Best Palworld Server Settings for Multiplayer — 2026 Guide

Overview of PalWorldSettings.ini

All server settings live in a single file: PalWorldSettings.ini, located in your server's Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/ (or WindowsServer/) directory. The file contains one large [/Script/Pal.PalGameWorldSettings] section with every configurable option.

After making changes, you need to restart the server for them to take effect. Changes are not applied live. On kranky.io, you can edit this file directly through the file manager in your dashboard and restart with one click.

A value of 1.000000 means "default" for most multiplier settings. Higher numbers increase the rate, lower numbers decrease it. For example, ExpRate=2.000000 means players earn XP twice as fast.

Recommended Settings for Casual Play

If your group wants a relaxed experience with faster progression and easier Pal management, these settings work well. They're popular for friend groups and small communities where people don't have hours to grind every day.

ExpRate=2.000000
PalCaptureRate=1.500000
PalSpawnNumRate=1.200000
EnemyDropItemRate=2.000000
DeathPenalty=None
PalDamageRateDefense=0.800000
PlayerDamageRateDefense=0.800000
PalStomachDecreaceRate=0.700000
PlayerStomachDecreaceRate=0.700000
GuildPlayerMaxNum=20
BaseCampMaxNum=3

What these do:XP gained is doubled so leveling feels rewarding. Pal capture rates are boosted by 50% so you spend less time throwing spheres. Death penalty is turned off so losing progress isn't frustrating. Enemy drops are doubled to reduce resource grinding. Hunger rates are lowered so you don't have to constantly feed Pals and yourself.

Recommended Settings for Hardcore Play

For groups that want a challenging survival experience closer to the intended difficulty, keep most settings at default or make the game slightly harder:

ExpRate=1.000000
PalCaptureRate=1.000000
PalSpawnNumRate=1.000000
EnemyDropItemRate=1.000000
DeathPenalty=ItemAndEquipment
PalDamageRateAttack=1.200000
EnemyDamageRateAttack=1.200000
PlayerDamageRateDefense=1.200000
CollectionDropRate=0.800000
PalStomachDecreaceRate=1.200000
PlayerStomachDecreaceRate=1.200000
bEnableNonLoginPenalty=True

What these do:Everything is at default difficulty or harder. Death drops items and equipment, forcing players to be careful. Enemy and Pal damage is increased for tougher fights. Collection rates are slightly reduced so resources feel scarce. Hunger drains faster, making food management important. The non-login penalty means the world keeps progressing while you're offline — your base can be raided and Pals need feeding.

Key Settings Explained

ExpRate

Controls how fast players and Pals level up. Default is 1.0. Setting this to 2.0 or 3.0 is common for servers where players have limited playtime. Setting it above 5.0 makes leveling nearly instant, which removes a core progression mechanic — not recommended unless you specifically want a creative-style server.

PalCaptureRate

Multiplier for the base capture chance. At 1.0, capture rates follow the game's default formula based on Pal level, HP, and sphere quality. Bumping this to 1.5 or 2.0 makes capturing noticeably easier without removing the challenge entirely. Values above 3.0 make almost every throw successful, which gets boring fast.

DeathPenalty

What players lose when they die. Options:

• None — No penalty. Players respawn with everything.
• Item — Drop inventory items but keep equipment.
• ItemAndEquipment — Drop everything. The hardcore option.
• All — Drop items, equipment, and Pals in party. Extremely punishing.

For casual servers, None or Item prevents frustration. For hardcore or PvP servers, ItemAndEquipment adds meaningful stakes.

DayTimeSpeedRate and NightTimeSpeedRate

Control how fast day and night pass. Default is 1.0 for both. Setting NightTimeSpeedRate=2.000000 makes nights pass twice as fast, which many players prefer since nighttime gameplay is more limited. Setting DayTimeSpeedRate=0.500000 makes days twice as long, giving more daylight hours for exploration.

PalDamageRateAttack / PalDamageRateDefense

These control how much damage Pals deal and take respectively. Increasing PalDamageRateAttack to 1.5 makes Pals stronger in combat, which is satisfying for PvE servers. Decreasing PalDamageRateDefense to 0.8 makes Pals take less damage, so they survive longer in tough fights.

PvP Settings

To enable PvP on your server, set these options:

bCanPickupOtherGuildDeathPenaltyDrop=True
bEnablePlayerToPlayerDamage=True
bEnableFriendlyFire=False
DeathPenalty=ItemAndEquipment
bIsMultiplay=True
bIsPvP=True

Key PvP notes: bCanPickupOtherGuildDeathPenaltyDrop lets players loot each other's death drops — essential for PvP to have meaningful consequences. bEnableFriendlyFire should usually stay False so guild members don't accidentally damage each other. bIsPvP is the main toggle that enables player vs player combat.

For PvP servers, consider lowering BaseCampWorkerMaxNum slightly to prevent base spam, and set bEnableDefenseOtherGuildPlayer=True so players can attack structures belonging to other guilds.

Admin Password Setup

Set an admin password in your settings file:

AdminPassword="YourSecurePassword"

Once set, you can use admin commands in-game by opening chat and typing /AdminPassword YourSecurePassword to authenticate. After that, you have access to commands like /Shutdown, /Broadcast, /KickPlayer, and /BanPlayer.

Also set a general server password if you want your server to be private:

ServerPassword="JoinPassword"

Players will need to enter this password when connecting. Don't use the same password for both admin and server access.

Performance Settings

These settings help keep your server running smoothly, especially with more players:

• BaseCampMaxNum: Limits how many bases each player/guild can have. Default is 3. Reducing to 2 on larger servers prevents world clutter and reduces entity count.
• BaseCampWorkerMaxNum: How many Pals can work at each base. Default is 15. Large bases with many working Pals are a significant source of server lag. Consider capping at 10 or 12 for servers with 10+ players.
• DropItemMaxNum: Maximum number of dropped items in the world. Default is 3000. Lowering to 1500 or 2000 reduces entity bloat from uncollected drops.
• ServerPlayerMaxNum: Maximum concurrent players. Set this based on your server's RAM. With 8 GB, 16 players is reasonable. With 16 GB, you can support 32 players. Going above 32 on a single server is not recommended regardless of specs.

For more details on server requirements and optimization, see our Palworld dedicated server setup guide.