ARK Survival Evolved

Weighted Options

Weighted options allow you to choose how likely a particular option's value is to be used in game generation. The higher a value is weighted, the more likely the option will be chosen. Think of them like entries in a raffle.

Choose the options you would like to play with! You may generate a single-player game from this page, or download an options file you can use to participate in a MultiWorld.

A list of all games you have generated can be found on the User Content page.


Game Options

Progression Balancing

A system that can move progression earlier, to try and prevent the player from getting stuck and bored early. A lower setting means more getting stuck. A higher setting means less getting stuck.
This is a range option.

Accepted values:
Normal range: 0 - 99

The following values have special meanings, and may fall outside the normal range.
  • 0: Disabled
  • 50: Normal
  • 99: Extreme
0 ❌
25 ❌
0 ❌
0
0
0
0

Accessibility

Set rules for reachability of your items/locations. **Full:** ensure everything can be reached and acquired. **Minimal:** ensure what is needed to reach your goal can be acquired.
25
0
0

Maps

Which ARK map(s) your server runs. Any supported map can be played ON ITS OWN - you are never forced to pair maps. List more than one for a CLUSTER (maps linked by obelisk/transmitter travel under a single AP slot), which pools all their content together: maps: - the_island - scorched_earth Anything not listed is filtered out, so a check you cannot reach never appears - and the goal only ever asks for bosses your maps actually have. Smaller maps have fewer locations than the Island but receive the same craftable-everywhere engrams, so engram grouping is raised automatically when a slot needs it (as if you had set engrams_per_item yourself). Supported today: the_island, scorched_earth, ragnarok.

Goal

Which bosses you must defeat to win (any difficulty - Gamma, Beta, or Alpha). The first four are cumulative over THE ISLAND's bosses, and mean the same thing whatever maps you run: broodmother - defeat the Broodmother broodmother_megapithecus - + Megapithecus broodmother_megapithecus_dragon - + Dragon all_bosses - + Overseer (all four) The last one scales with your maps instead: all_bosses_all_maps - every boss on the maps you enabled On an Island-only slot that final option is identical to all_bosses. Add Scorched Earth and it also wants the Manticore; Ragnarok's arena is the Dragon and Manticore together, so it counts for both. A boss on a map you are not running is never required - it could not be reached. On a map without the Island's four, the cumulative options simply mean that map's own bosses, so Scorched Earth alone is a Manticore run.
0
0
0
25
0
0

death_link

When you die, everyone who enabled death link dies. Of course, the reverse is true too.
25
0
0

Lock Taming

Lock dino taming behind an Archipelago item.
0
25
0

Lock Supply Crates

Lock supply crate (care package) access behind an Archipelago item.
0
25
0

Bundle Saddles

Bundle each rideable dino's saddle with its tame unlock. When on, unlocking 'Tame: X' also grants X's saddle engram, and those saddle engrams are removed from the item pool (the freed slots become filler). Off = saddles are separate items.
25
0
0

Free Starter Engrams

Early-help option: grant the basic starter engrams (campfire, cloth armor, spear, thatch building, storage, etc.) for FREE at the start, and remove them from the item pool so no one finds them in the multiworld. The set is engrams.json 'starter_engrams'.
25
0
0

Trap Percentage

Of the filler items, what percent are traps (e.g. spawning wild dinos near you) vs neutral 'Bonus Resources'. 0 = no traps. Only affects filler slots, not real items.
This is a range option.

Accepted values:
Normal range: 0 - 100
0 ❌
25 ❌
0 ❌
0
0
0
0

Early Dino Checks

Cross-game starter help / lockout prevention. When on, the ONLY sphere-1 (start-reachable) ARK checks are the 8 weak early-dino first-kills (Dodo, Parasaur, Trike, Dilo, Phiomia, Lystrosaurus, Compy, Dimorphodon, marked PRIORITY) plus low levels (Reach Level 5-40). A global-early item (e.g. Dark Souls III 'early_banner: early_global') can therefore only land there -> no player gets locked out. Explorer notes still hold later progression but are moved to a sphere-2 region gated behind receiving any early-dino tame, so they never catch the early item; every other slow/late check (other kills, tames, Reach Level 45+, bosses) is EXCLUDED to filler. Keep dossier_checks at/above default.
25
0
0

