ARK GameUserSettings.ini Generator
Build a clean GameUserSettings.ini for your ARK: Survival Ascended server — every setting explained, no hand-editing or guesswork. Adjust taming speed, harvest rates, XP multipliers, structure damage, PvP rules — copy the output, paste it in. No login, no half-broken templates from 2019, no "premium settings" paywall.
Core Server
The basics — server name, passwords, player limits, RCON. The first stuff anyone touches. If your server doesn't show up in the browser, something here is wrong.
The name players see in the server browser. Make it searchable and memorable — "John's PvE 5x Cluster" beats "Server1" every time. Keep it under ~50 characters or it gets truncated on the list.
Required to join the server. Leave blank for an open public server. Whatever you put here is what players type to connect — don't reuse your admin password, these are not the same field. Yes, people do that. Don't.
Required to log in as admin and run cheat commands in-game. Use a long random string — if someone guesses this, they can wipe your server with one command. Treat it like a real password, because it is one.
Optional password that lets someone join as a ghost spectator — useful for content creators, tournament referees, or admins who want to watch without affecting gameplay. Leave blank to disable spectator mode entirely.
⚠ In ASA this INI value does nothing — the real slot cap is set by the -WinLiveMaxPlayers=N launch argument (host panel / startup line). Set your player cap there, not here.
Enables remote console access — required if you use RCON-based admin panels, Discord bots, or scheduled commands. Leave off if you manage the server manually through the in-game console. Most modern admin tools (CrossArk, Server Manager) need this on.
TCP port for incoming RCON connections. Default is 27020. Only matters if RCON is enabled. If you're running multiple ARK servers on the same machine, each one needs a different RCON port.
Lets players see the on-screen crosshair. Disable for a more immersive or hardcore experience — hardcore players love this off, casual players hate it. Pick your audience.
When enabled, dying wipes your character entirely — you respawn at level 1 with nothing. Tames and structures remain. Brutal, but a niche audience loves it. Most casual servers leave this off.
Disables all player-vs-player damage and structure raiding. Players can still kill wild dinos, but other tribes can't touch them. The single biggest setting on the whole file — pick wrong and your entire community walks away on day one.
Shows the "You are here" dot on the in-game map. Disable for hardcore navigation — players have to figure out where they are from landmarks, like savages. Most PvE servers leave this on so people don't get lost in the swamp forever.
Lets players toggle to third-person view. Some hardcore PvP servers disable this because it lets you see around corners — a real combat advantage. PvE servers and most casual PvP leave it on because watching your character do stuff is half the fun.
Shows damage numbers floating off enemies when hit — RPG-style. Some people love the feedback, others find it cluttered. Pure quality-of-life setting, no gameplay impact.
Player & Dino Multipliers
The XP, taming, harvest, and damage multipliers. This is where casual servers part ways with official rates. Most unofficial servers crank these way up to cut the grind — official's 1× rates assume you're playing 8 hours a day, which most working adults aren't.
How much experience players earn from all sources. 2× to 5× is the sweet spot for most unofficial servers — fast enough that levels feel meaningful, slow enough that players still care about leveling up. Anything above 10× and players hit max level before they've explored half the map.
The single most-changed setting in all of ARK. Multiplies how fast knocked-out dinos go from torpor to tamed. 5× is casual-friendly, 10× is "I have a job", 20×+ is "I want to play, not babysit a Rex for 6 hours". Pairs naturally with a higher torpor drain rate so tames don't wake up mid-feed.
How much resource you get per hit on a tree, rock, or corpse. 3× to 5× is standard for boosted servers. Push it too high (20×+) and players have stockpiles of everything within a day, which makes economy mods and trading pointless.
How much "health" resource nodes have — basically how many hits a tree or rock takes before it's gone. Higher = more total resource per node, but takes longer to fully chop down. Most servers leave this at 1 and just raise HarvestAmountMultiplier instead.
How fast trees, rocks, bushes, and metal nodes respawn after being harvested. Lower means faster — this one is backwards from most multipliers. 0.5 = nodes respawn twice as fast. Crank this down on busy servers where players strip the map bare every morning.
How much damage players deal in melee and ranged combat. Mostly tweaked on PvP servers to balance fights — raising this makes early-game combat lethal and late-game gear less of a hard wall.
How much damage players take. Higher = takes more damage (yes, the name is backwards from what you'd expect — blame Wildcard). Lower this on hardcore servers where you want fights to last; raise it on casual servers where one wild Rex shouldn't oneshot a new player.
How much damage wild dinos deal. Raising this makes the world genuinely dangerous — a wild Carno becomes a real threat instead of free XP. Hardcore servers run 1.5× to 2×. Lower it if you want a more chill exploration vibe.
Damage resistance for wild creatures — and the name is backwards: higher = wild dinos take more damage (weaker), lower = tankier. Raise it for an easier server, lower it for a brutal one.
