Palworld save file location: PC, dedicated server, Xbox and PS5

Your Palworld save file location depends on the platform and the machine hosting the world: Steam on Windows uses your local application-data folder, while a dedicated server keeps the world inside its own installation. Game Pass uses a different container format, and consoles do not expose a normal PC-style world folder. Start with the host, then the storefront. This guide helps you find the right directory, identify the active world, and recognize the files that belong together before you copy or change anything. It does not require opening a save editor.

Choose the Palworld save file location for your host#

Look on the machine that owns the world, rather than automatically searching the PC you use to join it. A co-op guest can have local game data without possessing the host’s complete world. For a dedicated server, the relevant files are on the server machine or its persistent storage.

“PC” alone is not enough to choose a row. Steam and the Microsoft Store can be installed on the same Windows machine and still store their worlds differently. Likewise, the Steam game and Steam Dedicated Server tool have separate jobs and separate save roots.

Before exploring folders, write down the host’s name, the storefront, and the world you want. That small check prevents a convincing-looking directory from becoming the wrong backup.

Open your Steam world without searching the game installation#

Steam-hosted worlds on Windows live under the Windows account that played them. They are not normally inside the folder containing the game executable. The layout documented by Palworld host-save tooling is:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames\<SteamID64>\<WorldGUID>\

The angle-bracket names are placeholders: one directory identifies the account, and the next identifies the world. You do not type those placeholder names into Explorer.

1. Open the save root

   Press Windows + R, paste the following path, and press Enter:

   %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames

   Using the environment variable avoids guessing your Windows username or manually revealing the hidden AppData folder. If it does not open, confirm that this Windows account has hosted or played locally through Steam.

2. Find the account and world directories

   Open the relevant Steam account directory, then inspect the world directories beneath it. A world folder should contain recognizable save files, such as the world save and player directory discussed below. A long hexadecimal world identifier is not the same thing as your numeric Steam account identifier.

3. Check the candidate before copying it

   Compare the candidate with the world you intended to preserve. Recent file modification times can help narrow the search, but the newest directory alone does not prove its identity. Multiple worlds, old copies, and synchronized files can make that shortcut misleading. Keep uncertain candidates intact until you can confirm them.

If another Windows user hosted the world, your own local application-data folder is the wrong starting point. Ask that host to locate their save. Finding your game installation through Steam’s file browser does not solve an account or hosting mismatch.

Recognize Game Pass WGS containers before copying files#

PC Game Pass and Microsoft Store saves use Windows Gaming Save containers. The package path identified by the XGP save extractor’s game definitions is:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\PocketpairInc.Palworld_ad4psfrxyesvt\SystemAppData\wgs\

Open that path through Windows + R or Explorer’s address bar. If the exact package folder is absent, this read-only PowerShell command lists matching package directories in your current Windows account:

Get-ChildItem -LiteralPath "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Packages" -Directory -Filter 'PocketpairInc.Palworld_*'

Use the directory actually present on your machine, then inspect its saved-data location. An empty result is a reason to check the account, installation, and whether the game has created local data. It is not evidence that a friend’s hosted world has disappeared.

Inside WGS, expect account subdirectories, container metadata, and files whose names do not explain their contents. The extractor’s source reads the container index and reconstructs the exported filenames. Simply renaming an unfamiliar blob to Level.sav does not perform that work.

The XGP save extractor lists Palworld support, but that is a tool-author statement, not a compatibility test performed for this guide. Its author also warns that incomplete cloud synchronization can produce invalid extraction. Let synchronization finish and preserve the original data before considering an export workflow.

Your checkpoint here is identifying the correct PC package and its WGS data. A successful folder lookup does not prove that an extracted save will load in Steam or on a dedicated server. Those are separate checks, and the Windows path is not a filesystem path you can browse on an Xbox console.

Match a dedicated server to its active world GUID#

The dedicated server’s world is stored relative to the installation that is actually running:

Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<WorldGUID>/

First locate that installation. For the Steam tool, use its library entry’s Manage → Browse local files option; the Steam server tool guide explains how to find the right entry and distinguish its files from the game client. For SteamCMD, check the directory used during installation and the service or launch script that starts the server. A second abandoned installation can contain perfectly valid old saves.

Pocketpair’s dedicated-server deployment guide shows this Linux installation location in its standard example:

~/Steam/steamapps/common/PalServer/

That prefix is an example, not a requirement. A custom SteamCMD installation directory changes the prefix; the world path beneath the server installation is the part to follow. If you are still identifying which installation method you used, the Palworld server hosting walkthrough covers the setup routes.

Next, read the matching configuration file without editing it:

Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/GameUserSettings.ini
Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini

Use the WindowsServer path on Windows or the LinuxServer path on Linux. Find this entry:

DedicatedServerName=<WorldGUID>

The host-save tool’s instructions document that value as the world-folder selector. Match its value to a directory under the server save root. Do not substitute the friendly server name shown in the multiplayer list: the public name and the save identifier serve different purposes.

