Best Palworld Server Settings for Performance and Less Lag

Palworld servers have a lot to keep up with. Players are exploring, Pals are working, bases are crafting, items are dropping, and someone is probably building a base so large that even their Anubis is asking for a lunch break.

That is all part of the fun, but it can also add up fast. If your Palworld server is lagging, rubberbanding, crashing, or eating through RAM, a few setting changes can help improve performance.

This guide will walk you through the best Palworld server settings for better performance, including player limits, base raids, worker Pals, wild Pal spawns, dropped items, RAM usage, and advanced Engine.ini tweaks.

Before You Change Palworld Server Settings

Before editing your Palworld server settings, stop your server first.

In the Nodecraft panel, settings cannot be saved while the server is running. Stop the server, make your changes, submit them, then start the server again.

Most Palworld gameplay settings can be changed directly from the Nodecraft panel by going to Game Settings. From there, use the tabs at the top of the page:

• Basic & Admin

• Gameplay & Progression

• Pals

• Bases & Economy

Some advanced settings may still need to be edited manually through the server files.

How to Change Palworld Settings in the Nodecraft Panel

1. Stop your Palworld server.

2. Go to Game Settings.

3. Select the tab that contains the setting you want to change.

4. Adjust the slider, toggle, dropdown, or number field.

5. Click Submit.

6. Start your server again.

If the option is available in the panel, that is usually the easiest way to change it. No file digging required. Very fancy. Very civilized.

How to Edit PalworldSettings.ini Manually

If a setting is not available in the panel, you can edit the file manually.

Go to: Server Files > Files

Open: Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini

If you prefer SFTP, you can also access the file through: Server Files > SFTP

Make sure you are editing PalWorldSettings.ini. Do not edit DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini. The default file is only a template. Changes made there will not apply to your active server.

Palworld’s raw PalWorldSettings.ini format is also picky. Most settings are stored inside the OptionSettings=(...) line. If you are editing the raw file, avoid breaking the formatting or adding random line breaks inside the setting string.

After making changes, save the file and restart your server.

Start With These Performance Settings First

Before fine-tuning every setting, start with the two biggest performance areas:

1. Base raids

2. Player count

These have a major impact on server stability, especially on smaller servers or servers with limited RAM.

Disable Raid Events

bEnableInvaderEnemy controls base raid events.

For the best server performance, we recommend disabling raid events: bEnableInvaderEnemy=False

In your Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Bases & Economy > Enable Raid Events

Turn Enable Raid Events off, then submit the change.

This disables base raids, which can be one of the most impactful changes for server stability. Many Palworld server owners have reported that the invader spawning system can cause memory usage to climb over time, eventually leading to lag, rubberbanding, or crashes.

If your Palworld server is running out of RAM after a few hours, this is one of the first settings to check.

If you want to keep raids enabled, you can, but you should plan around the extra load. A good option is to schedule automatic restarts every 2 to 4 hours through the Schedule Manager. This helps reset memory usage before it becomes a bigger problem.

Basically, raids are fun. Server crashes are less fun. Choose your chaos level carefully.

Set a Realistic Player Limit

ServerPlayerMaxNum controls how many players can join your Palworld server.

In the Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Basic & Admin > Max Players

More players means more exploring, more bases, more wild Pals, more dropped items, and more activity for the server to track. Increasing the player limit can be great for larger communities, but each additional player adds meaningful RAM overhead.

Recommended starting point: ServerPlayerMaxNum=8

For smaller friend groups, avoid setting this higher than you actually need. A 32-player cap looks exciting until the server starts sweating through its tiny server shirt.

Base Settings That Affect Performance

Bases are one of the biggest performance factors in Palworld. Every base can include structures, storage, crafting stations, farms, ranches, defenses, and working Pals.

More bases mean more work for the server. More worker Pals means even more work for the server.

The Pals may want a giant factory empire. Your server may not.

Max Bases Per Guild

BaseCampMaxNumInGuild controls how many bases each guild can have.

In the Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Bases & Economy > Max Bases - Per Guild

If performance is a concern, avoid increasing this too much.

