An Unreal Engine 5 open-world survival game where you catch, build, and battle alongside creatures called Pals.
Palworld is Pocketpair's open-world survival and creature-collector: you explore a vast island, catch Pals, and put them to work fighting, farming, crafting, and automating sprawling bases — solo or in co-op and dedicated-server multiplayer. Built on Unreal Engine 5 and still in early access, its performance is uneven by design: draw distance, grass density, and shadow quality dominate GPU cost, while large automated bases and busy multiplayer sessions push the CPU hard. Because the engine supports DLSS and FSR upscaling, the fastest path to smooth frames is usually enabling upscaling and dialing back the world-streaming settings rather than lowering textures.
Built for competitive players who want the highest frame rate and lowest input latency.
Cuts the expensive open-world streaming settings and leans on upscaling for the highest, most stable frame rate — ideal for busy bases and multiplayer.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Screen Mode | Fullscreen | Lowest latency and most stable frame times. |
| Resolution | Native (1920x1080) | — |
| Overall Graphics Quality | Custom (Low base) | — |
| View Distance | Low | Trims the most expensive open-world draw calls. |
| Grass Details | Low | The single biggest frame-rate lever in Palworld. |
| Shadows | Low | UE5 shadow maps are very costly — keep low for max frames. |
| Effects Quality | Low | — |
| Texture Quality | Medium | Cheap on VRAM; keep at Medium so the world doesn't turn blurry. |
| Anti-Aliasing | Low (TAA) | — |
| Motion Blur | Off | Removes smear and a little GPU cost; clearer during combat. |
| Upscaling (DLSS / FSR) | Quality | Large FPS gain with minimal loss; use FSR if you're not on an RTX card. |
| VSync | Off | Uncaps frames; enable only if you see tearing. |
Maximum visual fidelity for players who prefer the best-looking image.
Maximum draw distance and detail for screenshots and 4K displays. This is genuinely demanding on an early-access UE5 title — a strong RTX card and 8 GB+ VRAM are expected.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Screen Mode | Fullscreen | Borderless is fine if you Alt-Tab often; Fullscreen is a touch smoother. |
| Resolution | Native / 4K (3840x2160) | — |
| Overall Graphics Quality | Epic | — |
| View Distance | Epic | Longest draw distance and the single heaviest setting here. |
| Grass Details | Epic | — |
| Shadows | Epic | Highest-resolution shadow maps; very expensive on GPU. |
| Effects Quality | Epic | — |
| Texture Quality | Epic | Needs 8 GB+ VRAM at 4K to avoid streaming stutter. |
| Anti-Aliasing | Epic (TAA) | — |
| Motion Blur | On | — |
| Upscaling (DLSS / FSR) | Quality / DLAA | Use DLAA or Quality mode to tame the 4K cost while keeping sharpness. |
| VSync | On | Removes tearing; pair with a frame cap for consistent pacing. |
The sweet spot between frame rate and visuals. Drag the slider to shift the balance.
A lush, detailed world that still holds high frames. Upscaling stays on so the heavy streaming settings can sit higher without tanking performance.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Screen Mode | Fullscreen | — |
| Resolution | Native (1920x1080) | — |
| Overall Graphics Quality | High | — |
| View Distance | Medium | Balances pop-in against the cost of drawing the whole island. |
| Grass Details | Medium | Still lush without the deep frame-rate cost of Epic. |
| Shadows | Medium | — |
| Effects Quality | High | — |
| Texture Quality | High | — |
| Anti-Aliasing | Medium (TAA) | — |
| Motion Blur | Off | — |
| Upscaling (DLSS / FSR) | Quality | Keep it on even at High; the fidelity cost is tiny on this early-access UE5 build. |
| VSync | Off | — |
| Metric | CompetitiveMax FPS | BalancedBalanced | High GraphicsBest Graphics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input Latency | Lowest | Low | Standard |
| Graphics Quality | |||
| GPU Usage | Medium | High | Very High |
| Competitive Score | 88/100 | 74/100 | 58/100 |
| Recommended For | Busy automated bases, multiplayer servers, and anyone chasing a stable 100+ FPS. | The sweet spot — a rich world that stays smooth solo or in small co-op. | Screenshots, 4K displays, and powerful RTX cards that can feed Epic view distance. |
Official minimum and recommended specs for Palworld.
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 (64-Bit) | Windows 11 (64-Bit) |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-9400F | Intel Core i5-12400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
| Memory | 16 GB RAM | 32 GB RAM |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 1660 | GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / Radeon RX 6700 XT |
| DirectX | Version 11 | Version 11 |
| Storage | 40 GB available space | 40 GB available space |
Minimum
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 (64-Bit) Processor: Intel Core i5-9400F Memory: 16 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce GTX 1660 DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 40 GB available space Additional Notes: SSD Required - Performance may vary depending on the amount of active Pals.
Recommended
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 11 (64-Bit) Processor: Intel Core i5-12400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Memory: 32 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce RTX 3060 Ti / Radeon RX 6700 XT DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 40 GB available space Additional Notes: SSD Required - Performance may vary depending on the amount of active Pals.
Source: Steam
Pick your hardware and preset to estimate your frame rate — results update instantly.
Frame generation is never counted: every figure is rendered frames only.
Your Estimated Palworld Performance
High (assumed from the recommended spec) · native · 1080p
50
Low end
55
Estimate
60
High end
FPS values displayed on GamerSpecs are estimates. Actual game performance may vary depending on hardware configuration, drivers, cooling, power limits, background applications, and game updates.
How is this calculated?Safe, technically-sound tips to get the most out of Palworld.
Lower Grass Details and View Distance first — they are the biggest frame-rate levers in Palworld and cost far more than texture resolution.
Enable DLSS or FSR at Quality mode to reclaim a large chunk of FPS with minimal visible loss on this early-access UE5 build.
Drop Shadow quality before touching textures — UE5 shadow maps are expensive, while textures are cheap as long as you have enough VRAM.
Large automated bases and busy multiplayer servers are CPU-bound; a faster CPU and closing background apps help more there than a GPU upgrade.
Cap your frame rate a few frames below your refresh rate to smooth out the frame-time spikes common during open-world streaming.
Install Palworld on an SSD — the world streams assets constantly, and a hard drive causes traversal stutter no graphics setting can fix.