This comes up often enough in Palworld that it deserves a straight answer rather than a thread to scroll through.

Short answer

In most cases the straightforward approach works. The exceptions are specific and listed below.

Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of Palworld. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why.

What to do instead

The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have.

It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here.

Worth knowing alongside this

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.
  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Region and platform change more than people expect, so confirm both.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Read the whole sequence once before doing the first step.

When the usual advice fails

The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Everything below is framed around the current state of Palworld rather than a launch-week impression.

The practical answer

The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time.

Why it works this way

What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. Palworld is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

Where people go wrong

  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.
  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.

Palworld FAQ

What if none of this works for me?

Then something in your setup differs from the assumption — version, region or platform. Check those three before anything else.

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

Does this change between platforms?

The behaviour does not. Where menu paths or prompts differ, that is noted above.

What is the short answer?

It is the paragraph near the top. Everything after it exists for the cases where that paragraph does not quite fit.

Anything that shifts with the next Palworld update will show up as a changed number, not a changed approach.