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Empty world after a restart

Your server restarts and your world has vanished: progress, bases and Pals are gone, as if the server were brand new. In the vast majority of cases, nothing is lost. The server has simply created a second save folder and is loading the wrong one.

Why it happens​

Palworld saves live in:

Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/

Inside, each world is a folder named with a GUID (a unique identifier, e.g. A1B2C3D4E5F6...). Normally there is only one.

After certain updates, configuration changes or incidents, Palworld may generate a new empty GUID folder and load it instead of the old one. Result: a blank world, while your real save is still there, in the other folder.

The telltale sign

If you see two GUID folders in SaveGames/0/, this is exactly your case. Your world isn't lost — it's in one of the two.

Identify the right folder​

  1. Log in to your Game Panel:
  2. Select your Palworld server
  3. Stop the server — essential before any manipulation
  4. Go to Files then open Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/
  5. Compare the two GUID folders:
    • The old one (your real world) is the larger, with many files in Players/, a heavy Level.sav, and an older modification date.
    • The new one (empty) is nearly empty, with a very light Level.sav and a recent date.

Restore your world​

The safest method is to copy the contents of the old folder into the new one (the folder the server currently loads):

  1. With the server stopped, open the old GUID folder (your real save)
  2. Copy all its contents: Level.sav, LevelMeta.sav, WorldOption.sav (if present), the Players/ folder and all other files
  3. Paste / upload this content into the new GUID folder (the one the server loads), overwriting the empty files
  4. Restart the server (Start)

Your original world is loaded again.

Back up first

Before any manipulation, create a backup from the Backups tab of the panel, or download the full SaveGames/0/ folder to your PC. That way you can roll back if something goes wrong.

Prevent it from happening again​

  • Only one GUID folder should exist in SaveGames/0/. Once your world is restored and verified in-game, you can delete the extra GUID folder (after a safety backup).
  • Check the DedicatedServerName parameter in the startup configuration: if it changes, the server may point to a different folder.
  • Set up a daily automatic restart and regular backups so you always have a recent restore point — see Lag, crashes and scheduled restarts.
info

This manipulation comes up often: if you're not comfortable with the files, open a ticket from your client area. Be sure to delete nothing before we step in.