Palworld: cannot connect to dedicated server

Most Palworld connect failures are wrong address format, a port-blocking ISP, or a hand-edited PublicIP in PalWorldSettings.ini. Walk through them in that order.

The short version

Work through four things in order: the address format, which needs the port appended; whether the client is trying Steam relay rather than a direct connection; a hand-edited PublicIP in PalWorldSettings.ini that no longer matches; and whether the server has simply hit its player cap.

"Cannot connect to dedicated server", "Server is full", or a hang at "Joining" in Palworld almost always comes down to one of three things: the address is wrong, the AntiCheat is blocking the player, or the server settings file has the wrong public IP. None of these are interesting bugs; they are misconfigurations and easy to walk through.

#Step 1: address format

Palworld dedicated servers want the full address:port in the connect box. The port is not optional. On Hostd, the address and port are both on the Connect tab of your server dashboard; the address takes the form:

yourname.hostd.it:8211

Without the port, the client tries 8211 by convention; if you have changed the listen port (some packs do), it will fail. Paste the full string including the colon and number.

#Step 2: SteamRelay vs direct connect

Palworld supports two transports: Steam relayed (slower, more compatible) and direct UDP (faster, sometimes blocked). On Hostd we run direct UDP by default. If the player is on a network that blocks game ports (some mobile networks, some corporate networks), they will hang at "Joining" forever even though everyone else is in.

Workaround: ask them to join via the Community Servers browser instead of direct IP. The Steam relay path goes through Valve's network and gets around most port-blocking.

#Step 3: PalWorldSettings.ini

If nobody can connect, the server may be advertising the wrong public IP. Open Files → /data/Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini and check:

PublicIP="auto"
PublicPort=8211
ServerName="Your server name"
ServerPassword=""

PublicIP="auto" lets the server detect its own outbound IP and is the right value on Hostd. If someone has hand-set this to an IP that no longer matches your node, players will receive routing errors or stuck-on-joining hangs. Set it back to auto and restart.

#Step 4: server is at the player cap

If the kick reads "Server is full" specifically, the player cap is reached. In the same INI, look for ServerPlayerMaxNum. The Palworld engine starts to struggle past 32 players regardless of plan; if you have set it higher, that is by design but expect TPS drops.

#Where to go next

#Frequently asked questions

What is the correct Palworld server address format?

The address and port together, in the form yourname.hostd.it:PORT, taken from your dashboard. Palworld will not infer the port, and an address without one silently fails rather than telling you what is wrong.

Should I set PublicIP in PalWorldSettings.ini?

No, not on a Hostd server. It is a leftover from self-hosted setups, and a stale value there is a common cause of connection failures that survive every other fix. Leave it empty and let the server work it out.

Why does Palworld say the server is full when it is not?

Check the configured player cap rather than the plan's capacity: they are separate numbers, and a low ServerPlayerMaxNum in the config will turn people away regardless of how much room the hardware has.

Written and maintained by the Hostd engineering team. Last updated 2026-05-23. Notice a mistake? Tell us.

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