Changing Your Palworld Server Settings
Every gameplay rule on your server — XP rate, catch rate, day length, death penalty, PvP, guild size — is controlled from the World Settings tab in your panel. No editing PalWorldSettings.ini by hand, no SSH. Change what you want, save, restart.
Where the Settings Live
Open your server in the dashboard and click the World Settings tab. Settings are grouped so you can find things fast:
- General — server name, description, password, admin password, max players
- Gameplay Rates — XP, capture, spawn, work speed, day/night length, egg hatching
- Difficulty & Death — difficulty preset, hardcore, Pal loss, what you drop on death
- PvP — player-vs-player damage and guild base raids
- Guilds & Bases — members per guild, workers and base camps
- Saves & Platform — auto-save interval, backups, crossplay, auto-update
Change a value, hit Save, then restart the server. Settings only load at boot — see below.
One-Click Presets
Not sure where to start? The presets at the top set a whole batch of gameplay values at once:
- Casual — faster XP and catches, no death penalty. Great for a chill co-op world.
- Default — exactly how Pocketpair ships it.
- Hardcore — hard difficulty, permadeath, Pals lost on death.
- PvP Arena — player damage on, guild raids on, faster hatching.
Presets only touch gameplay rules. They never change your server name, passwords, or player count. Tweak anything afterward.
The Two Things That Trip People Up
Settings apply on restart, not instantly
If you change a rate and nothing happens in-game, you almost certainly haven't restarted. Palworld reads its config once, at boot. Save, then restart, then check.
"Another operation is in progress. Saving."
If you try to save settings while the server is mid auto-save, the write is blocked and you'll see this message. Wait a few seconds and save again — it clears on its own. If it sticks for more than a minute, restart the server and try once more.
A Note on Whole-Number Rates
If you set a rate like XP to 2 or 3 before August 2026 and it felt like nothing changed — you weren't imagining it. A parser bug discarded whole numbers and quietly reverted them to 1×. It's fixed now. If you set a rate back then, just open World Settings, re-save the value, and restart. Decimal rates like 2.5 were never affected.
If a Setting Keeps Reverting
Changed something, restarted, and it still snapped back to default? The usual culprit is a leftover WorldOption.sav file in your world save — Palworld reads settings from that file in preference to the panel editor, so your edits get ignored. This most often happens after uploading a single-player or co-op save. If you're hitting this, contact support and we'll clear it safely (deleting the wrong save file can lose your world). The full checklist of reasons settings won't stick: Palworld server settings won't save — the 6 reasons.
Deciding What to Change
For a breakdown of which settings suit which playstyle — grind-free co-op, hardcore survival, a PvP guild war — see our full guide: Best PalWorldSettings.ini Config for Every Playstyle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to restart after changing Palworld server settings?
Yes. Settings load only when the server boots. Save your change, then restart the server — nothing applies until you do.
Why do my Palworld server settings keep reverting?
Almost always a leftover WorldOption.sav overriding your PalWorldSettings.ini, or a change made while the server was running. Edit with the server stopped, restart, and if it still reverts, contact support to clear the stale save file.
Why did my rate setting reset to 1×?
A parser bug (fixed August 2026) discarded whole numbers like 2. Re-save the value in World Settings and restart — decimal values such as 2.5 always worked.
Where do I change Palworld server settings on Connect?
In the World Settings tab of your server panel — a visual editor for every rate, difficulty, PvP and guild option. No file editing required.