How to create a Palworld server: guide for Windows and Linux

You changed the server name, set a password, adjusted the rates — and after a restart everything is back to default. With Palworld that usually means PalWorldSettings.ini was edited while the server was still running: on shutdown it writes its own state back over your file. Stopping the server cleanly is part of configuring it, not an afterthought.

Requirements and hardware

How much memory you need depends on the player count, the Pals people have caught and how far the bases have grown. Treat these as planning figures, not guaranteed minimums:

Demand can climb even with a steady player count as bases expand and Pal collections grow. Beyond memory, single-core performance matters more than core count, and an SSD is worth having.

For a server at home, the connection decides everything else: you need a public IPv4 address for other players to reach it over the internet. On DS-Lite or CGNAT lines a normal port forward often cannot be made to work at all. Check that before you install anything.

If you would rather not provide the hardware and the reachability yourself, you can rent a Palworld server from DeinServerHost instead.

Installing on Windows

Windows uses SteamCMD from Valve. Download it, extract it to C:\steamcmd and run steamcmd.exe once so it can update itself. Then install the server files:

steamcmd.exe +login anonymous +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

App ID 2394010 is the Palworld dedicated server, not the game client. validate checks the downloaded files against Steam's manifest.

Start PalServer.exe afterwards. With the extra performance flags Pocketpair recommends, the command looks like this:

PalServer.exe -useperfthreads -NoAsyncLoadingThread -UseMultithreadForDS -port=8211 -players=32

That runs the server on port 8211 with room for 32 players. The first launch creates the config folders and the world. Shut the server down cleanly before you touch any of its settings.

Installing on Linux and running it under systemd

On Debian or Ubuntu the install also goes through SteamCMD. Create a dedicated user for the service, enable the i386 architecture and install SteamCMD:

sudo adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" pal
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y steamcmd

Switch to the pal user and install into /home/pal/palserver:

sudo -iu pal
steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir /home/pal/palserver +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

For permanent operation, create /etc/systemd/system/palworld.service:

[Unit]
Description=Palworld Dedicated Server
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=pal
WorkingDirectory=/home/pal/palserver
ExecStart=/home/pal/palserver/PalServer.sh -useperfthreads -NoAsyncLoadingThread -UseMultithreadForDS -port=8211 -players=32
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

The unit runs PalServer.sh as the pal user and brings it back ten seconds after a crash. The same approach applies to creating a Valheim server.

Load the unit, enable the service and watch its output:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now palworld
sudo journalctl -u palworld -f

Let it run once, then stop it before editing the configuration. Under systemd it is easy to forget that Palworld is still alive in the background — which is exactly how configuration changes get eaten.

Editing PalWorldSettings.ini correctly

PalWorldSettings.ini does not sit next to the server executable, and it does not exist until the server has started once.

Check which path your installation actually uses. A file of the same name somewhere else — the bundled template, for instance — is not the active configuration, and editing it changes nothing.

Why this file breaks so easily

Practically every setting lives on one single, very long line, inside an OptionSettings=(…) block, separated by commas. It is an unusual format, and it is the second place people lose an afternoon.

The opening and closing brackets are part of that structure. Lose the closing bracket, or let your editor wrap the long line, and the server can no longer read the configuration. Instead of an error message it quietly falls back to default values — which looks exactly like an overwritten config but has a different cause.

Use the bundled DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini as your starting point: copy its contents into the active PalWorldSettings.ini, then change the values you want inside the existing OptionSettings line, keeping the brackets and the comma separation intact.

The settings worth knowing

These keys cover the basics:

Two pairs get mixed up regularly. ServerPassword and AdminPassword are separate things — one lets players in, the other hands out administrative control, so do not reuse the same value for both. And PublicPort is the game port while RCONPort only concerns remote administration; confusing them means forwarding the wrong port in the router.

With ServerPlayerMaxNum, look back at the memory table. The number you set says nothing about whether the machine can carry it.

Getting the order right

Stop the server completely before you open the active file. On first setup, paste in the template's contents, change the values inside the existing block, and save with the line and brackets intact. Start the server again and confirm the changes took.

