---
title: "How to Install Palworld Server & Client Mods"
description: "Palworld 1.0 mods: Workshop is Windows-server only, so nearly all mods are client-side. Where pak and UE4SS files go, and what your server can enforce."
url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/palworld/installing-mods/"
category: "Palworld"
category_url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/palworld/"
published: "2026-06-18T04:07:22.995Z"
updated: "2026-08-10T21:57:45.508Z"
source_format: "markdown"
site: "GameServerKings"
---

# How to Install Palworld Server & Client Mods

The 1.0 release gave Palworld an official mod system with Steam Workshop support, which sounds like great news for server owners. The honest picture is narrower: Workshop mods run only on the **Windows** dedicated server, Pocketpair still labels that support experimental, and the overwhelming majority of Palworld mods remain client-side — they change your own game and nothing else. This guide covers what actually works, what only looks like it works, and how to install mods safely now that 1.0 has broken most of the old ones.

> [!IMPORTANT] Our Palworld servers run the Linux build
> Official Workshop mod support exists only on the Windows dedicated server edition, so server-enforced mods do not apply here. Everything in the client-side sections below still works fine for your own game, and the settings-based approach further down changes the world for everyone without a single mod.

## Are Palworld Mods Client-Side or Server-Side?

Client-side, with one narrow exception. A Palworld mod is loaded by the game on one machine and changes that machine's game only — your spawner, your UI tweak, your texture swap. Other players standing next to you in the same world get none of it.

The exception is Steam Workshop content on a **Windows** dedicated server, and Pocketpair's server documentation is blunt about the limit: "At this time, server-side mods work only on the dedicated server with Windows edition."

**How to tell which kind you are looking at.** A Workshop mod ships an `Info.json`, and that file declares whether it can run on a server. If its `InstallRule` section does not contain `"IsServer": true`, Pocketpair's docs say the mod is not designed to run on servers — it is client-only, whatever the description implies. Mods distributed outside the Workshop carry no such marker, so read the install instructions: anything that tells you every player *and* the host must install it is not doing anything on its own.

The practical consequences are short:

- **A mod nobody else can see is not broken.** That is the normal outcome and the reason most Palworld modding questions have a disappointing answer.
- **Where the Workshop path does apply**, the Windows server loads mods from a `Mods/Workshop` folder next to the executable and enables them by `PackageName` in `Mods/PalModSettings.ini`. Full detail is in [Mods on a Dedicated Server](#mods-on-a-dedicated-server) below.

### Can you mod Palworld on PS5 or Xbox?

No. Modding Palworld is a PC-only activity on both sides.

Every route the game has runs on files inside a PC install — `.pak` files under `Pal\Content\Paks\`, UE4SS under `Pal\Binaries\Win64\`, and Workshop subscriptions through the Steam client. Pocketpair's official mod guideline is written entirely around those folders and around Steam's *Browse local files*. A PS5 or an Xbox gives you neither: no game folder you can write to, and no Steam client to subscribe with.

What console players do get is the server's rules. Everything in `PalWorldSettings.ini` — XP rate, capture rate, difficulty, damage multipliers, day length — is enforced by the server and applies to a PS5 or Xbox player exactly as it does to a PC player. That is why settings, not mods, are the only way to change the world on a crossplay server; see [Is Palworld Crossplay?](/knowledge-base/palworld/palworld-crossplay/).

### Can you join a server with client-side mods?

Usually yes, and the server owner decides. `PalWorldSettings.ini` carries the switch — `bAllowClientMod`, which Pocketpair documents as "Allow players with mods enabled to join the server." Turn it to `False` and modded clients are refused at connect. Leave it on and they get in.

Two things to know before you rely on that:

- **Mods are banned outright on official servers.** Pocketpair's mod guideline says "Enabling mods when connecting to official servers is strictly prohibited", and lists account suspension as a possible consequence. It also says the same action may be taken on non-official servers "if disruptive behavior is confirmed". A texture swap is not a cheat menu, and the guideline is aimed squarely at the second one.
- **Turning a manual mod "off" will not get you in.** The in-game mod screen only manages Workshop subscriptions; Pocketpair notes that a mod you installed by hand cannot be disabled from it. If a server rejects you, delete the files — see the removal steps further down.

## What 1.0 Changed

If you modded Palworld during early access, assume none of it survived the update.

- **Steam Workshop support arrived**, and it is the first official mod channel the game has had. The catalogue is still thin next to Nexus — mostly cosmetics and small tweaks.
- **Workshop mods are Windows-dedicated-server only**, and still flagged experimental by Pocketpair.
- **Every connected player needs the same mods as the server.** There is no push-to-client mechanism; a server mod that clients don't also have will not work.
- **Old early-access mods must be removed, not just disabled.** This is Pocketpair's own guidance, and it is the single most common cause of a 1.0 install crashing on launch.

