{"id":929,"date":"2026-08-21T22:48:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T22:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestdedicatedwebhostingserver.com\/blog\/?p=929"},"modified":"2026-08-28T22:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T22:07:10","slug":"palworld-dedicated-server-setup-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestdedicatedwebhostingserver.com\/blog\/palworld-dedicated-server-setup-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Palworld Server Hardware: Core Counts, RAM Sizing, and Settings for 32 Players"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are shopping for a dedicated server to run Palworld, compare dedicated server providers for Palworld hosting<\/a> before committing \u2014 the difference between a budget CPU and a modern high-core-count chip is visible in Palworld’s tick rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palworld Server Hardware Requirements by Player Count<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Palworld’s official minimum spec suggests a 4-core CPU and 16 GB of RAM, but those numbers are only viable for a 2\u20134 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Player Count<\/th>CPU<\/th>RAM<\/th>Storage<\/th>Notes<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2\u20134 players<\/td>4\u20136 cores, 3.5+ GHz<\/td>16 GB<\/td>NVMe, 20 GB+<\/td>Vanilla settings, small bases<\/td><\/tr>\n
4\u20138 players<\/td>6\u20138 cores, 4.0+ GHz<\/td>24\u201332 GB<\/td>NVMe, 40 GB+<\/td>Moderate base building, medium Pal count<\/td><\/tr>\n
8\u201316 players<\/td>8\u201312 cores, 4.0+ GHz<\/td>32\u201348 GB<\/td>NVMe, 80 GB+<\/td>Heavy bases, high Pal density, tune GC<\/td><\/tr>\n
16\u201332 players<\/td>12\u201316 cores, 4.5+ GHz<\/td>48\u201364 GB<\/td>NVMe, 120 GB+<\/td>Maximum settings, dedicated CPU cores recommended<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Why RAM Sizing Is Critical for Palworld<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u201320 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> to find a plan that matches your target player count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Palworld’s Memory Leak and Daily Restart Strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Palworld’s server process has a known memory leak that accumulates over 24\u201372 hours of uptime. Memory usage grows by roughly 100\u2013200 MB per hour under load. After 48 hours, a server that started at 16 GB may be consuming 20\u201324 GB. The standard fix is a scheduled daily restart during low-traffic hours. A systemd timer that runs systemctl restart palworld-server<\/code> at 4 AM is the standard solution adopted by the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Installation via SteamCMD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y\nsudo apt install -y steamcmd lib32gcc-s1\nsudo useradd -m -s \/bin\/bash palworld\nsudo passwd -l palworld\nsudo -u palworld -s\ncd \/home\/palworld\nsteamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir \/home\/palworld\/server +app_update 2394010 validate +quit<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Configuration Tuning for Performance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The server configuration file is at \/home\/palworld\/server\/Pal\/Saved\/Config\/LinuxServer\/PalWorldSettings.ini<\/code>. Key performance-related settings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n