ARK Game.ini: Advanced Server Tuning (Breeding, Levels & Stats)

 

    GameUserSettings.ini handles the everyday rates, but the deep tuning — breeding speed, your level cap, per-level stat gains, spoiling times and tribe rules — lives in Game.ini. This guide decodes the most useful Game.ini options so you can build exactly the server you want. Applies to ARK: Survival Evolved and Survival Ascended.

 

Where these go

 

    All options below go in Game.ini under the header:

 

[/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]

 

    On a gamever server, you'll find Game.ini in the web file manager at:

 

/home/server/ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/Game.ini

 

    Open the file manager in your control panel, navigate to that folder, and edit Game.ini in the browser.

 

Keep your edits. By default the panel writes the config from your panel settings on every restart, which overwrites anything you added by hand. Before editing Game.ini directly, go to Settings → Server Settings and set Disable settings below to Yes ("Disable settings overwriting. You can manually edit or upload your GameUserSettings.ini file.") — this one toggle covers Game.ini too, so otherwise your changes vanish at the next restart.

 

Breeding & babies (the #1 reason to touch Game.ini)

 

    The single most popular use of Game.ini — make breeding bearable. 1.0 = official rate.

 

Setting	Default	What it does
MatingIntervalMultiplier	1.0	Cooldown between matings. Lower = breed again sooner (e.g. 0.5).
EggHatchSpeedMultiplier	1.0	Higher = fertilized eggs hatch faster.
BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier	1.0	Higher = babies grow up faster.
BabyFoodConsumptionSpeedMultiplier	1.0	Lower = babies eat slower (less food-babysitting).
BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier	1.0	Lower = imprint cuddles wanted more often (easier 100% imprint).
BabyImprintAmountMultiplier	1.0	Higher = each imprint gives more % (hit 100% in fewer cuddles).
BabyImprintingStatScaleMultiplier	1.0	How much imprinting boosts stats. 0 disables the imprint bonus.
LayEggIntervalMultiplier	1.0	Higher = longer between eggs being laid.

 

Popular breeding combo: MatingInterval 0.5, EggHatch 10, BabyMature 10, CuddleInterval 0.3 — fast but still hands-on.

 

Level cap, XP & engram points

 

Setting	Default	What it does
OverrideMaxExperiencePointsPlayer	—	Sets the XP cap for players (raise it to allow more levels).
OverrideMaxExperiencePointsDino	—	Same, for creatures.
LevelExperienceRampOverrides	—	Full override of the level table — defines how many levels exist and the XP per level.
OverridePlayerLevelEngramPoints	—	Engram points granted per level. Repeat one line per level.
bOnlyAllowSpecifiedEngrams	false	If true, only engrams you explicitly list can be learned.
bAllowUnlimitedRespecs	false	True lets players use the Mindwipe Tonic repeatedly without the 24h cooldown.

 

Raising the level cap takes both a bigger OverrideMaxExperiencePoints... value and matching LevelExperienceRampOverrides/engram-point lines, or players hit a wall with no points.

 

Per-level stat multipliers

 

    Fine-tune how much each point in a stat gives. These use a per-stat index syntax:

 

PerLevelStatsMultiplier_Player[StatIndex]=value
PerLevelStatsMultiplier_DinoTamed[StatIndex]=value
PerLevelStatsMultiplier_DinoWild[StatIndex]=value

 

• Common indexes: 0 Health, 1 Stamina, 3 Oxygen, 4 Food, 7 Weight, 8 Melee Damage, 9 Movement Speed.
• Example: PerLevelStatsMultiplier_Player[7]=3.0 triples weight gained per level — a favorite quality-of-life tweak.
• PlayerBaseStatMultipliers[StatIndex]=value adjusts the starting base of each stat.

 

Spoiling, decay & crops

 

Setting	Default	What it does
GlobalSpoilingTimeMultiplier	1.0	Higher = food/perishables last longer.
GlobalItemDecompositionTimeMultiplier	1.0	Higher = dropped items and bags last longer.
GlobalCorpseDecompositionTimeMultiplier	1.0	Higher = bodies/death bags last longer (more time to recover loot).
CropGrowthSpeedMultiplier	1.0	Higher = crops grow faster.
CropDecaySpeedMultiplier	1.0	Lower = crops decay slower in plots.

 

Harvesting, turrets & recipes

 

Setting	Default	What it does
DinoHarvestingDamageMultiplier	3.2	Higher = mounts gather more per hit.
PlayerHarvestingDamageMultiplier	1.0	Higher = on-foot harvesting yields more.
DinoTurretDamageMultiplier	1.0	Scales turret damage against dinos (key for PvP balance).
CustomRecipeEffectivenessMultiplier	1.0	Higher = stronger custom cooking-pot recipes.
SupplyCrateLootQualityMultiplier	1.0	1–5: better loot from supply drops.
FishingLootQualityMultiplier	1.0	1–5: better loot from fishing.

 

Tribes & PvP rules

 

Setting	Default	What it does
MaxNumberOfPlayersInTribe	0	Tribe size cap (0 = unlimited; 1 effectively disables tribes).
TribeSlotReuseCooldown	0	Seconds a slot is locked after a member leaves (anti-tribe-hopping).
bPvEAllowTribeWar	true	Allows tribes to formally declare war (PvE).
bDisableFriendlyFire	false	True stops friendly fire among tribemates/dinos/structures (PvP).
bPvEDisableFriendlyFire	false	Same, for PvE servers.
bDisableLootCrates	false	True stops loot crates spawning (artifact crates still spawn).

 

Item stack sizes

 

• ItemStackSizeMultiplier (in GameUserSettings.ini) scales all default stacks globally — the easy way to bump stacks.
• For per-item control, use ConfigOverrideItemMaxQuantity entries in Game.ini to set exact stack sizes for specific item class names.

 

Additional Tips

 

• Breeding settings are the highest-impact edit for most servers — start there.
• Change one block, restart, test. Stat-index and level-ramp mistakes are much easier to spot in isolation.
• PerLevelStatsMultiplier indexes differ for Player vs Dino — double-check which stat each index maps to before tuning.
• Level cap needs two parts: the XP override and the ramp/engram lines, or players cap out with no points.
• Back up Game.ini before big changes — one stray bracket can stop the server loading the file.

 

Conclusion

 

    Game.ini is where ARK goes from "official rates" to "your server." Tune breeding so it fits real life, set a level cap and stats your community likes, and balance harvesting and PvP exactly how you want.

 

    Rent your ARK server at gamever.io and edit Game.ini from a built-in editor with one-click restarts — no FTP, no command line, online 24/7. Free trial, promo code WELCOME.