Why a console cannot host one
Pocketpair's requirements page lists the server's operating systems as "Windows 64bit" and "Linux 64bit", and each of its four ways to set a server up uses one of them: the Steam client on Windows, SteamCMD on Windows or Linux, or Pocketpair's official Docker image. There is no console edition of the server. What consoles got is the ability to join one: crossplay across all platforms arrived in v0.5.0 on 19 March 2025, and v0.6.0 on 25 June 2025 listed "PS5 Dedicated Servers!" among its new content.
Three ways to play together from a console
| Co-op world | Server on your own PC | Rented server | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Players | Up to 4 | Up to 32 | Up to 32, or your plan's slots |
| The world runs | Only while the host plays | While that PC and the server are on | Until you stop it |
| Console friends join from | The host's invitation | The Community server list | The Community server list |
| What it takes | Nothing extra | A 64-bit Windows or Linux PC left on, UDP port 8211 forwarded, and a router with Hairpin NAT if a console in the same home will join | A monthly fee |
Pocketpair's Steam page sets the numbers: "In online co-op play mode, up to 4 players can play together. Additionally, a dedicated server can allow up to 32 players to play together." The PlayStation Store listing agrees for co-op: "Supports up to 4 online players with PS Plus". A co-op world is hosted from the host's own game, so it stops when the host stops. Pocketpair describes a dedicated server as hosting "without hosting the world from the game client", where "The host does not need to keep the game client running at all times".
The home PC route has a catch that only bites console players. A console can only join through the Community server list (next section), and 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 in the same house as the server PC is then shut out of its own server while friends elsewhere get in. A server hosted outside your network does not run into this.
What the server needs before a console can join
- It has to be a community server. Pocketpair: "If you want to join the server from the Xbox version or the PS5 version, you need to deploy it as a community server." That means starting it with
-publiclobby. Pocketpair's older Xbox server page said why: "on Xbox, you cannot connect by entering an IP address." - PS5 and Xbox have to be allowed.
CrossplayPlatformsin PalWorldSettings.ini defaults to(Steam,Xbox,PS5,Mac); a server that narrowed it turns console players away. The Palworld crossplay guide covers the setting and its format. - A name your friends can find. The list shows the server's
ServerName, and the shipped default,Default Palworld Server, is shared by every server nobody renamed. - The same game version as the players. After a Palworld patch the server has to be updated before patched consoles can join it. Since v1.0.4, "Version mismatch errors now show the version of the connection target", so the error tells you which side is behind.
- Online play on each console. Sony's Palworld listing says "PS Plus required for online play", and its PlayStation Plus page says that "to play most PS4 and PS5 games in online multiplayer, you need to have a PlayStation Plus subscription" (Essential, Extra or Premium). On Xbox, Microsoft lists "Online console multiplayer" in Game Pass Essential, Premium and Ultimate, not in the PC-only plan. This applies to co-op and servers alike.
Join from a PS5 or Xbox
- Start Palworld and open the server list.
- Choose Community server on the left. Pocketpair's connection page puts it this way: "select Community server from the left side of the server list, find the target server in the list displayed and click on it."
- Find the server by its name and select it.
- If it asks for a password, enter the join password. That is the server's
ServerPassword;AdminPasswordis a different one, for admin commands.
If the server is not in the list, or the join fails, the Palworld not showing or can't connect guide works through the causes in order.
Running it without a PC
Pocketpair's admin commands are typed in the game: "press Enter and type the command." The AdminPassword has to be set in the server's configuration first; then you "run the command /AdminPassword <password you set> within the game" to get admin rights, and commands such as /KickPlayer, /BanPlayer, /Broadcast and /Save work. PS5 players got a way to open chat from the radial menu in v1.0.4. Commands that act on a player take that player's id, which Pocketpair's table writes as <SteamID>; console players have ids of their own, and on a ForgeWorld Gaming Palworld server PS5 players' ids start with ps5_.
