ARK: SA Server Settings Revert on Restart — Why and Fix

Why your ARK: Survival Ascended server settings revert on restart

You edited Game.ini. You changed TamingSpeedMultiplier from 1.0 to 5.0. You restarted the server. The setting is back at 1.0. This page is the diagnostic flowchart for that exact symptom on ARK Survival Ascended, covering the five causes in order of how often they're the actual reason.

Cause 1: You edited while the server was running

Frequency: very common. Probably 60% of all "settings reverted" cases.

The ARK Survival Ascended dedicated server reads its configuration files at startup and holds the loaded values in memory. On shutdown, the server writes its current in-memory state back to the INI files. If you edit those files while the server is up, the running process never sees your edit, and the shutdown step overwrites your file with the pre-edit state.

The order that works:

1. Stop the server.
2. Wait for the status to show fully stopped (not "stopping" — actually stopped).
3. Edit Game.ini and/or GameUserSettings.ini.
4. Start the server.

Any other order is a coin flip. If you must hot-reload (which ARK: Survival Ascended does not really support for most settings), the only way is to issue the in-game admin command for the live value, then edit the file after a stop later for persistence.

Cause 2: You edited the wrong file

Frequency: common. About 20% of cases.

ARK: Survival Ascended has two main INI files and they hold different things. If you put a setting in the wrong one, the engine ignores it silently.

The rule of thumb: if it is a single value (a multiplier, a yes/no), it's almost always in GameUserSettings.ini. If it's a complex structure with parentheses and class names, it's almost always in Game.ini.

Both files are in ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/ on a Linux server (the path uses WindowsServer/ on Windows hosts).

Cause 3: You edited in the wrong section

Frequency: common. Around 10% of cases.

Each INI file has multiple section headers. A setting in the wrong section is ignored even if it's in the right file. The two big ones:

In GameUserSettings.ini:

[ServerSettings]
TamingSpeedMultiplier=5.0  # ✓ Works

[SessionSettings]
TamingSpeedMultiplier=5.0  # ✗ Ignored — wrong section

In Game.ini:

[/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]
OverrideNamedEngramEntries=(...)  # ✓ Works

[ServerSettings]
OverrideNamedEngramEntries=(...)  # ✗ Ignored — wrong section

If you copy-paste a config block from a guide, double-check the section header is present and matches what the guide says.

Cause 4: The setting requires both files

Frequency: occasional. Around 5% of cases.

A few settings have related entries in both files. Setting one without the other looks like a revert because the missing half pulls the result back to default.

Most common pairing: custom level cap. You need both:

# In Game.ini
[/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]
OverrideMaxExperiencePointsPlayer=100000000
LevelExperienceRampOverrides=(...)

# In GameUserSettings.ini
[ServerSettings]
OverrideOfficialDifficulty=5.0  # If you also want higher wild dino levels

See the level-cap troubleshooting guide for the full pattern.

Cause 5: The setting was changed in-game via cheat console

Frequency: rare but easy to miss. Around 5% of cases.

If you (or another admin) issued a cheat command in-game that changed a server value, that change is in-memory only. It does not persist to the INI file. The next restart drops it.

The pattern that confuses people: an admin sets cheat SetTimeOfDay 12:00 to fix a server that's stuck at night. The next save writes "current time" to the world save, but the time progression rate stays at whatever the INI file said. After restart, time appears to be progressing normally — but if the admin had used cheat SetDayCycleSpeedScale, that change was always in-memory and is now lost.

For any setting you want to persist, edit the file, never just the in-game cheat.

Cause 6 (bonus): A mod is overwriting your setting

Frequency: rare. But worth checking when none of the above explain it.

Some ARK: Survival Ascended mods include their own config files that override the base game's settings. If a mod re-enables an engram you tried to hide, or resets a multiplier you tried to lower, the mod is the cause, not your file edit.

To diagnose: temporarily run the server with mods disabled. Verify your settings stick. If they do, re-enable mods one at a time until the override returns.

The diagnostic flowchart

1. Stop the server cleanly. Wait for fully-stopped status.
2. Open Game.ini and GameUserSettings.ini side by side.
3. Find the setting you wanted to change. Confirm:
   • It's in the right file (see Cause 2 table)
   • It's under the right section header (see Cause 3)
   • Its companion setting (if any) is also set (see Cause 4)
4. Save the file.
5. Start the server.
6. Once the server is up, join as a player and verify the setting is active in-game.
7. Stop the server cleanly. Re-open the INI file and verify your setting is still there.

If step 7 shows your setting was overwritten by the shutdown, your edit timing was wrong (Cause 1) or a mod is forcing the value back (Cause 6).

What "config reverting" looks like vs what "config never loaded" looks like

Two failure modes look identical from the player's perspective ("the change I made didn't take effect") but have different root causes and different fixes:

• Config reverting — your INI file is correct, but the server keeps writing over it on shutdown. Cause 1, possibly Cause 6.
• Config never loaded — the file is unchanged after restart, but the game ignored your setting on startup. Cause 2, 3, or 4 (wrong file, wrong section, missing companion).

To tell them apart: after editing and restarting, look at the INI file. If your edit is still there, the file is fine but the load was wrong — check the section. If your edit got reverted, the timing was wrong — check the stop-edit-start sequence.

On Supercraft-hosted ARK: Survival Ascended servers, the Config tab handles the stop-edit-start sequence automatically and tells you which file each setting writes to. See ARK: Survival Ascended plans.

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