Recommended performance setting: BaseCampMaxNumInGuild=3

If your server is smaller and stable, you can keep this closer to the default. If players are building massive production bases, lowering this can help reduce server load.

Max Bases Global

Your Nodecraft panel also includes Max Bases - Global.

Game Settings > Bases & Economy > Max Bases - Global

This controls the total number of bases allowed across the server. Lowering this can help on busy public servers, especially if players are spreading out and creating many separate bases.

For small private servers, this usually does not need much attention. For public servers, it is worth keeping an eye on.

Max Pals Per Base

BaseCampWorkerMaxNum controls how many Pals can work at each base.

In your Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Bases & Economy > Max Pals - Per Base

This is a big one. Worker Pals are not just cute decorations with suspiciously strong opinions. They move around, pathfind, work jobs, transport items, eat, sleep, get stuck on roofs, and occasionally stare at a task like they forgot why they entered the room.

More worker Pals per base means more AI activity for the server to process.

Recommended performance setting: BaseCampWorkerMaxNum=15

If your server is still struggling, try lowering this further. If your server has plenty of resources, you can raise it carefully, but do not max it out just because the option exists.

Max Structures Per Base

Your Nodecraft panel includes Max Structures - Per Base.

Game Settings > Bases & Economy > Max Structures - Per Base

This controls the maximum number of structures allowed per base. Setting it to 0 disables the limit.

Unlimited building sounds great until someone creates a mega base that turns the server into a slideshow. Structure limits help prevent worlds from becoming overloaded with buildings.

For public servers, setting a reasonable structure limit is a good way to stop one player from accidentally building a monument to lag.

Pal Spawn Settings

Wild Pals can also affect performance. More wild Pals means more creatures for the server to spawn, track, move, and process.

Pal Appearance Rate

PalSpawnNumRate controls how many wild Pals spawn in the world.

In your Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Pals > Pal Appearance Rate

For better performance, keep this at the default or lower it slightly.

Recommended performance setting: PalSpawnNumRate=1.000000

For struggling servers: PalSpawnNumRate=0.800000

Avoid raising this on busy servers unless you are confident your server can handle it. More Pals may make the world feel alive, but too many can make the server feel like it needs a nap.

Building and Dropped Item Settings

Buildings and dropped items can quietly become a performance problem over time. A few items on the ground are not a big deal. A world full of abandoned loot piles and mega bases is a different story.

Dropped Item Lifespan

DropItemAliveMaxHours controls how long dropped items remain in the world.

In your Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Bases & Economy > Dropped Item Lifespan (Hours)

Dropped items can become a problem if players leave loot scattered everywhere. Lowering this value can help reduce clutter without removing dropped items instantly.

Recommended performance setting: DropItemAliveMaxHours=1.000000

This gives players time to recover items without letting abandoned loot sit around forever.

Maximum Number of Dropped Items

DropItemMaxNum controls the maximum number of dropped items allowed in the world.

In your Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Bases & Economy > Maximum Number of Dropped Items

Lowering this can help prevent dropped item buildup, especially on servers where players are farming, fighting, looting, and leaving little item piles everywhere.

Recommended performance setting: DropItemMaxNum=3000

For busier servers, you may want to lower this further. For smaller private servers, the default may be fine.

Enemy Item Dropped Rate

EnemyDropItemRate changes how many items enemies drop.

In your Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Bases & Economy > Enemy Item Dropped Rate

Higher enemy drop rates can be fun, but they can also lead to more items, more storage, faster progression, and more base activity. On casual servers, this is usually fine. On large servers, extreme drop rates can create extra clutter and increase the amount of stuff the server has to track.

Recommended performance setting: EnemyDropItemRate=1.000000

If you want a boosted server, keep the increases reasonable. Going wild with loot settings is fun until the floor becomes a junk drawer.

Gatherable Items Drop Rate

CollectionDropRate changes how many items players receive from gatherable resources.

In your Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Gameplay & Progression > Gatherable Items Drop Rate

Recommended performance setting: CollectionDropRate=1.000000

Higher values mean players get more items from harvesting, mining, and lumbering. That can speed up progression, but it also increases the amount of inventory, storage, and base activity happening across the server.

