How to Set Up a Palworld Server in Docker Without Going Mad from Configuration

Remember that crazy Palworld hype at the beginning of the year? The game still holds a decent player base, and with major updates dropping, the urge to gather friends on your own server comes up again. But anyone who's tried to run the official server on Linux knows: it's quite a headache with SteamCMD dependencies, permissions, and constantly leaking memory.

The palworld-server-docker project by Thijs van Loef is exactly the case when a community takes a raw tool and turns it into something sweet. The author packed everything you need into a single container, added automation, and, best of all, ARM64 support.

Why It's More Convenient Than Manual Installation

Usually, setting up a game server turns into endless config file editing and fighting with ports. Here, everything is managed through environment variables. Want to change difficulty or enable PvP? Just edit a line in compose.yaml and restart the container.

By the way, the project supports not only classic x86 but also Raspberry Pi 4/5 and Mac with M1/M2/M3 chips. For owners of home servers on ARM, this is a lifesaver, since running x86 applications there usually requires some serious tinkering with Box64. Here, it's configured out of the box.

What This Container Can Do

The author didn't just make a "wrapper" around the server — they added features that are desperately missing from the official build.

Automatic Backups and Updates

Palworld server in its current state (early access) likes to crash or corrupt saves. The container has built-in Cron support. By default, it backs up at midnight, but that's easy to reconfigure. There's also automatic deletion of old archives so your disk doesn't fill up after a week.

Smart Pause (Auto-Pause)

This is probably the coolest feature for those who are resource-conscious. The container can "put to sleep" the server process when there are no players on it. As soon as someone tries to connect, the server wakes up. This saves a lot of RAM and CPU cycles, which is critical if you're renting a weak VPS.

Discord Integration

You can connect webhooks, and the server will report to your channel about every event: who joined, who left, when an update started, or when a backup was created. It's a small thing, but convenient to monitor your world's life without logging into the game.

Hardware Requirements

Palworld is quite hungry. If you're planning to play with a group of 4-8 people, aim for these numbers:

• CPU: minimum 4 cores.
• RAM: 16 GB is the necessary minimum. The developer recommends 32 GB for stable operation, since the game has memory leak issues during long sessions.
• Disk: about 8-20 GB.

Quick Start with Docker Compose

The easiest way to get started is to use Docker Compose. Create a compose.yaml file and add the basic configuration:

services:
   palworld:
      image: thijsvanloef/palworld-server-docker:latest
      restart: unless-stopped
      container_name: palworld-server
      stop_grace_period: 30s
      ports:
        - 8211:8211/udp
        - 27015:27015/udp
      environment:
         - PUID=1000
         - PGID=1000
         - PORT=8211
         - PLAYERS=16
         - MULTITHREADING=true
         - SERVER_NAME=My-Awesome-Pal-Server
         - ADMIN_PASSWORD=SuperSecretAdminPass
         - SERVER_PASSWORD=LetMeIn123
         - COMMUNITY=false
      volumes:
         - ./palworld:/palworld/

After that, just run docker compose up -d. The container will download SteamCMD, fetch the latest server files, and launch the world.

Management via RCON and REST API

If you need to kick a troublemaker or send a message to all players ("Server will restart in 5 minutes"), you don't have to go inside the container. The image has rcon-cli and rest-cli utilities built in.

Example command for broadcasting a message:

docker exec -it palworld-server rcon-cli "Broadcast Внимание! Технические работы"

For those who want to write their own bot for server management, there's a full REST API. It's enabled by default on port 8212.

Is It Worth Trying

If you're planning to play Palworld for more than one evening, this repository is a must-have. It eliminates backup routine and lets you flexibly configure game balance (egg incubation speed, Pal damage, day/night cycle speed) through simple environment variables.

The only caveat is the game's appetite for RAM. Even in Docker, the server can "eat" all available resources, so setting up scheduled automatic restarts (which is also available here) will come in very handy.

The project is actively maintained, commits come frequently, and the Discord community promptly helps with bugs. For home hosting or a small server for friends, this is currently the best solution.