ARK Server

Two ways: look for your server's name in the game's session list (Unofficial filter), or add it directly with its IP and port. The first startup can take several minutes.

1. Wait for the GamePanel console to show that the server is ready.

2. By the list: ARK, Join, Unofficial filter (tick "Show Password Protected Servers" if needed), search for your server's exact name.

3. By address (ARK: Survival Evolved): Steam, View, Servers, Favorites, Add a Server with the IP and query port (service page), then Join.

4. By address (ARK: Survival Ascended): from the game's main menu, open the console (the key below Esc), type open IP:port with the main address from the service page, then Enter. This doesn't work if the server has a password: use the list instead.

In game, open the console (Tab key) and type enablecheats <admin password>. The admin password is set in the GamePanel's Server Options.

1. Note the admin password in GamePanel > Server Options.

2. In game: Tab, then enablecheats your_password.

3. Admin commands are then entered with cheat <command>.

These topics are common to every game: see the GamePanel fiche. For SFTP, follow the step by step FileZilla guide.

1. Help center home, GamePanel fiche (all games).

The main settings (name, passwords, map) are in the GamePanel's Server Options. Rates (XP, harvest, taming) are set in GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini.

1. Stop the server (otherwise ARK overwrites your changes when it shuts down).

2. GamePanel > Server Options: server name, server password and admin password, map, max players.

3. File Manager, ShooterGame/Saved/Config/ then LinuxServer (ARK: Survival Evolved) or WindowsServer (ARK: Survival Ascended): edit GameUserSettings.ini ([ServerSettings] section). Game.ini goes in the same folder: create it if it doesn't exist. Details and examples: ARK config files.

4. Save and restart.

No files to upload: you give the mod IDs in Server Options and the server downloads them on startup.

1. Find the mod's ID: CurseForge for ARK: Survival Ascended (Project ID), Steam Workshop for ARK: Survival Evolved (the number at the end of the URL).

2. GamePanel, Server Options: MOD_IDS variable (Ascended) or MOD_ID (Evolved), IDs separated by commas, no spaces. Example: 928708,927131.

3. Restart: the first launch takes longer while the mods download.

GamePanel's File Manager, folder ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer for ARK: Survival Evolved (ASE) or ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer for ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA). GameUserSettings.ini holds rates and general settings ([ServerSettings] section), Game.ini holds advanced settings (per level stats, levels, breeding). Always edit them with the server stopped.

1. Stop the server and wait for it to fully shut down: ARK rewrites its files when stopping and would erase your changes.

2. GamePanel > File Manager > ShooterGame/Saved/Config, then LinuxServer (Evolved) or WindowsServer (Ascended). The CleanSourceConfigs folder (Evolved) holds the original copies: leave it alone.

3. Open GameUserSettings.ini for rates. Game.ini is empty (Evolved) or missing (Ascended) on a fresh server: open it or create it in the same folder (exact name Game.ini), then put its section on the first line (example: 10x maturation).

   Game.iniCopy

   [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier=10.0

4. Save, then start the server.

Each option only works in one of the two files, under its section: a line placed in the wrong file is silently ignored, no error shown.

Add XPMultiplier, TamingSpeedMultiplier and HarvestAmountMultiplier to GameUserSettings.ini, under [ServerSettings], with the server stopped. 1.0 = normal, 3.0 = three times more (x3).

1. Stop the server, then open GameUserSettings.ini (where the files are).

2. Add the lines right under [ServerSettings] (x3 example). They don't exist in the default file: just add them, no need to look for them.

   EvolvedAscended

   GameUserSettings.iniCopy

   [ServerSettings]XPMultiplier=3.0TamingSpeedMultiplier=3.0HarvestAmountMultiplier=3.0ShowMapPlayerLocation=True

3. In the same section if needed: HarvestHealthMultiplier (more hits before a tree or rock disappears), ResourcesRespawnPeriodMultiplier (0.5 = respawns twice as fast), DinoCharacterFoodDrainMultiplier (dino hunger, also affects taming time).

