Palword dedicated servers experience an issue when transferring from Linux to Windows, or vice versa, which causes players to see a character creation screen even though the saved files are present. This is because the server assigns different player GUIDs for each operating system. The fix below uses the popular Palworld Save Tool to manually swap the GUIDs for each affected player, effectively restoring their saves. This process can also be followed if only one save is broken, which can occur after a game update or server crash.
Note: This fix is highly experimental. Multiple bugs may occur, including data loss. Make backups locally to avoid losing necessary files.
1. All affected players must Join the new server once and create a Temporary Character.
2. Log in to the BisectHosting Starbase panel.
3. Stop the server.
4. Go to the Files tab.
5. Find the following directory: /home/container/Pal/Saved/SaveGames/0/[WorldID]
Note: The World Code is represented by a combination of capital letters and numbers.
6. Select the Players folder and Level.sav file.
7. Press Download.
8. Extract the files into an Empty Folder.
Note: The files must be extracted to the same folder.
9. Download PalworldSaveTools from their GitHub.
10. Extract the save tool into a new folder.
11. Run the PalworldSaveTools.exe file.
12. Select Fix Host Save from the bottom menu.
13. Choose Browse from the top bar.
14. Select the Level.sav file from step 7.
15. Select the Source Player from the left menu. This should be their Old Save.
16. Select the Temporary Character from the right menu.
17. Press Migrate.
18. A confirmation window will appear when the fix has been applied.
19. Return to the BisectHosting Starbase panel.
20. Select the Players folder and Level.sav file.
21. Press Delete.
Note: Make sure to backup these files to prevent any potential loss of progress.
22. Upload the modified files.
23. Start the server.