•This work assesses the influence of various weld patterns between beam and end-plate on the global ductile behavior of pallet racks, being one of them a novelty.•This assessment is performed by means of pushover analysis.•The influence of the level height is studied throughout two rack configurations.•Different numerical models for racks are presented, aiming to capture the influence of upright perforations and 3D effects. This paper presents numerical pushover analyses on multiple bay pallet racks, aiming to quantify variations in global ductility when using different beam-to-upright connections. The connections differ in the layout of the beam-to-endplate welding, being one of them a technological novelty. They are modeled with envelopes of monotonic and cyclic moment-rotation curves obtained from component tests and presented in previous research. Moreover, the influence of the level height is studied throughout two different rack configurations. A single-column model for multiple bay racks, made with 3D beams and shells, is presented and compared with simpler 2D models to quantify the influence of 3D effects and upright perforations. Results exhibit that the novel connection improves the capacity to absorb energy, but an inappropriate rack configuration can lead to a soft-story mechanism, thus not taking full advantage of its ductility.