A fully featured Docker container image for running a Palworld dedicated server. Has a robust backup system, 100% configurable via environment variables, and more.
Important
There is a known bug with the in-game community server browser. It initially only loads 200 servers. There is a button to load another 200 servers, but I had the game crash after loading over a thousand of them. So it really is the luck of the draw if your server appears in the in-game server browser. I recommend connecting via ip:port, after connecting that way your server will be listed in the recent servers list. See the Q&A section at the official game docs for reference to this issue. The only downside to joining via ip:port is that you cannot directly provide a password. Thankfully someone found a workaround, here are the steps:
- Open the 'Community Servers' list
- Click on any password protected server
- Enter the password of the server you want to connect to (not the one that was clicked on)
- Click 'OK', then click 'No'.
- Enter the IP:PORT of the server you want to connect to in the bottom box.
- Click Connect
Note
Palworld does not currently support crossplay with console, and there is no cross play between Steam and Xbox Game Pass versions of the game. See details here.
- Simple automated installation of Palworld dedicated server
- Configuration via environment variables and config files
- Scheduled server restarts and updates via Cron
- Can be frozen to a specific version that is already downloaded
- Automated backups
The Palwolrd server data in this example will be stored in your home directory (/home/USERNAME/palworld).
# written for bash, but should work in other shells
# may require Sudo depending on your docker setup
$ docker run -d \
--name palworld-server \
-p 8211:8211/udp \
-p 25575:25575/tcp \
-p 27015:27015/udp \
-e SERVER_NAME="\"My Palworld Server\"" \
-e ADMIN_PASSWORD=secretpassword \
-v $HOME/palworld/server:/palworld/server \
-v $HOME/palworld/logs:/palworld/logs \
-v $HOME/palworld/backups:/palworld/backups \
johnnyknighten/palworld-server:latestTo view the container logs:
$ docker logs palworld-server -fPress CTRL+C to exit the logs output.
To stop the container:
$ docker stop palworld-serverThis code is written for PowerShell, but assumes you are running Docker via WSL. If you installed Docker via Docker Desktop recently then you should be good to go. The volume mount path is written in context of a Linux shell in WSL, so you will need to adjust it to match your system.
For instance if you want to use C:\Users\johnny\palworld then the WSL path should be /mnt/c/Users/johnny/palworld. In general /mnt/c is the root of your C drive in WSL, and /mnt/d is the root of your D drive in WSL and so on.
# written for powershell, but should work in other shells
docker run -d `
--name palworld-server `
-p 8211:8211/udp `
-p 25575:25575/tcp `
-p 27015:27015/udp `
-e SERVER_NAME="My Palworld Server" `
-e ADMIN_PASSWORD=secretpassword `
-v /mnt/c/Users/USER/palworld/server:/palworld/server`
-v /mnt/c/Users/USER/palworld/logs:/palworld/logs `
-v /mnt/c/Users/USER/palworld/backups:/palworld/backups `
johnnyknighten/palworld-server:latestTo view the container logs:
docker logs palworld-server -fPress CTRL+C to exit the logs output.
To stop the container:
docker stop palworld-serverEnvironment variables are the primary way to configure the server.
The table below shows all available environment variables exposed for easy configuration. Variables used to directly modify PalWorldSettings.ini can be found in the section below.
