Important Palworld Settings Reference

How Palworld Settings Work

Palworld dedicated servers store settings in PalWorldSettings.ini, located in Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ (or LinuxServer on Linux). On GameGrid, you change these from the Settings tab - you don't need to edit the file manually.

All settings are packed into a single OptionSettings=(...) block on one line. A missing comma, quote, or bracket causes the entire file to be ignored, and the server falls back to defaults. If your settings aren't applying, check the syntax first.

Every setting in PalWorldSettings.ini requires a server restart to take effect. There are no live-reload options for INI settings.

The Difficulty field offers three values on GameGrid: None, Normal and Hard. It only takes effect on a NEWLY created world, so changing it on an existing server does nothing at all.

Leave Difficulty on None to control the individual rates yourself. That is the default.

Where a default below differs from what you have read elsewhere, this list is the one the GameGrid settings panel actually enforces - it is generated from the same catalogue the panel renders, including each field's minimum and maximum.

Server Identity

ServerName (string, default "Palworld Server", max 100 chars) - The name shown in the community server list. Quotes and line breaks are rejected.

ServerDescription (string, blank by default) - Shown below the server name in the browser. Optional.

ServerPassword (string, blank by default) - Blank means an open server. Set a password to restrict access. Masked in the panel and in API responses.

AdminPassword (string, blank by default) - The credential for in-game admin commands and for the REST API. Also masked. If you leave it blank the platform writes a random one of its own so the panel can reach the server, so set your own before you try /AdminPassword in game.

PublicIP (string) - read-only. The platform writes the host's current public IP on every start, so a server moved to another host corrects itself.

PublicPort (integer) - read-only. The platform assigns it from the 28000-39000 pool. The 8211 default belongs to a self-hosted server, not to yours.

Player Limits

ServerPlayerMaxNum (integer, default 32, min 1, max 32) - Maximum concurrent players. 32 is the engine hard cap and also the default.

CoopPlayerMaxNum (integer, default 4, max 32) - A co-op leftover. For dedicated servers, ServerPlayerMaxNum is the one that matters.

GuildPlayerMaxNum (integer, default 20, min 1, max 100) - Maximum players per guild.

Time and Speed Rates

DayTimeSpeedRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-10) - How fast the day cycle passes. Lower values make days longer. 0.5 = twice as long, 2.0 = twice as fast.

NightTimeSpeedRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-10) - Same as above but for night. Many servers speed up night since it's less active.

WorkSpeedRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-10) - Multiplier for Pal base work (crafting, building, gathering). Higher = faster.

PalEggDefaultHatchingTime (float, default 1.0, range 0-10) - A MULTIPLIER on egg hatch time, not a number of hours, despite the name. 1.0 is normal, 0.5 halves it, 0 is instant. The panel will not accept a value above 10, so the "72" you may have seen in older guides cannot be entered here.

Pal Rates

PalCaptureRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-20) - Multiplier for Pal capture success. Higher = easier to catch.

PalSpawnNumRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-10) - How many Pals spawn in the world. Higher = more Pals, and more CPU and RAM. Reducing it helps server performance.

PalDamageRateAttack (float, default 1.0) - Damage dealt by Pals.

PalDamageRateDefense (float, default 1.0) - Damage received by Pals.

PalStomachDecreaceRate (float, default 1.0) - How fast Pals get hungry. Lower = they stay fed longer.

PalStaminaDecreaceRate (float, default 1.0) - Pal stamina drain rate.

PalAutoHPRegeneRate (float, default 1.0) - Pal HP regeneration rate.

PalAutoHpRegeneRateInSleep (float, default 1.0) - Pal HP regeneration while sleeping in a Pal bed.

Player Rates

PlayerDamageRateAttack (float, default 1.0) - Damage dealt by players.

PlayerDamageRateDefense (float, default 1.0) - Damage received by players.

PlayerStomachDecreaceRate (float, default 1.0) - Player hunger rate.

PlayerStaminaDecreaceRate (float, default 1.0) - Player stamina drain.

PlayerAutoHPRegeneRate (float, default 1.0) - Player HP regen.

PlayerAutoHpRegeneRateInSleep (float, default 1.0) - Player HP regen while sleeping.

ItemWeightRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-100) - Item carry-weight multiplier. Higher = items weigh less relative to capacity.

ExpRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-20) - Experience gain multiplier.

