How to Host a Palworld Server in 2026: 1.0 Crossplay Guide

Palworld's built-in co-op has two hard limits that eventually push every group toward a dedicated server: invite-code sessions cap at 4 players including the host, and the world only exists while the host has the game open. If the host goes to bed, everyone's base work stops. A dedicated server lifts the cap to 32 players and keeps the world online around the clock, whether the owner is logged in or not.

This guide covers what a Palworld server actually needs after the 1.0 release, how to run one yourself, and where the honest line sits between self-hosting and renting.

Skip SteamCMD and configure a managed Palworld server

What the 1.0 update changed for servers

Palworld left Early Access on July 10, 2026, and 1.0 is the biggest update the game has had. For anyone running a server, the highlights:

• Built-in voice chat, toggled in the server's world settings.
• Guild roles and permissions, including structures that can be restricted to specific roles. Big shared servers got much easier to keep tidy.
• Saner defaults. Dedicated servers now start with the same world settings as single-player Normal difficulty.
• A bigger world, bigger downloads. The server install is now roughly 12 to 15 GB, and save files grow faster than they used to.
• Server-side optimizations for busy servers, fixes for memory leaks and crashes, and a save process that's less prone to corruption.

Palworld 1.0.3 added bAllowEnemyCampSpawnNearBaseCamp and fixed two dedicated-server problems involving Tower Boss Fast Travel and rapidly vibrating Pals. Our Palworld 1.0.3 server update explains the new setting and the safe update sequence.

When co-op stops being enough

The 4-player invite-code limit is the obvious trigger, but most groups outgrow co-op for quieter reasons:

• Host dependency. Nobody plays unless the host is online. Friends in different time zones effectively can't share a world.
• One PC does double duty. The host's machine runs both the game and the session. Palworld is already heavy; hosting on top of playing is where the frame drops come from.
• Guilds want persistence. Breeding lines, base production and raids all reward a world that's simply always there.

Palworld server requirements (read this before buying RAM)

Palworld is one of the hungriest survival servers you can run, and the numbers most people quote are optimistic. The practical picture:

• 16 GB of RAM is the official baseline, and the developer's own docs recommend going past 32 GB for a full server. 8 GB will boot a server for a handful of players (the docs themselves warn it can crash from running out of memory), but the headroom disappears fast.
• Leave real headroom. Palworld 1.0 fixed several dedicated-server memory leaks and made busy worlds more efficient, but a large explored world with active bases still uses substantially more memory than a fresh one.
• CPU matters more than in most survival games. Pals keep pathfinding and working at loaded bases, so you want strong cores, 4 or more of them.
• The install alone is 12 to 15 GB since 1.0 grew the world, so plan for SSD storage with room for saves and backups on top.

If you'd rather not size hardware yourself, our Palworld server plans are built around exactly these numbers: 8 GB for small groups, 16 GB for a standard guild, and 32 GB for big communities at the full 32-player cap.

Self-hosting: the actual steps

Palworld ships a free dedicated server through SteamCMD (app ID 2394010). On your own machine the setup looks like this:

• Install SteamCMD and download app 2394010 (12 to 15 GB since 1.0).
• Run PalServer once so it generates its config folders.
• Edit PalWorldSettings.ini to set your server name, password and player cap. Everything lives on one long OptionSettings line; unset keys keep their defaults.
• Forward UDP port 8211 on your router to the machine running the server.
• Share your public IP and port with your group; they join through the game's direct-connect option.

The gotchas nobody mentions

• CGNAT. Many ISPs put home connections behind carrier-grade NAT, which makes port forwarding impossible. If you can't get a real public IPv4 address, home hosting is off the table without tunneling workarounds.
• Operational headroom. The 1.0 fixes make daily restarts optional for most worlds, but busy public servers can still benefit from a quiet-hours restart if memory use or performance starts creeping up.
• Backups. Your world lives in the Pal/Saved folder. Palworld saves earned a reputation for corrupting when the process died at the wrong moment; 1.0 made the save process sturdier, but the rule stands: copy that folder out regularly, and stop the server before you do.
• Updates. When the game patches, your server doesn't update itself. Until you run the SteamCMD update, nobody can join.
• Electricity. A desktop idling around the clock costs real money in most of Europe, often more per month than a rented server.

Crossplay: who can actually join your server

Palworld 1.0 dedicated servers support Steam, Xbox and the Microsoft Store PC build, PS5, and Mac. Crossplay is enabled by default. The important distinction is how each platform finds the server:

• Steam players can join a dedicated server directly with its IP address and port.
• Xbox and PS5 players cannot enter an IP address. The server must start with the community-server option so it appears in Palworld's browser.
• A private group can still use a join password. Community listing controls discovery; the password controls who gets in.

GHosting exposes this as List in the community server browser. Leave it off for a direct-connect Steam group, or turn it on when Xbox or PS5 friends need to find the server. The same panel also sets the join password, player cap, guild limits, rates, PvP, raids, voice chat, and Palworld's rotating world backups.

Configure a crossplay-ready Palworld server

Can a Palworld dedicated server use Steam Workshop mods?

Palworld 1.0 has an official Steam Workshop, but there is an important server-side limit: Pocketpair currently supports loading Workshop mods only on the Windows dedicated-server build. The official Linux build can allow players with client-side mods to connect, but it cannot load server Workshop mods.

That means copying Workshop files into a Linux server or downloading them with SteamCMD is not enough. A host would need to move the service to the Windows server build, and each selected item must explicitly support servers. GHosting runs the official Linux dedicated server, so we do not present a Mods tab that would download items the game cannot load. If Pocketpair adds Linux server-mod support, this is the piece that changes.

Making the world yours

PalWorldSettings.ini is where Palworld gets fun to tune. Popular changes include raising ExpRate and PalCaptureRate for a faster-paced world, slowing the day/night cycle, softening the death penalty, and adjusting raid difficulty. The workflow is the same everywhere: change the value, restart the server, and the world picks it up. On a GHosting Palworld server the control panel covers admin and join passwords, player and guild limits, base limits, experience, capture and drop rates, day and night speed, egg hatching, decay, death penalty, PvP, raids, voice chat, backups and community listing. Save your choices and use the one-click restart to apply them.

Self-host or rent?

The honest math is the same as for any survival game. Self-hosting is genuinely fine if you have a spare machine with 16 GB to give, a real public IP, and you don't mind handling updates, monitoring and backups yourself.

A rented server is the same binary running in a datacenter, with the babysitting handled: process management, optional scheduled restarts, datacenter bandwidth, DDoS protection, and a panel instead of a terminal.

Compare GHosting Palworld plans

Plans run from small-group starters to full 32-player worlds. Choose a fixed term, and nothing renews automatically.

Already have a world? Follow the Palworld world transfer guide before shutting down your old host.