Palworld Server Won't Connect or Timed Out? Fixes in Order

When Palworld can't reach a dedicated server it tells you almost nothing — usually it spins for a while and drops you back to the title screen. So troubleshooting has to run on order, not on error messages.

This list is sorted by how often each thing is actually the cause, not by network layer. Work down it and most people are done by section two.

Start here: which menu did you use

Highest-frequency cause, and it isn't a network problem at all.

Palworld's title screen offers two multiplayer routes that lead to different places:

• Join Multiplayer Game (Dedicated Server) — the only one that reaches a dedicated server
• Invite code / join a friend's world — this runs through the host's game client and cannot reach a dedicated server at all

The parenthetical is a branch point, not a description. Type a server address into the invite-code flow and the game won't tell you you're in the wrong place; it just fails.

Once you're in the right screen there is a single text field and a Connect button. If that's what you see, the entry point is right. The official connection guide walks the same route.

The address format

One field, address and port written together, one colon between them:

203.0.113.10:8211

Four ways people get it wrong:

That last one deserves its own sentence: people see 27015 quoted in older guides and assume it's the connection port. It isn't, and the community list doesn't depend on it either — the official documentation doesn't list 27015, and in our testing a crossplay server launched with -publiclobby and only 8211/UDP open still appeared in the list, with Xbox and PS5 players able to join. Players join on 8211.

A hostname works the same way (play.example.com:8211).

Ports

This section only matters if you're hosting it yourself. On a managed server the game port is already open — skip ahead. The step-by-step for the security group and OS firewall is in the setup guide; this section is about telling whether ports are the problem at all.

A Palworld dedicated server needs one port open to players: 8211/UDP, the game itself. If it's closed, nobody can connect at all.

Note that it's UDP, not TCP. This is the single most common self-hosting misconfiguration — people open the port on TCP out of habit, see it reported as "open," and still can't connect.

On a VPS you have to allow it in two places:

1. The provider's security group / firewall rules
2. The OS firewall itself (ufw / firewalld / Windows Firewall)

Opening only one of the two is the second most common cause. On home broadband you also need port forwarding on the router — and most residential connections no longer hand out a public IP, in which case forwarding won't help and you need to check whether you have one at all.

Version mismatch

Your client auto-updates; your server does not. Palworld patches often, so for a few days after every release this jumps to the top of the list: the connection attempt takes longer than usual, then drops you back to the title screen — sometimes with a version notice, sometimes not. To confirm, compare the version in your server's startup log against the one in the corner of the game's main menu; if they differ, the server needs updating, and nobody can connect while it does. The order that keeps the save, and the SteamCMD mistake that leaves the server on the old build, are in how to update a Palworld dedicated server without losing the save.

When the server just is not in the community list

Separate two things first: "can't find it in the list" and "can't connect" are different problems, and people routinely debug them as one.

The community server list is not a reliable signal:

• It refreshes with a delay; a new server can take several minutes to appear
• It caps how many entries it shows, so on a busy day yours may simply not be rendered
• Search matches on name, and if you never changed ServerName yours is a default string nobody can search for

So verify by direct connect first. Go through Join Multiplayer Game (Dedicated Server), type the address, and see if you get in. If you do, the server is fine and only the listing is missing — which doesn't stop you and your friends from playing. Send them the address.

If you do want the listing: make sure the server was launched with -publiclobby, that PublicIP / PublicPort point at its real public address, and that ServerName is something searchable — then wait for the list to refresh and search by the exact name.

Console players can't find it, Steam players can direct connect

This layer exists only on crossplay servers, and the symptom is always the same: friends on Steam and Mac type the address and get in, friends on Xbox, PS5 and PC Game Pass can't find the server in the community list no matter what.

The cause is that the console and Microsoft Store versions have no field for a server address — the community list is their only way in — and a server only appears in that list when it was launched with -publiclobby. Without it, Steam players notice nothing and console players have no way in at all.

Check three things in order: is -publiclobby in the launch arguments; are PublicIP / PublicPort set to the real public address; is ServerName distinctive rather than the default. 8211/UDP is already open in both firewalls if Steam players get in by address. If all three are right, wait for the list to refresh and have them search by the exact ServerName — the list shows only the first 200 results, so scrolling won't find you. The full recipe is in the crossplay guide.

One more that only shows up around patch days: console updates go through platform certification and often land a day or two after Steam. During that window the server and the console client are on different builds, and whichever updated first can't join the other.

Common questions

Which port goes in the address, 8211 or 27015?

8211. 27015 isn't a port players join on, and the server doesn't need it open to appear in the community list.

Should the ports be open on TCP or UDP?

UDP. The game port, 8211, is UDP — open it on TCP only and it'll look open while the game still can't connect.

My server isn't in the community list. What now?

Verify by direct connect first; if that works, the server is fine. To be listed, launch it with -publiclobby, set ServerName to something searchable, wait for the list to refresh and search by the exact name.

Still stuck

If you're this far down, the remaining possibilities are few:

• The server process isn't actually running (check the log, not your memory of starting it)
• It ran out of memory and the OS killed it, so it vanished silently (dmesg will show it). If that only happens after days of uptime, it's memory built up over uptime — schedule restarts
• The public IP changed — common after rebooting a VPS
• You set a ServerPassword and didn't tell anyone

Most of this list exists because the server and the client are two things somebody has to keep in step by hand — version, ports, address, password, each one a manual sync that can go wrong.

A managed Palworld server from KeepWorlds takes a few of those syncs off your hands: new game builds are detected and flagged for you, one click updates with a backup made first, the game port is open from the start, and the address to share sits on the server's page in the Console. If you want to understand the settings themselves, every option explained is here.