ARK: Survival Ascended server settings: which file does what

A change made to GameUserSettings.ini while an ARK: Survival Ascended server is running does not last. The ARK wiki is blunt: close the game before editing the INI files, because changes made while it runs are removed. With the server stopped, the split is simple. GameUserSettings.ini holds the everyday rates and passwords, Game.ini the breeding and deeper rules, and the command line the port, player cap, mods and cluster.

Where each setting lives

Both INI files sit in ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\. If Game.ini does not exist yet, create it there. The ASA dedicated server needs Windows, or something that behaves like it; the wiki says it has no native Linux support. The player's side, from buying the game to finding a server, is in a separate guide.

GameUserSettings.ini

Most rates live under [ServerSettings], and the multipliers in the table default to 1.0. The passwords sit here too: ServerPassword for joining and ServerAdminPassword for admin commands and RCON. The name players see in the browser is SessionName, under [SessionSettings].

One familiar key does nothing on ASA. MaxPlayers under [/Script/Engine.GameSession] worked on the original ARK, but the wiki notes that on Ascended the value reverts to the default, and the cap has to come from -WinLiveMaxPlayers on the command line instead. Guides written for Survival Evolved put the player cap here, so expect to find it in configs copied from them.

Game.ini

Everything in Game.ini goes under a single header, [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]. The breeding multipliers are what most owners come for, along with CropGrowthSpeedMultiplier, bUseSingleplayerSettings for very small servers, and the long list-style options: spawn entries, engram overrides, per-level stat multipliers and custom level ramps (LevelExperienceRampOverrides). Those lines are long and one misplaced bracket breaks them, so change one at a time and restart between changes. The slower way to roll out a change is the habit that saves an evening here.

The command line, and which value wins

An ASA server starts as ArkAscendedServer.exe, followed by the map name (TheIsland_WP, ScorchedEarth_WP, Ragnarok_WP and so on), then options appended with ? and switches separated by spaces and starting with -. Four details catch people out:

• The game port must be set with -port=. The wiki notes that ASA otherwise stays on 7777, whatever ?Port= says.
• ?ServerAdminPassword= has to be the last ? option, or ASA reads the rest of the line as part of the password.
• The player cap is -WinLiveMaxPlayers=, for the reason above.
• -ServerPlatform= decides which platforms may join: PC, XSX, PS5, WINGDK or ALL, with several joined by +.

Many GameUserSettings.ini options can also go on the command line with the ? syntax. The ARK wiki marks which ones, and says doing so is not suggested. It does not say which value wins when a key appears in both places. You never need to know if you never let it happen: keep each setting in exactly one place, and keep the command line for the options that exist only there.

Settings you want to change without a restart belong to a separate system: -UseDynamicConfig, with CustomDynamicConfigUrl pointing at an .ini file served over plain HTTP, which the server rereads at each save. The wiki lists which options it covers, and ASA support varies from option to option. The server configuration page has the full tables.

Mods

-mods= takes CurseForge project IDs separated by commas, and the server updates those mods each time it starts, so every restart is also a mod update whether you planned one or not. The ID is shown on the mod's CurseForge page. -passivemods= keeps a mod's data loaded while switching its functionality off, which is worth knowing before you pull a mod that things in the world still depend on.

RCON and ports

RCON is RCONEnabled=True with RCONPort (27020 by default, TCP) under [ServerSettings]. It needs ServerAdminPassword set, and that password is what RCON clients use. -servergamelog adds the admin log to what RCON sends. How RCON works covers the clients.

For the firewall, open the UDP game port, 7777 unless you changed it with -port=. Leave RCON's TCP port closed to the internet, or open it only to your own address. Guides for the original ARK also open 7778 and 27015. The wiki's own tables document the Steam query port for Survival Evolved and mark it unconfirmed for Ascended, so check before opening ports you may not need. Forwarding ports for a game server covers the router side.

Backups

The wiki's advice is to copy the whole ShooterGame/Saved folder, which holds the world, players, tribes, config and logs, and the cluster data unless you moved it. On ASA each map keeps its own folder inside SavedArks. The first autosave comes 15 minutes in (AutoSavePeriodMinutes), and a server that crashes before then has saved nothing at all. Copy the folder with the server stopped or just after a save, and keep at least one copy off the machine; what to save and how goes further.

Running more than one map as a cluster

A cluster is several servers, one map each, sharing transfer data so players can move between maps. Give every server the same -clusterid= and a -ClusterDirOverride= pointing at one shared folder. Without the override, each install keeps transfer data in its own ShooterGame\Saved\clusters, and the servers never see each other's uploads. Servers on the same machine also need their own game ports and, if RCON is on, their own RCON ports. Each map is a separate process with its own memory, so size the machine with what game server hardware actually needs in mind.

What may travel is set per server in [ServerSettings], with PreventDownloadSurvivors, PreventUploadSurvivors, PreventDownloadDinos and PreventDownloadItems. -NoTransferFromFiltering stops data arriving from single player or from servers without a cluster ID. Keep the shared folder on a local disk where you can, since the wiki notes that networked storage slightly raises the chance of a failed transfer. When you back up, include the cluster folder: a survivor who has been uploaded but not yet downloaded exists there and nowhere else.