The rest of a server lives in files a console cannot open: PalWorldSettings.ini, the ban list and the save folder. Whoever runs the server needs a way in to those, which on a rented server is its control panel.
Two settings a console group should know
In-game voice chat. For a group spread over PS5, Xbox and PC, Palworld 1.0 added "an in-game voice chat feature", which Pocketpair says "is only available when enabled in the world settings of a dedicated server". The setting is bEnableVoiceChat, False by default; VoiceChatMaxVolumeDistance and VoiceChatZeroVolumeDistance (3000 and 15000 by default) set how far a voice carries before it fades and before it is gone. Pocketpair adds "(Not supported on WinGDK.)" without defining WinGDK; it most likely means the Windows version from the Microsoft Store and Xbox app.
Bringing Pals over. v0.5.0 added the Global Palbox: "Store Pal data in the Global Palbox and transfer Pals between worlds!" A dedicated server controls both directions. bAllowGlobalPalboxExport ("Allow saving to the Global Palbox") is True by default, and bAllowGlobalPalboxImport ("Allow loading from the Global Palbox") is False, so players cannot load Pals they stored in another world until the server allows it. We have not tested a transfer from a console world with a game client.
What a server cannot take from a console
- Your console co-op world. Pocketpair documents no way to export a PS5 or Xbox world, so a server for a console group starts a new world. Worlds saved on a PC can move: see moving a Palworld co-op world to a dedicated server.
- Server mods, on most hosts. Pocketpair: "At this time, server-side mods work only on the dedicated server with Windows edition." A Linux server runs none; the Palworld mods guide has the details.
Where ForgeWorld Gaming fits
A ForgeWorld Gaming Palworld server is a dedicated server you manage from a control panel in your web browser, so nobody in the group needs a PC. Every server starts as a community server (-publiclobby) with Steam, Xbox, PS5 and Mac allowed, and its player limit is your plan's slots. On the Startup tab, set Server Name to something your friends will spot in the list (new servers are called ForgeWorld Gaming) and, if you want one, a Server Password. Both are written into PalWorldSettings.ini at the next start, and clearing the password opens the server again. While Auto Update is on, as it is by default, every start checks Steam for a newer server build, so after a Palworld patch, press Restart to catch up with your consoles.
The panel's Console tab sends commands straight to the server, with no in-game admin login: ShowPlayers lists who is on, KickPlayer, BanPlayer and UnBanPlayer take a player id (copy it from the line the Console shows when that player joins; on our test server BanPlayer and UnBanPlayer accepted an id in the ps5_ form, and KickPlayer acts only on a player who is online), and Save saves the world. Since 22 October 2026 the Console sends commands through the server's REST API, so Broadcast Server restart in 5 minutes goes out whole. A server that was already running switches at its next restart; until then its Console uses RCON and only the first word is broadcast (the server answers Broadcasted: Server), so join the words with underscores, as in Broadcast Server_restart_in_5_minutes. The Palworld admin commands guide lists every command. Voice chat and the Global Palbox import live in PalWorldSettings.ini on the Files tab: stop the server, change bEnableVoiceChat or bAllowGlobalPalboxImport to True, then start it. They stay that way, because at each start the panel rewrites only the settings it manages: the name, description, passwords, platform list, player limit, ports, public IP and console access.
We proved this on a throwaway Palworld server on our own panel on 22 October 2026, created the way a new order is. The running server carried -publiclobby and allowed Steam, Xbox, PS5 and Mac. A Startup-tab name, password and platform list reached the settings file at the next start, and the running server reported the new platform list. Console-tab commands answered, and BanPlayer with an id in the ps5_ form wrote it to the ban list. Voice chat and the Global Palbox import set in the file stayed on through a Startup-tab change, restarts and stops, and the running server reported both on. No game client joined that test server; PS5 players already play on a ForgeWorld Gaming Palworld server.
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.