If you’ve ever spent an hour grinding for a rare Pal on a public server only to have a random troll kill it or reset the entire world, you know how frustrating shared public servers can be. You’ve probably already looked up how to host a Palworld server to get full control over your own playspace, and you’re in the right place. I’ve set up three different Palworld servers over the past few months for everything from a small 4-person friend group to a 12-person casual community, so I know all the common pitfalls and shortcuts to get you up and running fast. This guide works for both casual players who just want a low-stakes world with friends and people who want to run a larger public community server.
What You Need Before You Start Hosting Your Palworld Server
First, you need to decide if you want to self-host the server on your personal PC or pay for a dedicated game server host. Self-hosting is completely free, but it requires you to leave your PC on whenever anyone wants to play, and it will use some of your system resources while running. Dedicated hosts cost between $5 and $15 a month depending on how many players you support, but they run 24/7 without using your personal hardware or internet bandwidth.
You also need to make sure your hardware (or your chosen host’s hardware) meets the minimum requirements for your group size. Minimum hardware specs for 2-8 players include 16GB of RAM, a 4-core CPU, and 20GB of free SSD storage. For 10+ players, you’ll want at least 32GB of RAM, a 6-core CPU, and 50GB of SSD space to avoid lag during busy play sessions. You’ll also need an upload speed of at least 10Mbps for 8 players if you’re self-hosting, or faster for larger groups.
- A valid copy of Palworld on Steam (you don’t need a separate copy for the server, but you will need your Steam account to download the dedicated server files)
- Admin access to the device you’re using for hosting, plus permission to adjust your router’s port forwarding settings if you’re self-hosting
- Basic familiarity with text file editing to adjust server rules like player limits, Pal spawn rates, and PvP permissions
Don’t stress if you’ve never edited a config file or adjusted port settings before. The process is far simpler than it sounds, and I’ll walk you through every step to avoid mistakes.
How to Host a Palworld Server via Self-Hosting: Step-by-Step Walkthrough
First, you need to download the Palworld Dedicated Server tool from Steam. Open your Steam library, click the dropdown menu that defaults to “Games” and check the “Tools” box, then search for Palworld Dedicated Server and install it like you would any other game. It only takes a few minutes to download, even on slower internet connections.
Once it’s installed, right click the tool in your Steam library, select “Manage”, then “Browse local files” to open the server folder. Find the file named DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini and copy all of its contents, then navigate to the Saved/Config/WindowsServer folder and paste the contents into the PalWorldSettings.ini file there. Don’t edit the default config file directly, because any future Palworld updates will overwrite your changes completely, which is a mistake I made on my first server that cost me hours of custom rule setup.
Next, you need to set up port forwarding on your router to let players outside your home network connect. Log into your router’s admin panel, find the port forwarding section, and forward port 8211 for both UDP and TCP traffic to your local PC’s IP address. If you don’t know how to find your local IP, you can just search “what is my local IP” on your PC’s search bar to pull it up in two seconds. You’ll also want to add an exception for the Palworld server in your Windows or third-party firewall to avoid connection blocks.
Once that’s done, launch the Palworld Dedicated Server from Steam, wait 2 to 3 minutes for it to fully load all assets, then give your public IP address to your friends so they can join. I recommend using a free dynamic DNS service so you don’t have to send your friends a new IP every time your internet provider resets your connection, which saves a lot of annoying back and forth.
How to Customize Your Palworld Server for Better Gameplay
The biggest benefit of running your own server is that you can tweak every single rule to fit your group’s playstyle, which is something you’ll never get on a public server. You can edit all rules directly in the PalWorldSettings.ini file you set up earlier, and there are even free online config generators if you don’t want to edit the text file manually.
Adjust Pal spawn rates and capture odds first if you’re playing with casual players who don’t want to spend hours grinding for rare Pals. I usually bump rare Pal spawn rates to 2x and capture odds up by 30% for my friend group, which makes the game feel rewarding without taking away the challenge of hunting for your favorite Pals. You can also adjust things like player stamina drain, hunger rates, and how much damage bases take from enemy raids to make the game as relaxed or as hard as you want.
You can also turn PvP on or off entirely, or restrict it to specific areas of the map if you want a mix of cooperative building and friendly competition. Don’t forget to set a strong server password too, so only people you give the code to can join and avoid random trolls popping in to destroy your bases or steal your Pals. If you want to use mods, you can install them directly to the server’s mod folder, just make sure every player joining has the same mods installed on their local copy to avoid crashes.
I once ran a server for a weekend get-together with old college friends where I set hunger drain to 0, raid damage to 0, and Pal spawn rates to 3x, and it was one of the most fun Palworld sessions I’ve ever had. We didn’t have to stop every 10 minutes to cook or repair bases, so we could just focus on exploring and catching Pals together.
Common Palworld Server Hosting Problems (And How to Fix Them)
Even if you follow every step perfectly, you might run into a few common issues when you first launch your server, but almost all of them have simple fixes. The most common issue is friends being unable to connect, and 90% of the time it’s one of three problems: you gave them your local IP instead of your public IP, your port forwarding settings are wrong, or your firewall is blocking the server connection. Always test your server first by connecting from a device outside your home network before telling your friends to join, that way you can fix any connection issues before they try to log on.
If your server is lagging or crashing constantly, it’s almost always a resource issue. If you’re self-hosting, close any other heavy programs like video editors, other games, or streaming software while the server is running, as these use up RAM and CPU that the server needs. If you’re using a dedicated host, you might need to upgrade your plan to get more RAM if you have more than 8 players regularly online at the same time. Too many unoptimized mods can also cause constant crashes, so try removing mods one by one to find the culprit if you’re running a modded server.
Another common problem is lost progress or server resets after a game update. The only way to avoid this is to back up your server’s save files regularly. I back up the entire Saved folder in my server directory once a week, and always before I edit the config file or add new mods. That way, if something breaks, I can just restore the old save file and lose no progress.
If you’re running a larger community server, you might also run into issues with players breaking rules. You can add admin permissions for trusted players by adding their Steam ID to the admin list in the config file, so they can kick or ban rule-breakers without you having to be online every time.
Hosting your own Palworld server doesn’t have to be as complicated as it sounds, even if you don’t have any prior experience with game server setup. Most people I’ve walked through the process got their server up and running in less than 30 minutes, and the payoff of having a fully customized world to play in with your friends is more than worth the small amount of effort. Whether you go with free self-hosting for a small group or a paid dedicated host for a larger community, learning how to host a Palworld server lets you play the game exactly the way you want to, without the frustrations of public servers.