WorldOption.sav vs PalWorldSettings.ini
The #1 cause of settings not applying - and how to fix it.
What WorldOption.sav Is
WorldOption.sav is a binary settings file that lives in your world save folder: Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<WorldGUID>/WorldOption.sav. It stores a snapshot of certain gameplay settings taken when the world was created.
Where it exists and holds a value, the game reads it INSTEAD of the matching value in PalWorldSettings.ini. That shadowing is the reason a settings change can appear to do nothing.
The setting GameGrid tracks as shadowed by this file is Workers per Base (BaseCampWorkerMaxNum). That is the one the platform checks for, and the one to suspect first.
Server-level settings - Server Name, Server Password, Administrator Password, ports, RCON and the REST API - always come from the INI and are never shadowed.
Before you conclude this file is your problem, rule out the two commoner causes: not restarting the server (nothing in PalWorldSettings.ini reloads on a running server), and a setting that is new-world-only. Difficulty, PvP Enabled and Hardcore Mode all only take effect on a world that has not been created yet - they will never apply to an existing one, and deleting WorldOption.sav will not change that.
Why It Exists
WorldOption.sav is created when a world is made in co-op or single-player. If you migrate such a world to a dedicated server, the file comes with it and starts shadowing your INI settings.
A world created directly on a dedicated server does not necessarily have one at all - fresh worlds on this platform often have none, in which case nothing is being shadowed and this article is not your problem.
The usual advice is to delete it and manage everything through PalWorldSettings.ini. On GameGrid the Settings tab writes that INI for you.
Note the trade-off before you delete: whatever values that file holds are the ones your world has been running with, so removing it moves your world onto the INI values in one step. Take a backup first.
How to Fix Settings Not Applying
If you have changed a setting in the Settings tab, restarted, and it still has not applied - and the setting is not one of the new-world-only ones - work through this:
1. Take a manual backup from the Backups tab. This is not optional; you are about to delete a file the world is using.
2. Stop your server from the control panel. Do not edit files while the server is running.
3. Open the Files tab and navigate to Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<WorldGUID>/. The WorldGUID folder is a long string of letters and numbers - there is usually only one.
4. Download WorldOption.sav to your own machine, so you can put it back.
5. Delete WorldOption.sav from the server.
6. Start your server. It now reads those settings from PalWorldSettings.ini.
Your world data - Level.sav, the Players folder, bases and Pals - is untouched by this. Only the settings snapshot is removed.
If the setting still does not apply after that, it was not being shadowed. Check the value in the Settings tab against what you see in game and open a support ticket with both.
Other Causes of Settings Not Applying
If deleting WorldOption.sav does not fix it, check these:
The server was not restarted. Every Palworld setting requires a full restart; nothing reloads live. This is the most common cause by a wide margin.
The setting is new-world-only. Difficulty, PvP Enabled and Hardcore Mode only take effect on a world that has not yet been created. No amount of restarting or file deletion applies them to an existing world - you would have to reset the world.
Syntax errors in PalWorldSettings.ini, if you edited it by hand. A missing comma, quote or bracket makes the server ignore the entire file and fall back to defaults, silently. The OptionSettings=(...) block must be one line. Use the Settings tab instead and this cannot happen.
Editing the wrong file. DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini is a read-only reference template. The live config is Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/PalWorldSettings.ini.
A value outside the range the panel enforces, if you edited the file by hand. The Settings tab clamps each field to its own minimum and maximum; the game does not necessarily do the same with a hand-written one.