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ARK Backup and Restore Guide

Ark Guide • Updated Mar 30, 2026

ARK Backup and Restore Guide

Good backups are what turn an ARK disaster into a short maintenance window. Mods break, updates go sideways, tribes get wiped by mistakes, and mature worlds eventually hit save issues. The right approach is simple: back up the whole save set, not just one map file, and restore only after you have proved the running build is healthy.

What You Need to Back Up

Data Why It Matters
ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks* Main world, tribe, player, and map save data
ShooterGame/Saved/Config/ Server settings, rates, rules, and gameplay options
Cluster storage Required if you allow cross-server transfers
Mod list and launch parameters Lets you rebuild the runtime state after a rollback

Backup Schedule That Works

  1. Take automatic backups every 15 to 30 minutes on active servers.
  2. Keep at least one daily backup and one pre-update backup.
  3. Take a manual backup before mod changes, map moves, or cluster work.
  4. Store old backups off the game disk when possible.

The best backup is the one taken before you start experimenting. Most painful ARK recoveries happen because the admin only backed up after the server already looked wrong.

Restore Order

  1. Stop the server completely.
  2. Copy the current save tree somewhere safe before overwriting anything.
  3. Restore the whole target backup, including world and profile files.
  4. Make sure the mod set and server build match the restored point in time.
  5. Start the server and test with one admin account first.

When Not to Restore Yet

  • If the issue started right after a game update, validate the server first.
  • If the issue started after a mod change, test with mods disabled first.
  • If a fresh world works and the old one fails, then rollback is justified.

Files Worth Double-Checking

ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/
ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArksLocal/
ShooterGame/Saved/Config/
ShooterGame/Saved/clusters/

Need easier rollback points for long-running ARK communities? Host ARK: Survival Evolved on Supercraft or run ARK: Survival Ascended on Supercraft and keep recovery cleaner when updates or mods go wrong.

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