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World desk9 min

How to Reset Player Data on a Palworld Dedicated Server (Without Wiping the World)

Delete only the matching PlayerID save from a stopped, fully backed-up WorldID folder to reset one Palworld player while preserving the shared world and everyone else’s progress.

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To reset one person on a Palworld dedicated server, stop the server, back up the entire active world folder, and delete only that player’s file in Players. The shared map, bases, Pals, and other players’ progress remain intact. A whole-server reset is different: replacing or deleting the complete world folder removes the shared world and every player save.

Palworld does not provide an official in-game “reset this player” command. Pocketpair’s documented commands help you identify the correct player and save safely; the actual targeted reset requires access to the server’s save files.

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Choose the reset scope before changing anything

Decide whether you are removing one character’s progress or starting an entirely new world. These operations use different files and have very different recovery consequences.

Method File operation What remains Risk and reversibility
One-player reset Delete one Players/<PlayerID>.sav file inside the active WorldID folder. The world, bases, shared map state, Pals stored in the world, and every other player file. Limited scope. Reversible if the complete WorldID backup is retained.
Whole-world reset Replace or delete the complete WorldID save folder. Nothing from that world unless you restore a backup. Destructive. The official documentation does not provide a one-command wipe.
DedicatedServerName change Change the server identity in GameUserSettings.ini. Depends on how the server creates or selects a new save identity. Community-reported in a 2024 Steam discussion, not an official targeted-reset procedure; use only with a tested backup.

If the request is “let this one person create a new character while everyone else keeps playing,” use the first method. Do not delete Level.sav for that purpose; it is a world file, not a single-player file.

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What you need before resetting a player

  • Administrative access to the running server so you can save and identify the player.
  • The configured AdminPassword. Pocketpair states that the password must already be set in the server configuration before administrative commands can run.
  • File access to the dedicated-server installation, through SSH, a control panel, FTP/SFTP, Docker volume access, or an equivalent method.
  • A maintenance window long enough to stop the process and any automatic-restart service.
  • Enough storage for a complete copy of the active WorldID folder, not just one file.

Do not edit a save while PalServer is running. Palworld Save Studio’s guide explicitly warns against copying, editing, or replacing save files during live operation because the process can still be writing data and can overwrite your change on shutdown.

Reset one player without wiping the world

1. Save the world and identify the player

Join the server with administrative privileges. If the password has not been entered during this session, run /AdminPassword <password> in chat, using the value configured in the server settings. Pocketpair’s documentation says this in-game command is required after the configuration is complete.

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Run the save command first:

/Save

Then list connected players:

/ShowPlayers

Copy the target player’s ID exactly as displayed. Names can be similar, can change, or can contain characters that are easy to mistype; the ID is the value used in the filename. If the player is offline and does not appear, use your hosting panel’s player list or another server-management view that exposes the same identifier rather than guessing a file.

2. Stop the server cleanly

Use the graceful shutdown command:

/Shutdown

If a normal shutdown cannot complete, /DoExit forces the process to exit. After either command, confirm that the PalServer process has actually stopped. Also disable or pause the panel’s automatic restart, Docker restart policy, systemd unit, scheduled task, or watchdog. A service that starts the server while you are editing can corrupt the save or recreate files from an unexpected state.

3. Confirm the active WorldID

Open the server’s save root and identify the WorldID folder that was active at the clean shutdown. If more than one folder exists, do not select one by appearance or creation date alone. Use the hosting panel’s reported world, the folder’s modification time immediately after the shutdown, or the panel’s configuration to establish which folder is live.

The active folder should contain Level.sav and a Players directory. Those items must come from the same world and the same shutdown point.

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4. Back up the complete world folder

Copy the entire directory:

Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<WorldID>/

to storage outside the live save location. Keep Level.sav, the complete Players directory, and every other file in that WorldID folder together. A backup containing only Level.sav cannot reliably restore individual player state because the player saves and world save would no longer represent one point in time.

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Label the copy with the server name and shutdown date so you can identify it during recovery. Do not remove it until the reset player has joined successfully and you have checked the world.

5. Find the matching player file

Inside the backed-up or live WorldID folder, open Players. The target file follows this pattern:

Players/<PlayerID>.sav

Match the filename to the ID copied from /ShowPlayers. Compare the file list against your backup before deleting anything. If the ID is absent, stop and verify the world selection; an absent file can mean that you are looking at the wrong WorldID or that the player has never created a save in that world.

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6. Delete only that file

With the server still stopped, remove the one matching .sav file from the active WorldID’s Players directory. Leave every other player file untouched. Do not alter Level.sav, rename the WorldID folder, or clear the whole Players directory.

This is a file-level reset rather than an officially documented command. Pocketpair documents the administrative identification and save commands, while the targeted deletion procedure is described by dedicated-server hosting guidance.

7. Restore ownership and permissions when necessary

On Linux or Docker installations, check that the remaining files and the edited directory still belong to the account that runs PalServer and retain the permissions expected by that service. Uploading a file as root or through a panel can leave it unreadable by the game process. Preserve the existing ownership and mode rather than applying a broad, untested permission change.

8. Start and verify

Re-enable the restart service only after the file operation is complete, then start PalServer. Have the affected player connect first, or arrange a short verification window. The removed save should make the player go through character creation and begin with new personal progress, while the shared world and unaffected player saves load as before.

