Palworld gets frequent updates, and with the game now out of Early Access, that's not going to slow down. Updating your server safely just takes doing things in the right order: warn your players, back everything up, apply the update, and test before letting everyone back in.
Step 1: Warn Players And Save The World
Give players a heads-up before you take the server down, so they have time to get somewhere safe. If you're authenticated as an admin, run the following in chat:
Running /Save forces a fresh save right before you stop the server, on top of whatever automatic saves already happened.
Step 2: Back Up Your Server
This is the step that actually protects you if anything goes wrong. Log into your MintServers panel and use the Backups tab to create a manual backup before touching anything else. It only takes a minute and gives you something to restore from if the update causes problems.
If you'd rather back things up manually, or want an extra copy stored elsewhere, the files that matter are in Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/: your Level.sav, LevelMeta.sav, and LocalData.sav files, plus the entire Players folder.
Step 3: Update Your Server
- Make sure your server is fully Stopped.
- Look for a Reinstall option on your server's panel, found in the Settings tab.
- Run it, and wait for it to finish pulling the latest server files.
Pal/Saved/ and isn't touched by this process, so your save is safe either way. That said, always keep the backup from Step 2 until you've confirmed everything loads correctly.
If you're not sure your server updated, check the version number shown in your panel or run /Info in chat once it's back online, and compare it against the current version on Palworld's Steam page.
Step 4: Test Before Reopening To Players
Start your server and join with one account before telling everyone else it's back up. Check that the world loads, your bases and Pals are where you left them, and you can move around and interact normally. If you're running any mods, add them back one at a time rather than all at once, since a major update is the most common time for mods to break.
Fixing Version Mismatch Errors
A version mismatch happens when your server and a player's game client are running different Palworld versions. It's one of the most common reasons players suddenly can't connect right after an update, and it's almost always one of two situations:
- Your server hasn't updated yet: Go through Step 3 above to update it to the current version.
- A player's client hasn't updated yet: Have them fully close Palworld and let Steam, Xbox, or PS5 finish downloading the latest update before trying again. Console updates sometimes land a day or two behind PC, so this is especially common right after a major release.
If you've confirmed both sides are on the same version and players still can't connect, no worries! Just open a support ticket and our team will be happy to help you get everything back in sync.