There is no working difficulty slider for a Palworld dedicated server. The Difficulty entry in PalWorldSettings.ini is listed as unused by the Palworld Wiki, and hosting documentation reports that it currently has no effect on dedicated servers. Leave Difficulty=None and adjust the individual damage, regeneration, death-penalty, and (if desired) hardcore settings instead.
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What the Palworld server difficulty setting actually does
On a dedicated server, changing Difficulty=Casual, Difficulty=Normal, or Difficulty=Hard is not a reliable way to change gameplay. The Palworld Wiki marks the key as “Not currently used.” Lord Hosting describes the parameter as having no effect on a dedicated server, while MintServers calls it a legacy setting that has not been made functional by Pocketpair.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThis is different from a menu option that applies a complete, supported ruleset. The key may remain visible in configuration examples and management panels, but its presence does not prove that the dedicated-server build reads it. For a predictable configuration, use Difficulty=None and tune the settings that control the specific experience you want.
The advice in this guide applies to dedicated servers. Community guides can target different Palworld builds, operating systems, control panels, or older configuration formats, so confirm the result in your current server version after every update.
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Which settings control perceived difficulty?
“Difficulty” on a server is really a group of independent rules. Changing one multiplier can make combat easier while leaving resource loss, Pal survivability, or death consequences unchanged. The most useful approach is to decide what you want to change and edit only the corresponding keys.
| Setting | What it controls | What is established | How to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
Difficulty |
Named difficulty preset | Reported as unused on dedicated servers | Keep None unless you are deliberately testing a build-specific change |
PlayerDamageRateAttack |
Player attack damage | Listed by configuration guides as a player-damage multiplier | Adjust when players should deal more or less damage |
PlayerDamageRateDefense |
Damage received by players | Supercraft states that a higher value makes the player take more damage, not less | Lower it for a more forgiving server; raise it for a harsher combat model |
PalDamageRateAttack |
Damage dealt by Pals | Named in community configuration guides; behavior can vary by build | Change only after confirming the effect in a controlled fight |
PalDamageRateDefense |
Damage received by Pals | Named in community configuration guides; behavior can vary by build | Use to make Pals tougher or more vulnerable, then test with the same species and attack |
DeathPenalty |
What a player loses on death | Community guides list None, Item, ItemAndEquipment, and All |
Choose the loss level that fits your group; verify the exact result in-game |
bHardcore |
Permadeath mode | G-Portal documents bHardcore=True as the hardcore toggle |
Use only when every player understands that a death can permanently end the character |
The attack and defense names are easy to misread. In particular, PlayerDamageRateDefense is the amount of damage the player takes. A higher value therefore makes combat more dangerous. Do not assume that “higher rate” always means “easier.” Make a backup and test one change at a time.
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Community hosting guidance places the file at:
- Linux:
Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini - Windows:
Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/PalWorldSettings.ini
These paths are secondary community guidance rather than an officially verified Pocketpair path. The configuration directory commonly appears after the server has started at least once. If you cannot find the file, stop the server, start it briefly to let the folders generate, stop it again, and search for PalWorldSettings.ini inside the server’s Pal/Saved/Config directory.
Control panels may expose an editor instead of the filesystem. In that case, use the panel’s Palworld world-settings editor if it writes to the same file, or open the file manager/console provided by the host. Do not edit a local single-player configuration and expect it to change a separate dedicated server.
Back up the file before changing anything
- Stop the Palworld server cleanly from the service manager, host panel, or terminal. Editing while the process is running can be overwritten when the server shuts down.
- Copy
PalWorldSettings.inito a dated backup, such asPalWorldSettings.ini.backup-before-difficulty-change. Keep the original outside any editor that may automatically reformat it. - Record the current world name, server build, operating system, and the values you intend to change. This makes it possible to identify whether a later update or panel synchronization changed the behavior.
How to change difficulty on a Palworld dedicated server
1. Open the correct file
Navigate to the LinuxServer or WindowsServer directory that belongs to the running dedicated server. If your host offers multiple instances, verify the instance ID or installation path before editing; changing a similarly named file in another instance has no effect.
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2. Preserve the required two-line format
The file should contain two lines. The first line is the generated header. The second line contains the complete settings declaration, beginning with OptionSettings=( and ending with ). All settings must remain on that one OptionSettings=(...) line.
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Do not wrap the option line for readability, insert one setting per line, add JSON braces, or replace the parentheses with square brackets. Lord Hosting and other community guidance warn that a malformed or multi-line file can cause the server to ignore the edited values and revert to defaults.
3. Set the preset key to None
Find the existing Difficulty= entry and set it to Difficulty=None. Keeping the value at None avoids relying on a preset that is reported as nonfunctional and makes your individual multipliers the visible source of the rules.
4. Edit only the multipliers you need
On the same line, locate the existing keys and change their values without deleting unrelated settings. Use PlayerDamageRateAttack when the issue is player damage dealt. Use PlayerDamageRateDefense when players are taking too much or too little damage. Use the Pal damage keys for Pal combat, and use DeathPenalty for inventory or equipment loss.
Retain the syntax already used by the file: entries are separated by commas, key names are case-sensitive in practice, and boolean values use the form shown by the generated file. Do not add a second OptionSettings block. If a key is absent, first check whether your server build or panel generates it; blindly adding undocumented keys can make troubleshooting harder.