How much damage your tamed dinos deal. PvE servers sometimes bump this up so players feel powerful late-game. On PvP servers, raising this trivializes raids — official runs 1× for a reason. Tweak with intent.
Damage resistance for tamed creatures — backwards like the others: higher = your tames take more damage (squishier), lower = tankier. Lower it if you want beefier tames.
How fast players get thirsty. Lower means you sip a waterskin less often — quality-of-life for most servers. Hardcore desert servers crank this up because the heat should hurt.
How fast players get hungry. Lower = less constant snacking. Survival purists keep this at 1×; everyone else drops it to 0.5× and gets on with their day.
How fast players burn through stamina while sprinting, jumping, swimming. Lowering this is a common QoL change so you're not gasping after every 3 seconds of sprinting.
How fast players regenerate health out of combat. Bumping this up means players spend less time eating Cooked Meat in a corner and more time actually playing.
How fast your tamed dinos burn through food. Lower means feeding troughs last longer. Anyone with more than 10 dinos lowers this — otherwise managing food becomes a part-time job.
How fast tamed dinos burn stamina while sprinting or flying. Travel-heavy maps benefit from a small reduction — your Argy shouldn't need to land every 30 seconds.
How fast tamed dinos heal out of combat. Bumping this up means less time sitting around waiting for your Rex to stop bleeding after a fight.
Multiplies the max stack size for every stackable item. 5× means stone stacks of 500 instead of 100. Genuinely transformative QoL — your storage doesn't fill up with 200 partially-full stacks anymore.
Scales the resource cost of reinforcing items at the Bloodforge (Lost Colony). Default 3.0 — lower it to make reinforcement cheaper, raise it if your players are getting too comfortable.
Caps how many resource caches can be active at once — part of the same Lost Colony outpost system as the outpost caps. The built-in default is undocumented, so leave blank to keep the game's value; enter a number (admins use values like 20) to set the cap yourself.
Time & Difficulty
Day/night cycle speed and the difficulty offset that determines wild dino levels. The day/night settings are usually small tweaks; the difficulty offset is the one that matters most — it's what makes the difference between fighting level 30 wild dinos and level 150 wild dinos.
Overall speed of the day/night cycle. Lower = longer days and nights. 0.5 is a popular "give me more time to actually do things between sleeping" setting.
How long daytime lasts relative to nighttime. Lower = longer days. Use this with NightTimeSpeedScale to make day:night ratios feel right for your server.
How long nighttime lasts. Higher = shorter nights. Bump this up to 2.0 if your players hate being stuck in pitch black waiting for sunrise.
Works with Override Official Difficulty to set the max wild creature level (cap = difficulty × 30). The game's bare default is 0.2, which caps wild dinos around level 30 on an untouched server — that's why a fresh server feels so low-level. We prefill 1.0, the standard value: at 1.0 your Override Official Difficulty maps straight to the level cap (5.0 → 150). Leave it at 1.0 unless you have a reason not to.
The big one — sets the max wild creature level, as level ÷ 30. We prefill 5.0 = level 150 (official PvE); official PvP runs 4.0 = level 120. Paired with Difficulty Offset 1.0 (above), this is the standard "max level 150" setup most people want. Set 0 to fall back to the game's low built-in difficulty (~level 30). Run cheat DestroyWildDinos after changing so existing spawns re-roll. Leave Max Difficulty (Game.ini) OFF — turning it on ignores this value.
Removes fog weather effects. Some players find fog atmospheric, others find it eye strain. Pure preference setting.
Building & Structure
How structures behave — damage, decay, placement limits, raid rules. PvP servers obsess over this section. PvE servers mostly care about decay and max-structures limits to prevent dead bases choking the map.
Scales the damage your offensive structures deal — spike walls, plant species turrets, auto/heavy turrets. Higher = they hit harder. This is NOT base durability (that’s Structure Resistance below).
How much damage your structures take — and it’s backwards: higher = structures take more damage (weaker), lower = tougher bases. Raid-heavy PvP servers LOWER this to harden bases (or raise it for faster raids). Separate from Structure Damage above, so you can set both.
Enables structure decay on PvP servers, tied to Offline Raid Prevention being active. Good for cleaning up abandoned PvP bases; leave off if you don’t run ORP.
Turns off the auto-decay on PvE structures. Good for small community servers where players take week-long breaks and shouldn't come back to ruins. Bad for large public servers where abandoned bases pile up like a digital landfill.
How long PvE structures last between visits before decaying. Higher = more grace time for players who only log in on weekends. Only relevant if PvE decay isn't disabled outright.
Maximum structures allowed in close proximity to each other. Default 10500 is the ARK official cap. Lower this to prevent mega-base lag bombs on busy servers; raise it on creative/build servers where players want to build castles bigger than common sense allows. (The INI key starts with The — MaxStructuresInRange without it is silently ignored.)
Removes the 30-second timer on picking up placed structures. Quality-of-life win — players can correct mis-placed walls forever, not just within the panic window. PvP servers sometimes keep this off to prevent base-rebuild exploits during raids.
