Palworld – Best Settings for FPS and Performance on PC

Pocketpair's Version 1.0 update overhauled Palworld's graphics, making many Early Access settings outdated. This guide covers the best PC settings for higher FPS and smoother performance.

Rather than jumping to the lowest settings or maxing everything out to Epic, start from a Custom profile based on High, then adjust based on what your PC actually struggles with. Here's a solid starting configuration:

• Max FPS: No limit, or a single cap your PC can consistently hold (60, 90, or 120)
• VSync: Off (unless you're using a variable refresh rate display)
• Motion Blur: Off
• Anti-Aliasing: TSR (if not using DLSS)
• DLSS: Quality first, moving to Balanced or Performance if needed
• View Distance: Medium
• Grass Details: Medium
• Building Drawing Distance: Around 300, adjusted after testing
• Shadows: Medium
• Effects Quality: Low or Medium
• Texture Quality: High, then verify against your VRAM
• Field of View: 75–90, based on preference

The best approach is to use a frame rate cap your PC can consistently maintain (60, 90, or 120 FPS). An uncapped frame rate can increase GPU usage and frame-time fluctuations on some systems. Disable VSync unless screen tearing is noticeable or you're not using a variable refresh rate display.

Epic-tier settings look great in screenshots but aren't necessarily worth the cost, especially since Version 1.0 increased the load of several long-range and environmental details at High and above. Starting from High gives a smoother baseline, and you can push individual settings up once the base load runs well.

View Distance, Grass Details, and Building Drawing Distance determine how much of the world Palworld renders as you move. Medium View Distance and Grass are sensible for most systems, with Building Drawing Distance around 300 — dropping it too low creates noticeable pop-in. If your frame rate looks fine while standing still but stutters during fast traversal, lower these before touching texture quality or resolution.

Medium Shadows offer one of the best visual-to-performance ratios. Effects Quality is best tested during actual combat with several Pals active — an empty field tells you very little about real-world load. Texture Quality primarily affects VRAM usage rather than raw GPU performance.

Start with DLSS Quality and switch to Balanced at 1440p or 4K if Quality can't maintain your target FPS. Performance mode at 1080p can noticeably reduce image quality, so use it only as a last resort. If DLSS isn't available, use TSR instead of disabling anti-aliasing, since running without AA can cause noticeable shimmering during movement.

If you're using an AMD Radeon GPU and your version of Palworld supports AMD FSR, start with the Quality preset before switching to Balanced if you need additional FPS.

These are the official Steam requirements. Actual performance varies depending on your hardware and how many Pals are active.

For older or entry-level PCs, a Custom profile at 1920×1080 aiming for 45–60 FPS is achievable. Use DLSS Quality/Balanced on NVIDIA cards, or TSR otherwise. Set View Distance and Grass to Medium, Building Draw Distance to 300, Shadows to Low/Medium, Effects to Low, and Texture Quality somewhere between Medium and High depending on available VRAM. Turn off Frame Generation and turn on Reflex if it's available.

Because performance depends heavily on how many Pals and objects are nearby, testing on an empty field won't tell you much. Try these three tests using the same save and the same route:

• Moving quickly across the map — keep an eye on frame pacing and 1% lows.
• A crowded area — monitor FPS, frame pacing, and VRAM usage.
• Combat with many effects enabled — watch frame pacing and compare base and display FPS if Frame Generation is active.

Adjust settings one at a time so you know exactly which change helped.

Update your GPU drivers, verify the game files, install Palworld on an SSD, and disable unnecessary overlays or background applications while benchmarking. If you're using a performance mod, get a clean stock-game baseline first. Pocketpair has warned that mods can cause crashes or save corruption, so back up your saves and download only from trusted sources like Nexus Mods, GitHub, or Steam Workshop.

Palworld Version 1.0 makes older optimization guides less reliable. Start with a High-based Custom preset, then fine-tune View Distance, Grass, Shadows, and upscaling options to achieve the best balance of image quality and performance.