, if it differs from the one the server listens on, as behind a router.

Every multiplier, death penalty and rule lives on the same line; the server reads it at start-up.

3. Start it

On Linux, from the server folder:

./PalServer.sh -port=8211 -players=16

On Windows, run PalServer.exe with the same options. Add -publiclobby to list the server in the in-game community servers, the only place Xbox and PlayStation players find servers. The server is ready when it prints Running Palworld dedicated server on :8211; a new world takes a few seconds.

4. Open the ports

• UDP 8211, or the port you gave -port: the game. Forward it on your router to play from outside your network.
• UDP 27015: the Steam query port, which -QueryPort= moves. Give each server on one machine its own.

The RCON (TCP 25575) and REST API (TCP 8212) ports are for admin tools. Keep them closed to the internet.

5. Stop it without losing progress

The server saves the world every 30 seconds (AutoSaveSpan), but Ctrl+C makes it exit without a final save, as a crash. To stop it cleanly, turn on the REST API with RESTAPIEnabled=True and ask it to shut down; it saves first:

curl -u admin:YOUR_ADMIN_PASSWORD -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"waittime":1,"message":"Server stopping"}' http://127.0.0.1:8212/v1/api/shutdown

/v1/api/save saves without stopping, and /v1/api/players lists who is on. Once the server is up, /v1/api/info answers with its name and version, which makes a handy health check.

How much memory it needs

A fresh world idles at about 0.9 GB of memory and a tenth of a CPU core on version 1.0.5. Memory grows with bases, the Pals working in them, and days of uptime, so plan for 8 GB for a small group and more for a full 32-player world. Lowering BaseCampWorkerMaxNum keeps busy bases in check.

Where the world is saved

Worlds are folders under Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/, named by a 32-character ID. DedicatedServerName in GameUserSettings.ini, next to PalWorldSettings.ini, names the one the server loads; with no world there, it generates a new one. Bans are kept in Pal/Saved/SaveGames/banlist.txt. To bring a co-op world, see moving your world to a dedicated server.