How to Transfer Your Palworld Save to a Dedicated Server

Migrating your Palworld adventure from single-player to a dedicated server allows you and your friends to explore the Palpagos Islands together, even when the original host is offline. Fortunately, transferring your save data is possible, ensuring your progress isn’t lost. This guide walks you through the process, addressing potential issues like GUID changes and how to handle them.

Understanding Save File Locations

Before starting, it’s crucial to know where your save files are located. For single-player mode, your data is typically found here:

%appdata%/Local/Pal/Saved/SavedGames/*YourSteamID*/SPServerID/

Inside this directory, you’ll find essential files and folders:

• Level.sav and LevelMeta.sav: These files contain the core world data of your Palworld save.
• Players folder: This folder stores individual player data, including your character’s progress and Pal collection.

For a dedicated server, the save files are located in a similar structure within the server’s files:

/Server/Pal/Saved/SavedGames/#/ServerID/

This directory on your dedicated server will also contain the Players folder and the Level.sav and LevelMeta.sav files.

Simple Save Transfer

The most straightforward scenario is when your GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) remains the same when transitioning to a dedicated server. In this case, the transfer is relatively simple:

1. Locate your single-player save files: Navigate to the single-player save directory mentioned above.
2. Access your dedicated server files: Access the save directory on your dedicated server.
3. Transfer the files: Copy the Level.sav, LevelMeta.sav, and the entire Players folder from your single-player save location to the dedicated server save location, overwriting any existing files.
4. Restart your dedicated server: Ensure the server restarts to load the new save data.

After these steps, you should be able to join your dedicated server and continue your Palworld journey with your existing progress.

Handling GUID Changes and Advanced Transfer

Sometimes, when moving to a dedicated server, your GUID might change. This can lead to issues with your player data not syncing correctly, potentially forcing you to create a new character. To resolve this, a more advanced approach is needed, often involving save file editing.

Tools like palworld-save-tools on GitHub can be invaluable. These tools allow you to convert .sav files into .json format, making them editable.

If you encounter a GUID change, the process involves:

1. Identify GUID Differences: If possible, compare your GUID in single-player and on the dedicated server to identify the change. This might require running both a single-player and dedicated server briefly.
2. Convert Save Files to JSON: Use palworld-save-tools to convert both your Level.sav and your player .sav file (xxxxxxxx0000000000000000000.sav) to .json format.
3. Edit JSON Files: Open the converted .json files. You’ll need to find and replace all instances of your old GUID with your new GUID in both the Level.json and your player .json file. Text editors with “find and replace all” functionality are highly recommended for this, as there can be numerous entries.
4. Convert JSON back to SAV: Use palworld-save-tools to convert the modified .json files back into .sav format.
5. Upload to Dedicated Server: Replace the Level.sav and player .sav files on your dedicated server with the newly created .sav files.
6. Restart Server: Restart your dedicated server.

This process ensures that your player data is correctly associated with your new GUID on the dedicated server, allowing you to play with your transferred save.

Conclusion

Transferring your Palworld save to a dedicated server is achievable, letting you share your Palworld experience with friends. While a simple file copy works in many cases, dealing with GUID changes requires a more technical approach involving save file editing tools. By following these steps, you can successfully migrate your progress and continue your Palworld adventure on a dedicated server.