Absolute Palworld Server

New to hosting? Start with the step-by-step install guide.

A production-ready Docker container for hosting Palworld dedicated servers with automatic updates, backups, and comprehensive configuration options.

Features

• Easy Setup: Get a Palworld server running with a single docker compose up -d command
• Automatic Updates: Server files are automatically updated on container start
• Scheduled Backups: Configurable automatic backups with retention policies
• Full Configuration: All server settings configurable via environment variables
• Health Monitoring: Built-in health checks for container orchestration
• Log Filtering: Clean, readable logs with configurable filtering
• Graceful Shutdown: Proper world saving on container stop

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• At least 16GB RAM available
• 20GB+ disk space for server files

1. Create a docker-compose.yml

services:
  palworld:
    image: abspowergaming/absolute-palworld-server:latest
    container_name: palworld-server
    environment:
      - SERVER_NAME=My Palworld Server
      - SERVER_PASSWORD=mypassword
      - ADMIN_PASSWORD=            # left empty: one is generated for you
      - MAX_PLAYERS=32
    ports:
      - "8211:8211/udp"
      - "27015:27015/udp"
    volumes:
      - palworld-config:/config
      - palworld-server:/opt/palworld/server
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  palworld-config:
  palworld-server:

2. Start the Server

docker compose up -d

3. View Logs

docker compose logs -f

4. Stop the Server

docker compose down

Configuration

All configuration is done through environment variables in docker-compose.yml.

Server Settings

Variable	Default	Description
SERVER_NAME	My Palworld Server	Server name in browser
SERVER_PORT	8211	Game port (UDP)
SERVER_DESCRIPTION	(empty)	Server description
SERVER_PASSWORD	(empty)	Server password
ADMIN_PASSWORD	(generated)	Admin/RCON password. Left empty or set to a known default, a random one is generated and saved to /config/admin_password
SERVER_PUBLIC	true	List in server browser
MAX_PLAYERS	32	Maximum players

Game Settings

Variable	Default	Description
DIFFICULTY	None	None, Normal, Difficult
DAY_TIME_SPEED_RATE	1.0	Day time multiplier
NIGHT_TIME_SPEED_RATE	1.0	Night time multiplier
EXP_RATE	1.0	Experience multiplier
PAL_CAPTURE_RATE	1.0	Capture rate multiplier
PAL_SPAWN_NUM_RATE	1.0	Pal spawn rate
DEATH_PENALTY	All	None, Item, ItemAndEquipment, All
IS_PVP	false	Enable PvP
ENABLE_FRIENDLY_FIRE	false	Enable friendly fire
WORK_SPEED_RATE	1.0	Work speed multiplier

Update Settings

Variable	Default	Description
UPDATE_ON_START	true	Update server on start
UPDATE_TIMEOUT	900	Update timeout (seconds)
STEAMCMD_RETRIES	3	Download attempts per update. SteamCMD's first download on a fresh container sometimes fails with "Missing configuration"; a retry clears it
UPDATE_CRON	(empty)	Cron schedule for updates
UPDATE_IF_IDLE	true	Only update when empty

Backup Settings

Variable	Default	Description
BACKUPS_ENABLED	true	Enable backups
BACKUPS_CRON	0 * * * *	Backup schedule (hourly)
BACKUPS_DIRECTORY	/config/backups	Backup location
BACKUPS_MAX_AGE	3	Delete backups older than X days
BACKUPS_MAX_COUNT	0	Max backups (0 = unlimited)
BACKUPS_ZIP	true	Compress backups

RCON Settings

Variable	Default	Description
RCON_ENABLED	false	Enable RCON
RCON_PORT	25575	RCON port (TCP)

Permission Settings

Variable	Default	Description
PUID	1000	User ID for file ownership
PGID	1000	Group ID for file ownership
TZ	Etc/UTC	Container timezone

Ports

Port	Protocol	Description
8211	UDP	Game traffic
27015	UDP	Steam server queries
25575	TCP	RCON (if enabled). Admin port: keep it private, docker-compose.yml binds it to 127.0.0.1

Volumes

Path	Description
/config	Save files, backups, settings
/opt/palworld/server	Server files (can be cached)

Manual Backup

docker exec palworld-server /opt/palworld/scripts/palworld-backup --force

Restoring a Backup

Backups are written to BACKUPS_DIRECTORY (/config/backups, inside the palworld-config volume) as palworld_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.zip, or .tar.gz when BACKUPS_ZIP=false. Each archive holds one palworld_<timestamp>/ folder containing SaveGames/ (the world) and Config/ (the generated settings). The live saves are in /opt/palworld/server/Pal/Saved/SaveGames.

PalWorldSettings.ini is regenerated from the environment variables on every start, so only SaveGames/ needs restoring.

# 1. Stop the server so it cannot overwrite the restored files
docker compose stop

# 2. List the available backups
docker compose run --rm --entrypoint bash palworld -c 'ls -1 /config/backups'

# 3. Restore one (set B to the backup name without the extension)
docker compose run --rm --entrypoint bash palworld -c '
  set -e
  B=palworld_20250101_120000
  SAVED=/opt/palworld/server/Pal/Saved
  cd /tmp && unzip -q "/config/backups/${B}.zip"
  mv "${SAVED}/SaveGames" "${SAVED}/SaveGames.before-restore"
  cp -r "/tmp/${B}/SaveGames" "${SAVED}/SaveGames"'

# 4. Start the server again
docker compose up -d

For a .tar.gz backup, replace the unzip line with tar -xzf "/config/backups/${B}.tar.gz". The previous world is kept as SaveGames.before-restore; delete it once you are happy with the result.

Manual Update

docker exec palworld-server /opt/palworld/scripts/palworld-updater --force

Building from Source

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/abspwgm/absolute-palworld-server.git
cd absolute-palworld-server

Build and Run

docker compose up -d --build

Run E2E Tests

./tests/run_e2e.sh

Architecture

absolute-palworld-server/
├── Dockerfile              # Multi-stage build
├── docker-compose.yml      # Production configuration
├── docker-compose.test.yml # Testing configuration
├── config/
│   └── supervisord.conf    # Process management
├── scripts/
│   ├── bootstrap           # Container initialization
│   ├── common              # Shared functions
│   ├── palworld-server     # Server start/stop
│   ├── palworld-updater    # SteamCMD updates
│   ├── palworld-backup     # Backup management
│   ├── palworld-logfilter  # Log filtering
│   └── healthcheck         # Health monitoring
├── tests/
│   ├── run_e2e.sh          # Test runner
│   ├── test_helpers.sh     # Test utilities
│   └── e2e/                # Individual tests
└── .github/
    └── workflows/
        └── e2e.yml         # CI/CD pipeline

License

Apache License 2.0 - See LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or pull request.

Acknowledgments

• Palworld by Pocket Pair
• Inspired by absolute-valheim-server