4. XP per activity and harvest for a specific resource: in Game.ini (create the file). Example: kill XP x2, thatch x2.

   Game.iniCopy

   [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]KillXPMultiplier=2.0HarvestResourceItemAmountClassMultipliers=(ClassName="PrimalItemResource_Thatch_C",Multiplier=2.0)

5. Save, then start the server.

HarvestXPMultiplier (harvesting), CraftXPMultiplier (crafting), GenericXPMultiplier and SpecialXPMultiplier are added the same way as KillXPMultiplier.

Change the value of ItemStackSizeMultiplier, already present in GameUserSettings.ini: 10.0 = stacks ten times bigger. Has no effect on items that don't stack (stack size of 1).

1. Stop the server, then open GameUserSettings.ini (where the files are).

2. ARK: Survival Evolved: the line already exists (line 25 on a fresh server). Change its value, don't add a second one.

   BeforeAfter

   GameUserSettings.iniBefore

   MaxTamedDinos=5000.000000ItemStackSizeMultiplier=1.000000

3. ARK: Survival Ascended: same thing, line 29 on a fresh server.

   BeforeAfter

   GameUserSettings.iniBefore

   ItemStackSizeMultiplier=1RCONServerGameLogBuffer=600

4. For a single item: ConfigOverrideItemMaxQuantity in Game.ini (the official wiki only confirms this key for Evolved). Example: tranq arrows in stacks of 500.

   Game.iniCopy

   [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]ConfigOverrideItemMaxQuantity=(ItemClassString="PrimalItemAmmo_ArrowTranq_C",Quantity=(MaxItemQuantity=500,bIgnoreMultiplier=True))

5. Save, then start the server.

With bIgnoreMultiplier=True, the stack is exactly MaxItemQuantity; with False, it's multiplied by ItemStackSizeMultiplier.

In Game.ini, under [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]: PerLevelStatsMultiplier_Player[n] (players), _DinoTamed[n] (tamed dinos), _DinoWild[n] (wild). n is the stat's number, the value multiplies what one level point gives.

1. Numbers: 0 health, 1 stamina, 2 torpidity, 3 oxygen, 4 food, 5 water, 6 temperature, 7 weight, 8 melee damage, 9 speed, 10 fortitude, 11 crafting speed.

2. Players, example melee damage x2 and weight x2 per level: with the server stopped, add to Game.ini (create the file):

   Game.iniCopy

   [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]PerLevelStatsMultiplier_Player[8]=2.0PerLevelStatsMultiplier_Player[7]=2.0

3. Tamed dinos: the base isn't 1 but 0.2 (health) and 0.17 (damage); to double it, set double the base (confirmed by the official wiki for Evolved, not yet for Ascended).

   Game.iniCopy

   [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]PerLevelStatsMultiplier_DinoTamed[8]=0.34PerLevelStatsMultiplier_DinoTamed[0]=0.4

4. Wild dinos: PerLevelStatsMultiplier_DinoWild[n], base 1.0 for every stat (same caveat for Ascended).

5. Save, then start the server.

To remove almost all gain on a stat, use 0.01 and not 0: a value of 0 is replaced with 1.0.

Wild dinos up to level 150: OverrideOfficialDifficulty=5.0 in GameUserSettings.ini. Max player level: LevelExperienceRampOverrides in Game.ini (one XP entry per level), plus OverrideMaxExperiencePointsPlayer.

1. With the server stopped, add OverrideOfficialDifficulty=5.0 under [ServerSettings] in GameUserSettings.ini: wild dinos will now spawn up to level 150.

   EvolvedAscended

   GameUserSettings.iniCopy

   [ServerSettings]OverrideOfficialDifficulty=5.0ShowMapPlayerLocation=True

2. Dinos already spawned keep their level: once the server is back up, log in as admin and type cheat DestroyWildDinos to make them respawn.

3. Players: in Game.ini, a single LevelExperienceRampOverrides line, no spaces: one ExperiencePointsForLevel[n] entry (XP needed to reach that level) per level, numbered from 0 with no gaps, from [0] to [149] for 150 levels.

4. Add 100 more entries ([150] to [249]), which the official wiki reserves for ascension, chibis, explorer notes and runes, then OverrideMaxExperiencePointsPlayer (XP cap) at least equal to the last value, otherwise the top levels stay out of reach.

