How to Host a Palworld Dedicated Server on a VPS

In short. Hosting a Palworld dedicated server on a Contabo VPS gives you a persistent world your friends can join any time, without tying up your gaming PC. Pocketpair’s official documentation for v1.0 recommends at least 4 CPU cores and 16 GB RAM, fast SSD or NVMe storage, and UDP port 8211 open. Install the server files via SteamCMD using App ID 2394010, configure PalWorldSettings.ini, and consider scheduling a regular restart to manage the well-documented memory leak.

Palworld Server Requirements: RAM and CPU

Palworld’s dedicated server tends to be more resource-intensive than many survival games of a similar style, particularly as worlds age and player bases grow. Pocketpair’s official documentation for v1.0 lists the following requirements:

The 8 GB minimum will boot a server, but Pocketpair’s own docs explicitly warn it raises the risk of out-of-memory crashes. For a small group of 4-6 players with a scheduled restart to keep memory in check, 8 GB can work in practice. For anything above 6 players, 16 GB is the safer starting point.

One thing worth understanding upfront: RAM consumption is not driven by player count alone. A 10-player server with sprawling Pal bases and active automation chains will typically use more memory than a 20-player world where everyone stays mobile. The longer a session runs, the more RAM the server tends to hold. Budget 16 GB as your baseline for any serious session, and consider stepping up to 32 GB if you plan to run mods alongside a larger group.

On CPU: the community consensus, backed by several hosting providers’ benchmarks, is that single-core clock speed tends to matter more than raw core count for Palworld server performance. Many of the simulation tasks, Pal AI, and base automation appear to be largely single-threaded, so a modern 4-core chip with a high clock rate will often outperform a slower 8-core chip in practice. That said, your experience may vary depending on the server load and Pocketpair’s ongoing optimizations.

Keeping the Server Running: The Memory Leak

Palworld has a well-known, long-standing memory leak. Left to run unchecked, the server process gradually claims more and more RAM over the course of a session. A nightly restart is the standard workaround, and most guides agree it is effectively required for any server running around the clock.

On a VPS, you can automate this cleanly with a cron job:

crontab -e
# Add this line to restart at 4 AM daily (adjust the path to your install):
0 4 * * * /home/steam/Steam/steamapps/common/PalServer/PalServer.sh

The exact path will depend on how you set up your install. Some guides suggest memory can grow from a few GB to well above 8 GB over several hours of active play, though exact figures vary with world complexity and player activity. The practical fix is the same either way: restart regularly and the server stays stable.

Installing Palworld Server Files with SteamCMD

SteamCMD downloads the dedicated server binaries anonymously. You do not need to own Palworld on Steam to host it. Only the players connecting to your server need a copy of the game.

1. Update your system and enable 32-bit packages. On Ubuntu or Debian:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo add-apt-repository multiverse
sudo apt update

2. Install SteamCMD.

sudo apt install steamcmd -y

3. Create a dedicated service user. Running SteamCMD as root is a security risk.

sudo useradd -m steam
sudo passwd steam
sudo -u steam -s

4. Download the Palworld server files. The App ID for the dedicated server is 2394010. The initial download is typically around 12-15 GB.

steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

5. Create the symlinks SteamCMD needs to find its shared libraries.

cd ~/.steam
ln -s steam/steamcmd/linux32 sdk32
ln -s steam/steamcmd/linux64 sdk64

6. Start the server once to generate the config files. Exit after you see the server ready log line, usually within 30-60 seconds.

cd ~/Steam/steamapps/common/PalServer
./PalServer.sh

7. Edit your server settings. The active config file is Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini. Copy the template from DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini into it first, then set at minimum:

ServerName=YourServerName
ServerPassword=YourPassword
AdminPassword=YourAdminPassword
ServerPlayerMaxNum=16

8. Open the firewall port. Palworld uses UDP for game traffic. A TCP-only rule will not work, which is a common point of confusion when friends cannot connect despite the server appearing healthy in its logs.

sudo ufw allow 8211/udp
sudo ufw reload

9. Launch the server for persistent play. Use screen or tmux to keep it running after you close your SSH session:

screen -S palworld
./PalServer.sh

Press Ctrl+A then D to detach. From this point your server continues running independently of your SSH connection.

Configuration Tips Worth Knowing

The defaults in PalWorldSettings.ini are conservative and suit most small groups, but a few settings are worth adjusting early before your world fills up with player data.

