Palworld Server Hardware: Core Counts, RAM Sizing, and Settings for 32 Players

Palworld punishes undersized hardware faster than almost any other game server. Its Unreal Engine 5 server process stresses CPU cores, memory bandwidth, and storage simultaneously, and the margin between smooth and stuttering is surprisingly narrow. The good news is that the requirements are predictable: match the core count, RAM, and storage to your player target, and the server stays stable. This guide covers the exact specs for 2 to 32 players, the installation steps, the startup flags that unlock multithreading, and the daily restart strategy that prevents the memory leak from crashing your world.

If you are shopping for a dedicated server to run Palworld, compare dedicated server providers for Palworld hosting before committing — the difference between a budget CPU and a modern high-core-count chip is visible in Palworld’s tick rate.

Palworld Server Hardware Requirements by Player Count

Palworld’s official minimum spec suggests a 4-core CPU and 16 GB of RAM, but those numbers are only viable for a 2–4 player server. Real-world hosting at higher player counts demands significantly more. The server’s UE5 process is multithreaded, distributing AI pathfinding, world simulation, network replication, and save serialization across separate threads.

Player Count	CPU	RAM	Storage	Notes
2–4 players	4–6 cores, 3.5+ GHz	16 GB	NVMe, 20 GB+	Vanilla settings, small bases
4–8 players	6–8 cores, 4.0+ GHz	24–32 GB	NVMe, 40 GB+	Moderate base building, medium Pal count
8–16 players	8–12 cores, 4.0+ GHz	32–48 GB	NVMe, 80 GB+	Heavy bases, high Pal density, tune GC
16–32 players	12–16 cores, 4.5+ GHz	48–64 GB	NVMe, 120 GB+	Maximum settings, dedicated CPU cores recommended

Why RAM Sizing Is Critical for Palworld

Palworld keeps every Pal, every base structure, every item in every container, and every active AI behavior tree in memory. At 8+ players with active bases, the server process consumes 12–20 GB of RAM before the world is fully explored. When the server runs out of physical RAM and starts swapping, performance degrades instantly. The UE5 garbage collector cannot tolerate page faults, and a single GC pause during a raid can desync the entire group.

The practical rule of thumb: allocate 4 GB for the OS and overhead, then 2 GB per player for the Palworld server process. For an 8-player server, that means 8 x 2 + 4 = 20 GB minimum. For a 16-player server, 36 GB. Going below these numbers means the server runs fine for the first hour and then degrades as the world fills up. Compare dedicated server RAM configurations to find a plan that matches your target player count.

Palworld’s Memory Leak and Daily Restart Strategy

Palworld’s server process has a known memory leak that accumulates over 24–72 hours of uptime. Memory usage grows by roughly 100–200 MB per hour under load. After 48 hours, a server that started at 16 GB may be consuming 20–24 GB. The standard fix is a scheduled daily restart during low-traffic hours. A systemd timer that runs systemctl restart palworld-server at 4 AM is the standard solution adopted by the community.

Installation via SteamCMD

The Palworld dedicated server is distributed through SteamCMD. The download is approximately 15 GB, and you should plan for at least 30 GB of free disk space to accommodate updates.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y steamcmd lib32gcc-s1
sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash palworld
sudo passwd -l palworld
sudo -u palworld -s
cd /home/palworld
steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir /home/palworld/server +app_update 2394010 validate +quit

Configuration Tuning for Performance

The server configuration file is at /home/palworld/server/Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini. Key performance-related settings:

• Pal spawn rate: PalSpawnNumRate at 1.0 is default. Reducing to 0.5 halves wild Pal count, reducing AI pathfinding load by approximately 40% on servers with 8+ players.
• Base camp worker limit: BaseCampWorkerMaxNum at 15 is default. Dropping to 10 reduces per-base CPU usage by roughly 25%.
• Drop item limit: DropItemMaxNum caps world items. Lower values reduce memory and GC pressure. For a 16-player server, 2000 is a reasonable cap.
• Server player max: ServerPlayerMaxNum should be set to your actual target. Each additional player slot adds overhead even when empty.

Startup Flags for Multi-Threading

Palworld supports several startup flags that significantly affect performance:

#!/bin/bash
cd /home/palworld/server
./PalServer.sh \
  -port=8211 \
  -players=16 \
  -useperfthreads \
  -NoAsyncLoadingThread \
  -UseMultithreadForDS \
  -numberofworkers=8 \
  -log

The -useperfthreads and -UseMultithreadForDS flags enable Palworld’s multithreaded server mode. The -numberofworkers flag sets the thread pool size; match it to the number of physical cores on your CPU. Do not exceed physical core count — hyperthreading does not help with UE5’s worker threads and can degrade performance.

Common Performance Issues and Solutions

High CPU at idle: Palworld runs the full world simulation even with zero players. If running multiple game servers, use CPU pinning via taskset or cpuset to allocate specific cores to Palworld.

Connection timeout on join: Palworld can take 30–60 seconds to initialize the world on first start. Use a server watchdog that waits for the “Ready” log line before accepting connections.

Ghost bases and orphaned structures: When players leave and their bases remain, the server continues tracking them. Set AutoResetGuildNoOnlinePlayersTime to 48 hours to automatically clean up abandoned bases, reducing long-term memory growth.

Monitoring Palworld Server Health

Key metrics: tick rate (displayed as “FPS” in console, should stay above 20), memory usage (alert at 80% of physical RAM), save time (should be under 5 seconds), and active player count. Use the REST API on port 8212 (if enabled) to query connected players programmatically.

Summary: What to Rent for Palworld

For a 2–8 player server, a 6–8 core CPU with boost above 4.0 GHz, 24–32 GB of RAM, and NVMe storage is the baseline. For 8–16 players, step up to a 12-core CPU at 4.0+ GHz and 48 GB of RAM. For 16–32 players, you need a 16-core CPU and 64 GB of RAM, plus daily restarts to manage the memory leak. Prioritize core count over clock speed, but do not sacrifice NVMe storage for either — the aggressive save frequency makes fast storage non-negotiable.

For hardware comparisons across providers, check the best dedicated server specs for Palworld before you rent.