If you’ve spent any time upgrading your Palworld base past the early stone and wood stages, you’ve probably hit a wall when you first look for high-tech components. Learning how to get circuit boards in Palworld is non-negotiable if you want to build electric generators, advanced workstations, or even high-tier weapons to take on Alpha Pals and hostile human factions. I spent three full playthroughs testing every possible way to farm this resource, so I’ve cut out all the useless guesswork to help you stock up fast, no endless grinding required.
How to Get Circuit Boards in Palworld: 2 Core Methods
Most new players assume circuit boards only drop from high-level enemies, but that’s not the case at all. You have two reliable ways to get this resource, and you can mix and match them depending on your current progress and playstyle. If you prefer to fight and explore, looting military outposts and high-level dungeons will get you small stacks fast. If you’d rather build up a sustainable supply for long-term base upgrades, crafting them at the right workstation is far more consistent long term. There’s also a third niche trading option for players who have extra gold to burn.
- Looting: Fast for small, immediate stacks, no crafting setup required, but supply is limited and you’ll have to fight high-level enemies to access the best spots.
- Crafting: Fully sustainable infinite supply, can be fully automated with Pals, but requires you to unlock the right technology and set up dedicated farming for raw materials.
- Trading: A quick shortcut if you only need 1 or 2 right away, but merchant stock is limited and costs far more gold than making circuit boards yourself.
For most players, I recommend mixing looting for your first few circuit boards to unlock early electric items, then switching to crafting as soon as you hit level 28. That way you don’t have to wait to test out new tech, while still building a system that will keep you supplied for the rest of your playthrough.
Step-by-Step Crafting Guide for Circuit Boards
Crafting is by far the best long-term strategy, so let’s break down exactly what you need to get started. First, you’ll need to reach player level 28 to unlock the circuit board recipe in your technology tree. It costs two technology points to unlock, so make sure you save those up as you level up through the mid-game. Next, you’ll need a High Quality Workbench to craft them, which unlocks at level 28 as well. If you don’t have that set up yet, you can also use a workbench at any friendly player’s base if you’re playing co-op, which is a great shortcut if you’re a few levels behind your group.
Each circuit board requires two raw materials: 4 Pure Quartz and 2 Plastic. Pure Quartz is the harder one to find for most new players, since it only spawns in the cold northern and southern mountain regions of the map. You’ll need a heat resistant armor set to farm there safely, otherwise you’ll take constant cold damage the whole time you’re mining. I used to waste hours mining random rock nodes across the starting island looking for Pure Quartz before I realized it only spawns in those snowy mountain zones, so don’t make that same mistake.
Plastic is far easier to source. You just craft it from crude oil at a refinery, which unlocks at level 20. Crude oil spawns in large, easy to spot pools in the desert biome in the middle of the map, or you can get small drops from killing Pals like Digtoise and Relaxaurus if you don’t want to travel to the desert yet. Once you have all the materials together, each circuit board only takes 10 seconds to craft, so you can build up a stack of 50 in just a few minutes if you have a lot of raw materials saved up.
Best Looting Spots for Fast Circuit Board Drops
If you need just a few circuit boards right now and don’t want to wait to set up your crafting line, looting is the way to go. The best spot by far is the Sacred Mountain Military Outpost in the northwest corner of the map. The outpost has 7 locked chests that drop 1-3 circuit boards each, plus you can get extra drops from the hostile human guards there, who are level 30-35. Make sure you bring at least level 25 Pals with you, otherwise the guards with assault rifles will wipe you out pretty quickly. I usually bring a team of 2 Tanzee with assault rifles of their own and 1 Grizzbolt for close combat, and I can clear the whole outpost in 5 minutes flat.
High level dungeons are even more profitable, especially the ones marked as level 30 or higher. The final chest in most of these dungeons drops 5-10 circuit boards at a time, plus you’ll get extra high-tier resources like polymer and refined metal along the way. Some high level Alpha Pals also drop circuit boards as rare loot, but the drop rate is so low it’s not worth farming them specifically for this resource. Remember, these spots have respawn timers of around 2 in-game hours, so you can’t farm them nonstop forever. That’s why crafting is still better for long-term needs.
If you prefer to trade, look for wandering merchants in the desert or mountain biomes. They usually sell 5-10 circuit boards each for 500 gold a piece. That’s a pretty steep price, but it’s worth it if you’re only missing one or two to finish a generator and don’t want to travel all the way to a military outpost.
Tips to Automate Circuit Board Production for Your Base
Once you have your basic crafting setup running, you can automate the whole process so you never have to grind for circuit boards again. First, set up a small mining outpost near a large Pure Quartz vein in the snowy mountains, and assign Pals with the mining work suitability level 3 or higher to work there. Pals like Grazioso and Digtoise are perfect for this, since they mine fast and don’t take extra cold damage if you build a small heated base for them nearby. Make sure you add storage chests right next to the mining nodes, so your Pals don’t waste time walking long distances to drop off materials.
Next, set up a refinery near your oil farm in the desert to turn crude oil into plastic nonstop, and assign a Pal with level 2 handiwork to run the refinery. You can also set up a second outpost here with storage to keep plastic stockpiled, or use a Pal with transport suitability to move it straight to your main base. Finally, assign a Pal with level 3 handiwork to your High Quality Workbench, and they’ll turn your raw Pure Quartz and plastic into circuit boards automatically as soon as the materials come in.
Make sure you have enough power running to all your workstations, because if your generator cuts out, your Pals will stop working immediately. I learned that the hard way when I forgot to refuel my generator before logging off for the night, and came back to zero new circuit boards and a pile of unused raw materials. I have this exact setup running in my main base now, and I get around 50 circuit boards every hour without lifting a finger, which is more than enough for all my base upgrades and weapon crafting needs.
You don’t have to grind for hours to stock up on the high-tech parts you need for your Palworld base. Whether you choose to loot, craft, or trade, knowing how to get circuit boards in Palworld will let you skip the mid-game slump and jump straight to building the advanced base and gear you’ve been planning. Try out both looting and crafting to see which fits your playstyle best, and don’t forget to set up automation as soon as you can to save yourself hours of extra work later on.