---
title: "Palworld Difficulty Settings: Complete Server Guide"
description: Discover every Palworld difficulty setting, including EXP rates, Pal capture rates, egg incubation, raids, resource gathering, and recommended configurations for relaxed, balanced, or hardcore gameplay.
source: "https://nodecraft.com/support/games/palworld/setup/palworld-difficulty-settings-complete-server-guide"
image: "https://dynamic-assets.nodecraft.com/signedurl/w7vokBAexMnVlnMZ1Q/image.jpg?modifications=W3sibmFtZSI6ImdhbWVfYmciLCJpbWFnZV91cmwiOiJodHRwczovL2Ntcy1hLm5vZGVjcmFmdC5jb20vZi8xMzM5MzIvMjAwMHg1NTAvNGZmMDcwNGFhZC9wYWx3b3JsZC1sYW5kaW5nLTEtMC0wLnBuZy9tLyJ9LHsibmFtZSI6ImdhbWVfbG9nbyIsImltYWdlX3VybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vY21zLWEubm9kZWNyYWZ0LmNvbS9mLzEzMzkzMi82MDB4MzI1LzRiYzk5NDJjYzgvbG9nby5wbmcvbS8ifSx7Im5hbWUiOiJjdGFfdGV4dCIsInRleHQiOiJDcmVhdGUgeW91ciBvd24gc2VydmVyISJ9LHsibmFtZSI6InRleHQiLCJ0ZXh0IjoiUGFsd29ybGQgRGlmZmljdWx0eSBTZXR0aW5nczogQ29tcGxldGUgU2VydmVyIEd1aWRlIn1d&s=3ded21ed5f72fac8eee010bc1cd706fa4adcb94e09238668b44ed408e93eea82"
published: "2026-07-12T02:45:51.147Z"
updated: "2026-07-12T02:45:51.147Z"
---

# Palworld Difficulty Settings: Complete Server Guide

Discover every Palworld difficulty setting, including EXP rates, Pal capture rates, egg incubation, raids, resource gathering, and recommended configurations for relaxed, balanced, or hardcore gameplay.

Palworld difficulty is controlled by much more than a simple Easy, Normal, or Hard preset. On a dedicated server, you can adjust individual settings for experience, damage, hunger, stamina, Pal captures, egg incubation, resource gathering, raids, base limits, item weight, durability, and plenty more.

That means you can create a relaxed server where eggs hatch instantly and resources practically fall from the sky, or a survival nightmare where every wild Pal hits like it has something personal against you.

This guide explains how to change Palworld difficulty settings through the Nodecraft control panel and what each option does.

## Before Changing Palworld Difficulty Settings

Stop your Palworld server before changing its settings. The Nodecraft panel cannot save Palworld settings while the server is running, and stopping the server helps prevent configuration changes from conflicting with an active save.

## How to Change Palworld Difficulty Settings

1. Navigate to your Nodecraft dashboard.
2. Locate your Palworld server and click **Panel**.
3. Stop the server.
4. Click **Game Settings** in the menu on the left.
5. Open the tab containing the setting you want to change.
6. Adjust the slider, toggle, dropdown, or number field.
7. Click **Submit** at the bottom of the page.
8. Start your Palworld server again.

Your new settings will apply when the server starts.

## How Palworld Difficulty Multipliers Work

Most Palworld difficulty settings use multipliers.

| Value | General Effect |
| --- | --- |
| 0 | Disables the effect when supported |
| 0.5 | Reduces the effect by approximately half |
| 1 | Uses the normal rate |
| 2 | Doubles the effect |
| 5 | Multiplies the effect by five |

The name of the setting matters. Increasing **Damage from Player Multiplier** makes players stronger, but increasing **Damage to Player Multiplier** makes incoming damage stronger.

Some settings work as intervals instead of direct multipliers. For example, a lower **Supply Drop Rate** value means less time between events, which causes supply drops and meteorites to appear more frequently.

**Note:** Palworld 1.0 added world-setting controls for ranch item production and work speed, along with dedicated-server voice chat options.

## Basic and Admin Settings

Most options under **Basic & Admin** control server access rather than direct gameplay difficulty. A few can still affect how forgiving or competitive the server feels.

