If you’ve ever run into another player on a public Palworld server, or wanted to get the attention of your stray Cattiva that wandered off chasing a berry bush, you’ve probably wondered how to wave in Palworld. It’s one of the smallest, most overlooked mechanics in the game, but it adds a ton of charm to both solo and multiplayer runs. I’ve spent dozens of hours messing around with social interactions in the game, and I’ve broken down exactly how to pull off the emote, plus all the hidden uses you might not have heard of yet.
How to Wave in Palworld: Exact Controls for Every Platform
The wave emote is unlocked for all players from the moment you start your first save file, so you won’t have to complete any quests or craft anything to access it. The only thing that changes is the input method, depending on what platform you’re playing on. If you’re playing with a controller, the process of how to wave in Palworld is almost identical across all console platforms, so you won’t have to memorize different inputs if you switch between Xbox and PlayStation.
PC controls: Hold the T key to open the emote wheel, then select the wave icon from the top left slot. You can remap the emote wheel key to a side mouse button or another easier key in the settings menu if the default T key feels awkward to reach mid-game. I switched mine to my mouse’s side button last month, and it cuts down on fumbling when I’m trying to wave at someone while running from a hostile Grizzbolt.
For Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch players: Hold down the right D-pad button to pull up the emote wheel, navigate to the wave icon with your left analog stick, then press the confirm button (A for Xbox/Switch, X for PlayStation) to activate the emote. You can also rearrange the emote wheel order in the social settings menu to put the wave in a more accessible slot if you use it often.
Common Reasons Your Wave Emote Isn’t Working
It’s not uncommon to press the right inputs and get no response from your character, and there are a few simple fixes for almost every case. Most of the time, the issue isn’t a bug, it’s just a normal game mechanic that you might not have noticed before.
You’re in combat or performing a priority action: If you’re mid-swing with a pickaxe, shooting at a hostile Pal, riding a mount, or in the middle of building something, the game will ignore emote inputs entirely. You have to put away your tool or weapon, step off your mount, and stand still for about half a second before the emote will activate. I’ve run into this so many times when I’m trying to wave at a friend while carrying a pile of wood, I’ve gotten in the habit of dropping whatever I’m holding first now.
High server latency is blocking the emote: If you’re playing on a public multiplayer server hosted far away from your location, you might see your character wave on your screen, but other players won’t see the animation at all. This is just a side effect of high ping, and switching to a local server or restarting your connection usually fixes it. You can test if this is the issue by waving at a Pal in your party, if they don’t react to the emote, it’s almost certainly a latency problem.
In very rare cases, the wave emote might disappear from your emote wheel after a game update. You can fix this by going to the social settings tab and selecting “restore default emotes” to reset the wheel back to its original setup.
Fun and Practical Uses for the Wave Emote
A lot of players write off the wave as a useless gimmick, but it has way more uses than just saying hi to random strangers on public servers. I use it almost every time I play, and it’s saved me from plenty of frustrating situations over the past few months. Some of my go-to uses include:
- Greeting friendly players on PvE and mixed PvP servers: Waving is a universal sign you’re not looking to fight, which is especially helpful on servers where PvP is enabled by default. 9 out of 10 players will wave back instead of attacking if you lead with the emote, which is a lot nicer than getting shot at while you’re looking for berries.
- Signaling to your Pals to come to you immediately: If you’re within 20 meters of a Pal assigned to your party, waving will make them stop whatever they’re doing and run straight to your position. This works way faster than whistling if they’re distracted by gathering resources or chasing a small wild Pal.
- Unlocking hidden interactions with passive Pals: Some skittish Pals like Lamball, Chillet, and Cremis will wave back at you if you wave first, and they’re far less likely to run away when you approach them to feed or capture them. I’ve caught three perfect Chillet this way without having to sneak up on them at all.
- Marking rare locations for co-op friends without chat: If you play with friends who don’t like using voice chat or typing, waving three times in a row is a common unwritten signal for “come over here, I found something good”. I use this all the time to mark rare Pal eggs, high-tier ore veins, and boss spawn locations for my group.
That last trick has saved me so much time when I’m playing with my little sibling, who refuses to use text chat no matter how many times I ask. We once found a legendary Jetragon spawn last month, and I waved three times to get their attention before it despawned. It worked way better than trying to type out coordinates while running after it.
How to Customize Your Wave Emote for Extra Flair
The default casual wave works perfectly fine for most players, but if you want to make your emote stand out more, you have a few customization options available depending on what platform you play on. None of these changes affect how the emote works, they just add a fun personal touch to your character.
Adjust your wave style in the character customization menu: You can access this at any time by opening the main menu, selecting “Character”, and scrolling down to the “Emote Settings” tab. You can pick between three default wave styles: a short casual wave, an excited big wave, and a shy small wave. I’ve used the excited big wave for months, and it’s way more fun when I’m greeting friends I play with regularly.
If you play on PC, you can also install modded custom emotes that add new wave animations, like a silly over-the-top wave or a wave that spawns confetti around your character. Just make sure the server you’re playing on allows modded emotes, otherwise other players won’t see the custom animation, and you might even get kicked from some strict public servers.
Console players don’t have access to custom modded emotes as of the latest update, but the Palworld development team has teased that they’re working on adding more free default emotes for all platforms in a future content patch, including new wave styles.
You don’t need to master complex combat or building mechanics to get the most out of Palworld, and small touches like knowing how to wave in Palworld make the game feel far more immersive and fun, whether you’re playing alone or with a group of friends. Next time you run into a fellow player or see your favorite Pal wandering off after a berry bush, give the emote a try, you might be surprised by how much it changes your gameplay experience. If you run into any issues getting the emote to work, double check your control settings and make sure you’re not mid-action, and you’ll be waving at everything that moves in no time.