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Server Settings & Customization
Ark: Survival Evolved

Server Settings & Customization

Customize ARK servers. Learn taming, harvest, XP, creature, and day/night cycle settings for your ideal gameplay experience.

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Customize ARK servers. Learn taming, harvest, XP, creature, and day/night cycle settings for your ideal gameplay experience.

ARK: Survival Evolved offers a highly customizable experience, especially for server administrators. Server settings allow for fine-tuning gameplay mechanics, from taming speeds and resource respawn rates to creature difficulty and experience gain. This guide explores the key server settings and how they can be adjusted to create your ideal ARK environment.

Accessing Server Settings

Server settings are typically managed through the server's configuration files or a dedicated server manager interface. On PC, these are often found in the server's installation directory (e.g., `ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer`). The primary configuration file is usually `GameUserSettings.ini`.

Key Gameplay Settings and Their Impact

1. Taming Speed

  • TamerUIAggressionMultiplier: Controls how quickly a creature's taming bar fills. A higher value means faster taming.
  • TamingSpeedMultiplier: Directly affects the overall speed of the taming process.
  • PassiveTameIntervalMultiplier: Adjusts the time between feedings for passive tames. Lower values mean faster passive taming.

Impact: High taming multipliers can make acquiring dinosaurs much quicker, allowing players to build powerful armies rapidly. Lower multipliers offer a more challenging and time-consuming taming experience.

2. Resource and Harvesting Settings

  • HarvestAmountMultiplier: Determines how much of a resource you get per harvest action. Higher values mean more resources.
  • HarvestHealthMultiplier: Affects how quickly resource nodes deplete. Lower values mean nodes last longer.
  • ResourceRespawnPeriodMultiplier: Controls how quickly resource nodes respawn. Lower values mean faster respawning.

Impact: These settings are crucial for balancing resource availability. High harvesting multipliers can lead to abundance, while low respawn timers ensure resources are always available.

3. Experience and Leveling

  • XPMultiplier: Affects the rate at which players gain experience points.
  • PlayerLevelSpeedMultiplier: Controls how quickly You can level up.
  • DinoLevelSpeedMultiplier: Affects how quickly wild dinosaurs spawn at higher levels.

Impact: Higher XP multipliers allow players and their dinosaurs to reach higher levels faster, unlocking engrams and abilities sooner.

4. Creature Settings

  • SpawnWeightsMultiplier: Can be used to increase or decrease the spawn chance of specific creatures.
  • DinoCountMultiplier: Affects the overall density of dinosaur spawns.
  • BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier: Adjusts the time between imprinting opportunities for baby creatures. Lower values mean faster imprinting.

Impact: These settings can be used to create more challenging environments with denser creature populations or to make breeding more efficient.

5. Other Important Settings

  • DayCycleSpeedScale: Controls the length of the in-game day/night cycle. Lower values mean longer days.
  • CaveResourceMultiplier: Affects the amount of resources found in caves.
  • MaxTribePlayers: Sets the maximum number of players allowed in a single tribe.
  • MaxPlayers: Sets the maximum number of players allowed on the server.

Example Configuration Snippets (GameUserSettings.ini)

Here's how some settings might look in the `.ini` file:

[ServerSettings]
ServerName=My Awesome ARK Server
MaxPlayers=70

[GameUserSettings]
AutoGenEnterCave=True
DayCycleSpeedScale=1.0
HarvestAmountMultiplier=2.0
TamingSpeedMultiplier=5.0
XPMultiplier=3.0
BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier=0.5

Best Practices for Customization

  • Start Small: Make incremental changes to settings and test their impact.
  • Communicate with Players: If running a public server, inform players about significant setting changes.
  • Backup Configuration Files: Always back up your `.ini` files before making major changes.
  • Consult the ARK Wiki: The official ARK wiki provides detailed explanations for most server settings.

By carefully adjusting these settings, you can tailor ARK: Survival Evolved to provide a unique and enjoyable experience for yourself and your community.

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