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5. Save as plain text
Save the file without a rich-text format, automatic quotation marks, or a filename extension such as .txt appended by the editor. Confirm that the file is still named exactly PalWorldSettings.ini.
6. Restart the server
Start the server after saving. A restart is required for world settings to be read. Players who were connected during the edit may remain under the old rules until the process is restarted, and a host panel may restore its own saved copy if it is configured to manage settings automatically.
7. Verify the result in a controlled test
Have one player test a repeatable situation: the same weapon, target, Pal, and approximate health state. Change one family of settings at a time. For example, test player damage before changing Pal damage or death penalties. A controlled test distinguishes a failed configuration from a genuine balance change.
Making a server easier without using a preset
For an easier server, keep Difficulty=None and focus on the consequences that are frustrating your group.
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PlayerDamageRateDefenserather than changing an unverified preset. Remember that a lower value means less incoming damage according to Supercraft’s description. - If fights take too long because players deal too little damage, adjust
PlayerDamageRateAttack. - If Pals are being defeated too easily, review
PalDamageRateDefenseand test it with a consistent encounter. - If death recovery is the problem, choose a less severe
DeathPenaltyoption, such asNoneorItem, if those values are accepted by your build. - Leave
bHardcore=Falseunless the server is intentionally designed around permanent character loss.
These changes are independent. Making combat easier does not automatically remove death penalties, and removing item loss does not increase player or Pal damage.
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Making a server harder
A harsher server can combine higher incoming damage, lower outgoing damage, tougher death consequences, and hardcore rules, but applying all of them at once makes it difficult to identify which rule caused a problem. Increase the challenge in stages:
- Adjust player combat first and test a normal encounter.
- Adjust Pal combat separately and test both a player-only fight and a Pal-assisted fight.
- Change
DeathPenaltyonly after everyone understands what is lost on death. - Enable
bHardcore=Truelast, and only after making a verified backup and explaining the permanent consequences to every player.
Hardcore is not simply a stronger combat preset. G-Portal describes bHardcore=True as enabling permadeath, so treat it as a separate server policy rather than a normal difficulty increment.
The unresolved preset conflict
Guides disagree about what happens when Difficulty is set to a named value. Physgun says Casual, Normal, or Hard applies a bundled preset that can override hand-tuned multipliers. GameServerHosting similarly says that a non-None preset overrides most multipliers. Other guidance says the key is unused on dedicated servers.
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There is no official Pocketpair documentation or patch-note statement in the available material that settles this conflict. Treat preset behavior as version-dependent and unproven. If you want to test it, make a backup, record every multiplier, set one named preset, restart, and compare the file and an in-game measurement. If your values change or stop having an effect, restore the backup and return to Difficulty=None.
Troubleshooting when the setting does not work
The server behaves exactly as before
- Confirm that you edited the configuration for the active instance, not a local game or a different server installation.
- Check that the server was fully stopped before saving and restarted afterward.
- Verify that the option is on the single
OptionSettings=(...)line and that the parentheses and commas remain intact. - Check that the host panel did not regenerate the file from an older template.
- Test a specific multiplier rather than relying on
Difficulty=Casual,Normal, orHard.
The file keeps reverting to defaults
A malformed line is the most immediate cause to check. Compare the edited file with the backup or a freshly generated file, then restore the two-line structure. Remove line breaks inserted inside OptionSettings, preserve the original punctuation, and save as plain text. If the file is valid but still overwritten, inspect the host panel’s startup settings and edit the panel’s authoritative configuration instead of the generated copy.
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Only some settings take effect
That usually indicates either a key-specific limitation or a preset override. Set Difficulty=None, restart, and test one key at a time. The player defense multiplier has a documented direction in Supercraft’s guide; the Pal damage keys and death-penalty values are more dependent on community documentation and should be verified in your current build.
Players report different results
Make sure everyone reconnects after the restart. Compare the same weapon, target, Pal, and attack type; different equipment, buffs, resistances, and target levels can hide a server-side change. Record observations before changing another value.
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Recommended configuration policy
For most cooperative dedicated servers, the safest policy is:
- Keep
Difficulty=None. - Change only the multiplier or death rule that addresses a specific complaint.
- Keep a dated backup before every restart that changes settings.
- Document the active values in a shared server note so players know whether death loss or hardcore rules apply.
- Re-test after Palworld updates because the behavior of legacy keys and presets can change.
This policy avoids presenting an unused slider as a supported feature and limits the chance that a preset silently overwrites carefully tuned values.
What to expect after a Palworld update
Configuration behavior is volatile. The guides describing Difficulty, presets, and multiplier keys cover different Palworld versions and were published at different times. An update could make the legacy key functional, change accepted values, or alter which settings a preset controls.
After updating, read the newly generated settings file, compare it with your backup, and run a short combat and death test before opening the server to the full group. If the file format changes, follow the current generated structure rather than copying an old line unchanged.
Bottom line
A Palworld dedicated server does not currently have a dependable difficulty slider. Use Difficulty=None, edit the relevant player or Pal damage multipliers and death rules, keep the configuration on its required two-line format, and restart before testing. Because community sources conflict about Casual, Normal, and Hard presets, treat those values as experimental and restore your backup if they override your manual settings.
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