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Installation

PalDefender requires a Windows environment. To host a Palworld server on Linux, run the Windows server and PalDefender through Wine or Proton.

Installing a Palworld server itself is not covered here. We suggest getting a server from Qonzer by following the discount instructions.

Windows

  1. Download PalDefender_Windows.zip from GitHub Releases.
  2. Extract the contents of PalDefender_Windows.zip and place it into your PalServer sub-directory: .../Pal/Binaries/Win64/
  3. Your structure should look like this: 
    Palworld_Server/
├── Engine/
├── Pal/
│   ├── Binaries/
│   │   └── Win64
│   │       ├── config/
│   │       ├── PalDefender/                      // Will be generated (Step 4)
│   │       │   ├── Banlist.json
│   │       │   ├── Config.json
│   │       │   ├── Pals/
│   │       │   └── RESTAPI/
│   │       ├── <...>
│   │       ├── PalDefender.dll                   << Put here (Step 2)
│   │       ├── version.dll                       << Put here (Step 2)
│   │       ├── PalServer-Win64-Shipping-Cmd.exe
│   │       └── PalServer-Win64-Shipping.exe
│   ├── Content/
│   ├── Plugins/
│   └── Saved/
│       ├── Config/
│       │   ├── CrashReportClient/
│       │   └── WindowsServer/
│       │       ├── GameUserSettings.ini
│       │       ├── <...>
│       │       └── PalWorldSettings.ini
│       ├── Crashes/
│       ├── <...>
│       └── SaveGames/
│           ├── 0/<WorldGUID>/
│           │     ├── backup/
│           │     ├── Players/
│           │     ├── Level.sav
│           │     └── LevelMeta.sav
├── PalServer.exe
├── steamclient.dll
└── <...>
  4. Start your server once to generate the PalDefender file structure at .../Pal/Binaries/Win64/PalDefender/ (see above)
  5. Review Config.json and edit it for your server. The player whitelist is disabled by default; enable it if you intend to operate a private/approved-player server.

Linux (Wine/Proton)

Wine or Proton must be installed, otherwise the following steps will not work.

The Palworld server setup on Linux is not managed by PalDefender and must be handled manually by you (Wine/Proton configuration, server startup, etc.).

Once the server is running correctly under Wine or Proton, you can follow the Windows installation instructions exactly, as the PalDefender setup itself is identical.