How to Import a World to Your Palworld Server

Before You Start

You can import a world from a local Palworld single-player/co-op save or from another dedicated server. The process is the same - you're copying the world save folder to the right location on your GameGrid server.

The server must be stopped before you begin. Level.sav is locked while the server is running, and copying it while locked will result in a corrupted world.

Make sure the Palworld build on the source server matches your GameGrid server. Importing a world from a different build can cause corruption or missing entities. The Game Updates card on the Admin tab names the build your server is running.

Take a backup of your GameGrid server first, from the Backups tab. If the import goes wrong you want a way back.

Finding the Source World

On a local Steam install, worlds are in: C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\Pal\Saved\SaveGames\[SteamID64]\[WorldGUID]\

On a dedicated server, worlds are in: Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/[WorldGUID]/

The WorldGUID folder contains Level.sav, WorldOption.sav, Players/, and backup/. You need the entire folder.

To find the right world folder, check the modification date - the most recently modified folder is usually the active world.

Uploading to GameGrid

1. Stop your GameGrid Palworld server.

2. Open the Files tab and navigate to Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/.

3. Upload the world folder (the [WorldGUID] folder containing Level.sav) into the 0/ directory.

4. Point the server at the imported world. Palworld does not load whichever folder it finds under 0/: it loads the world named by DedicatedServerName in Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/GameUserSettings.ini, and GameGrid does not change that setting for you. Either open that file in the Files tab and set DedicatedServerName to the name of the folder you uploaded, or move the folder DedicatedServerName already names out of 0/ and rename your uploaded folder to that name. If the file is not there yet, start and stop the server once so Palworld creates it.

5. Remove or rename any other world folder under Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/ that you do not want, so there is no doubt which world is live.

6. Start the server and verify the world loaded correctly by joining and checking your bases/items.

Common Issues

World doesn't load: check that the uploaded folder sits directly under Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/ - not nested one level deeper - that it still contains Level.sav, and that DedicatedServerName in GameUserSettings.ini is exactly that folder's name. Palworld loads, or creates fresh, the world that setting names and ignores every other folder.

Missing player data: If players had characters on the old server, their .sav files need to be in the Players/ subfolder. New players will create fresh characters.

Version mismatch corruption: If the source world was on a different Palworld version, some entities may be missing or corrupted. Always update both servers to the same version before transferring.

WorldOption.sav conflicts: a world imported from co-op or single-player usually brings a WorldOption.sav with it, and where that file holds a value the game reads it instead of your PalWorldSettings.ini. The setting GameGrid tracks as shadowed is Workers per Base. If you want your own settings to apply, download the file for safekeeping and then delete it - see the WorldOption.sav guide before you do.

Crossplay: your imported world does not change who may connect. Crossplay Platforms keeps whatever it was set to - all four platforms unless someone unticked one.