How to install Palworld mods

Steps

1. Back up your saves. Pocketpair warns that mods can corrupt or delete saves, and that a save loaded with mods can keep having problems after you remove them. In Steam, right-click Palworld → Manage → Back up game files, or copy %LOCALAPPDATA%\Pal\Saved\SaveGames.
2. Start from a clean install. If you modded before 1.0, delete the old mod files before you start (step 2 of Pocketpair's guidelines). Then run Steam → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files. Turning old mods off isn't enough, because leftover files still load.
3. Easiest route: subscribe on the Workshop. In your Steam Library, open Palworld → Workshop. Subscribe to a mod and pick Subscribe to All when Steam offers its required items (UE4SS, for example), as pwmodding.wiki's Workshop guide shows.
4. Turn mods on in the game. On the title screen, go to Options → Mod Management, set Enable Mod to On, tick the mods you want, then click Save. The game restarts with the mods loaded.
5. Manual route: install UE4SS. Download UE4SS-Palworld.zip from Okaetsu's latest release. Copy the ue4ss folder and dwmapi.dll into Palworld\Pal\Binaries\Win64 (on Game Pass, Pal\Binaries\WinGDK). Details are in pwmodding.wiki's installation guide.
6. Configure UE4SS for play. In ue4ss\UE4SS-settings.ini, set bUseUObjectArrayCache = false, GuiConsoleEnabled = 0 and GuiConsoleVisible = 0. This avoids lag and stutter (configuration guide).
7. Add mods by type. Put Lua and C++ mods in Win64\ue4ss\Mods. Put .pak mods in Pal\Content\Paks\~mods, and create the ~mods folder if it doesn't exist. Put PalSchema mods where the mod's own page says. Add one mod at a time and launch between each.
8. Keep mods off official servers. Pocketpair's guidelines strictly prohibit mods on official servers and warn that accounts can be banned. On dedicated servers, every player usually needs the same server-side mods.

Common pitfalls

• Two copies of UE4SS. If you subscribed to a Workshop mod that needs UE4SS, delete or rename a manually installed dwmapi.dll in Win64. Otherwise the game crashes on launch.
• Old UE4SS builds and "UE4SS Signatures". Use the latest Palworld UE4SS build, which includes MemberVariableLayout.ini. Delete any UE4SS_Signatures folder, and don't use the February 2024 build or anything older than 3.0.1 (troubleshooting).
• Vortex or CurseForge. pwmodding.wiki says these managers currently install UE4SS and its mods incorrectly for Palworld. Install by hand or use the Workshop instead.
• Deleting UE4SS's default mods. Leave BPModLoaderMod, BPML_GenericFunctions, mods.txt and mods.json alone. Removing them breaks UE4SS.
• Mods that add items, Pals or buildings. Removing one, or letting it go out of date after a patch, can stop a world from loading. Keep a backup from before you added it.

Common errors and fixes

• Crash on launch after installing UE4SS. Delete a leftover xinput1_3.dll from an old UE4SS install and check that MemberVariableLayout.ini is inside the ue4ss folder. If it still crashes, remove mods one by one. Source: pwmodding.wiki UE4SS troubleshooting.
• Mods don't load and there's no UE4SS.log. UE4SS isn't installed in the right place. Check for dwmapi.dll in Win64 (or WinGDK), and for UE4SS.dll and UE4SS-settings.ini inside ue4ss. Source: pwmodding.wiki UE4SS troubleshooting.
• Crash Reporter mentions corrupt data, or the game crashes right after a patch. An outdated mod is the usual cause. Unsubscribe or disable mods one at a time until the game starts. Source: pwmodding.wiki Workshop troubleshooting.
• A world crashes mentioning PalDynamicItemWorldSubsystem or StaticItemId, or loads forever. A mod that added items or buildings is missing or out of date. Reinstall it once it's updated, or restore your backup. Source: pwmodding.wiki Workshop troubleshooting.

Rolling back

• Untick mods under Options → Mod Management, or unsubscribe from them on the Workshop.
• To remove manual mods completely, follow Pocketpair's removal steps: back up your saves, delete the mod files in Pal\Binaries\Win64 and Pal\Content\Paks, then verify the game files in Steam.
• If problems continue, Pocketpair recommends uninstalling Palworld, deleting the leftover game folder and reinstalling.
• Steam has no older Palworld branch, so you can't roll back the game itself. Restore the save backup you made before the patch or before adding mods.