Version 1.2: After much more testing, I have rebalanced the game even further by manually editing WorldOption.sav using save tools. Using the in-game options menu is imprecise and no longer recommended. If you want to edit gamesettings yourself, convert .sav to .json and edit them manually, this ensures precision settings and allows for even more settings not present in the game's menu.

Changes:

• Day and night last an equal amount of time, meaning night is about 10x longer than it was in the original game. Day and night last about 56 minutes each. Sleep in a bed to skip night time, or go out on an epic hunt for nocturnal pals.
• Player damage is significantly increased, it was just too low IMO. I tend to like guns to feel overpowered and they were just hitting like foam darts. This should make attack feel like a more useful stat investment, with 10 points in attack and 1 vanguard pal, you should be able to headshot guards in range.
• Player defenses lowered by half. In a game where you can dodge roll anything, bosses were not dealing enough damage to the player. Keeping you on your toes keeps you engaged with the content.
• Player and mounted stamina are about 33% more potent. You won't have to invest so heavily into stamina just to function, and your mount should stay airborne a little longer now.
•  Workspeed is twice as fast. After about the 1000th construction or craft, it gets old. Your production should complete much faster so you can get back to playing rather than standing around holding a button.
• Max dropped items reverted to default. Instead, dropped items will now despawn after 1 hour.
• Egg hatching is twice as fast. There's really just no reason to wait around a full hour for an egg to hatch, probably with dogsht random stats anyways. The mechanic is still there and functions, it's just less tedious.
  

Version 1.1: Made some slight adjustments to normal and hard, gathering nodes have slightly more health and respawn timers 3x instead of 2x. Slightly reduced pal health regeneration. Reset pal stamina reduction as it seems to be bugged/can't figure out what it does.


Three difficulty templates I made after a bit of playtime and testing on each setting. 

Note: for existing worlds some settings don't seem to take effect, namely "gatherable object hp" I believe this is due to effected objects already existing in the save, so they will continue to use the original game settings until they've respawned.


Install on existing world:
Drag the  WorldOption.sav file for your selected difficulty into your world's folder and overwrite.
You can quickly find your world's save folder by selecting that world in the game's world select menu and clicking the folder icon in the bottom left.

install on a new world:
I recommend manually setting each value by copying the included .png to ensure all game settings are properly registered from the start of your new world.
png no longer included as the game settings menu is inaccurate. Start your world and immediately replace the WorldOption.sav with the one of your choice. Convert .sav to .json for further precise editing.


Overview:

• Day and night both last twice as long, to give you more time either for exploring, building, or night hunting. Also puts more emphasis on sleeping at night.
• Respawns on gathering nodes halved to match longer days. There's still so much out there to gather, it's just not respawning every time you turn your head. More like every two times you turn your head.
• Experience rate is slightly reduced, I feel like I out-leveled so many bosses the first time, and I didn't even know what I was doing then. A slower pace is good for smooth progression and experiencing all of the content.
• Health regeneration for pals and player are reduced to emphasize combat skill and decision making. Sleeping or placing pals in the pal box, however, are now much more effective ways to restore health.
• Pals are slightly easier to catch, easing the strain on your manic sphere crafting.
• Hunger rates are halved, so you can stop living to eat and eat to live instead.
• Pal stamina is buffed, so you might fly a few seconds longer before plummeting out of the sky.
• Structures built by players are more sturdy and don't degrade over time.
• Gathering nodes now require fewer swings of an axe or damage from pals before they drop their resources. Because you're worth it.
• The game should run smoother with less neglected items cluttering up the world. Let's face it, you weren't going to use them anyways.
• Core game balance preserved, so you can enjoy the balance and all of the builds the way developers intended.
  

Since releasing the first version of this mod, I have done a lot more testing and research, uncovering new quirks about the game settings function. It seems the sliders are somewhat imprecise, meaning there is a range where the game will tell you a setting is "2" but its true value could be anywhere between 1.9 to 2.9. You can confirm this by unpacking the worldoptions.sav using save tools and reading the code. Therefore, future versions of this mod will only include worldoptions.sav as its the only way to be precise when controlling game settings.


*manual settings must be changed/added by unpacking worldoptions.sav and adding them yourself, they don't appear as options in game. When adding new options, copy an existing entry and alter the name to match the setting you want to add.

