How do I move my co-op world to a Palworld dedicated server?

In co-op, your Palworld world only runs while your own PC is on, and with a maximum of four players. When you move to a rented server, you don't have to start over: your world comes along, including bases, Pals and your friends' progress. In this article you will locate your local save, upload the save folder via SFTP and link the correct save ID so the server loads your world. After that we fix the well-known host bug, which otherwise puts the host character back at level 1. No server yet? Set one up first with our getting-started guide How do I start a Palworld server?

Step 1: Find your local co-op save

1. Close Palworld. Press Windows key + R, paste %localappdata%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames and press Enter.
2. Open the folder named after your Steam ID (a long number). Inside it, every world has its own folder with a 32-character name, containing Level.sav, LevelMeta.sav and the Players folder, among others.
3. If you have several worlds, sort by date modified: the co-op world you played last is the most recent folder. Not sure? Load the world locally once more and see which folder gets a new timestamp.
4. Copy the entire world folder to your desktop, for example, and set a second copy aside as a backup; a conversion tool will touch this save later on.

Playing through the Xbox app or Game Pass? Those saves have a different location and format; the manual of the converter from step 4 explains how to convert them to the Steam format first.

Step 2: Upload the save folder to your server via SFTP

1. Start your server once from the panel and stop it again; during that first start the server creates its folder structure and a fresh world.
2. Connect via SFTP, for example with FileZilla or WinSCP. You can find out where to get the login details in How do I use SFTP?
3. Navigate to /Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/. You will already see one folder with a 32-character name: the empty world the server just created.
4. Upload your complete world folder from step 1 into SaveGames/0/, next to the existing folder — the folder itself, not just the loose files.
5. Wait until the upload has fully finished; in particular Level.sav and the Players folder must transfer completely.

Step 3: Link the save ID via DedicatedServerName

1. In the panel, open the Files tab and go to Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini.
2. Find the line DedicatedServerName=. It currently holds the 32-character name of the empty server world.
3. Replace that value with the exact folder name of the world you uploaded. Copy and paste the name; a single wrong character and the server creates a brand-new world.
4. Save the file and start the server. Follow the boot in the Console tab, then join to check that your bases and Pals are there.

Step 4: Fix the host character (level 1 bug)

In co-op, the host's character always gets player ID 00000000000000000000000000000001. On a dedicated server every player gets an ID based on their account, so the server doesn't recognise the host and gives them a fresh level 1 character. Guests keep their progress automatically — only the host needs this fix, using the free save converter palworld-host-save-fix by xNul:

1. First make a backup via the Backups tab (see How do I create a backup?) and also keep a local copy of the world folder. Never skip this: the tool rewrites your save.
2. Have the host join the server once and create a new character. A new .sav file appears in SaveGames/0/<world-ID>/Players/, recognisable by its recent timestamp; the file name without .sav is the host's new GUID.
3. Stop the server and download the complete world folder to your PC via SFTP.
4. Install Python 3 from python.org and download the latest release of the tool from xNul's GitHub page (search for “palworld host save fix”).
5. Run: python fix_host_save.py <path-to-world-folder> <new-GUID> 00000000000000000000000000000001 True. The tool transfers the level, gear, Pals and guild membership of the old host character to the new GUID.
6. Upload Level.sav and the Players folder back to the server, overwrite the existing files and start the server.
7. Join as the host: you now spawn with your old character again, including level, inventory and Pals.

Common problems

• The server loads an empty world — The DedicatedServerName value doesn't exactly match the folder name, or the world folder isn't directly inside SaveGames/0/ but in a subfolder. Check both and restart.
• You migrated the wrong world — There were several 32-character folders on your PC. Compare the modified dates or open the world locally in co-op to verify, then repeat steps 2 and 3.
• The host is still level 1 after the fix — Usually the old and new GUID were swapped, or the old files were put back. Restore your backup (see How do I restore a backup?) and go through step 4 again.
• The converter throws an error — Check that the path to the world folder is correct (the folder containing Level.sav) and pass the GUID without the .sav extension.
• Friends lost their items — Guests keep their progress automatically; never run the fix for guests. If something did go wrong, restore the backup.

Ready for what's next

Your world now runs around the clock on your MC-Node server, with room for 32 players instead of four. Set up an automatic daily backup right away via the Schedules tab. Stuck on any step? Open a ticket via our support page and mention your server name and the step where things go wrong.