PalSchema

PalSchema is a data-modding framework for Palworld. Instead of editing and shipping whole cooked DataTables, you describe your changes in JSON and PalSchema applies them at load time. That makes data mods easier to write and much less likely to conflict with other mods that touch the same tables.

What it’s good for

Adding or patching items, Pals, recipes and translations through readable JSON.
Minimising conflicts - because you patch specific fields rather than replacing an entire table, two PalSchema mods editing different rows can coexist where two raw cooked-table mods would collide.
Surviving small updates more gracefully than a hardcoded cooked table, since you only assert the fields you care about.

PalSchema vs a raw DataTable edit

PalSchema	Raw DataTable edit
Edit readable JSON	Edit the cooked table in UAssetGUI
Patches specific fields - low conflict	Ships the whole table - higher conflict
Great for values, items, recipes, strings	Needed for structural changes a schema can’t express

Using it

Install PalSchema per the official Palworld Modding Wiki instructions for your build, and place your JSON patches where it expects them.
Like other loaded frameworks, confirm it is updated for your Palworld build after a game patch before relying on it - see Compatibility & updates.

Common PalSchema gotchas

Recurring PalSchema problems from the help channels, with the fixes:

Swapping a Blueprint’s skeletal mesh (a weapon/tool model): setting "SkeletalMesh": "/Game/..." directly errors that it wants a SkeletalMeshComponent, not a SkeletalMesh. Nest the property under the component so the path sits inside a SkeletalMesh object, and also set SkinnedAsset to the same value or the model won’t actually change:
```
{ "BP_PickaxeTier1_C": { "SkeletalMesh": { "SkeletalMesh": "/Game/Pal/Model/Weapon/Hammer/SK_Weapon_Hammer_001.SK_Weapon_Hammer_001" } } }
```
Source: Okaetsu - original message
“Property ActionMap was supplied an invalid class of /Game/Mods/…/BP_…_C” (load stops on the first Pal alphabetically): the JSON references a Blueprint class that isn’t present because a required dependency pak is missing - the companion pak that ships those BP_*_C classes. Install the missing pak dependency and the classes resolve.

Source: Okaetsu - original message
A custom Pal’s partner skill shows only placeholder text and doesn’t work: you must also define the skill in DT_PartnerSkillParameter - add a TextReferencePassiveSkills array (nested PassiveSkillIds entries, one group per rank) for that Pal, placed in PalSchema’s raw folder. Without this the skill is broken, not just the text.

Source: Primarinabee - original message

For where the relevant tables live, see Key DataTables.

When to use it

Use PalSchema when you’re changing data - stats, items, recipes, drops, strings - and want a clean, low-conflict workflow. For behavior use UE4SS Lua; for new Blueprint content use the Palworld Modding Kit.