The official maps
ARK: Survival Ascended ships ten official maps, and all of them come with the game, so there's nothing extra to download:
- The Island:
TheIsland_WP - Scorched Earth:
ScorchedEarth_WP - The Center:
TheCenter_WP - Aberration:
Aberration_WP - Extinction:
Extinction_WP - Ragnarok:
Ragnarok_WP - Astraeos:
Astraeos_WP - Valguero:
Valguero_WP - Lost Colony:
LostColony_WP - Genesis:
Genesis_WP
If this is your first ARK, start on The Island.
Switch the map
Pick the map in the Launch tab and apply, and we restart your server onto it.
Switching deletes nothing. Every map keeps a save of its own, so going back to the old map gives you your characters and buildings exactly as you left them.
A map from a mod
- Add the map's mod from the Mods tab
- In the Launch tab pick "A map from a mod" and type the map name, which ends in
_WP - Apply, and the first start takes longer while the mod downloads
The map name isn't the mod ID. You need both: the mod brings the files, and the name tells your server which map to run.
Where each map's save lives
Every map has a folder inside ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/, named after the map. Inside it sits the map file plus the character and tribe files.
Never delete a map folder while the server is up, and never upload over its files. To roll a map back, stop your server and use the backups.
Wiping and backups
- Take a backup from the Backups tab before any wipe or big switch
- To start a map fresh, stop your server and hit Wipe the map on its row in the Your saved maps table under the Controls tab. The next start builds a new map
- Our backups cover every map folder together, so a restore brings all of them back
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