How long after placement you can still pick up a structure for a refund. Default 30 seconds is brutal — raise it to 300 (5 min) for a sane build experience. Only matters if "Always Allow Pickup" is off.
Allows multiple floor levels on platform saddles — needed for serious mobile-base builds on Quetz, Paracer, or Brontosaurus. Off by default on official PvP because it lets you build flying fortresses that are basically tanks.
How many structures you can put on a single platform saddle, relative to the official cap. Raise this for build servers, lower for PvP to keep platform-saddle bases from becoming raidable forts.
Hard cap on structures placed on a single platform saddle or raft. Default 75. Raise it for elaborate mobile bases on a Quetz or Bronto; lower it on PvP to keep platform forts in check.
Lets turrets and certain restricted structures actually function on platform saddles. Off by default — flip it on for a real mobile gunship instead of a decorative one. PvP servers weigh this carefully; it makes platform bases genuinely dangerous.
How far structures may extend past a platform saddle's base footprint. Higher = bigger overhangs and wider mobile builds. Push it up for creative mobile bases; most PvP servers leave it at 1.
Allows building inside caves on PvE. Off by default — Wildcard blocks PvE cave bases so players can't wall off artifact and resource caves. Turn it on for community servers that want cave homes.
Allows building inside caves on PvP. On by default. Turn it off to stop tribes from sealing artifact caves behind a wall of turrets — a common competitive-server rule.
Makes every newly placed structure default to locked. Quality-of-life against accidentally-open doors and unlocked storage; mostly cosmetic on PvP where you lock everything anyway.
Lifts the cap on how many decorative/snap structures can sit in one spot (the ~150-in-range limit). Build servers turn this on for detailed bases; leaving it off protects against lag-bomb mega-builds.
How long you hold the pickup key to grab a placed structure. Default 0.5s. Lower it for snappier building; raise it slightly if players keep picking up structures by accident.
When enabled, tribes can't be raided while all their members are offline. Hugely controversial — pure PvP purists hate it because it kills the "raid them at 4am" meta, casual players love it because they can sleep without losing everything. Pick your community.
How long after the last tribe member logs off before offline raid protection kicks in. Default 900 (15 min) prevents people from "I logged off!" cheese during active raids. Only relevant if ORP is on.
Stops players from transferring uploaded dinos onto this server. Useful for single-map servers that don't want PvP raiders bringing in fully bred Rexes from another cluster. Standard on "vanilla economy" PvP servers.
Stops players from transferring uploaded items in. Same logic as preventing dino transfers — keeps the economy local. Almost always paired with PreventDownloadDinos.
Stops players from transferring their character onto this server. Forces fresh starts. Used on competitive servers and "wipe-fresh" PvP launches.
Hard cap on how many dinos a tribe can have uploaded to ARK cross-server storage at once. Lower this on resource-constrained clusters to prevent hoarding.
Cap on uploaded items per tribe. Same idea as the dino cap — prevents stuffing 10,000 saddles into cross-server storage.
Cap on how many characters a player can have uploaded to cross-server storage at once. Default 10.
How long uploaded items survive in cross-server (obelisk) storage before they're deleted. Default 86400 = 24 hours. Raise it so a transfer isn't lost when a player takes a while to reconnect to another server.
How long uploaded dinos survive in cross-server storage before deletion. Default 86400 = 24 hours. Bump it up on a cluster so a bred line isn't lost if someone can't hop maps right away.
How long an uploaded character survives in cross-server storage before deletion. Default 86400 = 24 hours. Longer values are friendlier on clusters where players bounce between maps.
Master switch that blocks downloading all tribute — items, dinos, and characters — at once. A blunter version of the individual prevent-download toggles. Off by default; use it for fresh-wipe servers that should bring in nothing.
How long (seconds) a player is damage-immune right after logging in, so they can't be killed mid-load. Default 5. Most relevant with offline-raid protection in play.
Auto-destroys abandoned structures once enough no-tribe-nearby time passes, expressed as a multiplier of the normal decay period — 1.0 destroys right at the decay timeout, 0 leaves it off (the default). Requires structure auto-destroy to be enabled (typically the -AutoDestroyStructures launch option), otherwise this line does nothing.
When on, unsnapped bits — lone foundations, pillars, fences, Tek Dedicated Storage — decay on the fast timer set by FastDecayInterval in Game.ini (default 12 hours) instead of the normal one. Off by default. The standard cure for pillar spam claiming half the map.
How many gateways — and, since patch 53.1, gates too — can be placed on a platform saddle. Default 0 blocks them entirely (that's official PvE); official PvP runs 2. Not retroactive, so already-built platforms keep whatever's on them.
With this on, only core pieces (foundations) auto-destroy when their decay-destruction timer expires — everything snapped to them survives until the floor beneath is gone. Off by default; official PvE servers run it on.