| Variable | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
SKIP_FILE_VALIDATION |
Skips SteamCMD validation of the server files. Can speed up server start time, but could risk not detecting corrupted files. | False |
TZ |
Sets the timezone of the container. See the table here and look in the TZ identifier column. Highly recommend to set this if you will be using any of the CRON variables. | America/New_York |
MANUAL_CONFIG |
If set to True then the container will not auto generate PalWorldSettings.ini using environment variables. This is useful if you want to manage PalWorldSettings.ini yourself. |
False |
SCHEDULED_RESTART |
Enable scheduled restarts of the server. | False |
BACKUP_ON_SCHEDULED_RESTART |
Determines if the server should backup itself before restarting. | False |
RESTART_CRON |
Cron expression for scheduled restarts. Default is everyday at 4am. | 0 4 * * * |
SCHEDULED_UPDATE |
Enable scheduled updates of the server. | False |
UPDATE_CRON |
Cron expression for scheduled updates. Default is every Sunday at 5am. | 0 5 * * 0 |
BACKUP_BEFORE_UPDATE |
Determines if the server should backup itself before updating. | False |
SCHEDULED_BACKUP |
Enable scheduled backups of the server. | False |
BACKUP_CRON |
Cron expression for scheduled backups. Default is every day at 6am. | 0 6 * * * |
UPDATE_ON_BOOT |
Determines if the server should update itself when it starts. | True |
BACKUP_ON_STOP |
Determines if the server should backup itself when the container stops. | True |
ZIP_BACKUPS |
If this is set to True then it will zip your backups instead of the default tar and gzip. |
False |
RETAIN_BACKUPS |
Number of backups to keep. If not set, then an unlimited number of backs will be kept. | EMPTY |
MULTITHREADING |
Enables multithreading for the server. The -useperfthreads -NoAsyncLoadingThread -UseMultithreadForDS launch flags will be included on server launch. |
True |
SERVER_NAME |
Name of the server that appears in the server list. If the name contains a space wrap the name in quotes, depending on your system you may need to add escaped quotes \". |
"Containerized Palworld Server" |
SERVER_DESCRIPTION |
Description of the server that appears in the server list. | "A Containerized Palworld Server" |
SERVER_PASSWORD |
Password to login to the server. Defaults to no password aka a public server. Do not put spaces in your password. | EMPTY |
ADMIN_PASSWORD |
Password used for RCON access. Do not put spaces in your password. | adminpassword |
PUBLIC_SERVER |
Determines if the server should be listed on the in game server browser. | True |
PUBLIC_IP |
Public IP of the server. This is used to set the -publicip=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx launch flag. This should be your networks external IP address and not you containers IP address |
EMPTY |
GAME_PORT |
Primary game port. Also used to set the -publicport=xxxx launch flag. |
8211 |
RCON_ENABLED |
Enable RCON on the server. | True |
RCON_PORT |
RCON port for the server. | 25575 |
PLAYER_COUNT |
Maximum number of players allowed on the server. | 32 |
EXTRA_LAUNCH_OPTIONS |
Extra launch options for the server. Allows additional flags that do not have an environment variable provided yet. | EMPTY |
The PalWorldSettings.ini file is the primary config file used to configure server and game play settings. It is located in the /palworld/server/Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer directory inside the container. This file is generated automatically by the container using environment variables. If you wish to manage this file yourself, you must set MANUAL_CONFIG=True to prevent the container from generating/overwriting the file.
This container has two primary ways to manage PalWorldSettings.ini:
- Via
PALWORD_Environment Variables - Manually Edit The File
Caution
You should not mix and match these methods.
To manually edit the config file, you must set MANUAL_CONFIG=True in your environment variables. This will prevent the container from generating the file. You can then edit the file directly in the /palworld/server/Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer directory inside the container.
If you want to configure PalWorldSettings.ini from inside the container, you can use the following command:
$ docker exec -it <CONTAINER-ID-OR-CONTAINER_NAME> nano /palworld/server/Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.iniThis will open PalWorldSettings.ini inside nano. Make your edits then exit nano by pressing CTRL+X then Y then ENTER. Then restart your container for the changes to take effect.
The container will automatically generate PalWorldSettings.ini using environment variables. Any environment variable prefixed with PALWROLD_ will automatically be placed inside the /Script/Pal.PalGameWorldSettings section of PalWorldSettings.ini and saves them under the OptionSettings variable as comma separated values.
All text after the PALWORLD_ prefix will be used as the variable name. For example PALWORLD_ServerName will be converted to ServerName.
Example:
PALWORLD_ServerName="Palworld Server"
Results in:
#PalWorldSettings.ini
[/Script/Pal.PalGameWorldSettings]
OptionSettings=(ServerName="Palworld Server")Here is an example of a docker run command that uses environment variables to configure the server:
$ docker run -d \
--name palworld-server \
-p 8211:8211/udp \
-p 25575:25575/tcp \
-p 27015:27015/udp \
-e PALWORLD_ExpRate=5.0 \
-e PALWORLD_PalSpawnNumRate=2.0 \
-e PALWORLD_PalDamageRateAttack=3.0 \
-v $HOME/palworld/server:/palworld/server \
-v $HOME/palworld/logs:/palworld/logs \
-v $HOME/palworld/backups:/palworld/backups \
johnnyknighten/palworld-server:latestAnother special feature of using environment variables is that backup copies of PalWorldSettings.ini are made when configuration changes are detected. That is, if you make a configuration change a PalWorldSettings.ini.backup# file is made containing the old config. The # is incremented for each backup made. The highest number reflects the newest backup. This is useful if you make a mistake and want to revert to a previous config.
