Author update status for 24 popular Mods and the community TOP3.
Mod beginner guide
How to install, use and cleanly uninstall Palworld Mods?
1.0 changed the game's core; the biggest traps around modding are corrupted saves and black screens on launch. This guide walks “back up → identify the type → install → use → uninstall cleanly → fix problems,” with real paths at every step.
One iron rule before touching Mods
Back up your save first. Installing, uninstalling and upgrading can all corrupt saves — a backup is your only undo.
Step 1: Back up your save (3 minutes, lifesaving)
Palworld's single-player / invite-code saves live in this folder; copy the whole thing elsewhere and that's your backup:
| Platform | Save location | How to open it fast |
|---|---|---|
| Steam / Windows | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames\ | Press Win+R, paste the path, hit Enter; or in Steam right-click Palworld → Manage → Browse local files → Saved\SaveGames. |
| Xbox / Game Pass | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\PocketpairInc.Palworld_*\SystemAppData\ | Same Win+R paste, then find and copy the matching world folder. |
| dedicated server | Under the server directory Pal\Saved\SaveGames\ | On the machine running the server, copy the entire SaveGames folder. |
| Backup essentials | why |
|---|---|
| Copy the entire SaveGames folder, not just one file | A world is made of several files (world save, player save); miss one and it won't load. |
| Store backups outside the game directory, named with a date | In the same directory they can be overwritten by file verification or upgrades; a date tells you which one predates the corruption. |
| Disable Steam Cloud before restoring | Steam → right-click Palworld → Properties → General → uncheck Keep saves in Steam Cloud; otherwise the cloud overwrites your recovered save with the corrupted one. |
Know the two Mod types: install methods differ completely
| Type | Traits | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Pak type (.pak files) | Directly edit game assets, no extra framework; usually building, storage and production mods. | Drop into Pal\Content\Paks\~mods(create the folder if it doesn't exist). |
| UE4SS type (Lua / script / UI) | Need the UE4SS loader installed first; usually minimaps, info displays and settings menus. | Install UE4SS first, then put the Mod into UE4SS's Mods or LogicMods folder. |
How to install
| Case | steps |
|---|---|
| Installing only pak type | 1) Back up your save; 2) find Pal\Content\Paks\~mods(create it if missing); 3) drop the .pak in; 4) launch the game to confirm it works. |
| Installing UE4SS type | 1) Back up; 2) download UE4SS and copy its dwmapi.dll and Mods and the rest as a whole into Pal\Binaries\Win64; 3) put the Mod into UE4SS's Mods / LogicMods; 4) launch to confirm. |
| Installing multiple Mods | Add one at a time, confirm it's fine in-game, then add the next; adding all at once makes failures impossible to isolate. |
How to use: a settings menu saves you editing files
Many UE4SS Mods' toggles and parameters can be adjusted by installing a Mod Config Menu in-game via a UI instead of hand-editing JSON config files — hand-editing easily breaks the format and disables the Mod. More and more authors wire their settings into it as the standard config surface.
How to uninstall cleanly: deleting isn't enough, clear the leftovers
1.0 added official Mod management, but itdoes notremove files installed manually the old way. Merely disabling in the manager or deleting the Mod itself can leave the loader and leftovers behind, which still load at startup and cause black screens or corruption.
| Uninstall order | action |
|---|---|
| 1 Back up first | Uninstalling can corrupt saves just like installing — copy your save first. |
| 2 Disable rather than delete outright | Disable in the Mod manager first, confirm the game is fine, then deal with files. |
| 3 Clear UE4SS leftovers | Go to Pal\Binaries\Win64 and remove the old dwmapi.dll / xinput1_3.dll、Mods folder,UE4SS-settings.ini。 |
| 4 Clear pak leftovers | Go to Pal\Content\Paks\~mods and LogicMods remove the matching .pak; also clear pre-1.0 PalSchema files while you're at it. |
| 5 Verify files | Steam right-click Palworld → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files, to restore modified official files. |
| 6 Test with a copy | Enter the game with a copied save first; only after it saves and exits cleanly, apply it back to the real save. |
Move files to a “quarantine folder” outside the game directory instead of deleting them outright — if you remove the wrong thing, you can move it back.
Fixing problems: match the symptom
| Symptom | Likely cause | How to fix |
|---|---|---|
| Can't even reach the title screen / black screen | Old UE4SS or leftover proxy DLLs incompatible with 1.0. | Go to Pal\Binaries\Win64 delete the old dwmapi.dll / xinput1_3.dll、Mods、UE4SS-settings.ini, then verify file integrity. |
| Title screen works, crashes on entering the world | A Mod the save depends on was removed or is the wrong version. | Don't test with the real save — use a copy, reinstall the full previous Mod set, and once it loads, remove them one by one. |
| Mod installed but nothing happens | Wrong folder / wrong loader type / missing prerequisite dependency. | Check the author page for whether it's pak or UE4SS, if the folder is right, and if a dependency framework is missing. |
| Save won't load | A Mod that alters save structure leaves corrupted entities and missing references after removal. | Don't touch your only save; restore from the earliest clean backup (remember to disable Steam Cloud first). |
| Quests / events stuck and won't progress | An old Mod altered quest or world data. | Go vanilla (disable all Mods) to check if it's still stuck; if Mods cause it, eliminate them one by one. |
Next
Backup and step-by-step restore order for a modded server on version updates.
Deep-water problems like account changes, UUID migration and memory growth.
SourceOfficial server docs + Palworld community troubleshooting verification (2026-07-19)