Decays only unsnapped core pieces, so lone pillar-and-foundation land claims rot away while snapped-together bases are left alone. Off by default. The polite way to fight foundation spam on PvE.
Lets players build near supply drop spawn points on PvE servers — blocked by default so drops stay reachable. Turn it on for build-anywhere freedom; leave it off if you'd rather beacons not land inside somebody's base.
Lets tamed dinos decay and become claimable on PvP servers even while Offline Raid Prevention is shielding the tribe. Off by default, and it only does anything when ORP is enabled. Turn it on if you don't want ORP doubling as permanent dino insurance for players who quit.
Tribe / PvP / Notifications
PvP-specific behavior and the global notification toggles. (Tribe-size and alliance caps live in the Game.ini generator — ARK reads those from Game.ini, not here.)
Lets players crank their gamma to see in the dark on PvP servers. Hardcore PvP keeps this off so night actually matters. Casual PvP turns it on so people stop dying because their monitor is too dim.
Forces dark caves and nights on PvE. Niche — most PvE servers leave gamma free because there's no competitive reason to gatekeep visibility.
Adds extra no-build zones around obelisks, cave entrances, artifact rooms. Standard on PvP servers to prevent boss-arena trolling and cave-entrance pillaring. Casual servers often leave this off.
Disables the entire alliance system server-wide. Common on small-tribes PvP where alliances would defeat the cap. Off everywhere else.
Cryopod Settings
Controls cryopod behavior — the biggest QoL feature added since launch. ARK: Survival Ascended ships with a cryofridge requirement that the community largely hated, so most unofficial servers turn it off.
Removes the requirement for a powered cryofridge nearby to release cryopodded dinos. Restores the old ASE behavior — chuck cryopods anywhere, anytime. The single most-requested QoL toggle on every ASA server.
Lets you place a cryofridge on a platform saddle (Quetz, Brontosaurus). Useful for mobile-base players hauling cryopodded armies around the map.
Lets you cryopod your dino even when enemies are nearby. Off by default on PvP to prevent "uh oh, cryopod my Rex" cheese during fights. PvE servers turn it on for convenience.
How many seconds after release a dino deals reduced damage. PvP servers raise this to prevent "cryopod-spam" tactics — releasing 20 Rexes mid-raid for instant damage.
How much damage a freshly-released cryopod creature takes during the post-release nerf window, as a percent (default 0). Part of the cryopod-spam nerf for PvP — pairs with Enable Cryopod Nerf + the duration.
Master toggle for the cryopod-release stat nerf — freshly-deployed dinos deal reduced damage for a window (tuned by the duration and multiplier settings above). Off by default; turn it on to use those PvP anti-spam values.
How many hours the Cryo Hospital takes to fully drain a stored creature's torpor. Default 1 hour, matching the structure's stock behavior — lower it for a faster turnaround on knocked-out tames.
How many hours the Cryo Hospital takes to fully refill a stored creature's food. Default 24 hours, matching the structure's stock behavior — drop it if a full day per tame feels more like a hospital queue than a perk.
Hours for a creature stored in the Cryo Hospital to regenerate its health. Default 1 — fewer hours means faster healing. A Lost Colony structure knob Wildcard hasn't documented, hence the flag.
Tunes how much the Cryo Hospital shaves off the mating cooldown of creatures stored inside it. Default 2.0, but the actual math is undocumented — reports suggest it isn't a clean divide-by-two — so test before promising your breeders anything.
Turns cryo sickness on for PvE — creatures deployed from a cryopod go through the usual cooldown instead of skipping it. Off by default on PvE servers. There's no PvP twin for this toggle; PvP cryo sickness is always on.
Network & Performance
Save intervals and chat behavior. These don't change gameplay much but they keep the server running smoothly. The autosave period in particular is something every admin should know — too frequent and you get save stutters, too infrequent and a crash costs you an hour.
How often the server writes the world save. Default 15 minutes is fine for most servers. Lower means less progress lost in a crash; higher means fewer save-stutter hitches on heavy bases. Don't go below 5 — it'll thrash your disk.
Lets all players hear each other in voice chat regardless of distance. Most servers leave this off because it turns into a chaotic mess instantly. Proximity voice (the default) is almost always the better call.
Restricts text chat to nearby players only. Niche — almost everyone leaves global text chat on because it's how players coordinate, trade, and ask questions.
Shows a server-wide message when anyone logs off. Helpful on small community servers, awful on PvP servers where you don't want raiders watching the player list like hawks.
Opposite of the leave notification. Community servers love this for the social vibe. PvP servers turn it off so raids stay stealthy.
Server Rules & Restrictions
The on/off rules that shape how the server actually plays — flyer carrying, disease, imprint sharing, harvest and spoil clamps, and the smaller toggles admins reach for once the rates are dialed in.
Lets flyers pick up wild creatures (and players) on PvE. Off by default — Wildcard disabled it on PvE to stop griefing via Argy-snatching. Turn it on if your PvE community wants the old carry mechanics back.
