Palworld has been making a lot of noise since its release with over 19 million copies sold through Steam and Xbox as well. The ability to explore Palworld’s world and catch pals are some of the reasons behind people’s excitement. While playing solo in Palworld isn’t boring, it would be far more interesting if you are able to play with friends. When asked about the possibility of crossplay, Poketpair answered in Palworld’s Early Access Launch FAQ by saying “we are working to make this a possibility as soon as possible!” The good news is that you actually can play multiplayer with friends in Palworld.
However, in order to be able to play multiplayer on Palworld you and your friends have to all buy the same version either from Xbox or Steam. Of course, it will be worth it when you get to catch pals, build bases, and do a lot more like trading pals with your friends the moment you start playing together. There are two ways to play multiplayer in Palworld. The first one is through a personal host file. The second one is through a dedicated server, and this has a lot of steps. For now, I will cover the former which is the easiest, and fastest, way to play multiplayer with friends in Palworld.
Looking for more guides on everything Palworld related by KeenGamer? These are some of my favorites:
How to Create a Multiplayer Server
In order to start playing with your friends, you need to set up a server:
- Select “Start Game”
- Choose the “Create a new world” option
- Window titled “Words Settings” would appear
- Turn on the “Multiplayer” option by clicking “On”
Some tips would appear in the bottom of the screen. Through them you are able to know that it is better if whoever has the best PC and internet connection between your friends is the one who creates the world. This is because multiplayer worlds in Palworld are player-hosted and the host’s performance would drop as people join.
Don’t forget to turn on multiplayer!
The next steps to play with your friends in Palworld would be right after you start your world and create your character:
- You should press ESC
- Go to the Options tab where you will find an invite code
- The code will be hidden so you need to reveal it
- Copy the code and send it to your friends
This is the code that your friends should use to join your server and then you can start playing together.
Joining a Multiplayer Server
If one of your friends was the one to start the server rather than you then you would need to join the server through the invite code that will appear to them. Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Go to the main menu in Palworld right after you receive the code
- Choose the “Join Multiplayer Game (Invite Code)” option
- A window would appear asking for the invite code
- Add the code your friend has sent you
You, or your friends, will then be able to join your own multiplayer world. I must mention that any character created in this multiplayer world will only be available in it. So far, you can’t transfer characters between different worlds.
Paste the invite code here.
Through these steps, you will be able to enjoy Palworld with your friends in a multiplayer world. While this method only allows 4 players to join with you included, it is still better to share Palworld and all its chaos with your friends. Now that your multiplayer world is up and running you will only need the host player to start the world again every time you want to continue playing in the same world. So the host needs to be online. Another disadvantage is that the invite code changes every time you want to enter the world again. Therefore, the host player will need to send the new code every single time.
Joining a Dedicated Server
There is another way to play multiplayer with friends in Palworld if you don’t want to create a multiplayer world or if you simply want to play with a group of friends larger than 4 people. While you can create a dedicated server, which will take a lot of steps, you can still join servers created by others. To do so you only need to:
- Select the “Join Multiplayer Game” from the main menu in Palworld (Keep in mind that this option is different than the “Join Multiplayer Game (Invite Code).”)
- After you choose the first option you will be met with several servers whether official ones or those created by the game’s community.
Choose a dedicated server with your friends!
The good thing about playing multiplayer through this way is that these dedicated servers allow up to 32 people to join and play together. You and your friends will only need to join the same server. Thankfully, you can search by server name. You will also find three options to pick from: Official Servers, Community Servers, and Recent Servers. You can pick the last one to find the server you and your friends joined before. The only downside is that so far only Steam players can play in dedicated servers and also create the multiplayer worlds I mentioned at the beginning. While Xbox players and those who have the Game Pass version can only join the four players multiplayer worlds.
Now you know all the steps to play multiplayer with friends in Palworld. Make sure to choose the way that will meet you and your friends’ needs whether online co-op play or the dedicated servers. Then launch your world and enjoy the game together.