Base, Building, and Collection

BaseCampMaxNum (integer, default 128, min 1, max 1000) - the TOTAL number of base camps in the world, not a per-guild figure.

BaseCampMaxNumInGuild (integer, default 4, min 1, max 100) - base camps per guild. This is the one most guides mean when they say "how many bases you can have".

BaseCampWorkerMaxNum (integer, default 15, min 1, max 100) - Max Pals working at a single base. This is the one setting WorldOption.sav is known to shadow: if a change to it does not stick, see the WorldOption.sav article.

BuildObjectHpRate (float, default 1.0) - Building HP multiplier.

BuildObjectDamageRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-100) - Damage taken by buildings. 0.1 is the floor: 0 is rejected, so structures cannot be made fully indestructible from Settings.

BuildObjectDeteriorationDamageRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-100) - How fast structures decay if not maintained. 0.1 is the floor; 0 is rejected, so decay can be slowed but not stopped.

MaxBuildingLimitNum (integer, default 0, max 100000) - Building limit per player. 0 means unlimited.

CollectionDropRate (float, default 1.0, range 0.1-100) - Resource gather yield. Higher = more resources per node.

CollectionObjectHpRate (float, default 1.0) - Gatherable object HP.

CollectionObjectRespawnSpeedRate (float, default 1.0) - Resource respawn speed. Higher = faster respawn.

EnemyDropItemRate (float, default 1.0) - Enemy loot drop rate.

Gameplay Toggles

bEnablePlayerToPlayerDamage (boolean, default False) - Set to True to enable PvP damage between players.

bEnableFriendlyFire (boolean, default False) - Friendly fire on or off.

bEnableInvaderEnemy (boolean, default True) - Enables raids on your base by enemy factions. Community reports associate it with memory growth on long-running dedicated servers; turning it off is a common mitigation. See the Memory Leak guide.

bEnableFastTravel (boolean, default True) - Fast travel between discovered locations.

bEnableAimAssistPad (boolean, default True) - Aim assist for controller players.

bEnableAimAssistKeyboard (boolean, default False) - Aim assist for keyboard/mouse players.

bIsPvP (boolean, default False) - PvP mode. NEW WORLDS ONLY: changing it on an existing world does nothing.

bHardcore (boolean, default False) - Hardcore mode, with permanent character death. NEW WORLDS ONLY. Turning it on reveals bPalLost and bCharacterRecreateInHardcore in the panel.

bPalLost (boolean, default False) - Whether Pals are lost when the player dies in hardcore mode.

bEnableNonLoginPenalty (boolean, default True) - Applies a penalty to players who don't log in for a while.

bBuildAreaLimit (boolean, default False) - Restricts building to designated areas.

Difficulty (string, default None) - None, Normal or Hard. NEW WORLDS ONLY.

Crossplay, API, and Backup

CrossplayPlatforms (multi-select, default Steam, Xbox, PS5, Mac) - Which platforms may connect. All four are allowed by default, matching the game's own DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini; untick a platform to refuse it, then restart. The deprecated AllowConnectPlatform key must never be written.

RESTAPIEnabled (boolean, schema default False) - The platform force-enables the REST API on every start regardless of this switch, and binds it to 127.0.0.1, because the live player count, metrics and player list in the panel all come from it. Turning it off in the panel does not turn it off on the server.

RESTAPIPort (integer) - read-only. Assigned from your port block at base + 2, on loopback only. Never opened in the firewall.

RCONEnabled (boolean, default False) - RCON toggle, off by default and deprecated by Pocketpair. Leave it off: PalDefender already uses base + 3 on this platform, and the Console tab does everything RCON would.

RCONPort (integer) - read-only, base + 3, and only meaningful if you enable RCON.

bIsUseBackupSaveData (boolean, default True) - Enables Palworld's own rolling backups, written to Pal/Saved/SaveGames/*/backup/world/. Distinct from GameGrid backups.

bShowPlayerList (boolean, default False) - Show the player list on the in-game ESC menu.

bAllowGlobalPalboxExport (boolean, default True) - Allow exporting Pals to the account-wide global Palbox.

bAllowGlobalPalboxImport (boolean, default False) - Allow importing Pals from the global Palbox into this server.

bAllowClientMod (boolean, default True) - Whether clients connecting with mods are permitted. Server-side mods are unaffected by it.

AutoSaveSpan (integer, default 30, range 1-3600) - Autosave interval in SECONDS, not minutes. Very low values cause stuttering and disk spikes.