Move your Palworld co-op world to a server

1. What a world is made of#

Pocketpair does not document the save layout, so the paths here come from the save tools that read these files, and from a server we ran. On Windows with Steam, every local world is a folder with a 32-character hexadecimal name under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames\<SteamID>\. Open the newest one, or the one whose files changed when you last played that world.

PalStudio, the save editor still being maintained, says LocalData.sav "is per-machine and isn't part of a dedicated server save", so leave it out; whether each player's uncovered map carries over is untested. In co-op the host's player file is always 00000000000000000000000000000001.sav; that name matters in section 4.

The Xbox app, Game Pass and Microsoft Store versions do not keep plain files. Their saves sit in a container store under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\PocketpairInc.Palworld_ad4psfrxyesvt\SystemAppData\wgs, and the save tools convert them to the Steam layout first. Pocketpair says nothing about exporting a PS5 or Xbox console world.

2. Before you move it#

• Update first. Run the world once on the current game version, and make sure the server is on the same version. Pocketpair's own server container instructions put it plainly: "Be sure to back up your data before updating."
• Copy the whole world folder somewhere safe. Every tool that touches these files says the same thing, and the host fix in section 4 rewrites Level.sav.
• Mods. Pocketpair warns that save data with mod content, "such as added items or Pals, may not function correctly after those MODs are removed, or may become impossible to load." A world played with mods needs the same mods on the server.
• Viewing Cage. In 2024 Pocketpair said the Viewing Cage was "not present on the dedicated server", and the older host-fix tool told players to remove it before moving. No later note says whether that changed, so take it down before you copy if you have one.
• Guild leader (co-op only). The 2024 host-fix script had a guild bug, and its workaround was to "transfer ownership from the co-op host's character to another character and have the co-op host's character leave the guild." PalStudio says its swap moves guild membership, and no source we found has re-tested the old bug with it. If you do it anyway, the host has to be invited back afterwards.

3. Put the world on the server#

Pocketpair notes that the server's config folders "will only create once the server has been started", so start the server once, let it run for a minute, and stop it. The server then has:

• Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<its own world folder>/, holding the world it generated.
• Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini (WindowsServer on Windows), with a line DedicatedServerName= naming that folder.

With the server stopped:

1. Copy your world folder, without its backup folder and under its own name, into Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/ next to the server's.
2. Delete WorldOption.sav from the copied folder.
3. In GameUserSettings.ini, set DedicatedServerName= to your folder's name, exactly.
4. Start the server.

We tested this on v1.0.5 with a co-op world saved by an early-2024 version of the game. The server loaded the uploaded folder, rewrote its files in the current save format within a minute, made no new folder, and kept the host's 00000000000000000000000000000001.sav. Our first start still had WorldOption.sav in place (next section); once it was deleted, the server's REST API reported the folder as its world: "worldguid": "8A1F2C3D4E5F40718293A4B5C6D7E8F9".

Why WorldOption.sav has to go

A world that carries WorldOption.sav brings its own world settings with it. The 2024 host-fix guide says to delete the file "to allow modification of PalWorldSettings.ini"; Pocketpair has never mentioned it. We tested it on v1.0.5 with the file left in. The server ran the uploaded world and still opened its REST API as PalWorldSettings.ini asked, but its admin password was empty: the REST API answered "Unauthorized (AdminPassword is empty)", and admin commands over RCON failed to authenticate. With the file deleted, the same world took its settings from PalWorldSettings.ini and the admin password worked again.

The cost of deleting it, by that guide's account: "Players will have to choose their respawn point again". Your world settings go back to whatever PalWorldSettings.ini says, so set the rates there; the Palworld settings reference lists every key.

If the server starts a fresh world

Check DedicatedServerName. In our test, one wrong character made the server start a brand-new, empty world under the mistyped name. Stop it, fix the line, and start again. Your uploaded folder is untouched, and the empty one can be deleted.

4. The host's character#

By the tool authors' account, Steam players other than the host find their character waiting. Players are matched to their save by an ID, and the host's co-op file uses the fixed ID ending in 0001, while on a server the host gets an ID made from their Steam account like everyone else. So the host joins as a new player, and their old character sits unused in the Players folder.

