ARK: Survival Ascended Difficulty Level – Server Guide

Your ARK: Survival Ascended server can start to feel a little tame once your tribe has tamed the strongest dinos and stocked up on top-tier gear. Raising the server difficulty brings tougher, higher-level creatures and better loot back into the mix. In this Nitrado guide, we’ll show you how to adjust the Override Official Difficulty setting and the Difficulty Offset value, and how to read the difficulty chart so you can pick the right numbers for your server.

How to Change the ARK: Survival Ascended Difficulty Level

Two settings affect your server’s difficulty: the Override Official Difficulty option in your Nitrado Web Interface, and the DifficultyOffset line in your server’s config file. This guide covers each one on its own, along with the chart that shows how each value changes your server’s maximum creature level.

Adjust the Override Official Difficulty Setting

1. Log into your Nitrado Web Interface and select your ARK: Survival Ascended server.
2. In the left navigation bar under Settings, select General.

1. Scroll down to the Override Official Difficulty field. A value of 0 disables the override.

1. Enter your chosen value. Setting Override Official Difficulty to 5, for example, raises the maximum wild creature level to 150.

1. Select Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
2. Restart your ARK: Survival Ascended game server for the new difficulty to take effect.

Edit the Difficulty Offset Setting

1. Stop your server. Config Files are only editable while the server is stopped.
2. Open your Web Interface and select your ARK: Survival Ascended server, if you’re not already there.
3. In the left navigation bar under Settings, select Config Files.

1. Open GameUserSettings.ini from the file dropdown.
2. Under the [ServerSettings] section, add DifficultyOffset=1, then edit the value to match the offset you want from the chart below.

1. Select Save Changes.
2. Start your ARK: Survival Ascended game server to apply the change.

Important: existing non-tamed dinos keep their original level until they’re removed. Make sure you have admin access, then run cheat DestroyWildDinos so higher-level creatures can spawn in their place.

Find Your Suitable ARK: SA Server Difficulty Level

Override Official Difficulty sets your server’s maximum creature level: multiply the value by 30 to find the result. Setting Override Official Difficulty to 4 raises the maximum wild creature level to 120, and setting it to 5 raises the maximum to 150, matching the description in your Web Interface and the chart below. To work backward from a target level, divide the level you want by 30. For a maximum creature level of 150, for example, set Override Official Difficulty to 5.

ASA Difficulty Level Chart

This chart lists Maximum Creature Level, Loot Scale, Override Official Difficulty, and Difficulty Offset together for The Island, so you can match your settings to the effect they have on your server.

Unleash Tougher Dinos!

With your Override Official Difficulty and Difficulty Offset settings adjusted, your ARK: Survival Ascended server is ready to spawn higher-level creatures and richer loot for your group to hunt down. Gather your tribe and get back out into the world to see how the new difficulty holds up. 🦖