If your edits are gone from the file entirely, the server overwrote them on shutdown — redo them with the server stopped. If they are still in the file but have no effect, look instead at the OptionSettings line for a wrap or a missing bracket, or check that you edited the right file in the first place. The two failures look identical from the game and have nothing to do with each other.

Palworld dedicated servers have no Steam Workshop mod system. Difficulty, rates, day and night length, base limits — all of it runs through this one configuration file.

Ports and firewall

A game connection needs 8211/UDP. Palworld's gameplay traffic is UDP; 25575/TCP only matters if you enable RCON.

On Windows, open PowerShell as an administrator and allow the inbound traffic:

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Palworld 8211 UDP" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 8211 -Action Allow

With UFW on Linux:

sudo ufw allow 8211/udp

For a server on a home connection, the rule on the machine is only half of it — 8211/UDP also has to be forwarded in the router to the server's local IP address. A port test only tells you anything while the server is actually running.

Connecting to the server

In game, pick "Join Multiplayer (Dedicated Server)" and enter the address with its port. For players outside your home network that looks like:

YOUR_IP:8211

If you are on the same network as the server, use its local address instead, for example 192.168.x.x:8211. Everyone else connects over the public address. If you set a ServerPassword, they need that too.

One router quirk makes troubleshooting harder than it should be: connecting via the public IP from inside your own network sometimes fails even though the server is perfectly reachable from outside. That is usually missing NAT loopback. Test with the local IP in that case — it does not mean the server is broken.

Securing admin access and RCON

For remote administration, set RCONEnabled=True in the configuration, give AdminPassword a value and set RCONPort. The default RCON port is 25575/TCP. An RCON client then lets you list players, kick or ban them, broadcast messages and trigger a save.

Restrict access by firewall to your own management IP, or reach it through a VPN or SSH tunnel. Use a long AdminPassword of its own, different from ServerPassword, and do not open the game port and the management port with one blanket rule.

Backing up a Palworld world

Back up the world folder under Pal/Saved/. Stop the server first, or you capture a save mid-write. Keep the backups somewhere other than the same disk as the live server.

Take one before every update as well. Saves are not compatible across all versions, and a backup made before you upgrade is what lets you go back.

Updating the server

A Palworld dedicated server does not update itself. After a game update you pull the server files yourself with SteamCMD, using the dedicated-server app ID again:

steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

Back up the world and stop the server first, run SteamCMD against the existing installation, then start it again. On Linux with the systemd unit from above:

sudo systemctl restart palworld

If files are missing after an update, or the server refuses to start, run the SteamCMD command again — validate repairs an incomplete installation.

Troubleshooting

Frequently asked questions about Palworld servers

How much RAM does a Palworld server need? For up to four players, 8 GB is the guideline; for 8 to 16 players, 16 GB. At up to 32 players plan for 16 to 32 GB. Caught Pals and built-out bases push actual demand higher.

Which ports do I need to open for Palworld? 8211/UDP for play. On a home server the port also has to be forwarded to the right machine in the router. 25575/TCP is only needed with RCON enabled, and should not be exposed to the internet unprotected.

Where is PalWorldSettings.ini? On Windows in Pal\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\PalWorldSettings.ini, on Linux in Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini, both inside the server installation. The file does not exist until the server has started once.

Why do my configuration changes keep disappearing? Editing the file while the server is running lets it write its previous values back over yours on shutdown. Stop it first. If the changes stay in the file but have no effect, check the OptionSettings line for a wrap or a broken bracket.

How many players can join a Palworld server? ServerPlayerMaxNum goes up to 32. Whether the machine handles that depends on actual occupancy, Pals and bases — the configured maximum guarantees no particular performance.

How do I update my Palworld server? There is no automatic update. Back up first, pull the dedicated-server files with SteamCMD and app ID 2394010, then restart. The validate argument verifies the installed files.

Are there mods for Palworld dedicated servers? There is no Steam Workshop mod system for the dedicated server. Difficulty, rates, day and night length and base limits are all adjusted through the server configuration instead, with the server stopped and the file structure kept intact.

Can I use crossplay without port forwarding, like in Valheim? No. Palworld has no crossplay mode that replaces a port forward. A home server needs a working public IPv4 address and a forward for 8211/UDP. On DS-Lite or CGNAT the normal forward is often impossible.