ARK: Survival Ascended servers are coming soon
ARK: Survival Ascended's server licence allows personal, non-commercial use only, and its publisher lets just one company rent ARK servers. ARK opens on Wilderack only if we obtain a commercial hosting licence. These guides are ready for the day we open.
Your ARK: Survival Ascended world is backed up automatically on Wilderack, every 10 minutes while the server runs and every time it sleeps. You can also make, restore and download backups in Backups, and bring in a world from single player or another host.
How backups work on Wilderack
| Backup | When | Kept |
|---|---|---|
| Latest safe copy | Every 10 minutes while the server runs, and every time it sleeps | Always the newest one |
| Your own backups | When you make one in Backups, with a label | Until you delete them |
| Scheduled backups | When a schedule in Schedules runs | Oldest replaced when your slots are full |
| Safety backups | Before risky steps: switching games, restoring, updating, installing mods | 7 days |
Before each backup we tell the game to save with SaveWorld, so the copy matches what players see. ARK also saves itself every 15 minutes. Backups hold your worlds, players, tribes and settings. They never hold game files, which always install fresh from Steam. Mods download again from CurseForge when the server starts.
Make, restore or download a backup
Make one: open Backups and make a backup. Give it a name you’ll remember, like “before the boss fight”.
Restore one: pick a backup in Backups and restore it. We make a safety backup of the current world first, so you can change your mind.
Download one: choose download on any backup. You get a zip of your saves and settings, with a link that works for 24 hours.
To get a single file back, like yesterday’s GameUserSettings.ini, open it in Files and pick an earlier version by date.
Make a backup by hand before you tame something rare, fight a boss or try a big mod. If it goes wrong, you can go back to that moment.
Where the world lives on your server
Everything ARK saves is in ShooterGame/Saved/. Each map has its own folder:
| Folder or file | What’s in it |
|---|---|
ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/TheIsland_WP/TheIsland_WP.ark |
The world: land, buildings, tames and items |
.arkprofile files in the same folder |
One for each player, named by their ARK ID |
.arktribe files in the same folder |
One for each tribe |
ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ |
Your settings files. See the config reference |
The folder name is the map ID, like TheIsland_WP or ScorchedEarth_WP. When you switch maps in Settings, the old map’s folder stays, so you can switch back to it later.
While the server runs, the save files are in use. Files marks them and asks you to stop the server before you change them.
Bring a single-player world
You can move a world from single player on PC to your server. Consoles don’t give you access to save files, so a PlayStation or Xbox world can’t move.
Find the save on Windows (Steam):
- In Steam, right-click ARK: Survival Ascended and pick Manage > Browse local files.
- Open
ShooterGame\Saved\SavedArksLocal\. - Find the folder for your map, like
TheIsland_WP.
The full path is usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended\ShooterGame\Saved\SavedArksLocal\. ARK: Survival Ascended doesn’t run on Mac.
Move it to the server:
- In Settings, pick the same map as your save. Each map uses its own folder.
- Zip the map folder and upload it in Games > Bring your world. Or stop the server and upload the folder’s contents into
ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/TheIsland_WP/with Files or SFTP. Use your map’s folder name. - Start the server and join.
Your land, buildings and tames come along in the .ark file. Your single-player character is in LocalPlayer.arkprofile, but a server looks for each player’s own ARK ID. So the game may make you a new character. Some players rename the file to their ARK ID (shown by whoami in the console) followed by .arkprofile. The developers don’t document this, so keep a backup before you try it.
Move from another host
- On your old host, stop the server and download
ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/. DownloadGameUserSettings.iniandGame.initoo. - Upload the map folders to
ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/on your Wilderack server with Files or SFTP, or zip them and use Games > Bring your world. - Copy your old settings into the easy settings, or paste the keys you changed into the files under Advanced.
- Add the same mods in Mods. A world that used a mod needs that mod to load properly.
- Pick the same map in Settings and start the server.
Players and tribes come along, because both servers name the files by ARK ID.
Questions
Where are ARK Survival Ascended server saves stored?
In ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/, with one folder per map, like TheIsland_WP. The .ark file is the world. The .arkprofile files are players and the .arktribe files are tribes.
Where are my ARK Survival Ascended single-player saves?
With the Steam version on Windows, in your game folder under ShooterGame\Saved\SavedArksLocal\. In Steam, right-click the game, pick Manage, then Browse local files to open the game folder.
Can I move my single-player ARK world to my server?
Yes. Zip the map's folder from SavedArksLocal and upload it in Games, Bring your world. Your buildings and tames come along. Your single-player character may not, so you might start with a new one.
Can I move my world from a console to the server?
No. PlayStation and Xbox don't give you access to save files, so a console world can't be copied to a server.
Sources we checked
- Dedicated server setup (backups)ARK Official Community Wiki
- Server configurationARK Official Community Wiki
- Console commands (SaveWorld)ARK Official Community Wiki
