Palworld guide
How to emote in Palworld?
Players search this as “how to emote in palword”. Here is the verified Palworld 1.0 answer, plus the tools that let you act on it right away.
Short answer
Open the emote menu with the default key (K on keyboard, or the emote button shown on the controller prompt) to bring up a radial wheel. Select an emote with the mouse or right stick and confirm. More emotes unlock as you level up and complete certain milestones.
Emoting is a small but often-missed feature in Palworld, mostly used for screenshots, roleplay, and signalling to other players in multiplayer.
Quick answer
Press the emote key (K by default on PC) to open a radial emote wheel, then pick an emote. On controller, check your button prompts for the assigned shortcut.
Step-by-step
- Make sure you are not in a menu or inventory screen — emoting only works while your character is free to move.
- Press the emote key/button to open the radial wheel.
- Move the mouse or right stick toward the emote icon you want.
- Release or confirm to play the emote animation.
- Press the same key again, or move, to cancel out of an emote early.
Emote list (typical starting set)
| Emote | Common use |
|---|---|
| Wave | Greeting other players |
| Sit | Resting animation for screenshots |
| Point | Directing teammates to a location |
| Cheer | Celebrating a kill or catch |
| Dance | Roleplay and multiplayer fun |
Exact names and icons can shift between updates, but the wheel format has stayed consistent since launch.
Unlocking more emotes
A few additional emotes are tied to leveling your character up, so grinding XP through base building, exploration and boss fights — covered in our leveling guide — will naturally add more options to the wheel over time.
Using emotes with Pals
Emoting yourself is separate from interacting with a Pal directly. To pet or otherwise interact with a Pal you follow, use the "pat" interaction rather than the emote wheel; see our companion answer on waving at Pals for that distinction.
Multiplayer etiquette
On shared servers, emotes are a lightweight way to communicate without typing — waving to greet a new player, pointing toward a rare Pal, or cheering after a boss kill. None of it affects stats or gameplay; it is purely cosmetic.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
- What is the default emote key in Palworld?
- On PC keyboard the default is K, which opens a radial emote wheel. On controller it is bound to a shortcut shown in the on-screen prompts, usually a directional-pad press.
- Can you rebind the emote key?
- Yes. Open Settings > Keybindings and search for the emote action to assign a different key or button.
- Do you unlock more emotes over time?
- Yes, a handful of extra emotes unlock as you level up your character or reach certain progression points, expanding the wheel beyond the starting set.
Go deeper
Full reference page for this topic, kept in sync with the game data.
How do you emote in Palworld? →