Palworld dedicated server crossplay: PS5 & Xbox

Which platforms can join#

Pocketpair's server documentation says dedicated and community servers are "cross-play enabled by default" for four groups of players:

• the Steam version;
• Xbox consoles, together with the Windows PC version downloaded from the Microsoft Store;
• the macOS version;
• the PS5 version.

Pocketpair's requirements page lists 64-bit Windows and Linux as the systems the server itself runs on, and consoles connect to it as players. If nobody in your group has a PC to run it on, how to make a Palworld server on PS5 and Xbox compares co-op, a home PC and a rented server.

Console crossplay is newer than a lot of the advice you will find. Pocketpair's v0.5.0 Crossplay Update of 2025-03-19 announced "Cross-play is now available across all platforms", yet the documentation for that version still said "Cross-play with the PS5 version is currently unavailable" for servers. PS5 players got dedicated servers with v0.6.0 on 2025-06-25, whose patch notes list "PS5 Dedicated Servers!". A page from before then that says PS5 players cannot join a dedicated server was right at the time and is out of date now.

List the server as a community server#

Pocketpair's documentation gives two ways into a server: type its IP address and port into the form below the server list, or pick it from the Community server list. For console players it leaves only the second: "If you want to join the server from the Xbox version or the PS5 version, you need to deploy it as a community server." An earlier version of Pocketpair's Xbox server page gave the reason: "on Xbox, you cannot connect by entering an IP address."

A community server is an ordinary dedicated server that also registers itself on the in-game server list. It takes one launch option, -publiclobby:

• Windows with Steam: choose Open and start as a community server when you start Palworld Dedicated Server.
• Windows with SteamCMD: start the server from its folder with

  PalServer.exe -publiclobby

• Linux with SteamCMD: start it from its folder with

  ./PalServer.sh -publiclobby

Keep the rest of your launch line, such as a custom -port=, and leave the PalServer part as it is: Pocketpair's page says it "must not be changed".

Listing the server does not open its port. Players still reach it on UDP 8211, or on whatever port you set with -port=, so that port has to get through the server's firewall and any router in front of it. The server works out its own public address and port; if that does not work well, Pocketpair suggests setting -publicip= and -publicport= by hand. Both apply to community servers only, and -publicport "does not change the port number itself that the server uses for listening".

One limit catches people who host at home. Pocketpair warns: "If your router does not support Hairpin NAT, you will not be able to connect to community servers hosted within the same network." A PS5 or Xbox in the same house as the server is stuck, because the community list is its only way in. It is a router limit, not a server fault: players outside your network are not affected, and a server hosted outside your network does not run into it.

Choose who may join with CrossplayPlatforms#

The platform list lives in PalWorldSettings.ini, in Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer on Windows or Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer on Linux, inside the server folder. Those folders only appear after the server's first start, and the file is a copy you make of DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini; Pocketpair notes that "editing DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini will not affect the changes." The Palworld setup guide walks through the copy, and the Palworld server settings reference lists every other setting in the file.

Pocketpair's configuration table describes the key as "Allowed platform to connect the server", and the default file Pocketpair ships carries it as:

CrossplayPlatforms=(Steam,Xbox,PS5,Mac)

It sits inside the OptionSettings=(...) line with the other settings. Pocketpair's table documents only that default. To narrow the list, keep its format, parentheses and commas included, and leave out the names you do not want; a server for Steam and PS5 players only would then carry:

CrossplayPlatforms=(Steam,PS5)

Make the change with the server stopped, then start it again: in our test of the Linux server, a stop wrote the file back as the server had read it at start, so an edit made while it ran was lost.

Two details trip people up. Pocketpair's shipped default names only Steam, Xbox, PS5 and Mac, and its platform list groups the Microsoft Store PC version with the Xbox consoles; its older Xbox server page said a server set up for Xbox players also accepts "the Windows PC version downloaded from the Microsoft Store". So keep Xbox in the list for those friends. And guides from before crossplay set AllowConnectPlatform=Xbox. Pocketpair's table now says of that key: "Not available in this version. Use CrossplayPlatforms instead."

How PS5 and Xbox players find the server#

1. Give the server a name your friends can pick out. ServerName, in the same file, is the name the list shows, and the shipped default, Default Palworld Server, is shared by every server nobody renamed.
2. In Palworld, open the server list and choose Community server on the left.
3. Find the server by its name in the list and select it.
4. If the server has a ServerPassword, enter it. That is the join password; AdminPassword is a different one, for admin commands.

Keep the server on the players' version#

A join only works when the server and the player are on versions that fit together, and Pocketpair's patch notes make the point: its v0.5.2 patch of April 2025 was "primarily for console players, but must be applied to all versions of the game". After a Palworld patch, update the server with the same SteamCMD line that installed it, then restart it:

steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

If you installed the server through the Steam client, update it there instead. Back up the save folder first, as the setup guide describes. Last checked 2026-10-18: the newest patch note on Pocketpair's Steam page is v1.0.5, from 2026-09-15.

Three things help when a join still fails:

• Read the error. Since v1.0.4, "Version mismatch errors now show the version of the connection target", so a player who is turned away can read the server's version straight off the message and see which side is behind.
• Check the list's version filter. The server list has an option to show only servers with matching versions, which Pocketpair fixed in v0.6.0. With it on, a server on another version does not appear at all.
• Read the patch notes before assuming the worst. Not every update on one platform breaks the others. Pocketpair said its July 2026 patch v1.0.2.100993 "is applied to the PC version only, but will not negatively affect crossplay with other versions of the game", and flagged the hotfix after it the same way. When a note carries no such line, treat the update as one the server and every player need.

If a console player still cannot join#

• The server is not in the Community server list: check that the running server was started with -publiclobby, look for its exact ServerName, and check the version filter. The server list troubleshooting guide covers the network checks after that.
• Steam friends get in but console friends do not: check that Xbox and PS5 are both in CrossplayPlatforms, then compare versions using the error message.
• Nobody outside your network can connect: the game port is not reaching the server. Check the firewall and the router's UDP forwarding with the port forwarding guide.
• Only players in the server's own home fail: that is the Hairpin NAT limit above.

Where ForgeWorld Gaming fits#

ForgeWorld Gaming starts every Palworld server as a community server with Steam, Xbox, PS5 and Mac allowed, so console friends can find it by name in the Community server list. A new server is named ForgeWorld Gaming, so rename it to something your friends will spot in the list. The server name and the platform list are startup variables on the Startup tab of your control panel, and the server writes them into PalWorldSettings.ini each time it starts, so change them there rather than in the file. While the Auto Update variable is on, as it is by default, each start also checks Steam for a newer Palworld server build and installs it, so a restart after a patch brings the server level with your players.

Prefer renting to keeping your own server machine online? ForgeWorld Gaming currently offers Palworld Standard: 4, 8 player slots at CA$23.99–CA$33.99/month. Hosted in Iowa, United States. Prices are in Canadian dollars, with no setup fee and cancel any time. Your server is set up automatically after payment. Continue to secure billing, Palworld · Dedicated server, CA$23.99 / month (Standard, 4 slots), or compare Palworld plans.