For performance-focused servers, keep this close to default.

Perishable Item Decay Rate

ItemCorruptionMultiplier controls how quickly perishable items decay.

In your Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Bases & Economy > Perishable Item Decay Rate

This setting can help reduce clutter from food and other decaying items. Faster decay means fewer old items sitting around in the world or storage.

Recommended performance setting: ItemCorruptionMultiplier=1.000000

For servers with heavy clutter, you can increase this slightly.

Example: ItemCorruptionMultiplier=1.500000

Just be careful not to make food spoil so fast that players feel personally attacked by their own berries.

Supply Drop Rate

SupplyDropSpan controls how often supply and meteorite drop events occur.

In your Nodecraft panel, go to: Game Settings > Gameplay & Progression > Supply Drop Rate

This is not usually the first setting to change for performance, but frequent events can add more activity to the world. If your server is struggling during event activity, increase the interval so these events happen less often.

Auto Save Interval

Your Nodecraft panel includes Auto Save Interval under: Game Settings > Basic & Admin > Auto Save Interval

Autosaves are important, so do not disable or stretch them too far just to chase performance. However, very frequent saves can add disk activity, especially on busy worlds.

For most servers, the default is fine. If you are troubleshooting save-related stutters, adjust carefully and make sure players understand the tradeoff.

Backup Save Data and Disk Load

bIsUseBackupSaveData enables Palworld’s backup save system.

This setting may not appear in the Nodecraft panel, so you may need to edit it manually in PalWorldSettings.ini.

Recommended setting: bIsUseBackupSaveData=True

Backups are helpful, especially if something goes wrong with the world. However, backups can also increase disk load. For most servers, keeping backups enabled is worth it. Just keep in mind that fast storage helps a lot. If your server has poor disk performance, Palworld can become much more fragile.

Recommended Palworld Performance Settings

Here is a simple performance-friendly setup for PalWorldSettings.ini:

bEnableInvaderEnemy=False
ServerPlayerMaxNum=8
BaseCampMaxNumInGuild=3
BaseCampWorkerMaxNum=15
PalSpawnNumRate=1.000000
ServerReplicatePawnCullDistance=5000.000000
bIsUseBackupSaveData=True
CollectionDropRate=1.000000
EnemyDropItemRate=1.000000
ItemCorruptionMultiplier=1.000000
DropItemAliveMaxHours=1.000000
DropItemMaxNum=3000

This setup keeps Palworld close to the normal gameplay experience while reducing some of the biggest server stress points.

The most important change here is: bEnableInvaderEnemy=False

If your server is lagging, rubberbanding, or crashing after a few hours, start there first.

Advanced Engine.ini Settings for Lag and Rubberbanding

Some Palworld server owners also adjust Engine.ini to help with lag, rubberbanding, and network desync.

These settings are separate from PalWorldSettings.ini. Instead of changing gameplay rules like spawn rates, base limits, or dropped item timers, these settings focus more on server tick rates, network bandwidth limits, and frame rate smoothing.

Before changing Engine.ini, make a backup of the file.

1. Open your Nodecraft Dashboard.

2. Go to Server Files > Files in the menu on the left side.

3. Open Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/Engine.ini

4. Add the following settings after this line:

   Paths=../../../Pal/Plugins/Wwise/Content

5. Copy and paste the section below:

   ---

; Online Subsystem Utils Configuration
[/script/onlinesubsystemutils.ipnetdriver]
LanServerMaxTickRate=120
NetServerMaxTickRate=120

; Player Configuration
[/script/engine.player]
ConfiguredInternetSpeed=104857600
ConfiguredLanSpeed=104857600

; Socket Subsystem Epic Configuration
[/script/socketsubsystemepic.epicnetdriver]
MaxClientRate=104857600
MaxInternetClientRate=104857600

; Engine Configuration
[/script/engine.engine]
bSmoothFrameRate=true
bUseFixedFrameRate=false
SmoothedFrameRateRange=(LowerBound=(Type=Inclusive,Value=30.000000),UpperBound=(Type=Exclusive,Value=120.000000))
MinDesiredFrameRate=60.000000
FixedFrameRate=120.000000
NetClientTicksPerSecond=120

After saving the file, restart your server and monitor performance.