### Player and Mod Settings

#### Max Players

This setting controls how many players can join the server. Larger groups can make bosses, raids, gathering, and base management easier, but additional players also increase the amount of work the server must process.

#### Allow Client Mods

Use this option to permit players with mods enabled to join the server. Mods may change progression, combat, building, Pal behavior, or other balance-related systems.

Disable it if you want everyone to use the same standard gameplay rules.

#### Enable Controller Aim Assist

When enabled, players using controllers receive assistance while aiming. Disable it if you want controller combat to require more precise input.

### Inactivity and Logout Settings

#### Enable Penalty for Non Login

This option applies the game’s inactivity penalties after players have remained offline for several days. Disable it for a more relaxed server where players can take a break without worrying about inactivity consequences.

#### Logged Out Players Persist in World

When enabled, player characters remain at their current location after logging out. Players cannot instantly escape danger or PvP by disconnecting because their character may remain vulnerable in the world.

## Gameplay and Progression Settings

The **Gameplay & Progression** tab contains most of the options used to create a custom Palworld difficulty.

### Time and Experience Settings

#### Day Time Speed Rate

This multiplier controls how quickly daytime passes. Lower values create longer days, giving players more daylight for exploration, gathering, and building. Higher values make daytime pass faster.

#### Night Time Speed Rate

This multiplier determines how quickly nighttime passes. Higher values shorten the night and return the server to daytime faster, while lower values create longer nights.

#### EXP Rate

Use this multiplier to adjust the amount of experience earned by players and Pals. A value of **2** provides twice as much experience, while a value of **0.5** reduces experience gains by approximately half.

Increase it for faster progression or lower it to make leveling take longer.

### Death Penalty

This dropdown determines what players lose when they die.

| Option | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| No lost items | Players keep everything after death. |
| Only items lost | Items are dropped, but equipment and Pals are kept. |
| Items and equipment lost | Items and equipped gear are dropped. |
| Items, equipment, and Pals in inventory lost | Players receive the strongest standard death penalty. |

Dropped items may still be recoverable. Other players may also be able to collect them depending on your guild and death-pickup settings.

### Player Damage and Survival Settings

#### Damage from Player Multiplier

This value changes how much damage players deal. Increase it to make players stronger, or decrease it to make combat take longer and enemies harder to defeat.

Be careful with very high values. Players may accidentally defeat wild Pals before they have a chance to throw a Pal Sphere.

#### Damage to Player Multiplier

This value changes how much incoming damage players receive. Lower values make players more durable, while higher values make enemies, bosses, and environmental dangers much more threatening.

#### Player Hunger Multiplier

Use this multiplier to adjust how quickly player hunger drains. Lower values let players go longer between meals, while higher values require them to eat more frequently.

Set it to **0** to disable player hunger.

#### Player Stamina Reduction Rate

This multiplier changes how quickly player stamina drains. Lower values allow players to sprint, climb, swim, and perform other actions for longer, while higher values make stamina drain faster.

Set it to **0** to disable stamina loss.

#### Player Auto HP Regen Multiplier

This value adjusts natural player health regeneration. Higher values cause players to recover faster, while lower values make injuries more meaningful and increase reliance on food, rest, and other recovery methods.

#### Player Sleep HP Regen Multiplier

Use this multiplier to adjust how quickly players recover health while sleeping. Increase it for faster recovery or decrease it if you want injuries to remain a problem for longer.

### Stat Enhancement Settings

Palworld allows players to spend stat points when leveling. The panel lets you enable or disable point allocation for:

- Attack
- HP
- Stamina
- Carry Weight
- Work Speed

Disabling one of these options prevents players from investing points into that stat. These controls can be useful for specialized challenge servers, class-based communities, or PvP servers attempting to limit extreme character builds.

Disabling Attack and HP investment can also reduce the gap between new and established players.

### Structure Difficulty Settings

#### Damage to Structure Multiplier

This multiplier determines how much damage buildings and other structures receive. Lower values make them harder to destroy, while higher values make them more vulnerable.

Set it to **0** to make structures effectively invulnerable.