Forces flying mounts to be rideable on maps/modes where Wildcard disables them by default (Genesis-style maps, Aberration). Off by default — flip it on if you're running a map that restricts fliers but want them allowed.
Lets players regain stamina while perched or hovering on a flyer — the classic Quetzal-platform AFK-recovery behavior. Off by default.
Lets any tribemate cuddle and imprint a baby, not just whoever claimed it. Essential for breeding co-ops and anyone who can't camp every cuddle window solo. Off by default.
Allows more than one C4 charge stuck to a single creature at once. Off by default. PvP raid servers turn it on; it makes suicide-soaker tactics far deadlier, so most balanced servers leave it off.
Lets Titanosaurs be permanently tamed and fed instead of decaying. Off by default — a fed Titan is a mobile fortress, which is exactly why most PvP servers keep this off.
Caps every item's spoil timer at its normal maximum. Mainly a fix for mod or transfer edge-cases where items arrive with absurd spoil times. Harmless to leave off on vanilla.
Limits how much a single hit can harvest based on the node's remaining health — stops a high-damage tame from vacuuming a whole tree in one swing. Off by default; economy servers sometimes enable it.
Master switch that clamps item stats to each item's allowed max range (works alongside the [ItemStatClamps] overrides). Off by default; mainly used to rein in modded or transferred gear with out-of-range stats.
Auto-destroys unclaimed/decayed tames once their claim timer expires, instead of leaving them standing as claimable. Off by default — handy for keeping abandoned tames from cluttering the map.
Turns off the decay timer on tamed Burrowbuck burrows so they persist without needing a refresh (added in ASA v88.3). Off by default. Useful on small or PvE servers where players take long breaks; leave it off on busy servers so abandoned burrows still get cleaned up.
Removes the rider stat bonus a 100%-imprinted dino normally grants. Off by default. Turn it on if you want imprinting to be cosmetic prestige rather than a raw power advantage on PvP.
Makes otherwise-permanent diseases (Swamp Fever) curable and temporary. Off by default. A quality-of-life mercy on PvE servers where a permanent debuff isn't fun.
Disables diseases entirely server-wide. Off by default. The blunt option for admins who never want to deal with Swamp Fever again.
Disables the damage/resistance buff dinos get when near a mate. Off by default. PvP servers occasionally flip it on to stop paired-boss-dino cheese in raids.
Skips the player wake-up animation after respawning (the slow stand-up). A quality-of-life tweak on respawn-heavy servers.
Shows the small hit-marker indicator on successful ranged hits. On by default. Turn it off for a more hardcore, no-feedback combat feel.
When on (default), tribe logs don't name who dealt structure damage. Turn it off to reveal damage sources — useful for PvE dispute resolution, double-edged on PvP where it leaks attacker identity.
Randomizes where beacon supply drops land instead of using fixed points. Off by default. Some PvP servers enable it so drops can't be pre-camped.
Switches to the optimized harvest-health calculation. Off by default. Can smooth performance on heavily-harvested servers; harvest results are otherwise the same.
Lets air supply drops land on top of built structures. Off by default. Convenient on PvE, exploitable on PvP (drop-catching platforms).
Keeps Gachas unhappy (no production) while inside caves, so players can't farm them in safe cave bunkers. On by default.
When on, applies ARK's single-player / non-dedicated balance pass — gentler rates and timers tuned so solo or small-group play isn't a second job. A real shortcut if you run a private server for a few people: it rebalances a pile of values at once instead of you hand-tuning each. (True in-game single-player is already adjustable from the host menu — this toggle is the .ini route for dedicated and non-dedicated servers.)
When on, global text chat goes away — players only see messages from people physically near them. Off by default. A roleplay-server staple; note this governs text chat specifically.
Broadcasts a server-wide notification whenever someone leaves. Off by default. Worth enabling on small community servers where comings and goings matter; pure noise on busy ones.
Chat & Name Moderation
ASA's built-in profanity filtering for chat, character names, and tribe names, plus the bad-word / allow-word list URLs the server pulls. ⚠ defaults ASA appears to ship these filters ON, unlike legacy ARK — set them explicitly if it matters to your community.
Runs in-game chat through the server's bad-word filter. ASA reportedly ships this on (legacy ARK had it off), so players see censored chat unless you turn it off. Set it the way your community expects.
Applies the bad-word filter to survivor (character) names, so players can't join with slurs in their name. Same caveat as chat filtering — ASA seems to default this on.
Applies the bad-word filter to tribe names — keeps the tribe list clean. On by default in ASA, same as the other two.
URL the server fetches its filtered-words list from. Leave blank to use Wildcard's default list (arkdedicated.com/badwords.txt); point it at your own hosted list to control exactly what gets filtered.
URL of an allow-list of words to exempt from filtering, so legitimate words aren't censored. Leave blank for Wildcard's default (arkdedicated.com/goodwords.txt), or host your own.