There are some overlap between some of the provided environment variables and the special PALWORLD_ variables. For instance, SERVER_NAME is provided but PALWORLD_ServerName is also available. This container is setup to give non PALWORLD_ priority over their PALWORLD_ counterparts. For these specific variables do not use their PALWORLD_ counterparts. Below shows the variables that have priority:
SERVER_NAME- Do not use
PALWORLD_ServerName
- Do not use
SERVER_DESCRIPTION- Do not use
PALWORLD_ServerDescription
- Do not use
SERVER_PASSWORD- Do not use
PALWORLD_ServerPassword
- Do not use
ADMIN_PASSWORD- Do not use
PALWORLD_AdminPassword
- Do not use
PLAYER_COUNT- Do not use
PALWORLD_ServerPlayerMaxNum
- Do not use
GAME_PORT- Do not use
PALWORLD_PublicPort
- Do not use
PUBLIC_IP- Do not use
PALWORLD_PublicIP
- Do not use
RCON_ENABLED- Do not use
PALWORLD_RCONEnabled
- Do not use
RCON_PORT- Do not use
PALWORLD_RCONPort
- Do not use
Despite setting MANUAL_CONFIG=True, if the PalWorldSettings.ini file is missing a minimal config will be generated using the high priority variables mentioned in the section above.
The table below shows the default ports that are exposed by the container. These can be changed by setting the environment variables GAME_PORT and RCON_PORT.
| Port | Protocol | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 8211 | UDP | Game port |
| 25575 | TCP | RCON Port |
| 27015 | UDP | Steam Query Port |
Currently the Steam Query Port cannot be configured for the server. This can cause complications if you are hosting other servers that need that same port forwarded (you have multiple servers needing port 27015 but you can only forward traffic to one of them). For now, if you other server can have its steam query port changed, then change it to something other than 27015. If you cannot change the steam query port of your other server, then you will not be able to host both servers on the same network.
Tip
Make sure you have Port Forwarding configured otherwise the server will not be accessible from the internet.
Tip
Note - Always ensure that your -p port mappings (if using docker run) and the ports section (if using docker compose) match up to the ports specified via the environment variables. If they do not match up, the server will not be accessible.
There are the volumes used by the container:
| Volume | Description |
|---|---|
| /palworld/server | Contains server files. |
| /palworld/logs | Contains all log files generated by the container. |
| /palworld/backups | Contains all backups generated by the container. |
Backups can be performed automatically if configured. Backups are performed by making a copy of the /palworld/server/Pal/Saved directory to the /palworld/backups volume. The backups file names use the following format: server-backup-{datetime}. They are compressed as tar.gz files by default (but can be set to zip via ZIP_BACKUPS=True). You can configure the number of backups to keep using RETAIN_BACKUPS, otherwise you will need to manually delete old backups.
Backup Automation Options
BACKUP_ON_STOP- Backup the server when the container stopsBACKUP_ON_SCHEDULED_RESTART- Backup the server during a scheduled restartBACKUP_BEFORE_UPDATE- Backup the server before an updateSCHEDULED_BACKUP- Backup the server on a schedule
Important
If you are planning on using BACKUP_ON_STOP=True, it is highly recommended you adjust the timeout settings of your docker stop/compose down command to allow the backup process enough time to complete its backup. Without doing this, it is possible that your backup will be unfinished and corrupted. The longer your server has been running the bigger your backup will become which increases the time needed to backup the server. See the Backup On Container Stop - Docker Timeout Considerations section of the wiki for more details.
See the deployment-examples directory for examples of how to deploy this container using docker-compose.
| Tag | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| latest | latest build from main branch. |
latest |
| major.minor.fix | semantic versioned releases. | 1.0.0 |
There are also pre-release tags that are built from the next branch. These are used for testing and are not recommended for production use.
For development purposes, you can build the image locally.
$ docker build -t johnnyknighten/palworld-server:dev .See CONTRIBUTING.md for details on how to contribute to this project.