Palworld servers are demanding, and a busy world full of bases, working Pals, and dropped items will eventually make any server sweat. The good news is that a handful of settings have an outsized effect on performance, and a few simple habits keep things running smoothly long-term. This guide covers both, ordered from easy wins to bigger trade-offs.
PalWorldSettings.ini. If you're not sure where to find it or how to edit it safely, see our complete server settings guide first — and remember your server must be fully stopped before editing, or your changes won't save.
Quick Win: Schedule A Daily Restart
The single easiest improvement is restarting your server once a day. Like most game servers, Palworld's memory usage slowly creeps up the longer it runs, and a daily restart gives it a fresh start before that buildup turns into lag.
Rather than doing it by hand, set it up once in the Schedules tab of your MintServers panel and pick a time when your server is quietest. If you're an admin in-game, pair it with a /Broadcast warning so nobody gets caught mid-boss-fight.
The Settings That Matter Most
These settings directly control how much work your server does every second. If your server feels sluggish, start here — they offer the best performance gains with the smallest gameplay impact.
High-Impact, Low-Sacrifice Settings
ServerReplicatePawnCullDistance(Default: 15000) — The distance at which Pals sync to nearby players, and one of the most effective performance levers available. Lowering it means the server tracks and transmits far fewer Pals per player. Try10000, or as low as5000(the minimum) for busy servers.PalSpawnNumRate(Default: 1.0) — Fewer wild Pals means less for the server to simulate. Even a modest cut to0.8helps on a struggling server. Avoid raising it above 1.0 on a busy server for the same reason.DropItemMaxNum(Default: 3000) — The server-wide cap on items sitting on the ground. Every dropped item is something the server tracks, so lowering this to1500–2000helps, especially if you've raised drop rates.DropItemAliveMaxHours(Default: 1.0) — How long dropped items linger before despawning. Lowering it to0.5keeps the ground clutter, and the server's workload, down.BaseCampWorkerMaxNum(Default: 15) — Working Pals are simulated even when nobody's at the base, so every worker slot across every base adds constant background load. Lowering this to10on a crowded server adds up fast.MaxBuildingLimitNum(Default: 0, unlimited) — By default there's no cap on structures per player. Setting a real limit (for example2000–5000) protects a public server from one mega-builder dragging performance down for everyone.
BuildObjectDeteriorationDamageRate should stay at or above its default of 1.0 for performance, and never below 0.1. It controls how quickly abandoned structures decay — setting it very low (or to 0 to disable decay, as some servers do) means every abandoned shack stays loaded forever, permanently growing your server's workload.
Bigger Levers With Gameplay Trade-Offs
These settings can noticeably improve performance on a struggling server, but each one changes how the game plays, so they're a judgment call rather than a default recommendation.
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