ARK Server Mods (ASA): Installing, Ordering and Updating Them
The mechanics of running mods on an ARK: Survival Ascended dedicated server: how a mod gets declared, how the server fetches it, why load order changes the outcome, what the failures look like in the logs, and what removing a mod does to your save. For which mods are worth running, see the best ASA mods of 2026.
The thing that catches everyone: ASA does not use the Steam Workshop. Survival Evolved did. ASA mods live on CurseForge, and the number you copy is a project ID, not a Workshop file ID.
CurseForge, Not the Steam Workshop
Studio Wildcard moved ASA modding to CurseForge at launch, and the switch is total: no Workshop subscriptions, no Workshop IDs, no Workshop folder. Three consequences for a server owner:
- IDs are numeric CurseForge project IDs. Every mod page shows a field labelled Project ID (the Mod Updater utility is 966889). A Workshop ID pasted into an ASA mod list resolves to nothing and takes the server down with it.
- Players do not need an external launcher. ASA mods are browsed and installed from the in-game mod menu on PC and console alike, and the CurseForge desktop app does not handle ASA. This is also why console clients can join modded ASA servers, impossible on Survival Evolved.
- The server fetches its own mods. Give the dedicated server (Steam app ID
2430930) a valid ID and it downloads the mod at startup, unpacking it into its own numeric folder under the ShooterGame Mods directory. You never upload mod files over FTP.
How a Mod Is Declared
Two ways to hand the server a mod list, plus two special cases that behave differently. All four are documented on the official ARK Community Wiki.
| Declaration | Where it goes | What it does |
|---|---|---|
ActiveMods=id1,id2,id3 | [ServerSettings] in GameUserSettings.ini | The mod list the engine reads. Comma separated, all on one line. |
-mods=id1,id2,id3 | Server launch command line | The same list as a launch argument, taking CurseForge project IDs. |
-passivemods=id1,id2 | Server launch command line | Loads a mod's data without enabling it, so cluster members can carry modded creatures onto a map that should not spawn them. |
ActiveMapMod=id | [ServerSettings] in GameUserSettings.ini | Selects a modded map. Not interchangeable with the list above. |
Pick one source of truth. Our launcher builds -mods= from the panel field, and when a customer takes raw INI control it reads the last ActiveMods line out of GameUserSettings.ini instead, because that is the one the engine honours. Hand-maintain both and the copy you forgot about wins.
A Map Mod Is Not Just Another Entry
A modded map needs two things that agree: the map identity in the launch line (ASA maps carry the _WP suffix) and the map mod declared as ActiveMapMod. There are two different Astraeos maps and they are easy to confuse. The paid official DLC is the map Astraeos_WP and needs no mod entry at all, you simply name the map. Project id 988598 is a separate free CurseForge mod map of the same name, and only that one needs ActiveMapMod. Name the map without that line and the server does not fail loudly, it boots something else. See the Astraeos setup guide.
The reverse trips more people. Switch away from a modded map and leave ActiveMapMod in the file, and the map mod quietly loads on top of the new map. Our start path strips the key whenever the selected map is not a map mod, because customers kept hitting it. Editing INIs yourself, you delete that line by hand.
Mods with their own settings put them in Game.ini under /Script/ShooterGame.ShooterGameMode, or in a section the author names. Use it verbatim; a mod key in the wrong section is silently dead. The vanilla side of both files is in the settings reference.
Load Order, and Why Your Stack Is Not Their Stack
Order is not cosmetic. The official wiki is explicit about ActiveMods: priority runs in descending order, so the left-most ID has the highest priority. When two mods touch the same creature, structure, engram or loot table, the one further left wins.
That one rule explains a lot of confusing reports: two servers with the same mod list in a different order are not running the same game, and will not have the same bugs. It also means:
- Framework, core and overhaul mods belong where their author says, usually first. A position stated on the mod page outranks any general advice.
- Two heavy overhauls will trample each other regardless of order. Order resolves a conflict; it does not make the conflict harmless.
- Reordering an existing list is a content change, not a config tweak. Every overlap changes winner at once. Back up first.
