How to host a Palworld server for your friends

Palworld gives you three ways to play with friends, and they are not equal. One of them dies the moment you close the game. One of them means editing an .ini file and opening a port on your router. One of them means paying someone else to do the last one for you. This guide covers all three so you can pick the right one for your group tonight.

Pick your hosting mode#

Mode	Players	Runs when you log off	Effort
Co-op from the game	4	No	None
Dedicated server on your PC	Up to 32	Only while your PC is on	An evening
Rented dedicated server	Up to 32	Yes	Minutes

If it’s you and two friends for a weekend, co-op is fine. If the group is bigger than four, plays at different hours, or you’re tired of being the one who has to be online, you want a dedicated server. The rest of this guide is the dedicated route. If your group already has a co-op world, our free co-op save converter moves it to the server with the host keeping their character.

Install the Palworld dedicated server#

The server is a separate, free app on Steam. You don’t need to own the game on the account that runs it, but it’s easiest to install from the Steam client you already have.

1. Find the server in your Steam library

   In Steam, open your library, set the filter to show Tools, and search for Palworld Dedicated Server. Install it like any game. It downloads a few gigabytes.

2. Launch it once

   Right-click the tool and press Play. A console window opens, prints a lot of text, and stays open. That’s the server running with default settings. Close it with the window’s X before you continue; you’re going to change the config.

3. Locate the install folder

   Right-click the tool, choose Manage → Browse local files. You’ll be in a folder called PalServer. Keep this window open; everything else happens here.

Configure the world and set a password#

Palworld ships a template config and an empty real one. If you skip this step, your server runs with defaults and no password, which is how strangers end up in your base.

1. Copy the default settings into place

   In PalServer, open DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini, copy the long OptionSettings=(...) line, then open Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/PalWorldSettings.ini and paste it there. On a fresh install that file is empty; that’s expected.

2. Set the values your squad cares about

   Inside the parentheses, find and edit these:

   ServerName="Night Shift",
   ServerDescription="Base rule: nobody touches the furnace.",
   ServerPassword="something-your-friends-know",
   AdminPassword="something-only-you-know",
   ServerPlayerMaxNum=32,
   PublicPort=8211,

   Everything else (day/night speed, Pal capture rate, death penalty) is in the same line. Change it now or later; it applies on the next restart. If you’d rather pick values from a form, our Palworld server settings generator writes the whole line for you.

3. Save and start the server again

   Press Play on the tool again. The console should print your server name. If it prints defaults, the settings file is in the wrong folder or the line has a typo, usually a missing comma. Our settings checker finds why your settings aren’t applying.

Open the port so friends can connect#

Your friends are outside your home network. The server listens on UDP port 8211; your router has to forward that port to the PC running it.

1. Give your PC a fixed local IP

   In your router’s admin page, find DHCP reservations (sometimes “static lease”) and pin your PC’s current local address, something like 192.168.1.42. Without this, the forward breaks the next time your PC gets a new address.

2. Forward UDP 8211

   Add a port-forwarding rule: external port 8211, internal port 8211, protocol UDP, destination your PC’s local IP. Some routers call it “virtual server” or “NAT rules”.

3. Let it through Windows Firewall

   The first launch usually asks. If it didn’t, open Windows Defender Firewall → Advanced settings → Inbound Rules → New Rule → Port → UDP 8211 → Allow.

4. Find your public IP

   Search “what is my IP” in a browser. That number, plus :8211, is what your friends will type. It can change when your ISP feels like it; a free dynamic DNS name fixes that.

Get your friends in#

In Palworld, they choose Join Multiplayer Game, then at the bottom of the screen enter YOUR.PUBLIC.IP:8211 and press Connect. The game asks for the server password, then drops them on the beach.

You, on the same network as the server, connect with the local address instead: 192.168.1.42:8211. Connecting to your own public IP from inside the network doesn’t work on many routers; that’s normal, not a bug.

Keep it running (the part nobody mentions)#

• Memory grows over time. Palworld servers famously creep upward in RAM use over a long session. A scheduled restart every night at 5 a.m. keeps things smooth. Set RESTAPIEnabled=True in the settings and you can script a graceful shutdown with a warning to players.
• Updates. When Palworld patches, the server must update too or nobody can join. Steam handles it if the tool is set to update automatically; the server has to be stopped for it to apply.
• Backups. The world lives in Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<long id>/. Copy that folder somewhere else on a schedule. One bad shutdown can corrupt a save and there is no undo.
• Your PC is the server. If it sleeps, updates Windows, or you need it for something else, the world goes down for everyone. Turn off sleep, and warn people before you reboot.

That last point is usually where groups decide the hosting friend has done enough.

Quick answers

How many players can join a Palworld server?

Co-op hosted from the game is limited to 4 players. A dedicated server accepts up to 32 by default (ServerPlayerMaxNum), and the practical limit is your hardware.

Does the host need to be online?

Only for co-op hosted from the game. A dedicated server runs on its own, so friends can play whenever they want as long as the machine is on.

Is a Palworld dedicated server free?

The server software is free on Steam. What it costs you is a machine that stays on, your electricity, and the time to set it up and keep it updated.

Can I move my co-op world to a dedicated server?

Yes, but it is fiddly: the save folder has to be copied into the server and the host GUID renamed. Do it before your friends build too much.