Palworld server not working?
Start here.
Most Palworld trouble is one of two things: a server one build behind its players, which Palworld refuses outright, and mods that are installed on the server but never switched on in each player’s own in-game mod screen.
# what fixes most Palworld problems 1 “Incompatible Version” on join → Update the server’s game build 2 Mods installed, nothing changed → Switch each on in the in-game mod screen 3 A setting didn’t take → Apply & restart: read at boot
Nobody can join. It says the match is running an incompatible version.
Read the error, not the network
“The Match You Are Trying to Join Is Running An Incompatible Version” means your players’ Palworld updated and the server didn’t. It reads like a connection problem. It isn’t one.
Update from Settings
The game-build line at the top of Settings says when a newer build is ready on the node. Press Update now: we copy your world first, then restart onto the new build.
Modded? The Mods tab owns the build
Turning mods on pins the game build so a patch can’t land under your mods. On Mods, the pin card has its own Update now, or tick Keep this server on the newest game build automatically. On Palworld a pinned server is unjoinable the day a patch lands, so pick one of the two.
Says the new build is ours to publish?
If Settings says Palworld has released a build we haven’t published yet, there’s no button for you to press. That one is on us: each new build is smoke-tested on our side before it reaches the node.
Why: Palworld runs client and server in lockstep with no compatibility window. Steam ships both builds together — we measured them 64 seconds apart — and then updates every player automatically.
My mods are installed on the server but nothing is different in game
Every player switches every mod on
⚠ This one catches almost everybody. Palworld 1.0 added its own in-game mod screen, and each player has to switch each mod ON in it — you included. Subscribing on Steam, or us installing it server-side, is not enough on its own. Do this first.
Everyone runs the same mods
Everyone joining needs the same Workshop mods as the server, and each of them has to enable them in that mod screen. A player who hasn’t will usually either fail to connect or see none of the changes.
Check the server side
On Mods, the installed list is read from each mod’s own files. Install from the shelf or paste a Workshop ID; dependencies such as Palworld’s own UE4SS come along, and the server restarts, because Palworld only loads mods at boot.
Server won’t come back after a mod
Mods → Turn mods off & restart. Nothing is deleted — the server just can’t see the mod folders until you switch them back on. Don’t try it by setting bGlobalEnableMod=false in PalModSettings.ini: Palworld’s own mod manager writes it back to True on the next boot and starts every mod anyway.
Why: Palworld’s official mod system only works on the Windows dedicated server. That is what we run your Palworld server on, under Wine, specifically so that mods are possible.
I changed a setting and the server ignores it
Apply & restart
Your settings are written into PalWorldSettings.ini when the server starts, so a change lands at the next start. Apply & restart on Settings does both.
Change it on Settings, not in Files
The panel rewrites PalWorldSettings.ini from your Settings tab on every start, so a hand edit to that file in Files is gone at the next boot.
No in-game command changes settings
None of vanilla Palworld’s admin commands touches a setting. /ChangeSettings doesn’t exist. Settings is the route.
Some settings aren’t named for what they do
Flying runs on your Pal’s stamina, so infinite flight is Pal Stamina Drain at 0 — which also makes every Pal tireless in combat and at base. Build Limit has its own entry below.
Why: Three keys are deliberately not on the tab: the port and public IP, which belong to your server’s allocation, and the REST API switch, which stays on because the save before every stop rides it.
I set a Build Limit and it isn’t capping what I expected
The Palbox counts
Build Limit counts every structure in a base camp, the Palbox included. Set 3 and you get the Palbox plus two more, not three buildings.
Only inside a base camp
Structures out in the open world, away from any Palbox, aren’t counted at all. We placed five foundations against a limit of 3 and were never stopped.
Set it, then restart
Settings → Base & Building → Build Limit (0 = unlimited), then Apply & restart.
Why: Measured on our own server with two players on v1.0.4: capped at exactly 3, Palbox included, open-world foundations ignored.
How do I get admin in game, and why is there no give or spawn command?
Your admin password is already set
Every server gets a generated Admin Password on Settings → Identity & Access. It is not the Join Password: that one is for players, and blank means anyone can join. Don’t reuse one as the other.
Log in from chat
In game, type /AdminPassword followed by that password. Then the vanilla admin commands work, from /KickPlayer and /BanPlayer to /Broadcast and /Save.
Give and spawn come from a mod
Vanilla Palworld has no give, spawn, god-mode or level command. The PalDefender add-on (Mods → add-ons) adds !give, !spawn and friends; after /AdminPassword, !help lists what it offers.
PalDefender missing from the shelf?
When a Palworld update breaks it we withdraw the button until its author catches up, and the game update ships regardless. A copy you already installed keeps its Remove button.
How do I kick, ban or unban someone?
Players tab
The roster comes from Palworld’s own admin API — names, level and ping, re-read every 15 seconds — with Kick and Ban on each player.
An empty reply is success
Palworld answers a kick or ban with nothing at all. Check the roster or the ban list, not the reply: we watched a kicked player drop within 10 seconds and a banned one get refused on rejoin.
Unban from the list
The ban list on the Players tab is the game’s own banlist.txt, read live, with Lift on every row. Bans survive a restart.
Unbanning by hand
The id unban wants is the steam_ one, prefix included — steam_7656…, not the bare 17 digits, which match nothing.
Why: Field-tested on a live server with two players: kick, ban and unban all work, and the list is the same file the game enforces.
Did my world save? How do I roll it back, or bring my own in?
Stops save first
Stop, restart and Update all ask Palworld to save through its admin API, then shut it down cleanly — about two seconds end to end. A bare stop signal kills Palworld outright, with nothing saved since its last autosave, which is why we never rely on one.
Save on demand
Console → Save world now writes it immediately. Palworld also autosaves every 30 seconds by default (Auto-Save Interval, Settings → Saves & Maintenance).
Roll back
Worlds & backups: the nightly restore points, the copy taken before an update, and your own saved copies, each with Restore. Back up now asks the game to save before it copies.
Palworld’s own copies ride along
With Keep Save Backups on, the game keeps rolling copies inside the world folder (backup/world/), and they’re in every restore point.
Bringing a world from your own server
Stop the server, upload the world folder (the one holding Level.sav) into Saved/SaveGames/0/ in Files, and set DedicatedServerName in Saved/Config/WindowsServer/GameUserSettings.ini to that folder’s name. WindowsServer, not LinuxServer: we run the Windows build, and it never reads a LinuxServer config.
None of these, or still stuck?
Check the problems every game shares
Connections, settings that will not take, where your world is, lag: the answers that hold on every game are on the support page.
Write to us
The form arrives with Palworld already set; tell us what you tried and it saves a round trip. Pressing Need help? in your panel does the same and attaches your server, so there is nothing to look up.