Palworld Base Building Guide 2026: Best Locations, Layout, Automation & Defense

My first base was on a cliff near the starting area with a pretty view. On Day 12, a raid of 5 Relaxaurus burned it to the ground in 40 seconds. I had wooden walls and one Foxparks for defense. Here's how to build bases that don't die.

Where to build: best base locations by purpose

Main production base — Ore + Coal cluster (191, -38): Top of the mountain west of the Small Settlement. This is the single best base location in the game. 8 ore nodes + 5 coal nodes inside one base radius. With Astegon or Anubis mining, you'll swim in ingots. Flat terrain, only one narrow entrance (easy to defend). Raid pathing: raiders must walk up the mountain single-file → put a kill zone at the entrance. Temperature: neutral, no gear needed. Caution: occasional Mammorest wandering near the base perimeter — don't aggro it.

Farming / ranch base — Plateaus of Beginnings (235, -480): Flat, temperate, near the starting area. Unlimited space for plantations and ranches. No ore/coal nodes — this is purely for food and ranch production. Multiple berry/wheat/lettuce/tomato plantations with Lyleen + Jormuntide (Water) + Frostallion Noct auto-farming. Ranch layout: 2x chicken (Eggs), 2x cow (Milk), 2x Beegarde (Honey), 2x Vixy (passive Pal Spheres + Arrows). This base feeds all other bases via the shared Feeding Box (resources are shared between all bases — set up a Feeding Box in every base).

Breeding base — Bamboo Groves (-246, -198): Flat terrain near Verdant Brook. Room for 3 Breeding Farms + cake infrastructure. Next to Bushi spawn for easy Bushi catches (Bushi = Anubis breeding parent). Near multiple skill fruit trees for passive skill fruit gathering (skill fruits teach moves to any Pal). Slightly chilly — wear basic cold resist.

Third base (unlocked at Base Level 10, then 15 for 3rd) — Sulfur mining: Mount Obsidian west side (-740, -120). Sulfur nodes (essential for gunpowder → ammo). Best combined with a transport Pal setup: Astegon mines sulfur → Anubis transports to storage. Near fire eggs for Jormuntide Ignis eggs. Heat-resistant armor required.

Base layout principles (every base should follow these)

Principle 1: Pal pathfinding in Palworld is terrible. Large Pals (Jormuntide, Jormuntide Ignis, Astegon) get stuck on ceilings, doorways, and each other. Build 3-wall-high rooms (each wall segment = 1 floor tile height). Build 2+ wide corridors. Never place workstations directly against walls — leave 2 tiles of space behind every workstation. Place the Palbox in the center — Pals spawn around it and path from there.

Principle 2: Starvation protection. Pals stop eating when they get stuck on terrain, then get depressed, then injured, then dead. Auto-feeder: place Feeding Box in an open area with 4 tiles of clearance in all directions. Place berry/wheat plantations near the Feeding Box (within 10 tiles). Pals eat directly from the Feeding Box but sometimes glitch through floors — place beds and Feeding Boxes on the ground floor only, never on upper floors.

Principle 3: Hot / cold insulation. Pals work slower in wrong temperatures. Cooler next to Refrigerator (extends food shelf life 10x). Heater next to Egg Incubator (cuts Scorching Egg hatch time in half). Place fire-type Pals near heaters for passive temperature boost. Place ice-type Pals near coolers for passive temperature boost.

Base automation: full self-sufficient setup

Tier 1 — Early game (Level 1-20): 1 Berry Plantation → Pengullet (Watering 1) + Tanzee (Planting 1) + Cattiva (Transporting 1). 1 Ranch → Chicken + Cow. Palbox center. 1 Feeding Box. Beds: straw beds. Wooden structures. This is the minimum viable base — it keeps your Pals fed and produces some Eggs/Milk passively.

