Palworld Work Task Priority Order: The Full Priority Chart
Quick answer
No. Priority order is fixed by work type (WorkTypeAssignPriorityOrder) and never shifts with level, star rank, or passives. Level and Work Speed only affect how fast a Pal finishes the job it already chose.
Defense and firefighting always beat farming. Knowing the default assign order stops you wondering why your logger keeps wandering off to build walls.
Base Pals do not pick jobs at random. The game keeps a default priority list (WorkTypeAssignPriorityOrder on UPalGameSetting). Lower numbers win: if a Pal can defend and plant, defense comes first.
How to read the chart
- Priority 1 is the most urgent (Defense).
- Tasks that share a number are equal peers (for example Aid and Extinguish).
- Priority 13 pairs Handiwork (ConvertItem / workbenches) with Production (ProductItem / assembly lines). Same urgency; different station models.
- Cooling sits at the bottom, so fridge Pals often get pulled into anything else they can do.
- A Monitoring Stand can override this order for your base; the chart is the unmodded default.
- The Pal Labor Research Lab is not a separate row. See the Lab section under the chart for why research gets abandoned and how to keep it running.
Practical takeaway: lock or disable work types you do not want multi-role Pals to steal, and keep dedicated workers on a short suitability list so lower-priority jobs actually get done.
Handiwork vs Production vs multi-suitability stations
Handiwork and Production share priority 13, but they are not the same job. ConvertItem (Handiwork) is recipe crafting at workbenches, status text “Crafting…”. ProductItem (Production) is assembly-line style output, status text “Producing…”, used by Production Assembly Lines and similar stations that still need Handiwork-capable Pals.
Stations that demand two suitabilities at once (for example Ancient Furnace: Kindling + Cooling, or Ancient Workbench: Handiwork + Medicine) use a separate MapObjectAssign MultiWorkType system. That is not what the Production row means, those dual stations still assign under each required work type, not under a special “multi” priority slot.
Common priority mistakes to avoid
- Building a Ranch or Plantation right next to a Defense post. Multi-role Pals see the emergency job first and abandon the farm loop the moment a raid siren sounds.
- Assuming higher Level or Star rank changes priority. It does not. Priority is purely the fixed order; level only changes how fast a Pal completes the job it already picked.
- Leaving every suitability toggled on for a specialist worker. A Handiwork Pal with Mining also enabled will happily wander off to break rocks the instant a bench queue empties.
- Placing the Pal Labor Research Lab next to workbenches. Research always loses that fight because it shares priority 13 with Handiwork and Production; put the Lab in its own quiet corner instead.
- Forgetting that Cooling is dead last. If you need reliable fridge management, a dedicated Cooling-only Pal or a Monitoring Stand lock is not optional at scale.
Building a base roster around specific jobs?
Open base party plannerDefault work-task priority
When a Pal can do several jobs, the game picks from this order first (unless you override priorities at a Monitoring Stand).
Default assign order
Lower number = higher priority
- 1
Defense - 2
Aid
Extinguish - 3
Construction - 4Assigned Workstation
- 5
Farming (Ranch) - 6
Generating Electricity - 7Repair
- 8
RefinementKindling - 9Cooking
- 10
Harvest (Farm)
Transport (Food) - 11
PlantingWatering (Farm) - 12Medicine ProductionWatering
- 13HandiworkProduction
- 14
Mining (World Spawn)
Lumbering (World Spawn) - 15Mining (Site)Lumbering (Site)
- 16Transport (Floor)
- 17Transport
- 18Harvesting (World Spawn)
- 19
Cooling
Lower priority value = higher task preference when multiple jobs are available.
Pal Labor Research Lab
The Lab is not its own row on the priority chart. When you start a research subject (Handiwork, Kindling, Mining, and so on), Pals with that suitability treat the Lab like that work type. Research then competes with every normal job of the same suitability, which is why players say pals abandon research or that research is the lowest priority job in a busy base.
Pal Labor Research Lab
Structures
A facility for conducting research on the various tasks of Pals. By assigning tasks to Pals in this facility, research progresses, granting various benefits.
Monitoring Stand
Structures
Command your Pals to work on various things inside a base. You can allow or prohibit individual kinds of work.
Example: Handiwork research uses Handiwork Pals. Those same Pals also see workbenches (Handiwork) and assembly-line Production jobs at priority 13. If a craft or production queue is available, the Lab loses. There is no separate "Lab" priority slot below Cooling.
- Fixed-assign a Pal to the Lab (Monitoring Stand or throw-and-lock). That uses Assigned Workstation at rank 4, so they stay on research instead of wandering to other jobs.
- At a Monitoring Stand, turn off every suitability you do not want for those researchers so only the active research subject remains.
- Match suitability level to the research tier. Greyed-out portraits usually mean the Pal is under-leveled for that subject.
- Park Labs in a quiet research base with few competing stations of the same suitability.
- Suitability level speeds research. It does not raise Lab priority above other jobs of that type.
Step-by-step Monitoring Stand assigns for Lab, Transport, and locks.
Monitoring Stand how to useHaulers stuck because Transport lost the priority fight?
Pals not transportingCommon questions
Short answers for searches that should land here, with links to the item, map pin, or related guide when you need more detail.
- Does Pal level or star rank change work priority in Palworld?
- No. Priority order is fixed by work type (WorkTypeAssignPriorityOrder) and never shifts with level, star rank, or passives. Level and Work Speed only affect how fast a Pal finishes the job it already chose.
- Why do my Pals keep abandoning the Pal Labor Research Lab?
- The Lab is not its own priority row. Researchers use their normal suitability priority (Handiwork sits at 13 alongside Production), so any craft or assembly queue of that same type wins the assignment first. Monitoring Stand how to use
- Can I change the default work priority order in Palworld?
- You cannot edit the base game's priority numbers, but a Monitoring Stand lets you disable specific work types per Pal or force-assign a Pal to one station, which overrides the default fight for that individual worker. Monitoring Stand how to use
More in Base Efficiency & Worker Math