Guests keep their characters because a Steam player's ID on a server is worked out from their Steam account, the same way their file was named in co-op. The 2024 fix tool claimed a Linux server made everyone start over; a save-tools author answered that it is "actually not OS related". Palworld uses a different ID scheme when Steam is unavailable on the server, for example when it was started with -nosteam or Steam failed to start, and then the guests lose their characters too. No source covers the IDs of Xbox, Microsoft Store or PS5 players.

The fix, and its current state

Pocketpair has no tool for this. In 2024 it planned "a server/save transfer method later on"; no such tool has shipped, and the nearest thing is the Global Palbox, which moves Pals between worlds, not characters. The community tools have changed hands:

• The 2024 script, xNul's palworld-host-save-fix, is pinned to a save library that can no longer read current saves. Do not use it on a v1.0 world.
• PalworldSaveTools ended with v2.4.5 on 2026-09-16, marked for game version 1.0.4: "continued use is no longer recommended."
• PalStudio (formerly Palworld Save Pal) is the maintained successor. Its Player UID Swap is described as "useful for co-op to dedicated server migration". Use v1.4.3 or later: that release "Fixed Player UID Swap wiping every pal in a co-op save." It came out one day before Palworld v1.0.5, and nothing on its pages confirms v1.0.5 support yet.

The procedure the tools describe:

1. With the world on the server (section 3), the host joins and creates a placeholder character. PalworldSaveTools insisted that "Both players must be at least level 2", so level the placeholder up once.
2. Wait for an autosave, then stop the server. The placeholder's file in Players is the host's new ID.
3. Copy the world folder off the server, and keep a second copy untouched.
4. Open it in the save editor and swap the 0001 character with the placeholder. PalStudio warns that the swap moves "ownership of pals, structures, and guild membership", which is the point.
5. Put the edited Level.sav and Players folder back, start the server, and have the host join.

We could not test the swap ourselves: it needs the host to join with the game. Treat it as the tool authors' procedure, and keep the untouched copy until the host has played on it.

5. Going back to co-op#

The tools describe the reverse as the same swap, with the server character moved into the 0001 host slot of a local world folder. Stop the server first, so its last save is on disk.

Where ForgeWorld Gaming fits#

The file work in section 3 happens on the Files tab of your control panel, and Start and Stop are on the Console tab; we ran each step on a test server on 2026-10-21. Zip your world folder on your PC without its backup folder, upload the zip into Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0, and use Unarchive on it: the folder lands with its name, and you can delete the zip. Files over 100 MB are refused there, so for a larger world use SFTP; the details are on the Settings tab. GameUserSettings.ini is under Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer and opens in the file editor. In our tests nothing the panel does rewrites its DedicatedServerName line.

Delete WorldOption.sav before the first start: it carries the co-op world's settings, not the ones on your Startup tab. If you forget, a ForgeWorld Gaming Palworld server now moves it aside when it starts: the file is renamed WorldOption.sav.ignored, the Console tab shows a line starting ForgeWorld Gaming: moved Pal/Saved/SaveGames just after the start command, and the Startup tab's settings and passwords apply. We added that on 21 October 2026, after the file broke the panel in our tests: with it left in, the server ignored the Admin Password set on our Startup tab, the Console tab's commands failed with an RCON authentication error, and the Stop button never finished, because our panel stops Palworld through that admin connection. With the change, the same file was moved aside, Console commands answered, and Stop finished in about 20 seconds.

Our Palworld servers run the Linux edition of the server, which Pocketpair says loads no server-side mods, so a world played with mods may not load or work correctly here; the Palworld mods guide explains. Server Name, Server Description, Server Password, Admin Password and Crossplay Platforms are on the Startup tab and are written into PalWorldSettings.ini at every start, and the player limit comes from your plan. The address and port are on the Console tab. While the Auto Update variable is on, each start installs the newest Palworld server build first; our test server was on v1.0.5.102999. Last checked 2026-10-21.

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