Frequently Asked Questions

Why do the Virus Total scans say this is malicious?

Virus Total runs a suite of scanning tools and lists each scanner in its results. All virus scanning tools may produce false-positives, flagging a file as malicious when it is actually harmless. Virus Total has a dedicated page for reporting false-positives here.

At the time of writing, Virus Total applies ~70 scanning tools. One or two malicious results from a scan is not usually cause for alarm.

Nexus Mods also uses Virus Total for its scanning. Pal Calc is available there and has passed manual review from Nexus Mods support.

Why won't the app start?

Pal Calc requires .NET 8. You shouldn't need to install this manually as the app should prompt you to install this when you run it if needed.

Pal Calc also creates and manages the folders data, cache, and logs. If Pal Calc is in a folder which already has these files from another program, it may cause startup issues. You should place Pal Calc in a folder which does not have these, or (preferably) in its own dedicated folder.

How do I add my saves?

Pal Calc automatically detects and loads Steam and Xbox Game Pass (XGP) save files from their default locations.

Reading XGP saves requires installing Palworld through the 'Xbox' app on Windows and running the game at least once. Save files are synced when the game is run.

If your save file isn't in a standard location, or if you're trying to load data from a dedicated server, see the section on server / co-op saves below to manually add your save file.

If you're playing on PS5, or are otherwise unable to get the direct save file, you can add a "fake save" to act as a placeholder. (In the Save File pane on the top left, set the "Location" dropdown to "Manually Added", and in the "Game" dropdown select "Add a fake save...".) You can use Custom Containers in the Save Inspector to manually add pals from your save file.

Where are my Pals?

Pal Calc should auto-detect all pals across all of your pal containers (palbox, viewing cages, etc.). If you're not sure whether Pal Calc is finding a specific pal, you can use the Save Inspector (select your save game and click the "Inspect" button) to see all of the detected pal containers and their contents. You can open an issue if your pal isn't showing up. (Make sure your save file is up-to-date first.)

How do I import server / co-op saves?

You'll need a copy of the save files on your computer for Pal Calc to read them. You'll be looking for a folder containing:

• Level.sav (required)
• LevelMeta.sav (optional but recommended)
• WorldOption.sav
• LocalData.sav
• A Players folder (optional but recommended)

For simple co-op saves, the person hosting the game can run Pal Calc and use the "Export Save" button to make a ZIP with all of the needed files. Extract the ZIP locally.

For server saves, the location of the save data can vary. Check with the documentation for your server on how to back up or restore save data - this should mention where these files are stored.

Once you have the save files:

1. Open Pal Calc
2. Expand the "Location" dropdown on the top-left
3. Select "Manually Added"
4. In the "Game" dropdown, select "Add a new save..."
5. Select the Level.sav file in your save folder

These save files will need to be manually updated whenever there changes. Pal Calc will auto-detect changes when it starts and read any new data.

Why aren't I getting any results?

There are a few reasons for an empty list / result:

• You're trying to get a pal which requires specific parents that you don't have (e.g. Jetragon requires two Jetragons, Chikipi requires two Chikipis).
• Some of the selected passives can't be found on any of your pals (use the Save Inspector to search by passive skill).
• A requested passive skill can be found in wild pals (e.g. Bellanoir Libero is guaranteed Siren of the Void) but "Max Wild Pals" is set to zero or the pal is excluded from "Allowed Wild Pals".
• You have a pal with the requested passive, but that pal has been excluded due to filters.
  • This is often caused by the "Max Input Irrelevant Passives" settings, which should typically be set to the max value (3). This setting is mainly to reduce the starting number of pals and reduce the solver's runtime.
• You have a pal with the requested passive skill and the solver is using that pal, but "Max Breeding Steps" is too low for it to find a full path.
  • This setting is mainly to prevent the solver from taking too long. In practice, it will detect when further breeding is redundant and stop early.

How does Pal Calc decide which parents to use / how does the breeding calculation work?

Pal Calc starts from a list of relevant pals which match your requirements for passive skills and looks at the breeding results between all of these pals. Their children are then added to the list and the breeding process starts again. The final results are based on which paths are the fastest, regardless of what the exact breeding path is.

The solving process is described in detail here.