> [!WARNING] Delete old mods before you patch, not after
> Disabling a mod is not enough — leftover loader files and `.pak` files from an early-access build will break a 1.0 client. Remove the files entirely, launch once clean to confirm the game runs, then reinstall only mods whose authors have shipped a 1.0-compatible version.

## What Actually Works on Your Server

Before reaching for mods at all, check whether the change you want is already built in. On a Linux host, these are the levers that genuinely apply to everyone:

- **Server settings are your real "mod".** Rates, difficulty, PvP, day length, capture rates and dozens of other knobs live in `PalWorldSettings.ini` and apply server-wide with no mod files at all. Every option is documented in [Palworld Dedicated Server World Settings Explained](/knowledge-base/palworld/world-settings/), and our [Palworld server settings generator](/tools/palworld/server-settings-generator/) will build the file for you — import the `PalWorldSettings.ini` you already have, change the rates you want, and paste the result back.
- **Admin commands and RCON** handle moderation, announcements and scheduled tasks — kick, ban, broadcast, save, shutdown. See [Palworld Admin Commands & Moderation Guide](/knowledge-base/palworld/admin-commands/).
- **Client-side mods** are entirely up to each player. They can run cosmetic and quality-of-life mods on their own machine without anything changing on the server.

Staying unmodded server-side also keeps crossplay intact, so Steam, Xbox, PS5 and Mac players all stay in one world — see [Is Palworld Crossplay?](/knowledge-base/palworld/palworld-crossplay/).

## Back Up Your Save First

Do this before installing anything. A bad mod can corrupt a world, and mod problems are far easier to walk back when you have a copy.

Palworld keeps worlds in different places depending on how you play:

| Setup | Where the world lives |
|---|---|
| **Steam client** (single-player and co-op host) | `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames\<SteamID64>\<WorldID>\` |
| **Dedicated server** | `<PalServer>\Pal\Saved\SaveGames\0\<WorldID>\` |

On a dedicated server the `0` folder takes the place of the SteamID64 level, and each `<WorldID>` folder holds `Level.sav`, `LevelMeta.sav` and a `Players` folder. Close the game or stop the server first, then copy the whole `<WorldID>` folder somewhere safe. To restore, copy it back under the same name.

> [!NOTE] Console saves are not browsable
> PS5 and Xbox manage saves through the console's own storage system — there is no `SaveGames` folder to copy. Manual backup and transfer is a PC thing.

On our panel your server is backed up automatically, and you can take a manual one any time — see [How to create a backup](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-create-a-backup/).

## Where to Get Mods

- **Steam Workshop** — the official route since 1.0. Subscribe in-game or from the Workshop page. Smaller catalogue, but the mods there are the most likely to be current.
- **Nexus Mods** — still the largest Palworld catalogue by a wide margin, and the home of most quality-of-life, cosmetic and script mods. Gives you version history, changelogs and a comment section where post-patch breakage shows up fast.
- **GitHub** — where tooling like UE4SS itself is released.

> [!NOTE] Check the version before you download
> The number-one cause of a crash on launch is a mod built for a different Palworld build. Look for a healthy download count, an update dated after 10 July 2026, an explicit 1.0 compatibility note, and a comment section that isn't full of crash reports. Mods are code that runs inside your game — stick to reputable pages and never run an unverifiable executable "installer".

## How to Install Pak Mods

Pak mods are the simplest type: packaged `.pak` files (sometimes with companion `.ucas` and `.utoc`) that the engine loads automatically from a dedicated folder.

1. **Find your install folder.** In Steam, right-click Palworld → *Manage → Browse local files*. You land in the game root, where `Palworld.exe` lives.
2. **Open `Pal\Content\Paks\`.**
3. **Create a folder named `~mods`** inside `Paks` if it isn't already there. The leading tilde makes the engine load it after the base game files, so your mod overrides them.
4. **Drop the `.pak` in.** If the download shipped `.ucas` and `.utoc` files alongside it, copy all three and keep the filenames matching.
5. **Launch and check.** If the game crashes on startup, the mod is almost certainly built for a different Palworld version — pull the file back out.

> [!NOTE] LogicMods go somewhere else
> Blueprint mods built against UE4SS use `Pal\Content\Paks\LogicMods\` rather than `~mods`. The mod's own page will say which it needs; putting it in the wrong folder simply means it never loads.

Uninstalling a pak mod is just deleting its files. They leave nothing else behind, which makes them the safest type to experiment with.

