Take full control of your ARK: Survival Ascended experience by configuring server rates and rules directly from the Pterodactyl panel. Whether you’re tweaking taming speeds, XP multipliers, or breeding rates, this guide walks you through every step to get your server running exactly the way you want.
ARK: Survival Ascended runs on Unreal Engine 5 and uses two primary configuration files to manage server behavior: GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini. The GameUserSettings.ini file holds most server and basic gameplay settings, while the Game.ini file is used for more advanced modifications such as changing engram points, XP per level, or rebalancing gameplay to suit your players.
Before making any changes, always stop your ARK: Survival Ascended server first. Editing configuration files while the server is running can cause your changes to be overwritten or ignored. Once stopped, navigate to the File Manager tab in your Pterodactyl panel to access the server files.
In the Pterodactyl File Manager, navigate to ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ and open the GameUserSettings.ini file. This is where you will configure server rates, difficulty, day/night cycle, and gameplay toggles. All server-side options must be placed under the [ServerSettings] section of this file.
Key rates you can configure in the [ServerSettings] section of GameUserSettings.ini include: XPMultiplier (controls experience gain speed), TamingSpeedMultiplier (controls how fast creatures are tamed — higher values mean faster taming), HarvestAmountMultiplier (controls resources gathered when harvesting — higher values yield more resources), and DifficultyOffset combined with OverrideOfficialDifficulty (e.g., DifficultyOffset=1 and OverrideOfficialDifficulty=5 sets the max wild dino level to 150).
For advanced breeding and baby-rearing settings, you’ll need to edit the Game.ini file, located in the same directory. Open it in the Pterodactyl File Manager and add your settings under the [/Script/ShooterGame.ShooterGameMode] header. Important breeding multipliers include: MatingIntervalMultiplier (lower values allow more frequent breeding), BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier (higher values make baby creatures grow faster), EggHatchSpeedMultiplier (higher values speed up egg hatching), BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier (lower values increase cuddle frequency), and BabyImprintingStatScaleMultiplier (controls how much imprinting boosts stats).
To configure PvP or PvE rules, set ServerPVE=True or ServerPVE=False under [ServerSettings] in GameUserSettings.ini. You can also toggle AllowCaveBuildingPvE, AllowFlyerCarryPvE, DisableStructureDecayPvE, GlobalVoiceChat, ProximityChat, and ServerHardcore to define the ruleset of your server. BattlEye anti-cheat can be enabled or disabled via the Pterodactyl startup parameters using the -NoBattlEye flag.
To whitelist administrators on your ARK: Survival Ascended server, create the file ShooterGame/Saved/AllowedCheaterAccountIDs.txt via the Pterodactyl File Manager. Add each admin’s 32-character EOS ID (Epic Online Services ID) on a separate line. Whitelisted admins can use cheat commands automatically without needing to enter the admin password each session.
You can also add CurseForge mods to your server directly from the Pterodactyl startup variables. Enter a comma-separated list of CurseForge mod Project IDs (for example: 928793,929890) in the Mods field. You can find mod IDs at curseforge.com/ark-survival-ascended. Do not include spaces between IDs — only commas.
After making all your changes in the Pterodactyl File Manager, click Save on each file. Then restart your server from the Pterodactyl console. Configuration changes to GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini require a full server restart to take effect. Always back up both files before making edits to prevent accidental data loss.
Pro Tip: Your ARK: Survival Ascended dedicated server requires approximately 11 GB of RAM to run with no players on a default map. Make sure your Pterodactyl node has enough allocated memory before launching, especially if you plan to run mods or multiple maps simultaneously. For multi-map setups, each map must run as its own server instance.
Need more help managing your ARK: Survival Ascended server on Pterodactyl? Browse our full knowledge base for guides on cluster setup, firewall configuration, mod installation, and performance tuning — everything you need to run a smooth and thriving ARK community server.