BaseCampWorkerMaxNum controls how many Pals can be assigned to work at a single base. The default is 15. High worker counts are one of the larger contributors to server memory usage and CPU load, because each working Pal runs its own simulation loop continuously. Dropping this to 10-12 can noticeably reduce resource pressure on busier servers, though it does limit base automation. Adjust to taste based on your hardware.

ServerPlayerMaxNum caps concurrent connections. The absolute maximum is 32. Setting it lower than your expected player count is a common mistake during initial config. If friends are getting “server full” errors at low population, this is the setting to check.

Experience and drop rate multipliers (ExpRate, PalCaptureRate, DropItemMaxNum, and others) are purely gameplay choices, but setting them before play begins is easier than adjusting mid-world. Some changes to these settings can affect ongoing save data in unexpected ways, so decide early.

bEnablePlayerToPlayerDamage is off by default. If you are running a PvP world, turn this on before play begins. It controls whether players can deal damage to each other, and is straightforward to toggle at any point.

A practical approach: copy DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini into the active config location, review each field against the official Palworld server guide, and set the values that matter for your group before the first real session begins.

Backing Up Your World

Your world save lives in Pal/Saved/SaveGames/ relative to the server installation directory. Backing up that directory is all that is needed to preserve your world, player data, and base state.

A simple approach is a daily cp or rsync cron job running just before the nightly restart, so each backup captures a clean, post-restart state:

# Example: back up world save to a backup folder before the restart
0 3 * * * cp -r /home/steam/Steam/steamapps/common/PalServer/Pal/Saved/SaveGames /home/steam/backups/palworld-$(date +\%F)

Adjust the paths to match your install. The backup folder will grow over time, so either rotate old backups automatically or move them to Contabo Object Storage, which keeps costs predictable at a flat rate per GB. Having at least a few days of backups before installing mods or running a game update is a practical safety net that pays off the first time something goes wrong.

Keeping Your Server Up to Date

Palworld updates regularly and your server version must match the client version players are connecting from. There is no auto-update mechanism for self-hosted servers; you update by re-running the same SteamCMD command used during install:

steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

Run this whenever Palworld pushes a client update. If your server version falls behind, players will see a version mismatch error on connect. Keeping a note of update dates helps if you need to debug a sudden connection failure.

Palworld Server Hosting: Why Run It on Contabo

Running palworld server hosting on a Contabo VPS means you control the environment entirely. You choose the OS, decide who can connect, configure the game rules and mod list yourself, and keep the world alive around the clock without coordinating play sessions around one person’s gaming PC staying online.

This is an unmanaged setup. You install and run the server binary yourself. Contabo provides the VPS and the underlying infrastructure. You handle the Palworld process, updates, and restarts. If you want a graphical panel and one-click game management instead, skip to the FAQ below.

For palworld server hosting on a budget, the Core VPS 6 (6 vCPUs, 12 GB RAM, 100 GB SSD) is a reasonable starting point for a small group. It falls short of Pocketpair’s 16 GB recommendation, so it works best for 4-6 players who schedule regular restarts. Groups of 8 or more, or anyone planning to run mods, should look at plans with 16 GB RAM or more. Core VPS 8 with 24 GB RAM is a great option here.

A few things make a Contabo VPS a practical choice for this workload:

• Flat monthly billing. You pay a fixed monthly rate. Standard plans do not charge per slot or meter traffic separately, which keeps costs predictable regardless of how many friends log in. Check the current plan terms at contabo.com for the latest details.
• Full root access. You can install any dependency, configure systemd services, set up automated backups, or run any admin tooling you prefer.
• Data center locations across multiple regions. European players can choose the Hub Europe datacenter for lower latency. US, Singapore, and other locations are available for groups spread across different regions.

If you want to run Palworld alongside other services on the same VPS, that works without any additional licensing.

One honest tradeoff worth naming: Contabo VPS plans run on shared vCPUs, not dedicated physical cores. For most Palworld groups this is fine, but if your server runs busy sessions with many players and large bases, CPU contention from other tenants on the same physical host can occasionally affect performance. If you find the VPS tier underperforming under load, the Max Performance VPS line offers dedicated physical cores and eliminates that variable.

If you want a managed option instead of running Linux yourself, GPORTAL, a sister company in the Contabo group, offers managed Palworld server hosting with no server administration on your side. See the FAQ below.

FAQ: Palworld Dedicated Server Hosting