Palworld crossplay: how Steam, Xbox, PS5 and Mac join the same server

Palworld players on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation 5 and Mac can all play together on one dedicated server. The catch: PC and console join in different ways, and that trips up a lot of admins. Here's the full picture.

The platforms that can play together

A Palworld dedicated server can host cross-play across the Steam version, the Xbox Series consoles, the Windows PC version from the Microsoft Store (including Game Pass), the macOS version, and the PlayStation 5 version. That's the official list.

The one thing that trips everyone up

Consoles can't type in a server address.On Xbox and PS5 there's no box to enter an IP — those players can only join servers that show up in the in-game Community Serverslist. So your server can be perfectly online and still be invisible to your console friends, simply because it isn't listed there.

Platform	How it joins your server
Steam (PC)	Direct IP + port, or the in-game server list
Microsoft Store / Game Pass (PC)	In-game Community Servers list
Xbox (console)	Community Servers list only — no IP entry
PlayStation 5	Community Servers list only — no IP entry
macOS	In-game Community Servers list

Two knobs decide who can join

1. Is your server listed? To let Xbox/PS5 players find it, it has to be published as a community server. On a self-hosted server that's the -publiclobby launch argument; most hosts have a toggle for it in their panel.

2. Which platforms are allowed? The CrossplayPlatforms setting controls this. By default it allows everyone — (Steam,Xbox,PS5,Mac)— so you usually don't need to touch it unless you want to restrict platforms.

Where the community-server toggle lives depends on your host. On Indifferent Broccolithe REST API is on by default (verified); most panels (Shockbyte, GPORTAL, Nodecraft, Apex Hosting) expose a “community” / “public server” switch — the exact label varies. Per-host step-by-step guides are on the way.

Sort out a specific problem

Not officially confirmed:The exact update and date that first added PS5 and Mac dedicated servers is often quoted around the community; we couldn't confirm the specific version from the official docs, so we don't state one here.

Manage your Palworld server from anywhere

Tamerdeck gives you live status, players, restarts and Discord alerts — paste your address and you're live in under two minutes.

Get started free