Tier 2 — Mid game (Level 20-35): Replace Berry Plantation with 2 Wheat + 2 Berry Plantations (Cake production). Upgrade planting Pal: Lyleen (Planting 4). Upgrade watering: Jormuntide or Surfent (Watering 3). Add mine: Stone Pit + Logging Site (infinite stone/wood — Pals mine them while you're away). Add Electric Kitchen. Beds: fine beds (+SAN recovery). Stone structures (raids can't break stone walls easily).

Tier 3 — Endgame (Level 35-50): Full Cake pipeline: 2 Wheat + 2 Berry + 2 Lettuce + 2 Tomato Plantations (4 crop types for all recipes). Assign: 2 Lyleen (Planting), 1 Jormuntide (Watering 4), 2 Frostallion Noct (Gathering 4, works at night), 2 Anubis (Handiwork + Transporting). For mining: 2 Astegon at Ore/Coal nodes with 2 Anubis transporting ores to storage. For kindling: 2 Jormuntide Ignis (Kindling 4 — one for smelting ingots, one for cooking Cake). Total ~15 Pals per base at endgame. Beds: flower beds or large beds (+SAN recovery maximum). Metal structures (immune to most raid damage).

Raid defense that actually works

How raids work: every 10-40 minutes, a wave of enemies spawns at the edge of your base and paths toward your Palbox. Raid scaling depends on your base level and the area's enemy level. Early game: Syndicate thugs (easy). Mid game: Relaxaurus, incineram packs (dangerous if base is wood). Late game: Legendary raids (very dangerous).

Defense setup: 1. Wall off all but one entrance. Use Stone Gate (metal gate endgame) at the single entrance — it has 40,000 HP. 2. Place 4-6 mounted crossbows (Sandbags + Crossbow placement) in a semicircle 6 tiles in front of the gate. Assign any combat Pals to them — they'll auto-attack raiders. 3. Place the Palbox 15+ tiles from the gate — if raiders reach the gate, they still need to walk 15 tiles to destroy the Palbox. 4. Keep 2-3 combat Pals in your party at all times while at base — you're the strongest defense asset.

Do NOT: build wooden walls for defense (Relaxaurus fire breath destroys wood in 2 attacks). Do NOT: place beds near the gate (Pals sleep near their beds at night — raiders at night will kill sleeping Pals). Do NOT: leave base unattended with Pals set to 'focus on work' during a raid — always switch to 'focus on combat' when raid warning appears.

Multi-base strategy

You get: Base 1 at base Level 0 (starter), Base 2 at base Level 10, Base 3 at base Level 15. Bases share: all resources through the supply chain (items in any base's chests are available for crafting in any other base via your inventory — Fast Travel between bases to move items). Bases do NOT share: Pal assignments (Pals work only at the base they're assigned to).

Recommended base setup: Base 1 = Main production (ore/coal/ingots). Base 2 = Farming + Ranch (food/cake/materials). Base 3 = Breeding (cake infrastructure already there from Base 2's food supply, or dedicated sulfur mining). Fast travel to Base 1 to craft, Bases 2 and 3 supply the resources.

Base Pal priority by shift: Day shift = Planting, Watering, Gathering (Lyleen + Jormuntide + Frostallion Noct). Night shift = Mining, Kindling, Handiwork (Astegon + Jormuntide Ignis + Anubis). Dark-type Pals work through the night without sleep — Frostallion Noct (Gathering), Astegon (Mining), Shadowbeak (Transporting). Prioritize Dark types for essential roles so your base runs 24/7.

Pal SAN (Sanity) management: SAN drops as Pals work. Low SAN = depression, fractured bones, ulcers → permanently reduced work speed until cured with medicine. SAN recovery: fine beds (+SAN recovery while sleeping), hot springs (+SAN while using), food quality (Jam-filled Bun restores 10 SAN per meal, Salad restores 15). Build 2 hot springs per 10 Pals. Always keep 20+ Jam-filled Buns or Salad in the Feeding Box. Never feed Pals raw berries as their primary food — 0 SAN recovery, they'll go insane within 3-4 in-game days of heavy work.