ARK: Survival Ascended stands on the shoulders of ARK: Survival Evolved, which was also an incredible open-world survival game for dozens of players. But the games only work well if the server settings are at their most optimal.
Finding the best server settings for a group in ARK: Survival Ascended is tricky. Players must consider the needs of everyone joining the server and the overarching goal they want to achieve from it. Whether it’s creating massive cities together or enabling a world to be as densely populated as possible, we’ve explained how to find the best server settings in this guide.
Related: How To Change Your Server Name In Ark: Survival Ascended
What are The Best Server Settings for ARK: Survival Ascended
We’ve taken an in-depth look at the server settings in ARK: Survival Ascended and have created a list of the best ways to tweak each setting for the best server experience. There’s no point in providing a list of exact settings because they’re all so subjective to each player’s play style. The best thing to do is to read through how each settings category should be tweaked below, then change them or leave them as needed.
Mod Settings
The mod settings for a server only matter a little if many players will be online at once. Servers take up a lot of space on everyone’s devices, so it’s worth considering what the most essential mods are and sticking to them. Testing new ones out now and then is a good idea, but overloading everyone so the game runs slowly is not.
Game Rules
The game rules are the rules of a world in ARK: Survival Ascended. This is where players will define their hunger, thirst, how much damage they take from creatures, and much more. It’s about the survival element, which is a significant part of the game. These can be tweaked as players move forward to provide a more hardcore experience or where certain base needs can be ignored.
Advanced
The advanced settings on a server impact its PvE and PvP elements as well as the stats of dinosaurs around the world. This is also where players can change XP modifiers. This is the nitty gritty that players can get into for that hardcore experience, but it’s not essential for anyone looking to create a fun world to explore with a couple of friends.
Engrams
These settings impact the Engrams that players start with and the equipment available in the server. This is incredibly important because it’ll change the entire experience if players put too much or too little into the game for everyone to use. This, more than anywhere else, is where players should look to craft the experience they want and the items they’ll unlock along the way.
Settings to Consider When Making an ARK: Survival Ascended Server
When creating a server to jump into with friends, players should work out what they want to do together. Server settings can be changed on the fly, but it’s better to start the server with them all pretty much set in stone.
Graphical settings need to be thought about because they’ll hit every player on the server. Putting them too high could ruin someone’s experience. The same goes for mods. Adding too many mods into a server could push the file size of the game to be too large for some players.
A server’s settings have to cater to everyone’s needs. This requires a discussion or at least a list that players can look through before they join. It’s hard to get this right with randoms, but with a group of friends, most of the server settings can be worked out before the server even goes live.
How to Decide What an ARK: Survival Ascended Server’s Focus
To decide the focus of a server in ARK: Survival Ascended, players need to work out what their goals are. If they want to build a server that will host as many people as possible, then they need to tweak settings to allow the server to squeeze in every single player it can.
If a server’s aim is to have monumental buildings, then players must change settings that will restrict them. Making a server more build-friendly will allow everyone to work together without needing to think about the build restrictions the game puts in place.
Some players like to craft servers that will host a specific set of mods. This means players need to look at the mods they want to enable and ensure a server will cope with them while hosting a large group of players. Overloading the server will just cause problems for everyone.
Deciding the focus of a server is one of the hardest things to do in ARK: Survival Ascended. However, it’s essential if players want to create a cohesive place for them and their friends to create something truly unique that they all enjoy.