#### Structure Deterioration Rate

Use this multiplier to control how quickly structures outside a Palbox area decay. Lower values slow deterioration, while higher values cause unsupported structures to decay faster.

Set it to **0** to disable natural structure deterioration.

#### Structure Health Points

This multiplier adjusts the total health of structures. Higher values create stronger bases, while lower values make them easier to destroy.

Structure damage and health are especially important on PvP servers. Stronger structures favor defenders, while weaker structures make base attacks much more dangerous.

### Gathering and World Event Settings

#### Supply Drop Rate

This value sets the interval between supply drop and meteorite events in minutes. Lower values create more frequent events, while higher values increase the wait between them.

Despite being called a rate, it functions more like an interval.

#### Grazing Item Production Rate Multiplier

Use this multiplier to control how quickly grazing Pals produce ranch items. Increase it for faster ranch production or decrease it to slow the production of items such as milk, eggs, wool, and similar resources.

#### Gatherable Items Drop Rate

This multiplier changes how many resources players receive from harvesting, mining, and lumbering. Higher values provide more items from each resource node, while lower values make players spend more time gathering materials.

#### Gatherable Object Respawn Interval

This value controls how quickly rocks, ore deposits, trees, and similar resources return after being harvested. Lower values create faster respawns, while higher values make resources take longer to return.

#### Gatherable Objects Health Multiplier

Use this multiplier to adjust the health of resource nodes. Lower values allow players and Pals to break rocks, trees, and ore deposits more quickly, while higher values make gathering take longer.

## Pal Difficulty Settings

Open the **Pals** tab to control Pal captures, spawns, combat, breeding, hunger, stamina, and work speed.

### Capture and Breeding Settings

#### Pal Capture Rate

This multiplier adjusts the chance of successfully capturing Pals. Increase it to make captures easier or decrease it to require better Pal Spheres, lower target health, and more patience.

#### Pal Appearance Rate

This multiplier controls how many Pals appear in each spawn group. Higher values create more wild Pals, giving players additional capture and resource opportunities. Lower values make wild Pals less common.

Increasing it may affect server performance because the server must process more wild Pals at once.

#### Time to Incubate a Huge Egg

This value sets the incubation time for Huge Eggs in hours. It also affects every other egg size, with smaller eggs scaling proportionally from the Huge Egg incubation value.

Lower it to hatch eggs faster or set it to **0** for instant hatching. Despite the name, you do not need separate settings for Small, Normal, Large, and Huge Eggs. One setting controls all of them.

### Pal Combat and Recovery Settings

#### Damage from Pals Multiplier

This multiplier adjusts how much damage Pals deal. It can affect both player-owned Pals and hostile Pals.

Higher values make Pal attacks stronger across the server, while lower values reduce their damage.

#### Damage to Pals Multiplier

This multiplier controls how much incoming damage Pals receive. Higher values make Pal battles shorter and more lethal, while lower values make Pals harder to defeat.

Increasing it may make wild Pals easier to weaken, but it also raises the risk of defeating them before they can be captured.

#### Pal Auto HP Regen Multiplier

This value changes the rate of natural Pal health regeneration. Higher values allow Pals to recover faster, while lower values make damage last longer.

#### Pal Sleep (Palbox) HP Regen Multiplier

Use this multiplier to adjust how quickly Pals recover health while resting in the Palbox. Increase it for faster recovery between fights or decrease it to make injuries require more downtime.

#### Enable Predator Pals

When enabled, dangerous Predator Pals can appear throughout the world. These powerful variants provide an additional challenge and can reward players with Predator Cores.

Disable the option for a calmer server.

### Pal Management Settings

#### Pal Work Speed

This multiplier determines how quickly Pals complete base tasks such as crafting, mining, farming, cooking, and production. Increase it to speed up base automation or decrease it to make production take longer.

#### Pal Hunger Multiplier

Use this multiplier to control how quickly Pals become hungry. Lower values allow them to work longer before eating, while higher values make them require food more frequently.

Set it to **0** to disable Pal hunger.

#### Pal Stamina Loss Multiplier

This multiplier adjusts how quickly Pal stamina drains. Lower values allow Pals to maintain activity for longer, while higher values cause stamina to drain faster.