What Goes Wrong, and Where to Look
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Server will not stay up after adding a mod. The process appears, then dies about 40 seconds in | One ID cannot be fetched: a typo, a delisted or private mod, or an ID for a different game | Saved/Logs/crashcallstack.txt for Requested mods failed to load on server, and ShooterGame.log for Error querying server mods. Pull the newest ID, then add back one at a time |
| Mod downloaded, but its content is nowhere in game | Declared in one place and not the other, or declared as passive | That the ID is in the active list, not only in -passivemods= |
| Players kicked or bounced on join | The client mod set does not match the server's, or a PC-only mod is on a cross-platform server | Mod versions on both ends, and each mod's platform flag. See crossplay and ServerPlatform, and version mismatch |
| A mod updated itself and the save broke | The new build renamed or removed classes the save still references | Restore the snapshot from before the update, then hold that mod version. Never stack fixes on a broken save. Walkthrough: mod broke after auto-update |
| Map mod changed and the world looks wiped | The map identity changed, so the server loaded a different save file | Map name and ActiveMapMod together. The old world is still on disk under its old map name |
If nothing downloads at all rather than crashing, start with ASA mods not loading.
Updates Are the Real Problem
Mods update on the author's schedule, not yours, and the documented behaviour is that the dedicated server updates its mods when it starts. A nightly reboot, a crash recovery, a restart to change one setting: any of them can pull a mod build you never chose and never tested. Worse, a game patch can invalidate the whole stack at once, because overhauls are built against game content that just moved.
No setting makes this go away. There is only discipline:
- Keep the list written down as IDs, not names. Recovery starts from numbers.
- Back up before every mod change, and know the restore procedure before you need it. See the ASA backup strategy.
- Test on a copy. Point a second server at a copied save with the new mod set. Five minutes there beats a rollback.
- Restart deliberately, at a moment you are watching, rather than letting a 4am reboot decide when new mod builds land.
- Watch the authors, not the server. Follow the CurseForge project pages for the two or three mods whose failure would actually hurt.
- Expect a gap after a major game patch. Overhauls often need a day or two for a compatibility build. Plan the downtime instead of fighting it.
Removing a Mod Is Destructive
Adding a mod feels reversible. It is not. Everything a mod adds is defined by the mod, and your save only holds references. Take the mod away and those references resolve against nothing.
In practice: modded structures vanish with whatever was inside them. Tamed modded creatures vanish, including any parked in modded storage. Modded items disappear from inventories, and a player logging in while wearing or carrying one can be killed and respawned on the way through. Restoring a backup restores the world but does not un-remove the mod, so the same thing happens the moment you boot without it.
Treat removal as a scheduled event. Snapshot immediately before, and keep it. Give players notice so valuables move into vanilla containers and modded gear comes off. Never remove a mod as a blind fix for a crash without a backup in hand, or you trade a temporary problem for a permanent one. Removing a map mod is the extreme case: the map goes, and the world built on it goes too.
How Many Mods Is Too Many
There is no published cap, and the number people quote is always someone else's server. Three costs scale with the list:
- Load time. Every mod is content the server downloads, unpacks and loads at boot. A long list makes restarts slow, and a restart is what you do when something is already wrong.
- Memory. Mod assets load on top of the map, not instead of it. An overhaul plus a modded map is a materially larger server than vanilla The Island. The CPU side is in modded runtime performance.
- Probability. Each mod is an independent author on an independent schedule. If one mod has roughly a one in twenty chance of being broken in a given week, ten make a bad week a coin flip and twenty make it the default.
A workable ceiling: as many mods as you can name from memory, back up before touching, and test as a set. For most admins that lands under a dozen.
Related Reading
- Best ASA mods in 2026
- ASA mods not loading
- Mod broke after auto-update
- ASA dedicated server setup, the full launch line
- ARK cluster setup, where passive mods matter
Managed ARK: Survival Ascended server hosting. Supercraft runs ASA dedicated servers on AMD EPYC hardware with CurseForge mods, every released map, raw INI access, daily snapshots and four regions. Still on Survival Evolved? We run ARK: Survival Evolved servers too.