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Palworld 1.0 base locations determine your entire progression arc—the right coordinates near ore, coal, or oil can cut your resource grind in half, while a raid-vulnerable spot wastes hours on defense. PC Gamer recently highlighted how crucial this decision became post-launch, and this guide gives you the exact coordinates, resource priorities, and terrain rules for every stage of the game.
TL;DR
- Early game: build near Windswept Island Watchtower (8, -526) for abundant ore nodes and fast travel access
- Unraidable endgame peak at 188, -37 near Sealed Realm of the Mystic offers ore and coal with zero raid exposure
- Sakurajima Oil Fields (-646, 270) is the late-game crude oil hub with flat terrain for large builds
- 1.0 made flat land more important than node density—mining structures reduce reliance on natural spawns
- You unlock four base slots total: specialize one for mining, one for oil, one main hub, one flexible outpost
What Are Base Locations in Palworld?
A base is a core gameplay system in Palworld that serves as the player’s primary hub for construction, production, and Pal management, established by constructing a Palbox, which determines the base’s location and boundary. Building typically revolves around your Palbox, with anything built outside the faint blue outline slowly deteriorating. In 1.0, the maximum number of bases increased from 3 to 4 at base level 25 (base level itself now caps at 35, not your character level), and base limits can now be modified via world settings. Location matters because the right spot balances three pillars: resource node access (ore, coal, sulfur, oil), flat buildable terrain for automation, and natural defenses or unraidable elevation to bypass the entire raid system.
Where to Get the Best Base Locations in Palworld
The strongest early-game base sits near the Windswept Island Watchtower at coordinates 8, -526, where you’ll find abundant ore nodes clustered tightly enough for mining Pals to work efficiently without long travel times. Sunlit Isle (405, -483), east of the starting area, offers six crude oil nodes scattered across flat land with low-level Pals under level 10, making it a great second base for early oil farming even if ore is elsewhere. For mid-game progression, the resource field around 7, -515 is one of the strongest early ore locations with several nodes close together on flatter terrain than most mountain areas, while the mountain area around 187, -37 combines ore and coal for midgame value. Sakurajima Oil Fields is one of the best late-game base locations because of its resources and large, flat area available for building, and this is also the best location to farm for crude oil in the game. The unraidable peak at 188, -37 near Sealed Realm of the Mystic became the community favorite endgame spot because raid AI cannot reach it, saving you the entire defense minigame.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up Your First Base
Follow this sequence to get it done fast.
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1
Reach Level 2 and craft the Palbox
unlock the Palbox through the Technology menu at Level 2, then craft it to place in your chosen location.
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2
Scout flat terrain near resource nodes
look for locations abundant in crafting resources and materials, especially areas with multiple ore mining nodes that create perfect spots for bases dedicated to mining.
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3
Place Palbox in the center of flat ground
place the Palbox near the center of open ground rather than directly beside cliffs to leave room to expand the base evenly as more structures unlock.
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4
Build essential starter structures
construct a Primitive Workbench first for basic tools, then a Campfire for cooking, and create beds for every Pal working at your base to improve performance.
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5
Assign Pals to workstations
capture Pals with Mining, Lumbering, and Transporting work suitabilities, then deploy them at your base to automate resource gathering and production.
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6
Complete Palbox missions to unlock more base slots
base leveling unlocks at the Palbox by completing Base Missions, with second and third bases unlocking at levels 10 and 15.
Best Base Location Farming Methods
| Method | Speed | Effort | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early ore cluster (8, -526) | Fast | Low | First 20 hours, ingot production |
| Unraidable peak (188, -37) | Medium | High initial setup | Endgame automation, zero defense |
| Sakurajima Oil Fields (-646, 270) | Fast | Medium | Late-game crude oil, plasteel crafting |
| Sunreach Soralite Cluster (583, 144) | Medium | High (region unlock required) | Endgame weapon materials |
| Temporary forward outpost | Instant | Very low | Boss respawns, fast travel access |
What Base Locations Unlock and Reward
Early-Game Ore and Paldium Spots
The ore-and-wood pocket by the Windswept Island Watchtower (8, -526) is the best starter location for most players — four ore nodes tight enough that one mining Pal reaches them all if you centre the Palbox between them, with a fast travel point next door. Note this is not the Small Settlement itself: that merchant hub sits further northwest at roughly 75, -479. The Plateau of Beginnings at 264, -548 provides Paldium Fragments for Pal Spheres plus dungeon access for early Pal captures. The beach location at 108, -329 sets you right beside a repeatable boss variant of Penking, one of the best early-game base Pals you can find, with easy access to water and a variety of Pals.
