How to Reset your Palworld World and/or player data and restore from a backup

How to Start Fresh with a New World on Your Palworld Server: A Step-by-Step Guide

As a new server owner, you might be eager to set up a fresh world for you and your friends to explore and enjoy. Even if you've played the game hundreds of hours before, we understand that diving into game hosting might feel a bit overwhelming, but don’t worry! We’ll guide you through every step of the process, ensuring that you can easily create a brand-new experience for your players.

Step 1: Access Your Server Control Panel

1. Log into PingPlayers account:
   • Enter your login credentials to access your account.
2. Go to Your Server Dashboard:
   • Once logged in, locate the server management section and click on your Palworld → Manage Server to access the dashboard.

Step 2: Backup Your Current World (Optional)

Before starting fresh, it’s a good practice to back up your current world in case you want to return to it later.

1. Locate Your World Files:
   • In the server dashboard, find the FTP details option and connect to the server using a client (FileZilla, WinSCP, etc) or Windows File Explorer. Here is the guide explaining it in detail: PingPlayers FTP Guide
2. Download the Backup:

   • Select the folder that contains your current world and download it to your computer. This ensures you have a copy of it, just in case. The files and/or folders that must be saved are:

     "Players" folder contains a .sav file for each unique player that has entered the server and "backup" folder contains the world data.

     • Level.sav
     • LevelMeta.sav
     • Players
     • backup
   • These files are located in a path similar to this one (the folder name after SaveGames will be different as well as the date for the backup you take). Bold path after 0/ is an example, you'll see something different on yours.  /Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/4EF3997B44D6315B6CAEB2885B76733E/backup/world/dateofbackup

Step 3: Delete Your Server and Create a New One

Now that you have a backup (if you chose to make one), it’s time to reset your world. You can simply delete your server from the dashboard and create a new one to set it all up from scratch. You can always import the saves you backed up before if you change your mind. Note that the server port may change when you re-create it.

1. Delete your server:
   • Go to Palworld server → Manage Server → Actions → Delete my Server.

   • You'll be prompted to type "delete my server" and click on Delete.

     

   • Create a new Palworld server:
     • Now that your server is deleted, you'll have extra free players in your cluster and you may create a new server with them.

     • Click Add Game and select Palworld.

       

   • Customize it:
     • Name it, add an admin password, and create it.
     • Once it's created, you can re-tweak the Basic Settings as you please.

Step 3.1: Keeping the Server but Erasing All Data

1. Delete the world files:

   • Through FTP, delete the Pal\Saved\SaveGames\0 folder.

     

Step 4: Configure Your New World Settings

1. Adjust Game Settings:
   • Look for options to configure settings for your new world. This can include game mode, difficulty level, and other parameters to customize the experience. 

Step 5: Launch Your Server

When you first join your server, if you deleted the world and player data, you'll get prompted to create a character and a new Pal\Saved\SaveGames\0 folder will be generated. 

1. Restart Your Server:
   • Look for the restart option in your server dashboard. This will apply all the changes you’ve made and launch the new world.

Restoring data from a backup

1. Upload the downloaded backup:

   • Shutdown your server and connect to FTP.
   • Find the Pal\Saved\SaveGames\ and upload your backed up /0 folder. Remember that both the World data and Player data are inside. If you want to only transfer the World just transfer the backup folder, for example.
   • Note: Changing the game version from Xbox to Steam or vice-versa may break the game server and not work. It's recommended that the save version is already backed up on the version that is going to be booted.

    

Conclusion

And there you have it—a simple step-by-step guide to creating a fresh world on your Palworld server! Whether you want to explore new adventures, start fresh with friends or restoring a backed up save, resetting your server can provide an invigorating experience . If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to our support team at PingPlayers. Happy gaming!