All Palworld difficulty settings explained & how to change them

Michelle Cornelia
A screenshot of two Pals from Palworld.

Palworld has several difficulty settings that allow players to alter the game based on their preferences. Here’s a list of all Palworld difficulty settings and how to change them.

Much like other survival games in general, you start off in Palworld with nothing. From there, you’ll gradually grind your way up by exploring, catching Pals, managing your base, and many more.

Although that may sound pretty straightforward on paper, not everyone prefers to go to extreme lengths when it comes to certain aspects of their gameplay.

Whether you’re looking for a real challenge or want to take things easy, Palworld has different difficulty settings that you can choose to tailor your experience.

All Difficulty Settings in Palworld Explained

Palworld Pal character from the game.
Palworld has been a resounding hit to start 2024.

Palworld has three main difficulty settings: casual, normal, and hard. These settings will have different effects on your experience, starting from the damage you take, the capture rate of Pals, penalty upon dying, and others.

Casual: As the name suggests, this setting fits players looking for a more beginner-friendly and relaxed experience. Resources are abundant, whereas catching and battling Pals are much easier. Players have no penalty when they die, meaning they get to keep their items.

Normal: The normal difficulty gives a more balanced experience, perfect for those who love a little bit of challenge. Drops are significantly less, so gathering resources would take more time, and Pals may take longer to beat. Additionally, you’ll drop your items upon death and have to retrieve them.

Hard: This difficulty will put your survival skills to the test. Not only do you take more damage from hostile Pals, but they’re harder to catch, and you gain less XP. Resources are also more scarce and take longer to get. Dying is one thing you’ll want to avoid at all costs as you’ll lose all your Pals and inventory.

If none of these fit your liking, there’s a fourth option that lets you customize the difficulty sliders one by one.

How to Change Difficulty Settings in Palworld

A screenshot of the normal difficulty setting in Palworld.
The normal difficulty setting in Palworld.

Palworld lets you change your difficulty no matter how far you are into your game. For that, you’ll just need to change them in the main menu before loading back into your world.

  1. In the main menu, click Start Game and select your world.
  2. Go to the Change World Settings at the bottom.
  3. Select your preferred difficulty option.
  4. For custom difficulty, scroll down under the Custom Settings option to adjust each of the settings.
  5. Once you’re all set, hit OK.

So, that’s it. That’s pretty much all the Palworld difficulty settings and how to change them. Of course, feel free to experiment with the settings until you find the one that suits you best. Don’t forget that they can be changed anytime, so there is no stress if you decide to change your mind.

About The Author

Michelle is a Games Writer at Dexerto. She has previously written for Attack of the Fanboy, Pocket Gamer, and GameWatcher. As a multiplayer enthusiast, she enjoys playing FPS, Battle Royale, and MMORPG games in her free time. You can reach out to her at michelle.cornelia@dexerto.com