For example, if I want to add the game setting for work rate to be 2x I would copy this already existing line (with brackets and all)

"PalEggDefaultHatchingTime": {
"id": null,
"value": 1.0,
"type": "FloatProperty"
},

paste it on a new line, rename the setting to the one I want and edit the value
"PalEggDefaultHatchingTime": {
"id": null,
"value": 1.0,
"type": "FloatProperty"
},
"WorkSpeedRate": {
"id": null,
"value": 2.0,
"type": "FloatProperty"
},
b= boolean (i.e.  "true" or "false") float= decimal number (i.e. "1.005" any number with decimals) int= whole number (i.e. "1" a number with no decimals) 
depending on the settign you want to add, copy and paste a line with the correct properties already setup and change its name and value.

Always make backups before editing a file.


All game settings explanation:

Day Time Speedhow quickly daytime passes
1 = default
.5 = half speed (day lasts twice as long)
2 = double speed (day lasts half as long)

I use .5 for longer days and nights, it just feels better to me.

Night Time Speedsame as day time speed, only for night time

Based on my testing, default real world time for day/night cycle:

26m 56s = day

5m 12s = night

32m 08s = full day + night cycle

Days last about 5x longer than nights, leaving day at 1 and setting night to .2 would make them both last about the same length of time. Day at .5 and night at .1 would double day length with a night cycle at about the same duration. 


EXP Rateexperience multiplier
1 = normal exp gain
.5 = half exp gain (leveling takes twice as long)
2 = double exp gain (leveling is twice as fast)

Note that certain actions, such as picking up sticks, gives 1 exp so setting this multiplier below 1 doesn't effect such actions, as the lowest amount of exp you can gain from an action is 1. setting this to 50k I was able to level up to 50 by picking up a few sticks in the starting area.

Pal Capture Ratehow easy is it to catch pals (capture success odds)
1 = default
.5 = twice as hard (pals will break out more often and require better spheres to reliably be caught) 
2 = twice as easy (pals wont break out as often so sphere supplies will last longer)

1 is too low in my opinion, catch rate has never been a fun mechanic so I use 1.2 for a slight edge without disrupting balance too much. Setting this to 1.5B I was able to catch lv 50 bosses on max health with basic pal sphere.

Pal Appearance Ratepal group spawn multiplier
1 = normal (recommended)
.5 = size of pal spawn groups will be reduced, only spawning 1-2 in a group
2 = pal spawn groups will be doubled creating big packs, including bosses

This setting is best left alone, the implementation is not well done in my opinion. You could try .5 for scarcity or 2 if you want to co op 2 bosses at once, but for the most part 1 works the best. For some reason setting this on 3 causes 3 mammoth bosses to spawn at the beginning of the game, 2 doesn't seem to work in the same way. Unsure about dungeon (instanced) bosses. indeed setting this on 2 or any other whole number will multiply spawns including all bosses by that number. I even saw up to 16 mammoth bosses piled in one area. The reason I was confused before is because the game settings menu is impresice, possibly showing a "2" when the actual internal value is 1.9999 for example.

Damage from Pals multiplierpal outgoing damage multiplier
1 = default
.5 = pals deal half damage
2 = pals deal double damage

For the most part, leave it at 1 to preserve game balance.

Damage to Pals multiplierpal incoming damage multiplier
1 = default
.5 = pals only take half damage
2 = pals take double damage

Leave at 1 for the sake of game balance.

Pals Hunger Depletion Ratehow often do pals need to eat
1 = default
.5 = pals get hungry half as often
2 = pals get hungry twice as often

In my opinion, the default is a little too much, .5 is fine

Pals Stamina Reduction Rateseems to be bugged, not doing anything in my testing

Pal Auto HP Regeneration Ratehow fast does pal health regenerate after not taking damage for a time
1 = normal rate
.5=pals take twice as long to regen health
2=pals regen health twice as fast

In my opinion, default is a little too fast- removing the edge from combat .8 is good

Pal Sleep Health Regeneration Ratehow fast do pals regenerate health while sleeping or in the pal box
1 = normal rate
.5 = pals take twice as long to heal in the pal box
2 = pals heal twice as fast when placed in the pal box

Personally, I like the mechanic of using the pal box as a quick healing mechanism, so I use 4

Damage from Player multiplierplayer outgoing damage multiplier
1 = normal
.5 = players deal half damage
2 = players deal double damage

For the sake of game balance, leave it at 1. Has more potential implications on pvp servers, where you would rather weight pal damage over player damage or vice versa. Either way, player damage builds exist, so leaving damage alone helps best preserve balance and player build choices. Note that guns have a hidden range stat. While shooting from outside this range, guns deal half damage (grey numbers) which can make them seem much weaker than they actually are.