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Ask an unaffected player to check a known base or other persistent world feature. If the wrong world loads, several existing players are asked to create characters, or the target’s old progress is still present, stop the server immediately and restore the complete WorldID backup. Do not keep playing on a state you may need to roll back.

Where Palworld stores dedicated-server saves

Linux layout

The typical Linux path is:

<PalServer installation>/Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/<WorldID>/

Within that folder, the world file is Level.sav and player files are under Players/<PlayerID>.sav. A hosting provider or Docker image can change the installation root, so begin at the path exposed by that provider and then follow the same relative structure.

Windows layout

Windows uses the analogous structure:

PalSavedSaveGames<WorldID>

Use the backslash path as displayed by Windows tools. The WorldID is not a friendly server name; it is the directory Palworld selected for that save. Multiple WorldID folders can exist after migrations, restores, or test worlds, which is why confirming the active folder is a required step.

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Configuration files are elsewhere

Pocketpair’s current configuration page, version 1.0.4, places live settings at:

Pal/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/PalWorldSettings.ini

on Windows servers and:

Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini

on Linux servers. These directories are created after the server has started. Editing DefaultPalWorldSettings.ini does not change the live server settings, so it is not a substitute for editing the active configuration file. The save files and configuration files serve different purposes: the player reset happens in the WorldID folder, while AdminPassword is configured in the live settings.

How to wipe a Palworld server and start fresh

A full reset removes shared progress as well as characters. Bases, map discovery, world structures, and all player saves associated with the selected WorldID are lost when that world is replaced or deleted. There is no official single command in Pocketpair’s documentation that performs this wipe.

Safe full-wipe procedure

  1. Warn every player and run /Save while logged in as an administrator.
  2. Stop the process with /Shutdown; use /DoExit only when a graceful stop cannot complete.
  3. Stop automatic restarts and verify that no PalServer process remains.
  4. Copy the complete active WorldID folder to separate storage.
  5. Confirm the folder identity one more time using the panel or shutdown modification time.
  6. Move the WorldID folder out of the live save path instead of permanently deleting it on the first attempt. This preserves a straightforward rollback.
  7. Start PalServer and allow it to create or select a fresh world. Confirm that a new character can join and that the expected settings are loaded.
  8. Keep the old folder until the new world has been tested by the administrator and at least one player.

If the server starts the old world, stop it and inspect which WorldID the process selected. Do not delete additional folders at random; doing so can turn a configuration mistake into permanent data loss.

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Should you change DedicatedServerName?

A 2024 Steam discussion describes changing DedicatedServerName in GameUserSettings.ini to make the server appear as a fresh identity and reset progress. That is community advice, not a Pocketpair procedure for resetting one player. It may affect which save identity the server creates or selects, and it does not provide the file-level control needed when the world must remain intact.

For a one-player reset, use the verified PlayerID filename method. For a complete wipe, retain a full backup before experimenting with an identity change, and test the result offline or during a maintenance window. Never treat a name change as a safer replacement for a backup.

Optional offline save editors

Palworld Save Studio describes an offline workflow for authorized operators: disconnect players, stop PalServer, copy the complete WorldID folder, edit the selected player, save the changes, and restore the changed files. This can be useful when you need to alter a particular field rather than remove all of a player’s progress.

The guide labels version 0.4.3-beta.1 as a prerelease and says that live PalServer startup, player identity and progress, in-game resaving, and acceptance after a second restart had not yet been validated. Treat such tooling as optional and version-sensitive. Keep the untouched WorldID backup, make edits on a copy, and test the result before replacing the live files.

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Failure symptoms and recovery actions

The player still has the old character

Check that the file was deleted from the active WorldID, not from an unused test folder. Confirm the filename against the ID from /ShowPlayers, and make sure an automatic restore or synchronization service did not copy the backup back into place. Stop the server before correcting the file and repeat the verification sequence.

Several players are asked to create characters

Stop the server immediately. This usually indicates that the wrong WorldID was loaded, that the Players directory was replaced, or that world and player files came from different backups. Restore the complete folder from the same-time backup, preserve Linux/Docker ownership, and start only after checking the selected WorldID.

The server will not start after the edit

Stop any restart loop, restore the complete backup, and check file ownership and permissions. A partial upload, a truncated archive, or a file owned by the wrong account can prevent the game process from reading the save. Once the backup starts normally, make a new copy and perform the operation again with the server offline.

You cannot find the player ID

Do not infer the ID from a display name. Reconnect the player, run /ShowPlayers after entering /AdminPassword, and copy the identifier exactly. If the player is offline, use the hosting panel’s authoritative account or player listing, then verify the corresponding filename against a backup before making any deletion.

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The reset worked but the world looks wrong

Stop before additional players make progress. Compare the loaded world with the backup’s WorldID and modification time. If the server selected another world, restore the intended folder and correct the startup or panel selection rather than continuing on the wrong save.

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Final safety checklist

  • Scope: one player means one Players/<PlayerID>.sav; a wipe means the complete WorldID.
  • Identity: obtain the ID with /ShowPlayers; never guess from a name.
  • Save state: run /Save before shutdown.
  • Server state: stop PalServer and every automatic-restart mechanism before touching files.
  • Backup: copy the entire WorldID folder, including Level.sav and all player files.
  • Permissions: preserve the service account’s ownership and access on Linux or Docker.
  • Validation: keep the backup until the affected player joins and the shared world has been inspected.

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