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Player standing near Rushoar with Cleaver
Screenshot by GameSkinny

Palworld Butcher Knife: How to Use the Meat Cleaver

If you're looking to get rid of extra Pals, here's how to Butcher them in Palworld.

There are a ton of ways to be nice to your Pals, from giving them good meals to petting their adorable heads. They’ll follow you anywhere — even to their early demise. In this guide, I’ll tell you how to use the butcher knife in Palworld.

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How to Use the Meat Cleaver and Butcher Pals in Palworld

The Meat Cleaver is a relatively early unlock in Palworld and allows you to butcher Pals. Butchering your Pals nets you the resources you would otherwise get for slaying them in the wild, and removes them from your Palbox. You only need to be outside of your base with a Meat Cleaver in hand to do it.

How to Craft the Meat Cleaver in Palworld

You can unlock the Meat Cleaver in your Technology tab at Level 11 for x2 Technology Points. The materials to craft the Meat Cleaver at a Workbench, you need x5 Ingots, x20 Wood, and x5 Stone.

While you likely have Stone and Wood already, Ingots are harder to come by. To make them, unlock the Primitive Furnace, have a Kindling Pal working at your base, and enough Ore to refine into the material.

Once you have the materials, head to your Primitive Workbench, select the Cleaver, and begin crafting it. If you have any Handiwork Pals at your base, they’ll help you make it. That was truthfully pretty weird to me, and it’s hard not to feel guilty when you know what the Meat Cleaver is for.

Palworld Item crafting UI, with Cleaver highlighted
Screenshot by GameSkinny

How to Use the Meat Cleaver

To use the Meat Cleaver, add it to your inventory and equip it. At this point, I tried to butcher a Pal in my base, but the command didn’t appear. I assume you need to do this violent task away from where Pals sleep.

  1. Add your Pal to your party and take it somewhere far from where your base Pals can see. (I chose a Rushoar for the purposes of this guide.)
  2. Take out your Meat Cleaver.
  3. Walk up to them and open the command wheel (“4” for mouse and keyboard, “R3” for controller).
  4. Select Butcher.
  5. A pixelated animation plays where you butcher your Pal.
  6. Any resources are automatically sent to your inventory.

Is Butchering Pals Worth it in Palworld?

Palworld downed Rushoar
Screenshot by GameSkinny

As mentioned, you receive any drops from your dead Pal. The Rushoar yielded some Leather, but that was about it. There’s really no reason to butcher Pals, and you’ve just relegated quite a few resources to a tool that can only be used on these helpful creatures.

Truthfully, Pals are much more useful alive. They help gather resources, mine and farm, and defend your base. And when you’re out in the world, they can help you conquer dungeons and bosses.

Now you know how to use the Meat Cleaver and butcher Pals in Palworld. But if you want to know how to care of your Pals, check out our guide on restoring Pal Mental Stability. You’ll find additional tips at our guides hub, too, such as how to get guns and how to rename Pals.


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Author
Image of Alyssa Payne
Alyssa Payne
Alyssa is a Seattle-based freelance writer and editor. She’s always playing too many games at once and never gets through her backlog. Dragon Age: Origins, Final Fantasy IX, and World of Warcraft are just a few of the games she loves.
Author
Image of Ashley Shankle
Ashley Shankle
Ashley's been with GameSkinny since the start, and is a certified loot goblin. Has a crippling Darktide problem, 500 hours on only Ogryn (hidden level over 300). Currently playing Darktide, GTFO, RoRR, Palworld, and Immortal Life.