Progression Tiers

Tech-tree progression (RECOMMENDED - default ON). Splits every check into 4 tier REGIONS you open in order: Menu -> Tier 0 -> Tier 1 -> Tier 2 -> Tier 3, each unlocked by receiving the prior tier's crafting-station engram(s). This is what gives the seed a real sphere-by-sphere climb; with it OFF almost everything is reachable from the start and the playthrough collapses into one or two spheres. Tier 0 (start): weak dinos, Reach Level <= 40 Tier 1: opens on Engram: Forge + Engram: Mortar And Pestle - mid dinos, Level 45-80 Tier 2: opens on Engram: Anvil Bench (the Smithy - it costs metal ingots, so it needs the Forge first) - strong/water dinos, Level 85-120; explorer NOTES open here Tier 3: opens on Engram: Fabricator - apex/deep-ocean dinos, bosses, Level 125-150 The gate engrams are ordinary pool items classified PROGRESSION, so the fill guarantees each is reachable before its tier opens (no hard-placement, no waiting on another player). Explorer notes sit behind Tier 2 (two gates deep), so ARK's sphere-0 set is just Tier 0 kills + low levels - another game's early-forced item can only land there. Supersedes early_dino_checks. The tame/kill/cave access rules still apply ON TOP, within each tier.
0
25
0

Station Engram Placement

How the 3 tier-gate station engrams (Refining Forge, Smithy/Anvil Bench, Fabricator) are placed when progression_tiers is on: tiered - (default) hard-placed on YOUR OWN active checks, staggered by tier: Forge in Tier 0, Smithy in Tier 1, Fabricator in Tier 2. The classic staged ARK climb. local_early - forced into an early sphere of YOUR world (like DS3 'early_local'). All three surface quickly on your own early checks, so tiers open sooner. global_early - forced into an early sphere ANYWHERE in the multiworld (like DS3 'early_global'). A friend may find your stations for you. Only meaningful in a multiworld. Ignored when progression_tiers is off.
25
0
0
0

Extra Early Items

Force specific items early, the same way station_placement handles the tier gates. List exact item names (engrams like "Engram: Bow", or tames like "Tame: Rex"), quoted: extra_early_items: - "Engram: Bow" - "Tame: Raptor" Routing follows station_placement: global_early -> forced early ANYWHERE in the multiworld; anything else (local_early / tiered) -> forced early in YOUR world. Works with or without progression_tiers. Names that aren't real items are ignored.
This option cannot be modified here. Please edit your .yaml file manually.

Tier 0 Add

(progression_tiers only) Creatures to FORCE into Tier 0. Their kill + tame checks become sphere-0, so they join the pool that can host the T0 station gates. Use exact creature names, quoted, e.g.: tier0_add: - Carno - Sabertooth Names that don't match a creature are ignored.
This option cannot be modified here. Please edit your .yaml file manually.

Tier 0 Remove

(progression_tiers only) Creatures to REMOVE from Tier 0 (bumped to Tier 1), so their kills are no longer sphere-0 / eligible to host the T0 station gates. Only affects creatures that are Tier 0 by default. Use exact creature names, quoted.
This option cannot be modified here. Please edit your .yaml file manually.

Dossier Checks

How many explorer-note locations to include as checks. Counted per SLOT, from the notes your maps actually have - the Island has 232, Scorched Earth adds 137, and a value above your total harmlessly caps there. Ragnarok has none of its own. Keep near the maximum unless you know what you're doing: ARK's big pool needs most of the notes plus the other locations to fit, and generation fails if too low.
This is a range option.

Accepted values:
Normal range: 0 - 400
0 ❌
25 ❌
0
0
0
0

Food Sanity

Percent of the food 'hold N in inventory' checks (Citronal, Cooked Meat, Jerky, Honey, Rare Flower, etc - 14 total) included as locations. Which ones are picked is random per seed. 0 = no food checks.
0
0
0
0
25
0

Tame Sanity

Percent of the per-species 'Tamed: X' checks included as locations - lower = fewer tames REQUIRED to finish. Which species are picked is random per seed. Every 'Tame: X' unlock item stays in the pool regardless, so everything remains tameable (with lock_taming). NOTE: low values remove many locations; if generation errors about item count, raise this, or turn on bundle_structures / bundle_saddles to shrink the item pool to match.
0
0
0
25
0

Death Sanity

Percent of the cause-of-death checks included as locations - the 10 'Die to a carnivore / to cold / to drowning / from fall damage / to starvation ...' checks. Which ones are picked is random per seed. 0 = no death checks at all, for anyone who would rather not be nudged into dying on purpose. Note these checks CAN hold progression - every cause is reachable (you can always starve or drown), so nothing gets stranded, but it does mean a seed may want you to die deliberately. Set this to 0 if that is not for you.
0
0
0
0
25
0

