How to Fix the “A Process Has Crashed: UE Pal” Error in Palworld

When encountering the “A Process Has Crashed: UE Pal” error in Palworld, players typically find themselves unable to progress, particularly during character creation or gameplay, leading to sudden and frequent crashes.

The issue, most commonly identified by the community, involves problems with the game files such as corruption or incompleteness, necessitating the verification or reinstallation of the game files.

This problem can occur on any platform that supports the game. It can surface when launching Palworld for the first time, during character creation, or when one is about to enter a multiplayer world. Frequently, an update to the game is the catalyst for the problem.

1. Basic Troubleshooting

Let’s start with some basic troubleshooting steps:

1. Minimum System Requirements: Verify that your system meets the minimum requirements for the game.
2. Restart: Turn off both your system or console and router, wait a minute, and then power them back on.
3. Update: Ensure that Palworld, your system’s OS, console firmware, and device drivers are up to date.
4. Windowed Mode: Try opening the game in Windowed mode to see if this affects the outcome.
5. Frame Limit: Adjust the frame limit in the game’s settings to 120.
6. V-Sync: Enable V-Sync in your system’s video settings.
7. Mods: If you’re using mods, disable them and then start Palworld without any mod modifications.

2. Open the Game’s Launcher and Palworld as an Administrator

The “UE crashed process” issue in Palworld may arise if the game or its launcher does not have administrative privileges which may prevent access to essential resources needed by the Unreal Engine, thereby causing the process to crash. Running the game and its launcher as an administrator often fixes the problem.

2.1. Open Steam or Epic as an Administrator

1. Right-click on the launcher shortcut (Steam or Epic) on your desktop, and, from the context menu, choose Run as Administrator.

2. Click on “Yes” when prompted by the UAC (User Account Control) and then open Palworld.

2.2. Open Palworld as an Administrator (Steam, Epic, or Xbox app)

1. Press the Windows key, type Palworld, and then launch the game as an Administrator from the search results.

2. Click “Yes” on the UAC prompt that appears.

2.3. Open Palworld Through the Shortcut (Xbox App)

1. Open the Xbox app, locate and select Palworld from your library.
2. Click on the three dots or ellipses icon in the top right-hand corner and then select Manage game.
3. Choose to Create Desktop Shortcut, then go to your desktop for the newly created shortcut.

4. Right-click the new Palworld shortcut on the desktop, select Run as Administrator, and then click “Yes” when the UAC prompt appears.
5. If the issue continues to occur, locate the GameLauncherHelper.exe file (for Xbox App users), run it as an Administrator, and then start Palworld.

2.4. Ensure Palworld Uses Administrator Privileges and Disable Full Screen Optimizations

1. Start Steam with administrative privileges and navigate to the Library section.
2. Right-click Palworld in your game library and then click Properties.
3. Go to the Local Files tab and select Browse… to find the game’s executable file.
4. Right-click on Palworld.exe, and then choose Run as Administrator from the context menu.

5. Click “Yes” on the UAC prompt to see if the problem has resolved.
6. If the issue persists, go to the game’s installation directory and navigate to the Win64 folder, typically located at:

   \Palworld\Pal\Binaries\Win64\

7. In that directory, find and right-click on Palworld-Win64-Shipping.exe and select Properties

8. Go to the Compatibility tab and place checkmarks next to Disable Full-Screen Optimizations and Run this program as an Administrator.
9. Click Apply and then OK.

10. Double-click on Palworld-Win64-Shipping.exe and select “Yes” on the UAC prompt that appears.

3. Enable Single Player and Switch to Multiplayer

The UE Pal crash issue in Palworld may be a result of a malfunction in the game’s multiplayer modules. By enabling single-player mode and subsequently switching back to multiplayer, you may be able to correct this error.

3.1. Disable and Enable Multiplayer

1. Launch Palworld and open its settings.
2. Disable the Multiplayer feature, then save and apply the changes.

3. Start the game, fast travel to a different location from your base, and then return to the game’s main menu.
4. Re-enable Multiplayer, start the game again, and check for the issue.

3.2. Create a New Single-Player World

1. From the main menu of Palworld, select Start Game.
2. Opt for Start New Game, setting up the world as necessary, but ensure that Multiplayer is switched off during setup.

3. Engage in the newly created game, performing simple tasks to test stability.
4. Return to the game’s main menu, activate Multiplayer, and play the game again with these settings.
5. If the error resurfaces, go back to the game’s main menu and attempt to load the game that was initially causing problems.
6. Should the issue continue, create a new multiplayer world, play within it briefly, and then try the troublesome game once more.