Taming & Dino Population
Wild spawn density and the tame-limit system. The soft tame limit is ASA's answer to dino-hoarding lag — it flags excess tames for cleanup instead of hard-blocking new tames the way the old cap did.
Multiplies wild creature spawn density across the map. Higher = more dinos (and more server load); lower = a sparser, calmer world. 1.0 is default.
Per-tribe tame cap. 0 = use the server-wide limit only. Set a value to stop a single mega-tribe from hoarding thousands of dinos while everyone else hits the server cap.
ASA's soft tame limit — once a tribe passes it, excess tames get flagged for cleanup rather than blocked outright. Default 5000. Works with the countdown below.
How long (seconds) a tame can sit over the soft limit before it's deleted. Default 604800 (7 days). Gives tribes a grace window to cryo down under the cap.
When on, tames over the soft limit are marked "For Cryo" and eventually destroyed if not stored. Off by default — turn it on to actually enforce the soft limit instead of just flagging it.
Stops tamed creatures from auto-decaying (going claimable) on PvE when their owner is away. Off by default. Kind to players who take long breaks; lets dead tribes' dinos linger on busy servers.
Food drain rate for "raid dinos" — primarily the Titanosaur. Higher = it starves faster. Only relevant if you allow permanent Titan taming.
How much swim speed each point of Oxygen grants. Higher makes Oxygen a real swim-speed stat — handy on ocean-heavy maps where getting around underwater is otherwise miserable.
Forces a full wild-dino respawn every N seconds (0 = off). Useful for periodically reshuffling a stale wild population or clearing a map that's been over-tamed.
Server-wide hard cap on total tamed dinos. Default is 5000. Hit this cap and nothing new can be tamed until something dies or gets uploaded. Lower it on small VPS servers; raise it on cluster mains where players actually breed armies.
Scales how long unattended tames last before PvE auto-decay claims them — higher = slower decay. Default 1.0. Only takes effect while the Disable PvE Dino Decay toggle is off.
Admin & Server Management
Logging, idle-kick, ban lists, RCON output, mods, and live-config URLs — the operational settings you set once and mostly forget. A couple of these only work paired with a command-line flag, noted in the tips.
Logs every admin command to in-game chat so the whole server sees admin actions. Off by default. Transparency-minded community servers turn it on; it keeps admins honest.
Forces the HUD off for all players. Off by default. A niche setting for cinematic or screenshot servers — most servers leave players their HUD.
Idle time in seconds before a player is auto-kicked. Default 3600 (1 hour). Only works if the server is launched with the -EnableIdlePlayerKick flag — the INI value alone does nothing without it.
Real-time days a tribe must wait between name changes. Default 15 days; official servers use 2. Stops tribes constantly renaming to dodge their logs.
How many game-log lines RCON keeps buffered for tools to read. Default 600. Raise it if your admin bot or panel misses log lines on a busy server.
Comma-separated list of CurseForge mod IDs to load, in priority order (leftmost wins conflicts). Leave blank for vanilla. ASA loads mods from this list on startup.
URL to a shared ban list the server re-fetches every ~10 minutes. Lets a cluster or network share one ban list across all servers. Leave blank for local bans only.
URL to a live-tuning file that can adjust certain values without a restart. Advanced — leave blank unless you specifically run live-tuned events.
URL to a dynamicconfig.ini the server re-reads periodically, so you can change rates without restarting. Leave blank if unused.
Mod ID of a custom map to load, if you're running a mod map rather than an official one. Leave blank for official maps.
ASA-Specific & Performance
Knobs that only exist in ASA (new creatures, the rail system, cosmetics) plus the network stasis-range scaling used to keep high-population servers performant. Most of these you'll never touch unless you specifically need them.
Enables Tek suit powers on the Genesis map, which restricts them by default. Off by default. Newly relevant since Genesis Ascended brought the map to ASA — flip it on if your players earned their suits and you see no reason the simulation should disagree.
Cooldown in seconds before an Armadoggo can reappear after taking fatal damage. Default 3600. An ASA creature-specific knob — leave default unless you specifically run Armadoggo events.
Cooldown in seconds on the implant "suicide" respawn option. Default 28800 (8 hours). Stops players from spamming the implant to teleport around via death.
Maximum cars a single train can pull on ASA's rail system. Default 8. Raise it for hauling-heavy servers; the practical limit is whatever your terrain and performance tolerate.
URL whitelist controlling which custom cosmetics are allowed on the server. Leave blank to use defaults.
How much ammo the Cosmo's webslinger regains per reload tick. Default 1. A very ASA-specific creature knob — leave default unless you're balancing around Cosmo gameplay.
Player count at which creature stasis-range scaling begins (a high-population performance lever). 0 = disabled.
Player count at which stasis-range scaling reaches its maximum effect. Pairs with the start value above. 0 = disabled.
The maximum stasis-range reduction applied at the high end of the player-count scale. Default 0.55. Higher trims more creature network range under load.
