How to Import a Palworld Save to Your Server

Move an existing Palworld world to your WinterNode dedicated server. This works whether you play the world in singleplayer or co-op, or you run your own dedicated server at home. Upload the world folder and point the server at it.

Find Your Save Files

Palworld keeps its saves in two different places depending on how you host the world today. Start by picking the path that matches you, then follow the rest of the guide, which is the same for both.

How do you play this world right now?

• Path A - Singleplayer or co-op. You open Palworld and start the world from the game itself.
• Path B - Your own dedicated server. You run the world with the Palworld Dedicated Server tool from Steam and join it as a client.

Path A: Singleplayer or Co-op Save

1. On your PC, press Win+R
2. Type %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames and press Enter
3. Open the numeric folder (your SteamID64) inside SaveGames
4. Note the alphanumeric world folder name, for example 99A85AE9F67946D4A2CCC7F3F5556DF0. You will need this name later
5. Compress that world folder into a .zip file

The world folder contains Level.sav, LevelMeta.sav, LocalData.sav, WorldOption.sav, and a Players/ subfolder with one .sav per player. Keep the folder name unchanged when you upload it.

Path B: Your Own Dedicated Server Save

Your saves are not in AppData. They sit inside the Palworld Dedicated Server install folder, which can live on any drive, so let Steam open it for you.

1. Stop your dedicated server before anything else. Palworld keeps Level.sav open while the server is running, and Windows skips open files when compressing, which produces a corrupt or incomplete world
2. In Steam, open your Library and set the filter to show Tools (the Palworld Dedicated Server is listed as a tool, not a game)
3. Right-click Palworld Dedicated Server and choose Manage, then Browse local files
4. In the folder that opens, go to Pal\Saved\SaveGames\0\
5. Note the alphanumeric world folder name, for example 99A85AE9F67946D4A2CCC7F3F5556DF0. You will need this name later
6. Compress that world folder into a .zip file

Both paths leave you with a .zip of your world folder. The rest of this guide is the same from here.

Generate the Server Save Directory

The server has to start once before Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/ exists.

1. Log in to the Game Control Panel and select your server
2. Click the green Start button and wait for the status to show Online
3. Click Stop to bring the server back down before uploading

Upload the World to WinterNode

1. Confirm your server is stopped
2. Connect to your server with SFTP. The File Manager has a 100MB upload limit and most Palworld worlds exceed it
3. Navigate to Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/ on your server
4. Upload the .zip you compressed earlier into that directory
5. In the Game Control Panel sidebar, click File Manager and open Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/
6. Click the kebab menu next to the .zip file and select Decompress
7. Delete the .zip once the world folder is extracted

You should now see your world folder (the alphanumeric name from earlier) inside Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/. The folder created by the server’s first run is sitting next to it. Leave it alone for now. The next step tells the server which world to load.

Point the Server at Your World

1. In the Game Control Panel sidebar, click File Manager
2. Open Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini
3. Find the DedicatedServerName= line (press CTRL+F to search)
4. Set its value to your world folder name, for example DedicatedServerName=99A85AE9F67946D4A2CCC7F3F5556DF0
5. Click Save

Optional: Remove WorldOption.sav

WorldOption.sav carries your singleplayer settings (XP rate, death penalty, etc.) and overrides the server’s PalWorldSettings.ini. If you want the server’s config to control the world instead:

1. In the File Manager, open Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<your-world-folder>/
2. Delete WorldOption.sav

Start and Verify

1. In the Game Control Panel, click Start
2. Connect to your server in Palworld using its IP and port
3. Confirm your bases, Pals, and chests are present

Your server should now load your existing world. Other players’ characters appear when they reconnect.

Recovering the Host Character

This only applies to Path A (a singleplayer or co-op source). If you moved a world from your own dedicated server (Path B), your characters carry over as-is and you can skip this section, because Palworld ties each player to their Steam account rather than the server.

In a singleplayer or co-op save the host’s player file is Players/00000000000000000000000000000001.sav. On a dedicated server, that ID never matches the new GUID Palworld assigns the host, so the host is forced to start over.

The community tool palworld-host-save-fix patches the host’s .sav file to use the new GUID. The general workflow:

1. Have the host log in once on the dedicated server to create a new .sav in Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<world-folder>/Players/
2. Note the new GUID from the file name
3. Run the fix script against 00000000000000000000000000000001.sav with the new GUID
4. Replace the new .sav on the server with the patched file and restart

This tool is community-maintained and not supported by WinterNode. Always back up Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/ before running it.

Still Not Working?

If your world doesn’t load after import, contact our support team with:

• Your Server UUID
• Whether the world came from a singleplayer or co-op save (Path A) or your own dedicated server (Path B)
• The name of the world folder you uploaded
• The current value of DedicatedServerName from GameUserSettings.ini
• Any errors from the server console after starting