How to change the difficulty on your Palworld server

Context

Are you hosting a Palworld server at WinHeberg and want to adjust the challenge level for your players?

On a Palworld dedicated server, simply changing the overall difficulty keyword (Casual, Normal, Hard) inside the configuration is not enough: the server binary ignores this global preset and strictly relies on individual numerical multipliers. To effectively change difficulty, you must edit the explicit variables inside your PalWorldSettings.ini configuration file.

1. Access the Configuration File

All difficulty adjustments are performed inside the server's primary configuration file:

Completely turn off your server by clicking Stop in your Pterodactyl console.
Navigate to the Files tab in the sidebar menu.
Open PalWorldSettings.ini according to your server's OS architecture:
- For Linux: Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini
- For Windows: Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/PalWorldSettings.ini

2. Adjust Difficulty Multipliers

Open PalWorldSettings.ini and locate the OptionSettings=(...) line. Modify the desired values directly after the = sign for each variable:

Parameter	Default Value	Difficulty Impact
`ExpRate`	`1.000000`	Increase to speed up leveling (`2.0`), decrease to slow it down (`0.5`).
`PalCaptureRate`	`1.000000`	Pal capture success rate multiplier.
`PlayerDamageRateAttack`	`1.000000`	Damage dealt by players.
`PlayerDamageRateDefense`	`1.000000`	Damage taken by players (e.g., `1.5` = players take 50% more damage).
`PalDamageRateAttack`	`1.000000`	Damage dealt by Pals.
`PalDamageRateDefense`	`1.000000`	Damage taken by Pals.
`CollectionDropRate`	`1.000000`	Yield multiplier for resource collection in the world.
`DeathPenalty`	`All`	Death penalty setting (`None` = keep all, `Item` = drop items, `ItemAndEquipment` = drop items & gear, `All` = drop everything).

3. Recommended Difficulty Presets

To quickly apply a difficulty profile, copy these recommended variable values into your configuration:

🟢 Casual Mode (Easy)

ExpRate=1.500000
PalCaptureRate=1.500000
PlayerDamageRateAttack=1.500000
PlayerDamageRateDefense=0.500000
CollectionDropRate=1.500000
DeathPenalty=None

🟡 Normal Mode (Default)

ExpRate=1.000000
PalCaptureRate=1.000000
PlayerDamageRateAttack=1.000000
PlayerDamageRateDefense=1.000000
CollectionDropRate=1.000000
DeathPenalty=All

🔴 Hard Mode (Difficult)

ExpRate=0.800000
PalCaptureRate=0.800000
PlayerDamageRateAttack=0.800000
PlayerDamageRateDefense=1.500000
CollectionDropRate=0.800000
DeathPenalty=All

Troubleshooting

❌ Changes are not applying in-game

Server running during edit: You must stop the server before saving changes to PalWorldSettings.ini.
Syntax Error: Ensure you do not accidentally remove the closing parenthesis ) at the end of the file or the commas , separating each parameter.

❌ The `PalWorldSettings.ini` file is empty

Start your server once, then stop it after a few seconds. The server executable will auto-generate the default configuration line.

Best Practices

Back up your config: Copy your original OptionSettings line into a text file before making edits so you can revert if needed.
Adjust Death Penalty carefully: The DeathPenalty variable has the strongest impact on player survival gameplay.

Need help?

If you run into issues adjusting your Palworld server configuration, feel free to open a support ticket with WinHeberg.