CrewWorlds

Palworld ยท Server setup

How to run a Palworld server for your friends

The cheapest way to run one that doesn't suck. The catch with Palworld is the RAM, so this covers what your own machine needs (or what to rent), the config people fumble, and the nightly restart that keeps it stable.

CrewWorldsUpdated July 2026~13 min read

Palworld ships a real dedicated server. The part that trips up almost everyone is that the server is memory-hungry, and its memory use grows the longer it runs. Get the memory right and add one scheduled restart, and it is stable. Get it wrong and it will crash your crew out every couple of hours no matter what else you do.

There are two honest ways to run it, and Palworld's appetite for RAM changes which one makes sense. This guide covers the choice, then the build, with the RAM math up front where it belongs.

What this covers

  1. Where to run it. Your own machine or a box, and the RAM it really needs.
  2. Install the server with SteamCMD. One command, no Steam account.
  3. Configure it. The one settings file, and the password fields people miss.
  4. Open the port. One UDP port, plus the extra step if you self-host at home.
  5. Keep it running, plus a nightly restart. The restart is not optional here.
  6. Backups that restore. Where the save lives, and how to prove one works.

Where to run it: your own machine, or a cheap box

Two honest ways to do this, and with Palworld the deciding factor is memory. Here is the number the store pages soft-pedal: a Palworld dedicated server wants around 16 GB of RAM to stay comfortable for a group of four or more, and it climbs toward that ceiling the longer it runs. It also wants a real, dedicated CPU. You can squeak a small group by on 8 GB, but you are living on the edge, and an out-of-memory kill mid-session is exactly the "it keeps crashing" everyone complains about.

On a machine you own. Free, if you have a spare machine with about 16 GB to give the server and can leave it on. The catch specific to Palworld: that is a lot of memory to spare, so it is really only free if you own a second, capable machine. Running it on the same PC you play on will starve both.

On a cheap box you rent. For most people this is the honest answer for Palworld, because few have a spare 16 GB machine sitting idle. A dedicated-vCPU box with 16 GB runs it well at roughly $20 to $30 a month; an 8 GB box (smaller groups, more risk) is cheaper. It has a public IP so no port forwarding, and it stays up on its own. If you want a recommendation, a 16 GB dedicated-vCPU VPS like the ones at crewworlds.com/go/host is what I would get. The RAM is the one place not to cut for Palworld.

Everything from here is the same either way. The commands assume Linux (a rented box, or the easiest way to self-host); on a Windows machine the same steps apply with the Windows server download.

The build, step by step

Step 1: Get your machine ready

On the box or machine that will run it, make a normal user for the server and do not run it as root:

sudo adduser palworld
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y curl

Step 2: Install the server with SteamCMD

SteamCMD pulls the dedicated server with no login. As the palworld user:

# 32-bit libs SteamCMD needs
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 && sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y lib32gcc-s1

# install SteamCMD, then the Palworld server (app 2394010)
mkdir -p ~/steamcmd && cd ~/steamcmd
curl -sqL "https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz" | tar zxvf -
./steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir ~/palworld-server +login anonymous +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

Run that same command any time to update the server, which Palworld does often. Do the first launch once so it generates the config, then stop it:

cd ~/palworld-server
./PalServer.sh
# let it start, then Ctrl-C to stop it and continue to Step 3

Step 3: Configure it

Palworld reads one settings file, but not the default one. You copy the default to the real path and edit that:

cd ~/palworld-server
cp DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini \
   Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini
nano Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini

Everything lives on one long line under [/Script/Pal.PalGameWorldSettings]. The fields worth setting first:

Note: edit the file while the server is stopped. Palworld rewrites it on shutdown, so changes made while it is running get overwritten.

Step 4: Open the port

Palworld uses one UDP port, 8211 by default. Open it and lock the rest down:

sudo ufw allow 8211/udp
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw enable

Friends connect from the title screen with Join with IP, entering your.ip.address:8211. On a rented box that is it (public IP, nothing in front of it). If you self-host at home, forward UDP 8211 to the server machine on your router, and give friends your home's public IP.

Step 5: Keep it running, plus a nightly restart

A systemd service starts it on boot and brings it back after a crash or reboot:

[Unit]
Description=Palworld dedicated server
After=network.target

[Service]
User=palworld
WorkingDirectory=/home/palworld/palworld-server
ExecStart=/home/palworld/palworld-server/PalServer.sh -useperfthreads -NoAsyncLoadingThread -UseMultithreadForDS
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Those three flags (-useperfthreads -NoAsyncLoadingThread -UseMultithreadForDS) are the community-standard performance switches and help. Enable it with sudo systemctl enable --now palworld.

Now the part that is specific to Palworld: because memory use climbs the longer the server runs, schedule a restart once a day (ideally when nobody is on, like 5am). A restart clears the creep and keeps sessions smooth. A one-line cron job does it:

# run 'crontab -e' as root and add:
0 5 * * *  systemctl restart palworld

Step 6: Backups that actually restore

Your world lives in:

~/palworld-server/Pal/Saved/SaveGames/

Back up that whole folder on a schedule, and get a copy off the box. A backup that only exists on the VPS dies with the VPS. A cron job that tars SaveGames/ with a timestamp and copies it somewhere else (another box, S3, Backblaze B2) is the entire safety net. Do it right after your nightly restart, when the world has just been written cleanly.

Do this once on purpose: stop the server, restore a backed-up SaveGames/ folder, and start again. Proving a restore works before you need it is the difference between a backup and a rumor.

The honest money math

No spin. If you already own a spare machine with the memory to give it, self-hosting is free bar the electricity. If you rent, Palworld's RAM makes the box a bit pricier than a lighter game: a 16 GB dedicated-vCPU box is roughly $20 to $30 a month. Split across five, that is four to six dollars each. An 8 GB box is cheaper, but the RAM is the one place not to cut for Palworld.

If you split a rented box, do it the easy way: one person owns it, everyone sends their share, and ask for the year up front so nobody chases anyone. And the number that actually matters is not the monthly one. It is that a lost save with a hundred hours of your crew's base in it costs more than any box and costs it all at once. The backups in Step 6 are the real bargain.

That is the whole build: a private Palworld world that is up whenever your crew wants it, sized so it does not crash, and backed up so a bad night never costs the base. Now go fill the pens.