How do I fix lag and the memory leak on my Palworld server?

Palworld servers suffer from a stubborn problem: RAM usage keeps climbing the longer the server runs. This memory leak has been in the dedicated server since release and was never fully fixed, not even in version 1.0. The symptoms are easy to recognise: first mild lag, then rubber banding (players and Pals snapping back to an earlier position) and eventually a server that crashes. In this guide you will diagnose the problem, set up automatic restarts through the schedules in the MC-Node panel as the most important fix, and then trim the settings that burn CPU and RAM for no good reason.

Step 1: Diagnose the problem in the panel

1. Log in at panel.mc-node.net and open your Palworld server. On the Console tab you can see the live CPU and memory usage next to the console.
2. Note the RAM usage a few minutes after a fresh start. This is your baseline.
3. Check again after a few hours of uptime. Is usage steadily climbing, even with few or no players online? That is the memory leak in action.
4. Click Restart and compare the usage after the restart with your baseline. If it drops significantly, scheduled restarts will solve most of your lag.
5. If RAM is already close to the limit right after a fresh start, the problem is not the leak but your plan — more on that below.

Step 2: Schedule automatic restarts (the most important fix)

Since the leak itself cannot be fixed on your end, regularly clearing the memory with scheduled restarts is the most effective measure. You set this up once and never have to think about it again.

1. In the panel, go to the Schedules tab and click Create schedule.
2. Give the schedule a name (for example Daily restart) and set the time using the cron fields: for every day at 06:00 use minute 0 and hour 6; for a restart every six hours put */6 in the hour field.
3. Open the schedule you just created, click New Task and choose the action Send power action with Restart server.
4. Save and check that the schedule is active.

As a rule of thumb: restart at least once a day at a quiet time. If your server runs with players around the clock, restart every six to eight hours instead. Palworld saves the world during a normal restart through the panel, so no progress is lost. For more details on cron times and tasks, see our article on schedules.

Note: restarts treat the symptom, not the cause. They keep the leak under control, but they do not conjure up extra memory. If RAM sits above 85–90% even right after a fresh restart with normal settings, your plan is simply too small and a RAM upgrade is the honest solution — restarting even more often will not fix that.

Step 3: Trim resource-hungry settings

Besides the leak, several settings put extra load on CPU and RAM. You adjust these in PalWorldSettings.ini.

1. Stop your server first via the Console tab. If you edit the file while the server is running, your changes are overwritten on shutdown.
2. Open the Files tab and navigate to Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini. All options sit on one long line inside OptionSettings=(...).
3. Set bEnableInvaderEnemy=False. Base raids cause load spikes and are a well-known source of instability; this is the go-to stability tweak for Palworld servers.
4. Check PalSpawnNumRate. The default is 1.000000; higher values spawn far more Pals and drive up usage quickly. Set it back to 1, or slightly lower if lag persists.
5. Keep bases in check: the more working Pals are active at once, the more the server has to compute. Leave BaseCampWorkerMaxNum at the default 15 (or lower it) and ask your players not to cram dozens of Pals into one spot.
6. Match ServerPlayerMaxNum to your plan: count on roughly 8 GB of RAM for a small group and 16 GB once you regularly play with eight or more players.
7. Save the file and start the server. For what every option does, see our guide to PalWorldSettings.ini.

Common problems

• Server crashes after a few hours, even without players — The classic result of the memory leak: RAM fills up and the process is killed. Schedule your restarts more frequently, or upgrade your memory if usage is high even right after a fresh start.
• Rubber banding as soon as more players come online — This points to CPU pressure rather than the leak. Lower the spawn rate, disable raids with bEnableInvaderEnemy=False and limit the number of active Pals in bases.
• Restarts help, but for shorter and shorter periods — As your world grows (more bases, more Pals, a bigger savegame), the baseline usage rises. The point where restarting is no longer enough is the moment for a RAM upgrade.
• Changes to PalWorldSettings.ini disappear — You edited the file while the server was running. Stop the server, make the change again and only then start it.
• Server no longer starts after editing the configuration — Usually a typo: all options must stay on a single line inside OptionSettings=(...), separated by commas. Fix the line or restore a backup.

Need help?

With a daily restart schedule and the tweaks above, almost every Palworld server runs smoothly. Just getting started? Also read our getting-started guide for Palworld hosting. If you are still stuck, open a ticket via our support page and include your server name and what you have already tried — we will gladly take a look at your usage with you.