Best server settings for ARK Survival Ascended (ASA)

The best server settings for ARK Survival Ascended (ASA) will vary depending on the type of gameplay experience you want to have. I often change the rules and stats to mix things up for my solo play, but when I create a multiplayer map, I use the specific settings you can find below.

Best way to set up servers in ARK Survival Ascended (ASA)

Setting up a server for an ASA multiplayer game can take a while if you want to go into all possible details. Within a server settings menu, you have several options: Arks, Mod settings, Game rules, Advanced, and Engrams. You'll find even more options, especially within Game rules and Advanced options.

Best Game Rules settings in ARK Survival Ascended (ASA)

Within the Game Rules options, you'll find five tabs: Player, Creature, Structure, World, and Rules.

Player settings

While there are no wrong settings here, I prefer to have stronger players so the play is more dynamic and with fewer deaths, especially while we're all vulnerable. But for a more realistic approach to dealing with dinos, select more straining settings for players. But keep in mind dying too often is not fun!

• Damage - 5
• Resistance - 3
• Water Drain - 0.15
• Stamina - 0.15
• Health Recovery - 6
• Harvesting Damage - 5

Creature settings

Within this section, you can choose how dangerous creatures will be and what you can do with them. I like to focus on human opponents, so making creatures less difficult opens a PvE game faster.

• Max Count - 2
• Damage - 1
• Resistance - 2
• Food Drain - 0.15
• Stamina Drain - 0.15
• Health Recovery - 4
• Harvesting Damage - 5.5
• Turret Damage - 2
• Disable Taming - Off
• Disable Riding - Off

Structure settings

Within a Structure setting, you'll decide how strong your buildings are. I don't want them to be too strong, as I want to face other players without wasting too much time with structures.

• Damage - 0.75
• Resistance - 0.25
• Damage Repair Cooldown - 1.5 (0 if you want this option disabled)
• Disable Structure Placement Collision - ON

Related: Best single player settings for ARK Survival Ascended

World settings

I want to shorten my period to get out of the stone age and have decent gear and structures. Therefore, I sped up some of the most important things, like leveling and taming speed.

• XP Multiplier - 6
• Taming Speed Multiplier - 7.5
• Harvest Yield Multiplier - 4.5
• Allow Speed Leveling - Off
• Maximum Difficulty - On
• PVE Mode - Off
• Hardcore Mode - Off
• Allow Unlimited Respecs - On

Rules settings

• Allow Third Person Camera - On
• Enable Global Voice Chat - Off
• Enable Proximity Text Chat - Off
• Notify Player Joined - On
• Notify Player Left - On
• Admin Logging - Off
• Enable Crosshair - On
• Force No-HUD - Off
• No Survivor Downloads - Off
• No Dino Downloads - Off
• No Item Downloads - Off
• Non-Dedicated Tethering Distance - 1
• Enable PVP Gamma - Off
• Show Creative Mode - Off
• Disable Loot Crates - On
• Disable Friendly Fire - Off
• Use Singleplayer Settings - On

Best Advanced settings for ARK Survival Ascended (ASA)

ASA Advanced settings tweaks can create an entirely different gameplay experience because of how you can set what is possible for PvP, PvE, players, and dinos.

Related: ARK Survival Ascended color ID codes list

PvE settings

I'm not a fan of dying in the first minutes of ARK Ascended, as this game is, first and foremost, an open-world crafting game with dinos. So, having some time to prepare for a battle is more than welcome.

• Use Timer - On
• Auto Start Time - 600
• Auto Stop Time - 1800
• Use System Time - Off
• Prevent Tribe Alliances - Off
• Allow Tribe War - On
• Tribe War Cancel - On
• Disable Gamma - On
• Cave Building - Off
• Disable Structure Decay - Off
• Disable Dino Decay - Off
• Flyer Carry - On
• Extra Structure Prevention Volumes - Off
• No Diseases - On
• Non-permanent Diseases - On
• Allow Cave Flyers - Off

PVP settings

• Dino Decay - On
• Override Structure Platform Prevention - Off
• Change Respawn Interval - Off
• Zone Structure Damage - 5
• Structure Prevent Resource Radius - 1

World settings

World settings in ARK: Survival Ascended doesn't change much your gaming experience, especially if you're playing PvE. But there are a couple of things you can do, like speeding up the hatching process (Egg Hatch Speed option) or making day or night come faster (Day Cycle Speed, Day Time Speed, and Night Time Speed options).

Wild Dino & Tamed Dino settings

Depending on what you expect from creatures, you can focus on taming the best dinosaurs or improving wild ones. I prefer leaving default Wild Dino settings, so there is an incentive to tame animals. Strengthening tamed creatures as they level up, you'll get even better results.

Player settings

What you do in Player settings depends mainly on what you expect from the ASA game. To make players more durable, change settings like Oxygen, Food, Water, and Stamina to 2.5. Also, health should be set at 3 (default is 2) and Fortitude at 5.

• Health - 3
• Stamina - 2.5
• Oxygen - 2.5
• Food - 2.5
• Water - 2.5
• Weight - 3
• Damage - 2
• Speed - 2
• Fortitude - 5
• Torpidity - 1.5
• Temperature - 1.5

Related: Best dinos for farming in ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA)

XP Multipliers settings

How much experience do you want to earn in ARK: Survival Ascended? While I love to level up, I want to feel the experience I got is well-earned.

• Generic - 3
• Harvest - 2
• Craft - 2
• Explorer Note - 1
• Special - 4
• Kill - 4
• Boss Creature Kill - 2
• Cave Creature Kill - 1
• Wild Creature Kill - 1
• Tamed Creature Kill - 2
• Unclaimed Creature Kill - 1

Miscellaneous settings

Under Miscellaneous, you'll find many settings that may shape a world you want to explore.

• Max Players in Tribe - 0 (meaning no restrictions unless you want smaller tribes)
• Player Max XP - 0 (no restrictions)
• Creature Max XP - 0
• Flyer Platform Unaligned Basing - Off
• Only Allow Specific Engrams - Off (unless you want a special "Stone Age only" game, for example)
• Allow Raid Dino Feeding - On
• Raid Dino Food Drain - 1
• Disable Photo Mode - Off
• Photo Mode Range Limit - 2,500
• Allow Custom Recipes - On
• Custom Recipe Effectiveness - 4
• Custom Recipe Skill Factor - 4
• Crafting Skill Bonus - 3
• Supply Crate Loot Quality - 3
• Fishing Loot Quality - 2
• Fuel Consumption Interval - 0.3
• Platform Structure Limit - 1
• Show Floating Damage Text - On

For more information on ARK: Survival Ascended, check out the Best ways to level up fast in ARK Survival Ascended on Pro Game Guides.