If the entry is missing or the matching world folder does not exist, stop short of renaming directories. Check that you are inspecting the active installation, the correct operating-system configuration folder, and an initialized server. A mismatch is a diagnosis to resolve, not an invitation to try identifiers at random.

Also distinguish this file from the gameplay settings configuration. Server settings and world data are related, but copying an INI file alone does not copy your bases or characters.

Follow your Docker mount to the files on the host#

For Docker, identify the image and its storage mapping before trusting any absolute path from a guide. A path inside the container can differ from the host directory you need to preserve. Named volumes add another layer: their data is managed by Docker rather than necessarily appearing beside your Compose file.

For example, the thijsvanloef Palworld server image documents this bind mount:

volumes:
  - ./palworld:/palworld/

With that specific mapping, the paths correspond as follows:

Container: /palworld/Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<WorldGUID>/
Host:      ./palworld/Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<WorldGUID>/

Resolve the host-side relative directory against your Compose project’s configuration. If you changed the mount source, use your actual source. Do not search for a literal directory named “Container” or “Host”; those labels only show the two sides of the mapping.

Inspect your Compose file or deployment configuration and confirm that the host-side storage contains the expected world files. Then apply the same active-world identifier check as for a normal dedicated installation. Container names and world GUIDs are not interchangeable.

Other images may mount only the saved-data directory or use another internal root. Replacing a container should not be your method for discovering which mount held the world. Find and preserve the persistent data first.

Identify the files that belong together#

A Palworld world is a group of files, not just the first large save you find. Preserve the complete world directory while deciding what to do next. Save-tool source code documents several common roles, but an inventory from one version is not a rule that every world must contain exactly those entries.

These distinctions are supported by the palworld-save-tools decoder structures, ded2solo’s format handling, and the WorldOption configuration tool. They help identify data; they are not recommendations to run those tools against your only copy.

In the documented PC co-op layout, the host character has this special player filename:

Players/00000000000000000000000000000001.sav

That is why moving a co-op host’s character is a separate problem from finding the world folder. Do not casually rename it to a Steam ID or another player’s identifier.

Pocketpair’s configuration reference documents that enabling the following setting creates world backups in a backup directory under the save directory:

bIsUseBackupSaveData=True

Read the installed configuration and inspect the actual backup contents before relying on them. The folder’s existence alone does not establish which point in time is recoverable. You do not need to enable or change this setting merely to locate the active save.

Understand what Xbox and PS5 can actually export#

Xbox and PS5 manage saved data through their platform features. They do not give you a normal Explorer-style Palworld world directory with individual files to drag onto a PC server. That limitation is different from saying console backups do not exist.

Microsoft’s game-save documentation describes the platform-managed storage and synchronization model. It does not establish that your particular Palworld world has successfully synchronized to a PC. If you are investigating the PC Game Pass route, first confirm the right account and that the expected world is available there; only then does the WGS section describe relevant local files.

For PlayStation, Sony states that individual PS5 saved data cannot be copied to a USB drive. Sony also supports a whole-console USB backup. These are distinct operations. A whole-console backup is not a portable Palworld world-folder export for a Windows or Linux dedicated server.

The machine hosting the world still matters more than the controller in your hands. If you join a dedicated server from Xbox or PS5, ask the server administrator about its world files and backups. If a friend hosts the co-op session, that friend’s save is the relevant source. Your own console’s local data is not a substitute for the host’s shared world.

The useful checkpoint is identifying who can access the authoritative save. If that person cannot provide a supported export, keep the existing world intact rather than treating a platform backup as a conversion tool.

Choose the next step without changing the original#

Once you have identified the active world, choose the job you actually need: preservation, migration, recovery, or inspection. Finding the directory completes the location task; it does not make those other operations equivalent.

Before opening an editor, compare the current save-editor limits and validation steps. Support for one Pal storage file does not establish support for repairing the entire server world.

If your goal is inspecting a compatible legacy file, the palworld-save-tools conversion reference explains separate input and output files. Check its version limit first: the original converter does not read saves from 0.6 onward.

For a dedicated server, arrange a quiet maintenance window and use the documented save and shutdown commands before making a preservation copy. Keep relevant server configuration alongside the world so you retain the selected world identifier and operating settings. For a local world, finish the session normally before copying its data.

Self-hosting remains reasonable if you are comfortable locating and maintaining these files. If you prefer managed hosting, confirm that the provider offers downloadable world files and supports your intended upload format. Check Game Hosting’s Palworld availability for the current offering; it presently uses a waitlist, so do not assume a panel is available immediately.

Before closing Explorer or your server file manager, record the active world’s full path and where you kept its independent copy. The next time someone asks who has the world, you should have a specific answer.