Palworld left early access with version 1.0 on 10 July 2026. For anyone running a server, that is not an ordinary patch: the jump reworks game systems, world content and the rules around mods far enough that an existing server should not simply keep running as before. This guide covers what the version jump brings, what happens to your save data, and how to move your server onto 1.0 cleanly.

What the version jump brings

The official 1.0 changelog reads like a relaunch of the whole game:

  • Sunreach: a floating island group above Palpagos with its own civilisation, new Pals, tower bosses and ores that can only be mined with specialised equipment.
  • The World Tree: the heart of the Palworld story and, according to Pocketpair, the greatest challenge the game has offered so far.
  • 72 new Pals bring the total to 287, joined by the Awakening and Mutation progression systems and a rebalance of all Pals.
  • A much bigger world: Ancient Ruins with minigames and rewards, watchtowers doubling as fast-travel points, seven new small islands across volcano, desert and ruins biomes, new settlements with NPCs and sub-missions, plus enemy bases at sea.
  • The level cap raised from 65 to 80, fully reworked Wildlife Sanctuaries and large-scale overhauls of base building, multiplayer and graphics.

The higher level cap and the rebalance of all Pals apply to every existing world, not just to newly created ones.

What changes for running a server

Several additions affect server operation and your community directly:

  • Dedicated servers support up to 32 players.
  • Guilds gain new member ranks with base permissions attached to them.
  • An optional in-game voice chat is built in.
  • From level 66 onwards you can build bases on water.

Save data: what carries over and what does not

Save games generally survive the move to 1.0. Pocketpair names two exceptions:

  • In the random Pal spawn mode, placement data from v0.7.3 and earlier is not carried over.
  • Saves that depend on mod content — added items or Pals, for instance — may stop working once those mods are removed.

Both exceptions point to the same conclusion: take a backup before touching anything else.

Mods: delete them, do not just disable them

This is where an upgrade to 1.0 is most likely to go wrong. Pocketpair published a dedicated mod warning: version 1.0 changes the game systems so deeply that old mods — especially ones installed long ago — can cause crashes, corrupted save data and quests that no longer progress.

How you remove them matters: switching mods off is not enough. Mod files and mod loaders left in the game folder may still be loaded on startup, even when a mod manager lists them as disabled. Pocketpair explicitly recommends deleting old mod files manually before updating; the official mod guideline walks through it. Only reinstall mods once their creators have updated them for 1.0.

The upgrade, step by step

  1. Take a backup: open the Backups tab in the server panel and save your world — essential before a version jump of this size.
  2. Clear out mods: use the file manager to remove old mod files and loaders from the server completely — delete them, do not just disable them.
  3. Move the server to 1.0: use the panel reinstall to bring the server cleanly onto the current version, then restart it. Your backups are kept.
  4. Check the result: join once yourself after the restart and take a look at the server log — if it boots cleanly, your community is good to go.

Starting fresh instead of upgrading

If you are starting from scratch anyway, the mod and save-data steps disappear entirely: a newly ordered Palworld server comes up on the current build straight away. We measured the whole flow on our production infrastructure on 24 July 2026:

  • Installed in roughly three minutes: an on-host Steam cache keeps the game files ready and speeds installation up considerably. After a good five minutes the server was playable, automatic configuration included.
  • Current build: the server booted straight into v1.0.1 (build 100619). SteamCMD validates against the latest build during provisioning.
  • Verified automatically: after boot, our provisioning pipeline checks on its own that the server is reachable and answers queries — only then does it count as "ready".
  • Join confirmed: finally we connected to it ourselves via direct connect — instant join, a stable ~35 ms ping from Germany.

FAQ

Will my save games survive the update to 1.0?

Generally yes. Pocketpair names two exceptions: in the random Pal spawn mode, placement data from v0.7.3 and earlier is not carried over, and saves relying on mod content can break once those mods are removed. A fresh backup covers you either way.

Is disabling mods before the update enough?

No. Pocketpair is explicit: disabled mod files left in the game folder may still be loaded. Delete the files manually — and only reinstall mods once they have been officially updated for 1.0.

What does patch v1.0.1 change?

v1.0.1 from 15 July 2026 fixes an issue where save data could be discarded after certain operations, plus a status-effect bug involving campfires. The save fix alone makes this patch important for server owners.

Does my existing server update itself to 1.0?

Do not count on it — plan the update deliberately: backup first, then delete old mods, then reinstall via the panel. That way your server moves to 1.0 in a controlled fashion with a clean game folder.