#Management & Automation

Configure automated tasks to keep your Palworld server running smoothly with minimal manual intervention.

#Automatic Updates

Keep your server up-to-date with the latest Palworld patches and features.

#Enable Auto-Update

When enabled, the server will automatically check for and install Palworld updates on the configured schedule.

Benefits:

• Always running the latest version
• Automatic bug fixes and security patches
• New features delivered automatically
• Reduced maintenance time

Considerations:

• Server will restart when updates are applied
• Players will be disconnected during the update
• Updates are tested but may occasionally cause issues

#Update Schedule (Cron)

Configure when automatic updates check and install using cron syntax.

Common schedules:

Cron format: minute hour day month weekday

Examples:

• 0 4 * * * = Every day at 4:00 AM
• 30 2 * * * = Every day at 2:30 AM
• 0 3 * * 0 = Every Sunday at 3:00 AM

Pro tip: Schedule updates during low-activity hours for your player base.

#Warning Time Before Update

How many minutes before the update to warn players.

• Default: 30 minutes
• Recommended range: 15-60 minutes

How it works:

1. Update is detected at scheduled time
2. In-game announcement: "Server will update in X minutes"
3. Repeated warnings at intervals
4. Server saves and shuts down for update
5. Update installs automatically
6. Server restarts with new version

Best practice: 30 minutes gives players time to complete activities and log out safely.

#Automatic Reboots

Schedule regular server restarts to maintain optimal performance and clear memory leaks.

#Enable Auto-Reboot

Regular reboots help:

• Clear memory leaks
• Apply configuration changes
• Improve long-term stability
• Reset resource counts

Recommendation: Enable for servers running 24/7.

#Reboot Schedule (Cron)

When to automatically restart the server.

Popular schedules:

Tip: Coordinate with auto-update schedule or use different times.

#Warning Time Before Reboot

Notification period before restart (minutes).

• Default: 5 minutes
• Recommended: 5-15 minutes for regular reboots

Shorter than updates because:

• Reboots are predictable and scheduled
• Players expect regular maintenance
• Faster turnaround means less downtime

#Force Reboot With Players Online

Control whether reboots occur when players are connected.

• Disabled (Default): Skip reboot if any players online
• Enabled: Reboot regardless of player count

Use cases:

Disabled when:

• Low-population server
• Flexible maintenance schedule
• Player experience is priority

Enabled when:

• Critical maintenance windows
• High-population server (always has players)
• Performance issues require regular reboots

Pro tip: Most servers should keep this disabled and schedule reboots during naturally low-activity periods.

#Backup Configuration

Protect your world data with automated backups.

#Enable Backups

Highly recommended for all servers.

Backups protect against:

• Server crashes
• Corruption
• Accidental deletion
• Rollback needs
• Hardware failures

#Backup Schedule (Cron)

How often to create world backups.

Recommended schedules:

Balance:

• More frequent: Better protection, more storage used
• Less frequent: Less storage, more potential data loss

Default: Daily backups (0 0 * * *)

#Use Native Backup System

Use Palworld's built-in backup feature.

• Enabled (Recommended): Uses game's native backup system
• Disabled: Uses file-system backups

Recommendation: Keep enabled for better compatibility.

#Delete Old Backups

Automatically remove aged backups to save disk space.

• Disabled: Keep all backups (manual cleanup needed)
• Enabled: Automatic cleanup based on retention days

Enable if:

• Storage space is limited
• You don't need months of backup history
• You want automated maintenance

#Backup Retention (Days)

How long to keep backups before automatic deletion (requires "Delete Old Backups" enabled).

• Default: 30 days
• Recommended range: 7-60 days

Storage calculation:

• Small world (< 100MB): 30 days = ~3GB
• Medium world (500MB): 30 days = ~15GB
• Large world (2GB): 30 days = ~60GB

Recommendations by server type:

#Monitoring & Notifications

#Player Logging

Track player join/leave events in server logs.

Enable Player Logging: Records all player connections

Logging Poll Period: How often to check player status (seconds)

• Default: 5 seconds
• Lower (1-3s): More accurate tracking, higher CPU
• Higher (10-30s): Less overhead, delayed logging

Use for:

• Activity tracking
• Security monitoring
• Discord join/leave notifications

#Auto-Pause When Empty

Automatically pause the server when no players are online.

Enable Auto-Pause: Saves CPU resources during idle time

Auto-Pause Timeout: Wait time after last player leaves (seconds)

• Default: 180 seconds (3 minutes)
• Recommended range: 120-600 seconds

Benefits:

• Reduced CPU usage
• Lower operating costs
• Automatic resume when player joins

Good for:

• Small private servers
• Development/testing servers
• Servers with variable activity

Not recommended for:

• Public servers with player discovery
• Servers expecting random joins
• 24/7 production servers

#Best Practices

#Maintenance Windows

Create a predictable maintenance schedule:

1. Daily restart: 4:00 AM local time
2. Update check: Same as restart time
3. Backups: Every 6 hours (0:00, 6:00, 12:00, 18:00)

Example configuration:

Auto-Update: Enabled
Update Schedule: 0 4 * * *
Update Warning: 30 minutes

Auto-Reboot: Enabled
Reboot Schedule: 0 4 * * *
Reboot Warning: 5 minutes
Force with Players: Disabled

Backups: Enabled
Backup Schedule: 0 */6 * * *
Retention: 30 days
Delete Old: Enabled

#Coordinate Schedules

Good practice:

• Update and reboot at same time
• Backups offset from reboots
• All maintenance during low-activity hours

Example coordinated schedule:

• 00:00 - Backup
• 04:00 - Auto-update + Auto-reboot
• 06:00 - Backup
• 12:00 - Backup
• 18:00 - Backup

#Storage Management

Monitor backup storage usage:

1. Check available disk space regularly
2. Adjust retention period if space is low
3. Enable "Delete Old Backups"
4. Download important backups externally

Warning signs:

• Disk usage > 80%
• Backups failing
• Performance degradation

#Communication

Inform your players about maintenance:

1. Post schedule in Discord
2. Include schedule in server MOTD
3. Use Discord webhooks for notifications
4. Set generous warning times

#Troubleshooting

#Updates Failing

Symptoms: Server doesn't update automatically

Solutions:

1. Check update schedule syntax
2. Verify server has internet access
3. Check disk space
4. Review logs for error messages

#Backups Taking Too Much Space

Solutions:

1. Reduce retention period (30 → 14 days)
2. Enable "Delete Old Backups"
3. Reduce backup frequency
4. Upgrade storage plan

#Reboots Not Occurring

Check:

1. Are players always online? (Disable "Force Reboot")
2. Is schedule correctly formatted?
3. Check server logs for errors

#Players Missing Warnings

Solutions:

1. Increase warning time (5 → 15 minutes)
2. Enable Discord notifications
3. Post schedule publicly
4. Use more frequent warnings

#Next Steps

• Community Features - Set up Discord integration
• Troubleshooting - Solve common issues