How to Transfer Official ASA Saves in ARK: Survival Ascended

You’ve spent hours taming dinos, building bases, and surviving the harsh island biomes on your Official ARK: Survival Ascended server. Studio Wildcard is sunsetting specific Official servers on December 8, as confirmed in Community Crunch 480, but that progress doesn’t have to end with the shutdown.

In this Nitrado guide, we’ll show you how to take your exported ASA Official Save Game files and upload them to your own Nitrado game server, so you and your tribe can pick up right where you left off.

Preparing Your Save Files

Before you touch your Nitrado game server, gather what Wildcard gave you.

1. Download the save: Get your specific server save file from the links Studio Wildcard provided.
2. Extract the files: Unzip the download to a folder on your computer.
3. Identify the files: Look for the main world file (ending in .ark) and a folder or files for tribe and player data (.arkprofile, .arktribe).

Pro Tip: Keep a copy of these extracted files on your PC in a separate folder. If an upload fails or a file gets corrupted, you’ll have a fresh copy ready to go.

Uploading Your Save Game to Your Server

Once your files are ready, place them into the correct folder on your server.

1. Stop your server in your Nitrado Web Interface.
2. On the left-hand sidebar, navigate to Tools > File Browser.

1. Click through the breadcrumb arksa / ShooterGame / Saved / SavedArks.

1. Inside SavedArks, open the folder named after your map, such as TheIsland_WP.

1. ⚠️ We recommend backing up your server before you delete the default save. Use Tools > Restore Backup to create a restore point, or download a copy of the existing files to your PC, so you have a rollback path if the new save doesn’t load correctly.
2. Upload the files:

• Delete the existing .ark file inside this folder (this is the default fresh world).
• Upload your official .ark save file here.
• Upload your .arkprofile and .arktribe files (or the folder containing them) into this same directory.

Activating the World

Your server needs to know exactly which file to load. Official save files often have complex names, like OfficialServer1234.ark, but your server is configured to look for the standard map name.

1. Rename the .ark file: Find the official save file you just uploaded. Right-click it (or use the rename tool) and rename it to the default map name.

• For The Island: TheIsland_WP.ark
• For The Center: TheCenter_WP.ark
• For Scorched Earth: ScorchedEarth_WP.ark
• For Ragnarok: Ragnarok_WP.ark
• For Aberration: Aberration_WP.ark
• For Extinction: Extinction_WP.ark
• For Valguero: Valguero_WP.ark
• For Astraeos: Astraeos_WP.ark

1. Verify tribe data: Make sure your tribe and profile data sits in the same folder as the .ark file, so the game can link players to their characters.
2. Restart the server: Go back to your dashboard and restart your server.

Troubleshooting & Support

If your server doesn’t load the save correctly, or you spawn into a new character instead of your existing one, check the following:

• File naming: Did you rename the .ark file exactly as required? File names are case sensitive.
• File path: Are the files inside the map-specific folder, such as TheIsland_WP, and not sitting directly in SavedArks?

If the world still won’t load, contact Nitrado Support with details about your issue. The team will help you get your world back online.

Continue Your Legacy

Your history on ARK doesn’t have to end with the Official servers closing. Hosting your own world puts you in control of rates, mods, and who you play with. Log in, gather your tribe, and pick up your Official save exactly where you left off.