Salacca peel-based porous carbon (SPPC) with high surface area (1945 m2 g−1) and large specific pore volume (1.68 cm3 g−1) was prepared by pre-carbonization and K2CO3 activation method. Based on the TGA results, it can be estimated that up to 70 wt% of sulfur-active materials could be infiltrated into the pores of SPPC to form SPPC/S composite cathode for LiS battery. The porous structure of SPPC could act as a buffer layer against volume expansion and minimize the shuttle effect due to the penetration of intermediate polysulfides during cycle tests. Optimization on sulfur loading (50, 60 and 70 wt%) in SPPCC/S composite was also investigated. It was found that the SPPC/S composites with 60 wt% of sulfur loading had the best electrochemical performances. With 60 wt% of sulfur loading, SPPC/S composite electrodes showed excellent electrochemical performances in terms of high initial specific discharge capacity of 1006 mAh g− 1 at 0.5 C and capacity retention of 71% until the 100th cycle. For both cases of low and high sulfur loading, they caused much worse electrochemical performances. Based on the experimental results, it can be concluded that porous carbons derived from the salacca peel were promising materials for sulfur loading in LiS battery.