Why aren't my Palworld server settings changing?

When Palworld ignores your edits to PalWorldSettings.ini, it’s usually one of five things. Work through them in this order, and restart the server after each fix.

1. A WorldOption.sav in your world folder

Your world lives in Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/, in a folder with a long 32-character name. If that folder has a file called WorldOption.sav, start here. It stores world settings inside the save itself, and it usually arrives with a world that began as a co-op or single-player game. While it’s there, the server goes by the settings in it and your ini edits don’t show up.

Pocketpair’s server guide doesn’t cover WorldOption.sav, so there’s no official word on it. Removing it is the usual fix, and a backup makes it easy to undo:

1. Stop your server from the Game Panel.
2. Download a backup from your Game Panel first.
3. Check PalWorldSettings.ini has every setting you want, because the world’s own settings go with the file.
4. In your Game Panel’s file manager, delete WorldOption.sav from the world folder.
5. Start your server and check the setting.

2. The server was running when you edited

Stop the server before you touch the file. Pocketpair’s own setup steps have you start the server once, stop it, and only then edit. Changes made while it’s running won’t apply until the next start, and they may not survive the server shutting down. Stop it, make the change again, then start it.

3. The OptionSettings line is broken

All the settings sit on one line, inside OptionSettings=( and a closing ), with [/Script/Pal.PalGameWorldSettings] on the line above. If that line has been damaged, your settings don’t apply. Look for:

• a line break in the middle, often from pasting
• a missing comma between two settings
• a missing ) at the end
• a text value, such as ServerName, missing one of its quote marks
• a setting name that doesn’t match Pocketpair’s list exactly (a few, like PlayerStomachDecreaceRate, are spelled that way on purpose)

A long line wrapping on your screen is fine. A real line break isn’t.

4. You edited the wrong file

DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini, in the server’s main folder, is only a sample. Pocketpair is clear that editing it changes nothing. The file the server reads is PalWorldSettings.ini in Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/ or Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/.

If you can see both of those folders, the server reads only one of them. Open a ticket if you’re not sure which.

5. A launch option sets the same thing

A few settings can also be given to the server as launch options when it starts. Pocketpair lists -players for the player limit, and -publicip and -publicport for servers on the community list. Those overlap with ServerPlayerMaxNum, PublicIP and PublicPort in the ini.

Pocketpair doesn’t say which one wins when they disagree, so make them match. Set launch options in your server’s settings in the Game Panel. Leave -port alone: it’s the port your server listens on, and your address depends on it.

Still stuck? How do I change the game settings on my Palworld server? walks through a clean edit from the start.