How to Change Difficulty In Palworld

Looking to make Palworld more relaxed or more intense? Changing the difficulty setting lets you fine-tune your experience—whether you want easier survival or tougher challenges. It affects things like enemy strength, resource scarcity, and gameplay balance.

In this guide, we'll show you how to change difficulty in Palworld and change the normal difficulty setting to the desired one.

Difficulty Settings Explained

In Palworld, your gameplay experience can vary dramatically depending on your chosen difficulty settings. Whether you're running a Palworld server or just playing solo, understanding the impact of each mode—Casual, Normal, and Hard Mode—can help you find your desired difficulty settings and truly customize your adventure.

Casual Mode

If you're starting or want to enjoy capturing Pals without high stakes, Casual Mode is your go-to. It’s perfect for testing gameplay mechanics or playing with many players who prefer a relaxed pace.

• Player hunger depletion rate is low

• Player stamina reduction rate is slower

• You won’t lose items on death

• Pal capture rate is higher, making catching Pals easier

• There's a lower death penalty, and enemies do less damage

Casual Mode is ideal for players who want to complete objectives at their own pace without harsh consequences. It’s often the default custom difficulty for social or community Palworld dedicated servers.

Normal Mode

Normal Difficulty offers a well-rounded challenge suitable for both newcomers and experienced players. This is the default world setting for most games and Palworld servers.

• Standard player stamina and hunger rates

• Enemies deal moderate damage

• You may lose items on death, depending on world settings

• Balanced resource availability

• Pal capture rate is fair, with pals multiplier set to default

For those wondering how to change difficulty in Palworld, you can adjust these settings anytime through the main menu or by modifying your custom difficulty settings in your Palworld server configuration.

Hard Mode

If you’re looking for intense survival and risk, Hard Mode is designed to push your limits.

• Pals are harder to capture with a reduced pal capture rate

• Player hunger and stamina depletion rates are high

• You'll lose items on death, and the death penalty is severe

• Enemies deal significantly more damage

• Resource availability is limited, forcing strategic gameplay

Hard Mode offers the most immersive and challenging experience. It’s often used in custom difficulty setups by veteran players or streamers who enjoy testing their skills.

How To Change The Difficulty Of A Palworld Server

To change the difficulty of a Palworld server:

• Open your Apollo panel

• Head over to the Files tab

• Find the following directory: /home/container/Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini

• Once opened, you can change the desired Palworld difficulty settings

Changing Specific Difficulty Settings

Death Penalty

You can search for DeathPenalty using CTRL + F, and change it to the desired setting:

EXP Rate

Find ExpRate and change it to the desired setting:

Pal Capture Rate

Find PalCaptureRate and edit it as desired

Pal Spawn Rate

Search for PalSpawnNumRate and change it to one of the following:

Damage From Pals Multiplier

Find PalDamageRateAttack and edit it as desired

Damage To Pals Multiplier

Find PalDamageRateDefense and edit it

Player Hunger Depletion Rate

Search for PlayerStomachDecreaceRate

Player Stamina Reduction Rate

Find PlayerStaminaDecreaceRate

Collection Drop Multiplier

Find CollectionDropRate

Dropped Items Multiplier

Find EnemyDropItemRate

Still have some questions about changing the difficulty in Palworld?

If you need any further instructions, you can log a ticket here

By: Ali A.

Updated on: 03/08/2025