## How to Install UE4SS Script Mods

The more powerful mods — spawners, cheat menus, anything running logic rather than swapping assets — are built on **UE4SS** (Unreal Engine Scripting System). You install UE4SS once into the game's binary folder, then individual script mods live inside it. UE4SS is 1.0-capable, with the Okaetsu fork being what most current mods build against.

1. **Download the UE4SS build the mod asks for**, from its official releases page. Script mods name a required version — grab that one rather than defaulting to the newest.
2. **Open `Pal\Binaries\Win64\`** from the Palworld root. This is where the shipping executable sits.
3. **Extract UE4SS there**, alongside the executable, so it loads when the game starts.
4. **Install the script mod into UE4SS's `Mods` folder** and enable it. Layouts differ between mods — follow the mod's own readme here.
5. **Launch and look for the UE4SS console window**, or press the mod's menu hotkey. No console usually means UE4SS didn't load: recheck the version match and file placement.

> [!NOTE] UE4SS mods are client-side
> A UE4SS spawner or cheat menu runs in your client only. It is ideal for single-player or your own testing, but it pushes nothing to other players on a multiplayer server.

## Mods on a Dedicated Server

This is the part people come here for, so here is the straight version.

| What you want to change | Applies to everyone? | How |
|---|---|---|
| Rates, difficulty, PvP, day length | **Yes** | Built-in [server settings](/knowledge-base/palworld/world-settings/) — not a mod |
| Kick, ban, broadcast, save, shutdown | **Yes** | Vanilla [admin commands](/knowledge-base/palworld/admin-commands/) and RCON |
| Item and Pal spawners, cheat menus | **No** | Client-side only; affects just the player running it |
| Cosmetics, UI and quality-of-life tweaks | **No** | Client-side; each player installs their own |
| Workshop content mods | **Windows servers only** | Experimental, and every client needs the same mods |

If the change should apply to everyone, reach for settings and admin commands first. Genuine shared-world modding in Palworld is possible on a Windows box, but it is fragile, needs every player coordinated on identical files, and breaks on each update.

## Troubleshooting

Almost every mod problem is a version mismatch or a file in the wrong place.

- **Game crashes on launch →** a mod built for an older build. Remove everything from `~mods` and `LogicMods`, confirm the game starts clean, then add mods back one at a time.
- **Mod does nothing →** wrong folder. Standard pak mods go in `~mods`; UE4SS blueprint mods go in `LogicMods`.
- **No UE4SS console →** UE4SS didn't load. Check you extracted it into `Pal\Binaries\Win64\` and that its version matches what the mod requires.
- **Worked before 1.0, broken now →** expected. Delete the old files rather than disabling them, and wait for the author to ship a 1.0 build.
- **Other players don't see your mod →** it's client-side. That's not a fault; it's how nearly all Palworld mods work.

## FAQ

### Can you mod Palworld?

Yes. Since 1.0 there is official Steam Workshop support, plus a large third-party catalogue on Nexus Mods. The important caveat is that nearly all of it is client-side — it changes your own game, not everyone's.

### Are there server-side mods for Palworld?

Only on a Windows dedicated server, only through Steam Workshop, and Pocketpair still treats it as experimental. Every connected player must have the same mods installed. Your [Palworld game server](/games/palworld/) runs the Linux build, so server-enforced mods do not apply — use [server settings](/knowledge-base/palworld/world-settings/) to change the world for everyone instead.

### How do I install Palworld mods?

Pak mods go in `Pal\Content\Paks\~mods\` (create the folder if it doesn't exist). UE4SS blueprint mods go in `Pal\Content\Paks\LogicMods\`. Script mods need UE4SS extracted into `Pal\Binaries\Win64\` first.

### How do I spawn items in Palworld?

Not through admin commands — those are server-management only. Item and Pal spawning comes from client-side mods, usually UE4SS-based cheat menus, or from World Options in single player.

### Will Palworld mods break on updates?

Routinely, yes. The 1.0 release broke most early-access mods. Pocketpair's guidance is to fully remove mod files before patching rather than disabling them, then reinstall once authors have updated.

## Related Palworld Guides

- [Setting Up Your Palworld Dedicated Server](/knowledge-base/palworld/getting-started-with-your-server/) — install, ports, config and first connection.
- [Palworld Dedicated Server World Settings Explained](/knowledge-base/palworld/world-settings/) — the settings-based route to changing your world for everyone.
- [Palworld Admin Commands & Moderation Guide](/knowledge-base/palworld/admin-commands/) — kick, ban, broadcast and RCON.
- [Is Palworld Crossplay?](/knowledge-base/palworld/palworld-crossplay/) — keeping Steam, Xbox, PS5 and Mac players in one world.
- [How to create a backup](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-create-a-backup/) — before you touch a single mod file.

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