How to Fix Player Character Saves When Migrating to a Palworld Dedicated Server

Move co-op or single-player Palworld characters to your dedicated server using the palworld-host-save-fix tool to swap player GUIDs.

If you've migrated a co-op (Steam-hosted) Palworld world to a dedicated server, you've probably noticed that your bases and Pals are there but your character is gone. This isn't corruption — it's how Palworld links characters to Steam IDs. This page explains why it happens and how to fix it with the community tool palworld-host-save-fix.

Why This Happens

In Palworld:

Save Type	Player ID	Result on Migration
Co-op / hosted	Player's Steam ID (e.g. `765611...`)	Character file: `<SteamID>.sav`
Dedicated server	Server-generated GUID (e.g. `00000000000000000000000000000001`)	Character file: `<GUID>.sav`

When you copy a co-op save into a dedicated server:

✅ World, bases, structures, Pals transfer fine — they're keyed to the world, not the player.
❌ Player characters don't load — the dedicated server is looking for <GUID>.sav files but yours are still named <SteamID>.sav.

To fix it you have to rename the player save files and rewrite their internal GUID to match what the dedicated server expects. That's exactly what palworld-host-save-fix does.

The Fix Tool

xNul/palworld-host-save-fix is a community Python script that:

Reads your old <SteamID>.sav player file
Computes the dedicated server's expected GUID from your Steam ID
Rewrites the file's internal references and renames it
Patches Level.sav so the world recognizes the new player GUID

It's the de-facto standard fix — thousands of players have used it.

Step-by-Step Fix

Prerequisites

Python 3.9 or newer installed locally (the tool runs on your computer, not the server)
Your Steam ID 64 (find it at steamid.io by pasting your Steam profile URL)
A backup of your save folder — see Backup & Restore

Procedure

Stop the dedicated server and back up

In the XGamingServer Panel, stop your Palworld server. Create a panel backup so you can roll back if anything goes wrong.

Download the tool

Clone or download the script from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/xNul/palworld-host-save-fix.git
cd palworld-host-save-fix

Download your save folder

In Files, navigate to Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/. Right-click the GUID folder inside (your world) → Compress → Download. Extract the zip on your local machine.

Run the fix script

The script signature is:

python fix.py <save-folder> <old-steam-id> <new-guid>

Where:

<save-folder> is the path to the extracted save folder
<old-steam-id> is your Steam ID 64 (the file in Players/ named like <SteamID>00000000000000000000000000000001.sav)
<new-guid> is the dedicated server's expected player GUID — typically 00000000000000000000000000000001 for the first player

Example:

python fix.py ./my-save 76561198012345678 00000000000000000000000000000001

The script renames your player file and patches Level.sav so the dedicated server links your old character to your new GUID.

Problem	Fix
Script errors on `Level.sav`	The save format may have changed in a recent Palworld update. Check the GitHub issues for the latest compatibility note.
Character loads but bases say "no owner"	You ran the script with the wrong old Steam ID. Re-extract from backup and try again with the correct ID.
Multiple players need fixing	Run the script once per player, each with their own Steam ID and a unique destination GUID (`...0001`, `...0002`, etc.).
"File not found"	Double-check the path to your `Players/` folder. The save folder must contain `Level.sav` at the root and player files inside `Players/`.

Why This Isn't Built Into the Game

Pocket Pair has acknowledged the issue but hasn't shipped a built-in migration tool. The community script is the only working option. If/when an official fix lands, this page will be updated.