4. Change the Network Settings of the System or Console

A failure in proper communication with the Palworld servers, due to network-related issues, may lead to the error manifesting. Altering the network settings of your system or console could prove to be a solution.

4.1. Change the Network Type to Private

1. Click on the network icon present in the system’s notification area and then click on the right arrow adjacent to your network’s name.
2. Select the info icon associated with the network and switch its status to Private. If it’s already set to Private, then toggle it to Public instead.

3. Relaunch Palworld and check if the issue has been resolved.

4.2. Edit the DNS Settings

We will discuss changing the DNS settings on a Windows PC.

1. Right-click the network icon in your system tray and open Network & Internet Settings.
2. Go to Advanced Network Settings > More Network Adapter Options.
3. Right-click the network adapter in use and select Properties.
4. Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and select the option to Use the Following DNS Server Addresses:
5. Enter the preferred and alternate DNS server addresses as follows:

   Primary: 8.8.8.8
   Secondary: 8.8.4.4

6. Apply your changes, and then open Palworld to see if the issue is fixed.

4.3. Use a VPN

1. Download and install a VPN of your choice.
2. Launch the VPN application and connect to the most optimal server.

3. Try playing Palworld and see if the issue persists.

5. Disable GeForce Replay

The Instant Replay feature of GeForce may not be compatible with Palworld, causing it to fail to release a crucial system resource. Disabling this feature might resolve the issue.

1. Start Launcher and boot up Palworld.

2. Immediately press Alt+Z to open the GeForce overlay and disable Instant Replay to check the result.

6. Install the Latest Version of Unreal Engine

If your system does not have the latest version of Unreal Engine, the software that Palworld is built on, it could lead to incompatibilities between the game and the OS. Therefore, installing or updating Unreal Engine may help solve the issue.

1. Exit Palworld and close its launcher.
2. Open a web browser and navigate to the Unreal Engine download page.
3. Download and install the Epic Games Launcher.

4. Launch the Epic Games Launcher after installation and sign in (or create a new account if necessary).
5. Click on the Unreal Engine tab and hit the Install button.
6. After installation, restart your computer and launch Palworld to see if the problem is resolved.

7. Use the Launch Options to Force Different DirectX Versions on Palworld

Incompatibility with the system’s DirectX version can cause a UE critical process to crash during execution. Using custom launch options to enforce different DirectX versions may resolve the problem.
Here are instructions for the Steam version:

1. Open Steam and go to the Library.
2. Right-click on Palworld and select Properties.
3. In the General tab, click inside the Launch Options box and type in:

   -dx12

4. Close the properties window and start Palworld.
5. If the problem continues, remove the -dx12 from the Launch Options and type in:

   -dx11

6. Close the properties window and start Palworld to assess the situation.

8. Verify the Integrity of Palworld Files

A UE process will crash in Palworld when the game’s essential files are corrupted. This could occur during a game update or crash. Here, verifying the integrity of Palworld files can remedy the situation.
For Steam platform users:

1. Access the Steam Library and right-click on Palworld.
2. Select Properties > Local Files.
3. Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files and wait until the process completes.

4. After the process is finished, restart Steam and open Palworld.

9. Disable Antivirus, Firewall, or Adblocking Service

The crashed UE Pal notification may appear when Palworld is prevented from accessing an essential online resource usually due to blocking by the system’s antivirus, firewall, or an adblocking service (such as Pi-hole).

Temporarily disabling the antivirus, firewall, or adblocking service might resolve the issue.

Warning: Disabling any protective services comes with risks, as it may leave your system or data vulnerable to threats.

Here is how you can pause protection on ESET as an example:

1. Right-click on the ESET icon in the system’s tray and select Pause Protection.
2. Confirm the action to pause the application, right-click on the ESET icon again.
3. Choose Pause Firewall and confirm your choice.

4. Once done, launch Palworld to see if the error persists.

If the game works after this change, remember to add an exception for it in your security software. For adblocking services, you may need to whitelist the following URLs:

telemetry.palworld.com
@@||palworld.com^
telemetry.palworldgame.com

10. Reinstall Palworld

If a new update for Palworld fails to properly patch the existing installation, a game process related to UE (Unreal Engine) might crash during execution. In this case, a reinstallation of Palworld may fix the issue.

The following outlines the reinstallation process for the Steam version. Before proceeding, ensure you backup essential game data, like cloud saves.

1. Open Steam and navigate to the Library.
2. Right-click on Palworld and choose Manage > Uninstall.

3. Follow the prompts to uninstall the game, and once completed, restart your system.
4. Reinstall Palworld, launch it, and check for the problem.

If the issue persists after these steps, you may need to consider restoring or resetting your PC or console to their default settings.