Palworld’smap is scattered with loads of tantalizing chests for you to loot, but some chests will lock you out if you don’t have the right keys. Getting keys isn’t as straightforward as acquiring other resources, but if you know where to look, you can farm them a little bit easier.

Keys drop from chests, successful base defense during Raids, and from slaying the Dark Element Pal, Leezpunk. You can’t trigger Raids automatically, but you can go Pal hunting to try and get keys. Here’s everything you need to know to start hoarding keys for your key ring and looting every chest in sight.

Palworld: The player stands in front of a chest which requires a copper key to open.

Updated on June 01, 2025, by Eva Csaki:Since chests are an infinitely replenished resource on the Palpagos Islands, they’re one of the most reliable ways to secure high-value loot, quickly. The trouble is, keys are a lot more difficult to find than the chests they unlock. With a never-ending need for loot and resources to power your bases, comes the need for reliable loot sources. As such, we’ve returned to this guide to update you on even more ways to find and collect keys in Palworld. If you’re struggling to obtain keys for the chests you find, look no further, we’ve got you covered.

What Are Keys Used For?

There arefourtypes of chests in Palworld, Regular, Copper, Silver, and Gold. You won’t need keys to unlock regular chests, which containregular, common loot, but you’ll need keys to unlock any of the higher chest rarities, and loot rarity willscale with rarity level.

There are three types of keys in Palworld;Copper Keyswhich open Copper chests,Silver Keyswhich open Silver chests, andGold Keyswhich open Golden chests — the highest chest rarity.

Palworld: The player loots a Silver Key from a dead Leezpunk.

If you don’t have the right key in your inventory,trying to open a locked chestwill trigger a notification on theleft middle of your screenand thechest itselfwill have a notificationover it, telling youwhich key you needto use.

Both notification types will tell you if you aremissingthe right key for the job, but if you happen to have the right key in your inventory already, interacting with the chest willautomatically consumethat key. Once a key is consumed, youcannot reuse it.

Palworld: The player defends their base from a raid of Bandwagon Fangirls.

You can guess which chests will need keys by thecolor of the chest itself.Glowing Copper chests tend to needCopper Keyswhile glowing Silver chests needSilver Keys.

Chests opened by Copper Keys containbetter loot than regular,unlocked chests, and Silver Keys will unlockeven betterloot. Gold Key chests contain thebest lootout of the chest types so far, and their keys are themost difficultto obtain.

Palworld: The player and Chillet defend their base from a Raid.

Either way, you mustinteract with the chestto see if you have the right keys, and if not, you’ll find out which one you need to look for.

Chests respawnaround the map, but thesame raritychestdoes notspawn in the same place every time.

Palworld: The player rides their Chillet at the center of the screen while a notification of chest loot containing a looted silver key shows up on the left of the screen.

Keyshave weight to them, so if you’re hoarding too many keys in your inventory, you may hit your weight limit more quickly. Consider how many keys you realistically need when adventuring andleave the rest at your base.

Chest respawns alsorandomize the rarityof the chest, similar to howSkill Fruit Treesrandomize what Skill Fruits regrow.

Palworld: The player enters the cave of a Black Marketeer.

Considering this effect,it’s worth it to keep a few keys handywhile you travel to places you know you have found chests before, as you might get lucky and find ahigher chest raritythan before.

How To Get Keys

There are several ways for you to collect keys. Almost all methods for obtaining keyshave achanceto drop either aCopper Key or a Silver Key, but Copper Keys will drop in more abundance.

Beat Pal Raids

First, you can obtain Copper and Silver Keysbysuccessfully defending your base fromPal, Syndicate, and other kinds ofRaids.

Keep in mind that you will only get keys if yousuccessfully defeat the Raidersinvading your base; if you and your Palsdie, then theRaiders win, and you won’t get any keys for your trouble — just some bruises and regrets.

Palworld: The player stands in front of a locked Copper chest with a notification above it telling them they are missing a Copper Key.

Youcan’t manually triggerRaids, but the best way to ensure that you do trigger them is tostay at your baseoften. Consideridling at the basewhile you get some crafting done as you might get lucky and get Raided.

Kill Leezpunks

The second way that you may find keys isbykillingLeezpunks, and even though some Raids will include several of them,you can also head to where Leezpunksspawn on the Volcanic Island, on the very far left of the world map.

Leezpunks spawn on thesouthern side of the Volcanic Island, but it’s worth noting that they also spawn at higher levels than the Pals on the main island, somake sure you’re prepared for a tricky fight.

Dark Element Pals are weak toDragon Element Pals, so it’s best to bring along as many Dragon Element Pals as you can when Leezpunk hunting, to ensure you have the best possible chances to survive a confrontation.

Find Keys In Chests

You can alsofind keys in cheststhat you loot.Locked chests will reward better loot, and there’s achance to get a key of higher rarityfrom opening a chest of any rarity.

Kill The Black Marketeer

Finally, you’re able to collectGold KeysbykillingtheBlack Marketeer.The Black Marketeer is a very strong semi-boss that you can find inremote and hidden locationsaround the islands.

Fighting the Black Marketeer is one of themost difficultways to obtain keys, as the Black Marketeer is oftenprotected by powerful Pals, and hits for some serious damage. He’s also often found inremote areasthat are difficult to defend. There is a good reason why his name has a skull symbol beside it.

The Black Marketeer also spawns into the game athigher levelsthan other merchants or Raiders and has a muchbeefier health bar. If you’re going to fight the Black Marketeer, make sure you’re prepared for a difficult fight.

Bring alongpowerful Pals, lots of ammunition, and your best armorif you want to survive a run-in with the Black Marketeer. The fight is difficult, but worth it for the value of arare Gold Key.

You want to prioritize Pals with ahigh Attack statand Pals that canhelp you healwhen necessary. The Black Marketeer can easilyone-shot a low-level playercharacter, so we don’t recommend taking him on until you have leveled up a bit.

The Black Marketeer that is closest to Spawn(33, -417)spawns in atlevel 40, so it’s best to take him on when you areat or beyond level 40.

When you successfully manage to defeat the Black Marketeer, you won’t justearn valuable Gold Keys. The Black Marketeer also drops a hugechunk ofGold Coins. Youwon’t, however, be able tolootany of thecontraband Palsthat the Black Marketeer sells.

If you want to buy or sell Contraband Pals to the Black Marketeer, you have to do sobefore initiating combat.

Tips For Farming And Using Keys

We touched briefly on some things you may do to get the most out of your key hunts, but here’s a breakdown of thebest practices you can usewhen collecting keys.