Uploading an Existing World to your Palworld Server

This article will guide you through the process of transferring your Palworld Dedicated Server to your new Nodecraft Server.

Please note that the following instructions are for Dedicated to Dedicated.
Singleplayer and Co-op saves are formatted a little differently, and you’ll very likely run into your data resetting.
For more information, we recommend checking out this FAQ, which is also pinned in the official Palworld Discord.

Transferring your Server/World

Acquire the dedicated server files you want to transfer.
The location is normally in folders /Pal/Saved/SaveGames, but you may need to ask your server provider where they are located.
Make sure your Nodecraft server is brand new and not something you’ve experimented on.
Do a Fresh Install from the One Click Installer tab, or deploy a New Instance from your Dashboard.
Start the Nodecraft server, this lets the server generate the necessary files.
Do not change any settings yet, and don’t join the server.
Stop the Server. It will remain offline until the very end.
Delete the /Pal/Saved/SaveGames from the Nodecraft server in the File Manager tab, and replace (upload) it with the one you want to use.
It should now look like: /Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/(a bunch of random numbers).
Navigate to the folders /Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer select the GameUserSettings.ini and press the Edit button.
Change the DedicatedServerName setting to the random numbers that make up your /Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/ folder.
Make sure you Save your changes.
Example: DedicatedServerName=77ESD46EFEDFGSDF5559CD1EB6D4F
Start the server!

Troubleshooting

My server is prompting me to make a new character!

One thing you can try, before you start the server up, (after Step 6 and before Step 7), is adding -nosteam (including the dash - ) as a Startup Argument. Within the Nodecraft Panel, this will be in the Game Settings - Advanced - Show Advanced Options tabs.

A view of the Game Settings tab within Nodepanel for a Palworld server, adding the -nosteam startup argument.

Still not working?

You may still unfortunately run into the issue that your server is transferring the world fine, but you’re still being prompted to create a new character.

This is something that is a known issue by Pocketpair, they have released an EA Roadmap where they’ve stated that they have Server Transfers and Migrations planned in future updates.

When they’ve released that particular patch, whenever it may be (soon we hope!) we will update this article!

A screenshot of Pocketpair's Early Access Roadmap for Palworld.