If you’ve spent hours hunting for a rare Jetragon or perfect IV Anubis only to find your friend has been looking for the exact same Pal for weeks, you’ve probably asked can you trade pals in Palworld. Multiplayer is one of the biggest draws of the creature-collecting survival hit, and being able to swap Pals with your crew makes grinding for perfect builds way less frustrating. I learned this the hard way when I tried to trade a rare Frostallion to my roommate on a public server last month, only for a random player to sprint past and grab it before either of us could react. But before you try to hand over your strongest combat Pal to a new player on your server, there are a few critical rules, limitations, and risks you need to know to avoid losing your hard-earned captures for good.
Can You Trade Pals in Palworld: Official Rules & Current Limitations
As of the latest game updates, the short answer is yes, you can transfer Pals between players, but there is no dedicated, secure trade UI built into the game yet. All trading currently works by dropping Pals from your active party for another player to pick up and add to their own Palbox. This system works well for trusted groups, but it comes with hard limitations set by the developers to prevent exploitation.
You can only trade Pals on the same platform family first. Steam players can only trade with other Steam players, while Xbox and PC Game Pass players can only trade with other users in the Xbox ecosystem. Cross-platform trading is not supported at this time, and there is no official word on if it will be added in future updates.
You can’t trade Pals across different server types either. Pals collected in single-player mode can only be traded to other players if you host a private co-op server using that save file. You cannot bring Pals from a private server to a public server, or transfer Pals between two separate public servers, even if you play on the same platform as the other user.
How to Safely Trade Pals With Friends Without Losing Them
Trading Pals is straightforward once you know the unwritten rules to avoid losses. I always follow the same step-by-step process whenever I swap Pals with my friend group, and I haven’t lost a single rare capture since that Frostallion incident a few months back. The key is to eliminate as many variables as possible that could lead to your Pal disappearing or getting stolen.
- Join the same private co-op server with the player you want to trade with, and make sure you are both in the same enclosed base area far from aggressive wild Pals or enemy PIDF patrols
- Move the Pal you want to trade from your Palbox to your active party, and confirm it is not marked as a favorite Pal (favorited Pals cannot be dropped by default to prevent accidental deletion)
- Drop the Pal on the ground directly in front of the other player, and ask them to pick it up immediately before any hostile spawns appear or server lag causes the Pal to despawn
- Ask the other player to confirm they have added the Pal to their Palbox and can view it in their menu before you leave the area or log out of the server
If you are doing a two-way swap, where both players are giving each other a Pal, complete one side of the trade first before moving to the second. This eliminates the risk of one person grabbing both Pals and leaving if you’re trading with someone you don’t know super well. Never trade Pals on public servers, even if you think the area is empty, because random players can spawn nearby or use fast travel to get to your location before your trade partner can pick up the Pal.
Common Risks of Trading Pals (And How to Avoid Them)
The lack of a formal trade system means there are a few avoidable risks that every player should be aware of before they start swapping Pals. Most of these risks only apply if you’re trading with people outside your immediate friend group, but even long-time gaming friends can run into issues if you don’t take basic precautions.
Scamming is the most common risk, especially on public community servers. If you agree to trade a rare Pal for a different rare Pal or a stack of high-tier resources, there is no way to enforce the other player holding up their end of the deal. If they grab your Pal and log off immediately, you will not be able to get your Pal back, even if you report them to server moderators. Only trade with people you trust, or do small test trades first to confirm they are honest.
Server lag and bugs can also cause dropped Pals to disappear permanently, even if no other players are nearby. This rarely happens on well-maintained private servers, but it’s common on overcrowded public servers with high ping. Always back up your save file before trading any rare or high-investment Pals that you’ve spent hours leveling or breeding. If the Pal disappears due to a bug, you can reload your save to get it back.
You also run the risk of breaking your base production if you trade away Pals that are assigned to specific jobs. Before you trade a Pal, double check that it’s not listed as a worker on your farm, mine, or production station. If you trade a Pal that’s assigned to a job, that station will stop working until you assign a replacement Pal to the role.
What Pals Are Worth Trading? Curate Your Swaps For Maximum Value
You don’t have to only trade endgame legendary Pals to get good value from swaps. A lot of new players are willing to trade rare resources or lower-tier rare Pals for common Pals with good work stats that make base building easier. Knowing what Pals are in demand will help you get the most out of every trade you make.
Rare endgame Pals like Jetragon, Frostallion Noct, Paladius, and Necromus are always the highest value trade items, especially if they have good IVs and rare passives. Pals with the Legendary passive skill are worth 2 to 3 times more than the same Pal without the passive, since the skill boosts both their attack and defense by 20%.
Common Pals with perfect work stats are also extremely valuable, even if they have low combat power. Level 30+ Cattivas with maximum carrying capacity and work speed passives are in high demand from players who want to speed up their base production. High-level Tombats and Digtoises with perfect mining stats are also great trade items for players who are just getting to the mid-game and need to gather large amounts of ore.
If you’re new to trading, start small by swapping common Pals or excess resources before you trade any of your rare captures. This will help you get comfortable with the trade system and avoid making costly mistakes when you start trading higher value Pals later on.
At the end of the day, whether you're looking to help a new friend get their first strong mining Pal or swap a duplicate Jetragon for a perfect IV Anubis, the answer to can you trade pals in Palworld is yes, as long as you follow the rules and take basic safety precautions. As the game continues to get updates, we may see a formal trade UI added down the line, but for now, the current drop method works perfectly for co-op groups that trust each other. Just remember to back up your saves, only trade on private servers, and never hand over your favorite Pals to someone you don't know, and you'll be able to grow your Pal collection way faster than you ever could grinding alone.