[BUG - Release] UE4SS Causes Player Character Reset in Palworld Server

[HazMat57]

Branch or Release
v3.0.1 Beta #0 (UE4SS Experimental)
Installed on a dedicated Palworld server hosted on HostHavoc.

Game and Engine Version
Game: Palworld (Dedicated Server)
Engine: Unreal Engine 4.26 (Palworld default)

Describe the bug
When UE4SS is active on a Palworld dedicated server, all existing players are forced to create new characters, as if their accounts have never played on the world before.

This is not a save corruption issue—removing UE4SS immediately restores the world and all player characters to normal.
The issue appears to be caused by UE4SS altering or mis-reading the player’s GUID, which makes the server think each player is a different person and loads an empty character slot.

This results in:

Duplicate player save files being created under /Pal/Saved/SaveGames/.../Players/

Old GUID characters only loading when UE4SS is removed

Entire servers becoming unplayable with UE4SS enabled because it wipes player progression by assigning new IDs

This issue occurs consistently with UE4SS enabled and disappears instantly when UE4SS is removed.

Mods directory
No additional mods; only UE4SS installed.

To reproduce

1. Install UE4SS on a Palworld dedicated server
2. Start the server
3. Join the server with an existing character
4. Observe that the game forces creation of a brand-new character
5. Stop the server and remove UE4SS
6. Start server again
7. Observe that the original saved characters are restored and load correctly

This is repeatable across multiple installs and fresh UE4SS setups.

Expected behavior
UE4SS should not change player identification or cause Palworld to assign new GUIDs.
Players should load their normal character saves even when UE4SS is active.

Screenshots, UE4SS Log, and .dmp file
Currently the UE4SS logs only show normal initialization output and no explicit errors before the issue occurs.

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: Windows Server 2022 (HostHavoc Dedicated)
  (Client testing also performed on Windows 11, same result)

Additional context

• This issue is documented by multiple Palworld server admins and appears tied to UE4SS changing the player GUID used by Palworld to associate characters.
• Two separate .sav files are created per player—one with UE4SS enabled, one without.
• Removing UE4SS causes the server to immediately use the original GUID, proving the data is intact and the issue is triggered specifically by UE4SS’s presence.

[UE4SS]

Seems like a duplicate of #836

[UE4SS]

Maybe the game detects that mods are used and doesn't think the savegame is compatible ?

[Okaetsu]

Palworld is UE 5.1. Also this issue should've been fixed ages ago on the experimental branch. Are you sure you're on the latest experimental version? There isn't enough information to determine the accurate UE4SS version you're using.

Palworld uses account id for whichever platform you're on to determine what save file should be loaded for the connecting player. I don't know the exact details, but UE4SS used to block the loading of Steam API long ago which caused this exact issue, but is no longer the case.

[HazMat57]

Oh yes, you are correct on the UE for Palworld. It is indeed 5.1, my mistake on that. As far as I can tell it was fixed till recently. I downloaded the experimental latest branch 11/14/2025 then I tried again with a new download just a the other day with the new release. and it still forces players to make new characters. I tried experimenting and making a new character to see where the new files are saved and It put me into a infinite load screen after creating the character and loading you into the world. But as soon as I disable/remove the UE4SS injectors it works as normal reverting back to original saved files and characters.