Damage to Player multiplierplayer incoming damage multiplier
1 = normal
.5 = players take half damage
2 = players take double damage

This is probably the heaviest weighted setting when it comes to overall difficulty. I think 1 is fine for typical players.

Player Hunger Depletion Ratehow often do players need to eat
1 = default
.5 = players get hungry half as often
2 = players get hungry twice as often

In my opinion, default is a little too much, .5 is fine.

Player Stamina Reduction Ratehow quickly does player stamina deplete
1 = normal rate
.5 = player stamina lasts twice as long
2 = players run out of stamina twice as fast

Note that this also seems to effect riding mount stamina. Default is fine, players can increase their stamina through level up, so best to preserve that.

Player Auto HP Regeneration ratehow fast does player health regenerate after not taking damage for a time
1 = normal rate
.5 = players take twice as long to regen health
2 = players regen health twice as fast

In my opinion, default is a little too fast- removing the edge from combat .8 is good.

Player Sleep HP Regeneration Ratehow fast do players regenerate health while sleeping
1 = normal rate
.5 = players heal for half as much while sleeping
2 = players heal for twice as much while sleeping

Personally, I like the mechanic of using sleep as a quick healing mechanism, so I use 4.

Damage to Structure Multiplierbase building objects incoming damage multiplier
1 = normal rate
.5 = player base building take half as much damage
2 = player base buildings take twice as much damage

This is a highly subjective setting. I personally like the idea of buildings being strong and not needing repairs, so I use .5 Setting this higher could mean your base gets highly damaged and needs to be rebuilt after raids, which some might prefer.
 
Structure deterioration ratehow quickly do building objects lose durability over time if placed outside of a base
1 = normal rate
.5 = buildings deteriorate half as fast
2 = buildings deteriorate twice as fast

Setting at 0 ensures things you build outside of base don't get destroyed for no reason. Useful for building a house outside of the base radius to save space and so pals don't get stuck in it.

Maximum number of dropped items in a worldhow many dropped items can exist before they despawn
3000 = default
0 = dropped items will despawn immediately, including mob drops

By default, I used 4224 assuming a 32 player server. That's 132 objects for each player. I would recommend tuning this to ~132 objects per player to keep your game clean and running smooth. This setting might be a lot more important than it seems. Unlike, say, Minecraft- loose items don't seem to despawn in palworld until this limit is reached. So, with the default setting of 3000, if you dropped an item at the beginning of the game, or didn't bother to pick up a drop, it will persist until 3000 more loose objects are left elsewhere in the world. This could have a significant impact on game performance and save bloat over time. Once the limit is reached, the oldest item will despawn.

Gatherable Items Multiplierhow many resources drop from a gathering node
1 = default
.5 = gatherable nodes drop half as many resources
2 = gatherable nodes drop twice as many items

Leave at 1 for normal experience, this setting will be amplified or negated by gatherable objects hp modifier. You could raise the two in tandem to create richer nodes, that both require more hits but also drop more resources overall.

Gatherable Objects HP Multiplierhow much health do gathering nodes have
1 = default
.5 = gathering nodes take twice as long to gather
2 = gathering nodes can be gathered twice as fast

Note, changing this setting on an existing world will have no effect until those nodes respawn. I personally don't like tediously swinging an axe for extended periods of time, so i use .5 This effects the amount of damage a mine or tree needs to take before releasing its resources. The amount of resources and exp are not effected, only the amount of damage, or number of swings with an axe which are needed to get the resources from the node.

Gatherable objects respawn intervalhow quickly do gatherable resources respawn
1 = normal rate
.5 = resources respawn twice as fast
2 = resources respawn half as often

In my opinion, default is a little too quick, I use 2 especially to match a longer day night cycle.