Death Milestones

Include the cumulative death-count milestones (die once, 5, 10, 25, 40 times). Separate from death_sanity because they are a different kind of ask: the cause-of-death checks are things that happen while you play, whereas the count milestones reward dying repeatedly. Turning this off leaves the individual death checks alone.
0
25
0

Bundle Structures

Bundle building-structure engrams by material: ALL Wood structures unlock from one 'Bundle: Wood Structures' item (same for Stone, Metal, Greenhouse). Tools/weapons like the Metal Pick stay individual. Shrinks the item pool by ~100 items (backfilled with filler).
25
0
0

Engrams Per Item

Group engram unlocks so one AP item unlocks SEVERAL engrams at once. 1 = off (one item = one engram, the classic behavior) 2-4 = fold engrams into groups of that size, in PROGRESSION order (early engrams grouped with early, late with late), so the pool carries far fewer engram items (the freed slots become filler). The tame-logic access rules follow automatically, and the plugin unlocks every engram in a received group. Handy for shrinking a huge engram pool so it fits the location count. Structure-bundled / starter / auto-granted engrams are never grouped (they're already handled).
This is a range option.

Accepted values:
Normal range: 1 - 4
25 ❌
0 ❌
0
0
0
0

Tames Per Item

Group taming unlocks so one AP item unlocks SEVERAL 'Tame: X' at once. 1 = off 2-4 = fold tames into groups of that size WITHIN each progression tier (never mixing an early creature with an endgame one), so receiving one item unlocks the ability to tame several species. Shrinks the item pool; with lock_taming the group item gates every species it covers. 'Tame N Species' milestones become filler-only when this is above 1 (you still tame the species in-game; they just stop hosting progression).
This is a range option.

Accepted values:
Normal range: 1 - 4
25 ❌
0 ❌
0
0
0
0

Randomize Dino Spawns

FULLY randomize which species live in which biome: every species is dealt across the map's spawn zones, and each biome's spawn roster is completely REPLACED by its seeded hand (via Game.ini spawn-container overrides the connector writes; one server start applies). Every species is guaranteed to spawn SOMEWHERE, so all checks stay obtainable. off - normal spawns grouped - land+air species dealt across land biomes, water species across water zones, with predators down-weighted (apex rare, mid uncommon) so zones stay livable chaos - everything dealt across everything at EQUAL weight (beached mosas, ocean rexes, predator-saturated beaches... the full experience) Bosses, alphas, tek variants, cave interiors, and specialty spawners (Giga, Quetz, beaver dams...) are never touched.
25
0
0
0

Mod IDs

Steam Workshop mod IDs to include. Their engrams become AP items. ONLY the mods below are supported (an unknown ID is a generation error - the apworld can't know an arbitrary mod's engrams). Supported: 731604991 / 1999447172 Structures Plus / Super Structures (building - needs bundle_structures: true) 1565015734 Kraken's Better Dinos 821530042 Upgrade Station 2594067220 Super Spyglass Plus 1609138312 Dino Storage v2 889745138 Awesome Teleporters 1631378184 Explorer Note Tracker 1404697612 Awesome SpyGlass 1967741708 Lethal's Reusables Structures Plus and Super Structures are forks of one mod - list whichever you run, not both. Accepts a yaml list OR a comma-separated string, quotes optional: mod_ids: 731604991, 1631378184, 2594067220, 821530042, 1609138312, 1565015734, 1404697612, 889745138 mod_ids: [1609138312, 889745138]
This option cannot be modified here. Please edit your .yaml file manually.
Item & Location Options

Local Items

Forces these items to be in their native world.

Non-local Items

Forces these items to be outside their native world.

Start Inventory

Start with the specified amount of these items. Example: "Bomb: 1"

Start Inventory from Pool

Start with the specified amount of these items and don't place them in the world. Example: "Bomb: 1" The game decides what the replacement items will be.

Start Hints

Start with these item's locations prefilled into the ``!hint`` command.

Start Location Hints

Start with these locations and their item prefilled into the ``!hint`` command.

Excluded Locations

Prevent these locations from having an important item.

Priority Locations

Prevent these locations from having an unimportant item.

Item Links

Share part of your item pool with other players.
This option cannot be modified here. Please edit your .yaml file manually.