Palworld Port Configuration
Every port your Palworld server uses, what it does, and which ones players need.
Port Overview
GameGrid allocates every server a 100-port block from the 28000-39000 range and uses four of them. Your base port is shown as Game Port in Connection Info on the server Overview tab, and as part of the Server Address there and on your dashboard card.
The numbers below are offsets from that base. Palworld's stock defaults (8211, 27015, 8212, 25575) are what a self-hosted server uses; they are not your ports here.
Base + 0, UDP - the game port. This is where players connect, set by the -port= launch flag. This is the port in the address you share.
Base + 1, UDP - the Steam query port. Set by -queryport= on every start. It is what makes the server visible in the in-game Community Servers browser, and what the platform health-checks.
Base + 2, TCP - Palworld's REST API. The platform force-enables it on every start and binds it to 127.0.0.1 so the panel can read your live player count, metrics and player list. It is never opened in the firewall.
Base + 3, TCP - PalDefender's REST API, which is how the platform delivers economy items. Also loopback-only and never opened.
You do not configure any of this. There is no port forwarding to do and no firewall rule for you to add.
Which Ports Do Players Need?
Players only need the game port. They never need to know about the query port or the two internal ones.
For direct connections (Steam, Mac, Microsoft Store), players enter the Server Address from Connection Info in the "Custom Server" dialog - for example 203.0.113.50:28000.
For the Community Servers browser, which is how Xbox and PS5 players join, the query port has to be reachable. GameGrid opens and manages it for you, and passes the -publiclobby, -publicip and -publicport flags that put your server in the list on every start.
Security Warnings
Palworld's REST API and PalDefender's REST API both grant full control of a server to anyone holding their credential. On GameGrid neither is reachable from outside the host: both bind 127.0.0.1 and neither has a firewall rule.
Use the Console tab in the panel for admin work. It talks to Palworld's REST API over the host's own loopback, which is why it works without anything being exposed.
RCON is off by default and is not something GameGrid manages. Pocketpair have deprecated it in favour of the REST API, and on this platform PalDefender already occupies base + 3, so turning RCON on can put two services on the same port. Leave it off; the Console tab does everything RCON would.
If you are self-hosting rather than on GameGrid, never expose the REST API or RCON to the internet. Reach them over a VPN or an SSH tunnel.
Finding Your Ports on GameGrid
Open your server and look at Connection Info on the Overview tab. Game Port is the base number; Server Address is the host and that port together, e.g. 203.0.113.50:28000. Your dashboard card shows the same address on a "Connect:" line.
Share the full address with your players. They enter it in the Palworld "Custom Server" dialog to connect directly.
Xbox and PS5 players cannot type an address. They find the server by name in the Community Servers browser instead - see the Crossplay guide.
The port is fixed for the life of the server and is not editable. The Game Port field in Settings is read-only for that reason.