PalMods gives every mod a compatibility verdict against the current game version: Compatible, May be broken, Incompatible, or Unknown when a mod has not declared its supported versions. That verdict is a starting point, not a guarantee. Before you dig through logs, check it: a mod flagged Incompatible or May be broken for Palworld 1.0 might simply not work yet, no matter how correctly you installed it.
If the verdict looks fine, the rest of this checklist covers the far more common cause: something in the install itself.
The checklist, in order
- Confirm the loader badge matches where you installed it
A pak mod that ended up in a UE4SS Mods folder, or the reverse, will not load. Recheck the loader badge on the mod page against the folder you used.
- Confirm you used the folder for your platform
Steam, Game Pass, and dedicated servers each use a different binaries folder. The UE4SS guide's platform tabs show the exact path for each; installing into the wrong one is one of the most common mistakes.
- Check that UE4SS.log exists and is recent
Open the ue4ss folder and look for UE4SS.log. No file, or a stale timestamp from before your last launch, means the framework itself did not load.
- Look for a stale or duplicate proxy DLL
A leftover proxy DLL (dwmapi.dll in current builds) from an older modding tool conflicts with a fresh UE4SS install and can make it fail silently. Remove any proxy DLL you did not just install yourself, then reinstall UE4SS clean.
- Confirm the mod supports Palworld 1.0
Check the compatibility verdict on the mod page. A mod marked Incompatible or May be broken can look like a bad install when it is really just out of date.
- Reinstall the framework from its PalMods entry
If everything above checks out and it still is not loading, get a fresh copy of the framework from its PalMods entry rather than an old download, and reinstall it over a clean folder.
If you need it
Frequently asked questions
My mod is not showing up in game. What is wrong?
Work through the checklist above in order: wrong folder and a stale proxy DLL account for most cases. Confirm the loader badge matches where you installed it before anything else.
The game crashes on launch after I installed a mod. What do I check first?
Remove any proxy DLL from an older modding tool first to isolate the problem. A DLL conflict is a common cause of a launch crash and is easy to rule out before you suspect the mod itself.
Are mods downloaded from PalMods safe?
Every file is scanned before it is visible to anyone else, and only files that come back clean are publicly downloadable. Downloads themselves are never gated behind ads or wait timers.