Create your first Palworld server

Your computer is connected, so let’s get Palworld running on it. This is the quickest of our games to set up, and the wizard does most of the thinking for you.

A quick note on words you’ll see in the dashboard:

• A server is the game installed on your computer (your Palworld install).
• A world is a save running inside that server. Palworld has one map, so instead of picking a map you just name your world. One server can run more than one world if you want.

Step 1: Create the server

1. In your dashboard, open the computer you connected and click Add server.
2. Choose Palworld.
3. Click Create server, and the install starts.

Palworld is a much smaller download than ARK, so this usually takes a few minutes rather than the best part of an hour. The dashboard shows the progress, and you can close the tab and come back.

Step 2: Let the wizard set up your world

Once the install finishes you’ll see two buttons. Set up my first world is the one you want. (Configure manually is there if you’d rather skip the questions and go straight to the settings yourself.)

The wizard asks eleven short questions in three parts, and every answer is written in plain language about how the game feels, not in numbers:

• How you’ll play: whether your group wants PvE or PvP, roughly how many players, which platforms your friends are on, whether to lock the server with a join password, and whether to list it in the in-game server browser.
• The game itself: how much grind you want, how long big eggs take to hatch, how demanding survival should be, and what dying costs.
• Comfort: in-game voice chat, and whether to apply the standard quality-of-life settings.

That last one is worth taking. It flips the handful of settings nearly every friends server ends up wanting anyway, including the pair that keeps your stuff safe while nobody’s playing.

Name your world at the end and the wizard sets everything up so it’s ready on the first boot. Nothing to hand-edit.

Step 3: Tweak anything you like

The wizard’s answers aren’t locked in. From the world’s settings you can change any of it later, and there are quick presets (Relaxed, Balanced, Hardcore) for rates, Pals, and player survival if you want to shift the whole feel in one click.

One honest heads-up: mods aren’t available for Palworld on Server Reforged. Palworld only supports server-side mods on the Windows version of its dedicated server, and we run the Linux one because it’s far more reliable. Our mod tools are ARK-only for now. The settings above cover most of what people reach for mods to do anyway.

Step 4: Start it up

Hit start on your world. Palworld boots quickly, usually well under a minute, and the dashboard shows when it’s live.

Turn on automatic updates if you’d like the game kept current without you thinking about it, or leave it off and update on your own schedule.

Palworld does slowly use more memory the longer it runs, which is normal for the game. Scheduled restarts keep it feeling fresh, and we can handle those for you.

Step 5: Get your friends in

Once your world is online, your dashboard shows the connection details. Share those with your friends, and they join from inside Palworld:

1. On the main menu, choose Join Multiplayer Server.
2. Enter the address from your dashboard.
3. Click Connect, and enter the join password if you set one.

If you told the wizard to list your server in the in-game browser, it’ll also show up there, though the direct address is always the quicker and more reliable way in.

And that’s it. You’re hosting your own Palworld server on your own hardware. Welcome to being the host.

Adding more worlds later

One server can run more than one world. Click Create world any time to add another, and it gets its own name, its own settings, and its own save. Handy if your group wants a serious world and a mess-around world at the same time.

Running into trouble? Give it a minute after starting, then check the world’s status in your dashboard. If a friend can’t connect, double-check they’re using the full address, including the numbers after the colon.