   Game.iniExcerpt

   [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]LevelExperienceRampOverrides=(ExperiencePointsForLevel[0]=10,ExperiencePointsForLevel[1]=30,ExperiencePointsForLevel[2]=60,...)OverrideMaxExperiencePointsPlayer=...

5. Tamed dinos: a second LevelExperienceRampOverrides line, placed after the players' one, sets their levels; OverrideMaxExperiencePointsDino sets their XP cap.

6. Engram points: one OverridePlayerLevelEngramPoints=N line per level, in order, the first one for level 1.

   Game.iniExcerpt

   [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]OverridePlayerLevelEngramPoints=0OverridePlayerLevelEngramPoints=10OverridePlayerLevelEngramPoints=10

7. Save, then start the server.

OverrideMaxExperiencePointsPlayer, OverrideMaxExperiencePointsDino and OverridePlayerLevelEngramPoints are only confirmed by the official wiki for Evolved.

Everything is set in Game.ini, under [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]: BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier=10.0 makes babies grow ten times faster, EggHatchSpeedMultiplier speeds up hatching, BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier sets the time between two imprint cuddles.

1. Stop the server, then open Game.ini (create the file if it doesn't exist).

2. Example: 10x maturation, 10x hatching, cuddles every 48 minutes instead of 8 hours, mating interval halved.

   Game.iniCopy

   [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier=10.0EggHatchSpeedMultiplier=10.0BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier=0.1MatingIntervalMultiplier=0.5

3. If needed, same section: MatingSpeedMultiplier (2.0 = mating twice as fast), BabyImprintAmountMultiplier (imprint gained per cuddle), BabyFoodConsumptionSpeedMultiplier (baby appetite), LayEggIntervalMultiplier (unfertilized egg laying).

4. Save, then start the server.

With fast maturation, also lower the cuddle interval: otherwise the baby may grow up before getting its cuddles and miss 100% imprint.

A common setup across two files: x3 rates and level 150 wild dinos in GameUserSettings.ini, x10 breeding and x2 melee and weight stats per level in Game.ini. Apply with the server stopped.

1. Stop the server, then open the files folder (where the files are).

2. Add these lines to each of the two files (tabs below). On ARK: Survival Ascended, leave the ;METADATA line at the top of GameUserSettings.ini.

   GameUserSettings.iniGame.ini

   GameUserSettings.iniCopy

   [ServerSettings]XPMultiplier=3.0TamingSpeedMultiplier=3.0HarvestAmountMultiplier=3.0OverrideOfficialDifficulty=5.0ShowMapPlayerLocation=True

3. For x10 stacks too: change the existing ItemStackSizeMultiplier line to 10.0 (stack size).

4. Save both files, start the server, then as admin run cheat DestroyWildDinos for dinos already spawned (max level).

If Game.ini already has the [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode] line, add the options below it without repeating it.

ARK is heavy: loading the map takes several minutes, more with mods. A crash loop is usually caused by low RAM or an incompatible mod.

1. Allow 5 to 10 minutes for the first startup, with the console open.

2. Remove the last mod you added and restart to test.

3. RAM maxed out: service page, My plan section (Overview tab).

4. Still stuck: open a ticket with the last few lines of the console.

Most often: the file was edited while the server was running (ARK rewrites it on stop), the option is in the wrong file or under the wrong section, or the file is in the wrong folder.

1. Changes wiped: stop the server, wait for it to fully shut down, redo your edits, save, then start.

2. Option ignored: check the file. Example: maturation is set in Game.ini, not in GameUserSettings.ini.

   Mauvais fichierBon fichier

   GameUserSettings.iniError

   [ServerSettings]BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier=10.0ShowMapPlayerLocation=True

3. File in the wrong place: in LinuxServer (Evolved) or WindowsServer (Ascended), never in CleanSourceConfigs, exact name Game.ini (not Game.ini.txt).

4. ARK: Survival Ascended: an option also present in "Additional Settings" (Server Options) takes that value instead of the one in GameUserSettings.ini. Max players and admin password are changed in Server Options: they're rewritten on every startup.

5. Still ignored: open a ticket stating the option, its value and the file you edited.