What Do These Engine.ini Settings Do?

LanServerMaxTickRate controls the maximum tick rate for LAN servers. A higher tick rate allows the server to update more often, which can make gameplay feel smoother on local connections.

NetServerMaxTickRate controls the maximum tick rate for internet servers. Setting this to 120 allows the server to process more updates per second, which can help reduce desync and improve responsiveness.

ConfiguredInternetSpeed sets a high assumed internet speed for players. This helps prevent the server from limiting bandwidth too aggressively.

ConfiguredLanSpeed does the same thing for LAN players, allowing local players to use more available network capacity.

MaxClientRate controls the maximum data transfer rate per client.

MaxInternetClientRate controls the maximum data transfer rate for internet clients.

Both of these are set to a high value to reduce the chance of client connections being capped too low during busy server activity.

bSmoothFrameRate enables Unreal Engine’s frame rate smoothing. This helps reduce sharp frame rate jumps that can sometimes affect consistency.

bUseFixedFrameRate is set to false, which means the server is not locked to one fixed frame rate.

SmoothedFrameRateRange sets the target frame rate smoothing range. In this example, the range starts at 30 and goes up to 120.

MinDesiredFrameRate sets the minimum desired frame rate to 60.

FixedFrameRate is set to 120, but because bUseFixedFrameRate is set to false, this value is not actively forcing the server to run at a fixed frame rate.

NetClientTicksPerSecond increases how often clients receive network updates. Raising this can improve responsiveness and help reduce rubberbanding in some cases.

Should Everyone Use the Engine.ini Tweaks?

These Engine.ini settings can help some servers, especially servers dealing with rubberbanding or network desync. However, higher tick rates can also increase CPU and bandwidth usage.

If your server is already struggling because of limited CPU, RAM, or heavy world activity, these settings may not fix everything by themselves.

The best approach is to change one group of settings at a time, restart the server, and monitor performance. If performance gets worse, revert the Engine.ini changes and focus on gameplay settings like raids, player count, base workers, spawn rates, and dropped items.

Do Palworld Server Settings Really Improve Performance?

Yes, but only to a point. Server settings can help reduce the load caused by base raids, players, bases, worker Pals, wild Pals, dropped items, buildings, and network update behavior. However, settings cannot fully fix an underpowered server.

Palworld can be demanding, especially as more players explore the map and build larger bases. For the best results, combine performance-friendly settings with strong server hardware, enough RAM, fast storage, and reasonable world settings.

Best Settings to Change First

If you are trying to improve Palworld server performance quickly, start with these:

1. Disable raid events with bEnableInvaderEnemy=False.

2. Lower or limit ServerPlayerMaxNum.

3. Reduce BaseCampWorkerMaxNum.

4. Keep PalSpawnNumRate at default or lower it slightly.

5. Set reasonable base and structure limits.

6. Lower dropped item cleanup timers with DropItemAliveMaxHours.

7. Schedule automatic restarts if RAM usage climbs over time.

8. Test Engine.ini network tweaks if rubberbanding continues.

This gives you the best chance of reducing lag without making the world feel empty.

Conclusion

Palworld performance is all about keeping the server from getting buried under too much activity at once. The biggest settings to watch are base raids, player count, base limits, worker Pal limits, wild Pal spawns, structure limits, dropped item cleanup, and network update settings.

For most servers, disabling raid events and setting a realistic player cap are the best first steps. From there, you can fine-tune base limits, worker Pals, spawn rates, dropped items, and Engine.ini settings based on how your server performs.

You do not have to turn your world into a ghost town to improve performance. Start with the heaviest settings first, monitor RAM usage, and test during busy times.

A smoother Palworld server means fewer lag spikes, fewer crashes, and more time for the important stuff, like catching Pals, building questionable architecture, and wondering why your worker Pals are standing on top of the storage box again.

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