Palworld DeathPenalty Setting: What Each Option Does
Dying in Palworld can cost players their gear, and the DeathPenalty key in PalWorldSettings.ini decides how harsh that is. It is one of the easiest ways to set the tone for your server.
The accepted values
- None: nothing is dropped when a player dies.
- Item: the player drops items from their inventory.
- ItemAndEquipment: items and equipped gear are dropped.
- All: everything is dropped, and this is the default. Pals may also be affected on this setting.
Because the default is All, a fresh server can feel punishing for new players until you change it.
Which one should you pick?
- Casual or friends servers: None keeps the mood relaxed and avoids long corpse runs.
- Standard survival: Item is a gentle middle ground.
- Hardcore or PvP: ItemAndEquipment or All raises the stakes and makes fights matter.
Pick based on who plays. A community with younger or newer players will usually prefer a lighter penalty.
How to change it
- Stop the server in the Console tab.
- Open Files and edit PalWorldSettings.ini.
- Find DeathPenalty inside the OptionSettings line.
- Replace the value, for example DeathPenalty=None.
- Save and start the server.
Keep the spelling and capitalisation exactly as shown. A mistyped value may be ignored and the server may fall back to its default.
Pair it with other settings
Death penalty matters most alongside PvP. If you enable bIsPvP, think about whether players should lose gear to each other. On a pure PvE server, a mild penalty plus careful base design is often enough challenge.
Tell your players
Post the rule in your Discord or server description. Players dislike surprise item loss, and a clear note saves you from support questions after a bad night of boss fights.
Troubleshooting
If the penalty seems to ignore your edit, confirm you changed the real settings file, that the server was stopped while you edited, and that you restarted afterwards. If problems continue, send us the line you edited in Discord and we can check it with you.