Extra durability granted when reinforcing an item at the Bloodforge (Lost Colony structure), as a fraction — the 0.3 default reads as +30%. Raise it to make reinforcement more worthwhile; 0 removes the bonus.
Scales how fast Bloodforge reinforcement completes on Lost Colony. Default is 0.1, and the wiki documents the key but not which direction speeds things up — change it in small steps and time the result before settling on a value.
Caps how many Lost Colony city outposts can be active on the map at once. Wildcard doesn't document the built-in default, so leave this blank to keep the game's own value — enter a number (admins commonly use 15) only if you want to set the cap yourself.
Caps how many outposts can be active on the map at once in the Lost Colony outpost system. The built-in default is undocumented, so leave blank to keep the game's value; admins report raising it (e.g. 30) fixes outposts that stop spawning.
Fixes the Cosmo's webslinger maximum ammo at a set value instead of letting it scale with the Cosmo's level. Default -1 keeps the normal level scaling. Set a number only if you want every Cosmo shooting from the same clip.
Scales how many Sigils Outpost Missions pay out (Lost Colony). Default 1.0. Raise it if sigil progression should keep pace with an otherwise-boosted server.
Astraeos only: enables the map's traversal buff — the hold-R teleport that fast-travels players between biome spawn areas. On by default. Switch it off if you'd rather the map get crossed the long way.
Enables the server's character-tracking feature. Off by default, and Wildcard never documented exactly what it surfaces in-game, so treat it as experimental. If you also pass the -disableCharacterTracker launch argument, the launch argument wins.
Seconds before a Veilwyn — the young ice fox companion from Lost Colony — reappears after taking fatal damage. Default 3600 (an hour), and it has to stay above zero. Drop it if an hour without the fox feels harsh.
Tek Bunkers (Lost Colony)
The Tek Bunker system arrived with Lost Colony (v77) and brought a whole knob set with it — placement rules, siege thresholds, per-tribe limits. New enough that most hosts haven't caught up; the defaults below match the official notes.
Permits Tek Bunker modules (added with Lost Colony, v77) to be placed above ground level. Off by default — flip it on if you want bunker builds out in the open instead of where the game normally allows them.
Lets Tek Bunker modules be placed inside build-prevention zones — the areas where the map normally refuses construction. Off by default. The bunker itself has its own separate toggle below.
Lets Tek Bunkers themselves be placed inside build-prevention (no-build) zones. Off by default — this covers the bunker; modules inside prevention zones are governed by their own toggle.
Controls whether creature AI runs inside Tek Bunkers. On by default — switch it off to disable dino AI behavior within bunker interiors.
Controls whether players can ride creatures inside Tek Bunkers. On by default — turn it off to put everyone on foot once they're through the door.
Damage multiplier applied to a Lost Colony Tek Bunker once its HP drops below the enemy-access threshold (set by Enemy Access Bunker HP Threshold, default 0.25). Default 0.05, which reads as bunkers taking 5% damage past that point — exact behavior is flagged for verification, so test before building a raid meta around it.
Part of Lost Colony's Tek Bunker system — an HP-fraction threshold (default 0.25) tied to when enemies can access a bunker. Wildcard hasn't documented the exact behavior, so take the flag seriously and test before building a defense plan around it.
Turns on the per-tribe Tek Bunker cap — the actual number comes from Max Bunkers Per Tribe. On by default. Part of the Lost Colony bunker settings added in v77.
How many Tek Bunkers each tribe can have while Limit Bunkers Per Tribe is on. Default 3.
Minimum spacing enforced between placed Tek Bunkers, in Unreal Units (1 UU is about 1 cm, so 3000 is roughly 30 m). Default 3000. Lower it to let bunkers cluster tighter, raise it to force them apart.
Vessels & Ships (Genesis Ascended)
Ships sailed in with Genesis Ascended Part 1 and Tides of Fortune (July 2026, server patch 89.24), and brought the first vessel knobs with them. Three settings so far — expect this section to grow as Wildcard patches the sea legs in.
Caps how many anchored vessels can sit within the check radius of each other. Default 50. Lower it if you'd rather your coastline not turn into a parking lot; the radius it counts within is the setting below.
The radius the anchored-vessel cap counts within, in Unreal Units (1 UU is about 1 cm, so the default 30000 is roughly 300 m). Widen it to spread harbors out across a whole bay, shrink it to only police tight clusters.
Requires aquatic compartments to be powered before they'll activate. On by default — the official behavior. Switch it off to let compartments run without a power hookup, PvE-comfort style.
Cross-ARK Transfers (Clusters)
Rules for what may travel between the servers of a cluster — survivors, items, dinos, and how often. Only relevant when you run linked servers sharing a cluster ID; a solo server can skip this section entirely.
Lets players tribute-download non-native creatures on Aberration, which Cross-ARK transfers normally block there. Off by default — turn it on if your cluster's Aberration server should accept off-world tames.