Mid-Game Coal and Sulfur Nodes
Cinnamoth Forest at -77, -310 offers dense ore nodes paired with sulfur access for gunpowder crafting, making it a core mid-game resource combination. At one of the many peaks of the Verdant Brook lies a location with a staggering amount of coal and ore deposits—bring a large number of mining Pals to work strictly on coal deposits.
Late-Game Oil and Soralite
The Sunreach Soralite Cluster at 583, 144 has real endgame value, camping on Soralite keeps the material behind 1.0’s best weapons within walking distance, though it becomes optional once the Soralite mining structure unlocks. Since you’ll need an Oil Field for Oil Extractors to produce crude oil, you’ll want the Sakurajima dedicated oil farming base in the late-game, and since you no longer need dedicated ore, coal, and sulfur bases, you can combine this into a single mega-mining base.
Common Base Location Misconceptions
Myth: You Need Natural Resource Nodes at Every Base
With the map’s resources rebalanced to be far more widespread and new mining structures reducing node dependency, workability, safety, and aesthetics now matter as much as raw ore proximity. You can build a High-Pressure Crude Oil Extractor at any base where you need a steady supply of crude oil—since it doesn’t require an Oil Field, you can place one anywhere. This means your main base can prioritize flat terrain and space over sitting directly on top of nodes.
Myth: Building Near Fast Travel Points Is Always Best
Locations right next to fast travel points like Desolate Church may not be ideal if you want to use your bases as additional fast travel points for more convenient traversal. Avoid locations near any fast travel point, because your base will create one automatically after Palbox placement. Stacking two waypoints in the same spot wastes one of your precious base slots.
Myth: Bigger Bases Are Always Better
Match the base to the slot—one mega-base is worse than a main base, a mine, and a specialist each on the right nodes. Your base should operate as three distinct zones radiating outward from the Palbox, because Pal pathfinding is the real constraint: every extra second a Pal spends walking between stations is a second it’s not crafting, so keep station-to-station distance under 5 foundation tiles wherever possible. Specialization beats sprawl.
Our Take: Are Specific Base Locations Worth It?
Our Take
Yes, but only the unraidable peak and Sakurajima oil spot matter long-term.
The 1.0 patch fundamentally changed the location calculus. Early Access players obsessed over node density because mining structures didn’t exist yet—now you can drop an Ore Mining Site or Sulfur Quarry at any base and bypass the scavenger hunt entirely. That shift makes flat, spacious terrain more valuable than a cramped plateau with eight ore nodes, because automation depends on Pals moving cleanly between workstations without getting stuck on elevation changes or clipping through structures.
The two locations that survived the rebalance are the unraidable peak at 188, -37 and the Sakurajima Oil Fields. The peak eliminates raid defense permanently—no waves, no repair costs, no interruptions—which compounds into hundreds of saved hours over a full playthrough. Sakurajima remains mandatory because crude oil fuels the entire endgame crafting chain (missiles, flamethrower ammo, plasteel), and the flat terrain lets you build industrial-scale production without fighting the terrain. Everything else is flexible: your starter base near ore gets you to midgame, then you relocate to these two anchors and use your remaining slots for temporary outposts or aesthetic builds.
The grind isn’t in finding the perfect spot—it’s in staffing it with high-level Pals and condensing them for work speed. Location gives you the foundation, but a badly run base on the best coordinates still underperforms a well-optimized operation on average terrain. Focus on flat land, avoid redundant fast travel overlap, and treat your first base as disposable once you unlock the second Palbox slot.