Palworld Difficulty Settings Explained
What the Difficulty field does on a Palworld server, why it only applies to new worlds, and which individual rates to tune instead.
How Difficulty Presets Work
The Difficulty field in Settings (under Gameplay) offers three values: None, Normal and Hard. None is the default. There is no Casual option.
Setting it to Normal or Hard applies a preset that overrides your individual rate settings (ExpRate, PalCaptureRate and the rest) with predefined values. Leaving it on None means the server uses whatever you set for each rate.
The important caveat: Difficulty only takes effect on a NEWLY CREATED WORLD. Changing it on a server that already has a world does nothing, however many times you restart. If you want a different difficulty on an existing server you have to reset the world - see the World Reset guide.
For most dedicated servers, leaving Difficulty on None and tuning the rates is the practical choice. Those rates do apply to an existing world.
What Each Preset Changes
None: no preset applied. Every rate uses whatever you set individually. This is the default and the most flexible option.
Normal: balanced rates close to the single-player experience.
Hard: lower capture rates, higher damage taken, harsher death penalty. For players who want a challenge.
Whichever you pick, it is only read when a world is created. Switching between them later has no effect on a world that already exists - the individual rates are the only way to change an existing world's balance.
Key Rates to Tune with Difficulty=None
ExpRate (default 1.0, range 0.1-20) - XP gain multiplier. 1.5-3.0 cuts the grind. Higher values make levelling faster but can trivialise progression.
PalCaptureRate (default 1.0, range 0.1-20) - Capture success multiplier. Higher is easier. The panel accepts up to 20, not 2.
PalSpawnNumRate (default 1.0, range 0.1-10) - How many wild Pals spawn. Higher means more Pals and more CPU and RAM. Keep it at 1.0 for most servers; lower it if you are seeing lag.
DeathPenalty (default Item) - What players drop on death. Options: None, Item, ItemAndEquipment, All. Item, the default, drops inventory but not equipped gear.
PalEggDefaultHatchingTime (default 1.0, range 0-10) - A MULTIPLIER on hatch time, not a number of hours. 0 is instant, 0.5 halves it, 2 doubles it.
These, unlike Difficulty, apply to an existing world on the next restart.
Recommended Settings by Playstyle
Casual/co-op server: Difficulty None, ExpRate 2.0, PalCaptureRate 2.0, DeathPenalty Item, PalEggDefaultHatchingTime 0.5. Fast progression, forgiving deaths, quick hatching.
Standard server: Difficulty Normal, chosen BEFORE the world is created. Balanced experience, no tuning needed.
Hardcore server: Difficulty None, ExpRate 0.8, PalCaptureRate 1.0, DeathPenalty All, Hardcore Mode on. Hardcore Mode and PvP Enabled are also new-world-only, so set them before you generate the world.
All settings require a server restart. There are no live-reload options for PalWorldSettings.ini.