Dropped Items Multiplierhow much loot is dropped by pals/enemies
1 = normal amount
.5 = half as much loot
2 = double loot

Leave on 1 to preserve balance. Lower numbers won't effect most drops, as 1 is the lowest number of an item that can drop, only pals who drop multiple of the same item would be lowered.

Time (h) to incubate Massive Egghow long do eggs need to incubate before they hatch
1 = normal rate (1 hour for largest egg)
0 = eggs hatch instantly
72 = largest egg takes 72 hours to hatch

1 is fine, larger numbers like 72 only make sense in a big server. Seriously, don't torture yourself like that if you playing solo or co-op. The setting is based on the largest egg, smaller eggs will have a relative hatch time, like 5 mins for the smallest egg if you use 1.

Enable Raid Eventswill player bases be subjected to random hostile npc raids
yes = npc raids will occur
no = npc raids disabled

I would rather keep them on, but they can bug out easily depending on your base location. I would turn this on if your base is in a good spot and you want the gameplay, if they get bugged and it's amounting to a bunch of free kills and loot, it's kind of cheesy so I'd turn them off until you get a better raid-ready base. If you're rebuilding a base or something, probably turn this off temporarily so you don't get raids in the middle of construction.

Death penaltywhat items will players drop on death
drop all items = default (you will drop your full inventory and have to go back to retrieve it or craft new gear)
drop all items and pals on team = you will drop everything including your pal team on death
drop all items except equipment = you will drop your inventory but not your equipped items or pals
no drops = you wont drop anything when you die

I think drop all except equipment is fine, you'll still most likely need to go back to your body, which serves as punishment, but you wont have to do it naked. Pvp servers would likely use some form of drop all items, or everything including pals.

Max number of guildshow many guilds can exist in the world
20 = default

Guilds are used for groups of players to share bases, up to maximum of 4 players per guild. Not as useful unless it's a big server, pick whatever you need.

Max Pals Working at Basemax number of pals that can be deployed at a single base
15 = default amount

Subjective, I use 20 for solo/co-op. Large servers might use 15 or less for balance, or to relieve server load. I personally would rather increase the rewards for base progression past level 15.


*manual settings*

I have barely tested these, some may or may not work in single player. I will clean this up and integrate it into the main list later.

bEnablePlayerToPlayerDamageEnables or disables the ability for players to inflict damage on each other.

bEnableFriendlyFireEnables or disables the occurrence of friendly fire among players.

bEnableInvaderEnemyEnables or disables the presence of invader enemies in the game.

bActiveUNKOActivates or deactivates UNKO (Unidentified Nocturnal Knock-off) in the game.

bEnableAimAssistPadEnables or disables aim assist for players using controllers.

bEnableAimAssistKeyboardEnables or disables aim assist for players using keyboards.

DropItemMaxNumSets the maximum number of dropped items that can exist in the game.

DropItemMaxNum_UNKOSets the maximum number of dropped UNKO items that can exist in the game.

BaseCampMaxNumSets the maximum number of base camps that players can construct.

DropItemAliveMaxHoursSets the maximum duration for which dropped items remain in the game world.

bAutoResetGuildNoOnlinePlayersAutomatically resets guilds with no online players.

AutoResetGuildTimeNoOnlinePlayersSets the time after which guilds with no online players are automatically reset.

WorkSpeedRateAdjusts the overall work speed within the game.

bIsMultiplayEnables or disables the multiplayer mode.

bIsPvPEnables or disables player versus player (PvP) mode.

bCanPickupOtherGuildDeathPenaltyDropEnables or disables the pickup of death penalty drops from other guilds.

bEnableNonLoginPenaltyEnables or disables penalties for players who are not logged in.

bEnableFastTravelEnables or disables the fast travel feature.

bIsStartLocationSelectByMapEnables or disables the selection of starting locations on the in-game map.

bExistPlayerAfterLogoutEnables or disables the persistence of players in the game world after logout.

bEnableDefenseOtherGuildPlayerEnables or disables the defense of other guild players.

CoopPlayerMaxNumSets the maximum number of cooperative players allowed in a session.