How to Set Up a Dedicated Palworld Server

The hot game of the moment is Palworld, an independently developed title for Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S by Japanese studio Pocketpair. It combines the addictive, tense resource collection and survival aspects of games like Rust with taming cartoonish monsters straight out of Pokémon and drizzles the whole thing with dark humor. If you haven’t visited the Palpagos Islands yet, the game is currently in Early Access on Steam, where it has already sold 12 million copies.

One of the coolest things about Palworld is that you don’t have to go it alone. You can play co-op with up to three other people on Pocketpair’s servers, but for the real experience the game supports multiplayer for up to 32 people to tackle an island. If you want to play with that many friends, much like Minecraft you’ll have to set up a server for the game. Thankfully, that’s easier to do than ever. Here’s how to get it done.

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Find a Hosting Provider

First, find a hosting provider that offers game server instances. One of our recommended vendors is Hostinger, which offers affordable and user-friendly virtual private servers for gamers; 16GB plans start at $14.99 per month. For Palworld, we recommend a VPS with the following specs:

• OS – Linux or Windows.
• Processor – Quad-core minimum
• RAM – 16GB (8GB minimum, but for 32 players you’ll need 16)
• Storage – 50GB minimum

Hostinger’s Game Panel 4 plan meets those needs and more, as well as including DDOS protection, weekly backups, and other niceties.

There are two main methods for server setup once you’ve purchased your plan. One requires some knowledge of networking, while the other is more user-friendly through its Game Panel interface. For both methods, you’ll need to do the initial setup of your VPS, giving it a username, location, and password. Open your server dashboard and make sure it’s running.

If you’re using the Game Panel:

• Navigate to VPS Overview > Panel Access
• Click your Login URL
• Enter the username and password you chose during VPS setup
• Click “Create Instance”
• Select “Palworld” from the drop-down menu
• When the process is complete, you’ll receive a notification

Here’s the tech-savvy process using Linux commands:

• Connect to your VPS using a client like PuTTY, your computer’s Terminal app, or Hostinger’s browser terminal
• Create a second user, grant them superuser privileges, and switch to that account

• Change the server firewall settings to allow Palworld to communicate with it by using the commands:

  • sudo ufw allow 8211/tcp
  • sudo ufw allow 8211/udp

• Install the necessary software for Steam to communicate with the server by using the commands:

  • sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
  • sudo apt install -y lib32gcc-s1
  • sudo apt install software-properties-common
  • sudo add-apt-repository multiverse
  • sudo dpkg –add-architecture i386
  • sudo apt update
  • sudo apt install steamcmd -y
  • sudo apt install screen

• Next, install the Palworld server files by using the commands:

  • steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 2394010 validate +quit
  • cd ~/Steam/steamapps/common/PalServer

• Launch the Palworld server with the command:

No matter which method you use, you can now access your private Palworld server.

• Launch Palworld and select “Join Multiplayer Game”
• Enter your VPS’s IP address and the default port: 185.185.185.185:8211

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Set Up a Palworld Server on Your Own PC

(Pocketpair)

It’s possible to set up a Palworld server on your own PC, but that option carries with it some downsides. Your PC will have to be powered on and connected to the internet whenever anybody wants to play on your island, and it’ll tax your internet connection.

• Open and run Palworld at least once to initialize your settings
• In Steam, install “Palworld Dedicated Server” from the Tools menu
• In Properties, open the Palworld Dedicated Server Installation folder
• Using a plain text editor like Notepad, open the DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini file
• Copy everything below the third line in that file to your clipboard
• Navigate to PalServerPalSavedConfigWindowsServer using File Explorer
• Open the PalWorldSettings.ini file
• Paste the copied text into that file and save it
• Launch Palworld Dedicated Server and select your server

It’s important to note that crossplay isn’t yet implemented in Palworld, so PC gamers can’t share an island with Xbox gamers. That’s expected to change in the future, and dedicated servers should be included in that functionality.

Now that your private Palworld island is set up, have fun exploiting the wildlife with your buddies.