Tweaking Stat Multipliers on Your ARK Server

Overview

ARK gives server admins a generous set of knobs to turn. Dino spawns, level curves, base stats, almost everything can be tuned. Stat multipliers are one of the more useful tweaks, and once you know where the file lives, it only takes a few minutes to set up.

Locating the Game.ini file

The values you want to change live inside the `Game.ini` file. On a Linux server the default path is roughly `ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/Game.ini`.

To open it through your hosting panel:

1. Open your server's control panel and stop the server with the red Stop button.
2. Open the file manager and sign in with your panel password.
3. Browse to `ShooterGame` then `Saved`, `Config`, and finally `LinuxServer`.
4. Find `Game.ini` and click the Edit button on the right side to open it in the web editor.

Preparing Game.ini

Before adding any multipliers, the first line of the file needs the correct section header so the game recognizes the block. Paste it at the very top, then move on to the actual stat lines below it.

The line you add next depends on whose stats you plan to change. ARK uses three different entries:

• Wild dinos: the wild dino stat multiplier line.
• Tamed dinos: the tamed dino stat multiplier line.
• Players: the player stat multiplier line.

Each group has its own entry, so you can mix them in the same file if you want to retune more than one set at the same time.

Setting the multipliers

Every stat line follows the same pattern and includes two important numbers: the stat ID and the multiplier value.

• The first number is the stat ID. ID `0` is Health, and each stat has its own number.
• The second number is the multiplier. The default is `1`, meaning no change. Set it to `2` to double the stat, `0.5` to halve it, and so on.

As an example, say you want to double the Health of tamed dinos and triple the Melee Damage of players. You would set the tamed dino Health line to a multiplier of `2` and the player Melee Damage line to a multiplier of `3`. Add one line per stat you want to alter.

Saving and applying the changes

Once your lines are in place, press the green Save button at the top of the editor and start the server back up. The new multipliers take effect as soon as the world finishes loading. Hop in, level up a character or check a tamed dino, and confirm the values look right.

Troubleshooting

If the multipliers do not seem to work, the cause is almost always one of two things:

• A typo in `Game.ini`. Double check brackets, equals signs and decimals.
• The file never actually saved before the restart. Reopen it and confirm your edits are still there.

Closing thoughts

Stat multipliers are a quick way to reshape the feel of an ARK server without touching mods. Crank values up for a relaxed, accelerated playthrough, or pull them down for a brutal survival run. The flexibility is baked into the game, so you mostly just need to decide what kind of session you want to host.