Cooldown in seconds before a downloaded creature can be uploaded again in cross-ARK transfers. Default 0 means no cooldown; official servers use 43200 (12 hours) to stop dinos ping-ponging between maps.
Stops players from uploading dinos to ARK Data at obelisks and transmitters, so tames can't leave this server. Off by default. The outbound twin of Prevent Dino Downloads — set both to seal the dino economy completely.
Stops players from uploading items to ARK Data, so gear can't be shipped off this server. Off by default. Pairs with Prevent Item Downloads when you want the economy fully local.
Stops players from uploading their character to ARK Data, so survivors can't transfer off this server. Off by default. Use it where progress should live and die on one map — hardcore and competitive setups, mostly.
Network Ports & Message of the Day
Ports live in [SessionSettings] and the login message in [MessageOfTheDay] — the generator writes each under its own header. Heads-up: most ASA hosts set the game and query ports from their control panel or launch line, so check your host before relying on the INI values.
The UDP port the server listens on. Default 7777. If you run more than one server on a box, each one needs its own port.
The UDP port used for the server browser and Steam queries. Default 27015. Must be unique per server on a shared box.
Binds the server to a specific local IP on a multi-IP machine. Leave blank unless your host specifically tells you to set it.
The message players see when they join. Keep it short and useful — rules, Discord link, wipe schedule. Use \n for a line break; don't wrap it in quotes.
How many seconds the message of the day stays on screen. Default 20. Only relevant if you set a Message above.
Advanced / Raw Config Overrides
An escape hatch for any [ServerSettings] line this form doesn't have a field for yet. Paste directives here exactly as they appear in your config — one per line — and they're appended verbatim to the output under [ServerSettings]. Heads-up: pasted lines are emitted verbatim — they are not read back into the form when you import a config later.
About the ARK GameUserSettings.ini Generator
The GameUserSettings.ini file is where most ARK server admins spend 90% of their config time. It controls server identity (name, passwords, max players), the multipliers that define how your server feels (taming speed, harvest amount, XP rates), structure damage and decay, PvP rules, and the cryopod behavior that ARK: Survival Ascended introduced. The other config file, Game.ini, handles the deeper stuff like breeding multipliers and per-level stat scaling.
This generator turns every relevant GameUserSettings.ini setting into a slider, number field, or toggle with a plain-English explanation. You change what you care about, leave the rest at defaults, hit Copy, and paste the result into your server's GameUserSettings.ini file. Done. Every setting is verified against the ARK server configuration reference and kept current as Wildcard patches — we reference the docs, we just make them readable.
Where does GameUserSettings.ini actually live?
For dedicated servers, look in:
\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\GameUserSettings.ini(Windows servers)/ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini(Linux servers)- Nitrado, GPortal, and most managed hosts: in your control panel under "Configuration Files" or "Expert Settings"
The file gets auto-generated the first time the server starts, so if you don't see it, launch the server once and check again. Stop the server before editing — changes made while it's running get overwritten on shutdown.
Common ARK GameUserSettings.ini examples
- Boosted PvE — TamingSpeedMultiplier 10, HarvestAmountMultiplier 5, XPMultiplier 5, ServerPVE true. The classic "I have a job" combo.
- Casual PvP — TamingSpeedMultiplier 5, HarvestAmountMultiplier 3, XPMultiplier 3, StructureDamageMultiplier 1.5, PreventOfflinePvP true. PvP without the 4am wipe trauma.
- Hardcore PvP — Multipliers at 1× or 2×, no ORP, no transfer-in protection. Pure misery, the way some people like it.
- Breeder paradise — Everything bumped up, plus the breeding settings in Game.ini. This generator handles half the equation; Game.ini handles the other half.
What's the most-changed setting in GameUserSettings.ini?
Easy: TamingSpeedMultiplier. Almost nobody runs official 1× taming on an unofficial server. Right behind it are HarvestAmountMultiplier, XPMultiplier, DifficultyOffset paired with OverrideOfficialDifficulty (to get wild dino levels up to 150), and the cryopod fridge requirement toggle — the single biggest QoL complaint about ARK: Survival Ascended at launch.
Does this work on Nitrado, GPortal, and self-hosted servers?
Yes. The GameUserSettings.ini format is identical across every ARK server host — it's just a text file. Whether you're on Nitrado, GPortal, ASMR, a self-hosted Windows VPS, a Linux dedicated box, or running a non-dedicated session out of your single-player save folder, the same settings apply. The only difference is where you paste the result.
More ARK tools
- ARK Game.ini Generator — for breeding, XP, stats, structure decay
- Shiny Dinos Ascended Config Generator — every setting for the Shiny! mod, plus the variant list
- Dino Depot Config Generator — all 227 settings for the creature-storage mod
- Cybers Structures Config Generator — the biggest ASA mod's [CybersStructures] settings
- Top Shared ARK Configs — see the most-shared configs from other admins
- ARK Server Settings Explained — what every setting does, with recommended values
- Server won't show up? — fix "unable to query server info" (query port)
- All ARK generators