Does Palworld 1.0 have PvP?

Yes. Palworld 1.0 makes PvP a proper mode. You turn it on for a dedicated server with the bIsPvP setting in PalWorldSettings.ini, then restart. It is a server-wide setting, not a per-player toggle.

How do I turn on PvP on a Palworld server?

Set bIsPvP=True in PalWorldSettings.ini and restart the server. Pair it with a DeathPenalty that suits your crowd; most PvP servers use DropItemAndEquipment so players drop gear but keep their Pals.

Setting up a Palworld 1.0 PvP server

Palworld 1.0 has a proper PvP mode. How to enable it on your dedicated server with bIsPvP, pick a death penalty your players will actually accept, and run PvP without wrecking your PvE world.

Palworld 1.0 ships a proper PvP mode, and it is one config line to switch on. This covers turning it on, picking a death penalty your players will not quit over, and keeping a PvP world from taking your peaceful builders down with it.

Where the setting lives

PvP is a server-wide setting, not something individual players opt into, so it sits in the same file as the rest of your world tuning:

/data/Pal/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/PalWorldSettings.ini

Open the Files tab on your dashboard, find that file, edit, save, and restart the server. The whole thing is one long OptionSettings=(...) line; keep the structure intact or the server ignores it. Background on the file is in Tuning Palworld world settings.

Turning on PvP

Set the PvP flag and restart:

bIsPvP=True

That is the switch that lets players damage each other. Worth knowing before you flip it: 1.0 lets players progress the main missions while in PvP mode, so a PvP server is not a combat-only sandbox any more; people can still play the game underneath the fighting.

Pick a death penalty that fits your crowd

PvP and your DeathPenalty setting are really one decision. The harsher the penalty, the higher the stakes of every fight, and the faster casual players bounce off a server. The scale runs from nothing to dropping everything including your Pals:

None or Item are too soft for most PvP; there is no real cost to dying.
DropItemAndEquipment, where you drop your gear but keep your Pals, is the setting most PvP servers settle on. It stings without being ruinous.
All, dropping your Pals as well, is hardcore-server territory. Set it only if your community actually wants that.

One 1.0 change to note: on Normal difficulty, players no longer drop equipped items on death by default, so if you want the old behaviour on a PvP server you now set it deliberately rather than inheriting it.

Keep PvP and PvE apart with a second server

A common wish is a peaceful building world and a PvP world for the same group. The clean way to do that today is two separate servers rather than one clever config, because Palworld's much-discussed clustering did not actually ship in a usable state (the honest detail is in Palworld server clustering). Run a PvE server for bases and a PvP server for fights, and let players carry Pals between them through the global Palbox by enabling bAllowGlobalPalboxExport and bAllowGlobalPalboxImport on both. It is not a linked world, but for most communities it is the practical version of what they wanted.

PvP works the hardware harder

Active fights between players and Pals are more simulation than a quiet building session, so a busy PvP world wants headroom. On Hostd your RAM is hard-reserved and your CPU runs on Ryzen 9700X cores at 5.5 GHz, so the resources on your plan hold up when a brawl kicks off. If a PvP server struggles under load, size up from the dashboard; How much RAM does a Palworld 1.0 server need? has the tiers.

Back up before you switch

Turning on PvP changes how players lose items, so take a manual backup first in case your group tries it and wants to revert.

Next steps

Last updated 2026-07-10. Notice a mistake? Tell us.