Set it to **0** to disable Pal stamina loss.

#### Allow Global Palbox Import

When enabled, players can bring exported Pal data into the current world. This can make progression much easier because players may arrive with powerful or carefully bred Pals.

Disable imports if you want everyone to earn their Pals within the current world.

#### Allow Global Palbox Export

When enabled, players can export their Pal data for use on other supported worlds. This does not directly make the current server easier, but it allows players to transfer their progress elsewhere.

Disable exports if you want Pals to remain tied to the server.

### Advanced Pal Randomizer

These options change where Pals appear and may also randomize their levels. Randomized spawns can create a completely different Palworld experience, but the feature should be configured before players begin using the world.

**Warning:** Changing Pal randomizer settings after a world has been generated may cause data loss, world corruption, or crossplay problems. Create a backup and use these settings with a new world whenever possible.

## Bases and Economy Settings

The **Bases & Economy** tab controls base limits, worker Pals, raids, item rules, dropped loot, and guild restrictions.

### Camp Management Settings

#### Max Bases - Global

This value sets the total number of bases allowed across the entire server. Higher values allow more bases, while setting it to **0** removes the global cap.

Large numbers of bases may affect server performance.

#### Max Bases - Per Guild

This value determines how many bases each guild may own. Increase it to let players spread across more locations or decrease it to make guilds choose their base locations more carefully.

#### Max Pals - Per Base

This value controls the maximum number of working Pals that can be assigned to each base. Higher values allow larger and more productive bases, but every working Pal adds more AI and pathfinding activity for the server to process.

#### Max Structures - Per Base

This limit controls how many structures players can build before reaching the construction cap. Increase it for larger and more detailed bases or lower it to limit construction complexity and reduce potential server load.

#### Limit Build Area

When enabled, players cannot build on spawn locations, fast-travel points, and other protected areas. This helps prevent important locations from being blocked.

Disable it to provide more freedom when building.

#### Enable Raid Events

When enabled, enemy groups may attack player bases. Disable raids for a more relaxed server or leave them active if you want players to defend their camps from invading enemies.

Raid events can place additional load on the server, especially when several bases are active.

#### Enable Building Player UI Display

When enabled, structures display the player ID of their creator. This does not directly change difficulty, but it can make it easier for administrators and players to identify who built something.

#### Building Name Display Lifetime in Seconds

This value determines how long building creator information remains visible. It only applies while the building player ID display is enabled.

### Item and Inventory Management Settings

#### Item Weight Ratio

This multiplier adjusts the weight of items. Lower values allow players to carry more, while higher values reduce the amount they can carry before becoming overencumbered.

Set it to **0** to make items weightless.

#### Equipment Durability Loss Multiplier

This multiplier changes how quickly weapons, armor, and tools lose durability. Lower values make equipment last longer, while higher values require players to repair or replace their gear more often.

Set it to **0** to prevent durability loss.

#### Perishable Item Decay Rate

Use this multiplier to adjust how quickly food and other perishable items spoil. Lower values make food last longer, while higher values cause it to expire faster.

Set it to **0** to prevent decay.

#### Dropped Item Lifespan (Hours)

This value determines how long dropped items remain in the world. Increase it to give players more time to recover their belongings or decrease it to clean up abandoned items faster.

A value of **0** may cause items to disappear immediately after being dropped.

#### Enemy Item Dropped Rate

This multiplier adjusts the amount of loot dropped by defeated enemies, wild Pals, and bosses. Higher values provide more loot, while lower values make materials and rare drops harder to obtain.

#### Maximum Number of Dropped Items

This value sets the maximum number of ground items the server will retain. Higher values allow more items to remain in the world, while lower values help remove clutter and may improve performance.

Setting it to **0** causes ground items to despawn immediately. That is excellent for cleaning the floor and less excellent for anyone who expected to retrieve their belongings.

### Guild and Multiplayer Settings

#### Maximum Players per Guild

This limit controls how many players may join one guild. Smaller guilds create more competition and prevent one group from dominating the server, while larger guilds make cooperation, base management, and boss fights easier.

#### Enable Friendly Fire

When enabled, players and their Pals can damage members of their own guild. Turn it on for more dangerous PvP or roleplay servers, or leave it disabled to prevent accidental damage between teammates.

#### Allow Non-Guild Death Pickups

When enabled, players can collect items dropped by members of other guilds when they die. This makes death more dangerous on competitive servers.

Disable the option to give players a better chance of recovering their belongings.

#### Hide Enemy Base Boundaries

When enabled, players cannot see the visual borders of bases owned by other guilds. This can make enemy bases harder to scout and understand.

#### Auto Transfer Guild Leader Check Interval

This value controls how often the server checks for an inactive guild leader. It primarily affects guild administration rather than gameplay difficulty.

#### Auto Transfer Guild Leader Threshold

This value determines how many inactive days must pass before guild leadership can be transferred. It prevents a guild from becoming permanently stranded when its leader disappears into the wilderness and is never heard from again.

#### Max Guilds per Frame

This limit controls how many guilds the server processes during each frame. It primarily affects performance rather than gameplay balance.

Lower values may spread guild processing across more frames, while higher values allow more guild information to be handled at once.

## Recommended Palworld Difficulty Settings

The following values are starting points rather than official Palworld presets. Adjust them based on your server’s community and preferred progression speed.

### Relaxed Palworld Difficulty

| Setting | Suggested Value |
| --- | --- |
| EXP Rate | 2 |
| Pal Capture Rate | 2 |
| Time to Incubate a Huge Egg | 0 |
| Damage from Player Multiplier | 1.5 |
| Damage to Player Multiplier | 0.5 |
| Player Hunger Multiplier | 0.5 |
| Player Stamina Reduction Rate | 0.5 |
| Player Auto HP Regen Multiplier | 2 |
| Pal Work Speed | 2 |
| Gatherable Items Drop Rate | 2 |
| Enemy Item Dropped Rate | 2 |
| Item Weight Ratio | 0.5 |
| Equipment Durability Loss Multiplier | 0.5 |
| Structure Deterioration Rate | 0 |
| Death Penalty | No lost items |
| Raid Events | Disabled |
| Predator Pals | Disabled |

This setup reduces grinding while keeping most of Palworld’s survival systems active.

### Balanced Palworld Difficulty

Keep most multipliers at **1**. Use **Only items lost** as the death penalty, leave raids and Predator Pals enabled, and adjust egg incubation based on how much waiting your group enjoys.

This keeps the server close to Palworld’s normal progression without forcing everyone to spend the evening staring at an incubator.

### Challenging Palworld Difficulty

| Setting | Suggested Value |
| --- | --- |
| EXP Rate | 0.75 |
| Pal Capture Rate | 0.75 |
| Time to Incubate a Huge Egg | 2 |
| Damage from Player Multiplier | 0.75 |
| Damage to Player Multiplier | 1.5 |
| Player Hunger Multiplier | 1.5 |
| Player Stamina Reduction Rate | 1.5 |
| Player Auto HP Regen Multiplier | 0.5 |
| Pal Work Speed | 0.75 |
| Gatherable Items Drop Rate | 0.75 |
| Enemy Item Dropped Rate | 0.75 |
| Item Weight Ratio | 1.5 |
| Equipment Durability Loss Multiplier | 1.5 |
| Structure Deterioration Rate | 1.5 |
| Death Penalty | Items, equipment, and Pals in inventory lost |
| Raid Events | Enabled |
| Predator Pals | Enabled |

This setup slows progression, makes survival more demanding, and adds meaningful consequences to combat and exploration.

## Conclusion

Palworld difficulty settings let you control nearly every part of the dedicated server experience. You can adjust basic progression with EXP and capture rates, change the danger of combat through player and Pal damage, speed up breeding and production, increase resource drops, strengthen bases, remove item weight, or turn every death into a frantic recovery mission.

Start with small changes and test them before adding extreme multipliers. A setting of **2** can make a noticeable difference. A setting of **20** may transform Palpagos into something the developers never intended, and your server may never forgive you.

Stop the server, click **Game Settings** in the menu on the left, make your changes, and click **Submit**. From there, the difficulty of Palpagos is entirely up to you.