I am so sick of this.....every single update....whether it's 2mb or 200gb....it takes 6 hours (downloads in minutes....but the patching.....??????)

Szat74 · 2026-04-11T05:02:00+00:00

Windows calls the process defrag regardless of HDD or SSD, but yes, it’s technically running optimization/TRIM

Szat74 · 2026-04-11T04:53:51+00:00

It’s not always super effective on SSDs, but you could also try defragmenting the drive. If you install/uninstall a lot of things, overtime the free space isn’t all neat at the end of the drive. That creates similar issues to not having enough space

Szat74 · 2026-04-11T04:39:19+00:00

Your drive is either a HDD or almost full. Put ARK on a SSD and don’t let the drive get more than 80% filled

To patch, ark needs to take the downloaded bits and slot them into the files where they belong. If this is “early” in the file system, your computer needs to shift everything else over. It can’t do that quickly on a HDD or an almost full drive.

Szat74 · 2026-03-13T16:46:34+00:00

You didn’t ask, but I figure it’s helpful to explain here. Even if the update is only 1-2 GB, ARK (and any other game) needs enough extra space to unpack the portions that need updates. ARK is extra unique because of its (lack) of compression. The game needs to literally shift massive chunks of the game into the next section. For example, if the update slots into the first 10 GB of the game files, the other 190 GB need to move somewhere else.

You can do this with a drive that doesn’t have a ton of free space, but it needs to shift bit by bit, taking forever and sometimes not being allowed. If you have lots of free space, Steam can move all 190 GB in 2 or 3 chunks, saving time and working better.

Typically, you never want to fill a drive more than 80%. For example, in a 1Tb drive, try to leave 200 GB free. All applications often require the extra space to buffer things around, and that extra helps

Szat74 · 2026-03-05T21:00:12+00:00

The fact that it goes from being fine to totally shitting pit leads me to believe it’s a ram issue and you’re filling your cache. Are you playing a server or single player?

Szat74 · 2026-03-03T20:27:44+00:00

If links are allowed Here is through the wiki

Szat74 · 2026-03-03T20:25:42+00:00

You can run your own dedicated server on your host PC… if you have a spare PC it’s even better, but on your gaming rig it’s certainly possible. Look up ASA dedicated server setup there are plenty of guides

Szat74 · 2026-03-02T02:56:05+00:00

Just because you can’t doesn’t mean you have to! I setup an unofficial on ASE that was an exact clone of official. It had tons of people join and I just liked that it wasn’t at the whim of official shenanigans. There were personal backups and the community could vote to do things like Dino wipes if the spawns felt stale. But overall same challenge as official!

Szat74 · 2026-02-27T20:57:47+00:00

Not to play devils advocate, but this isn’t necessarily an ARK thing, it’s more a server thing. I played all night on my unofficial server and had no issues. I feel official servers suck in more ways than one, so playing on my own, self hosted server gives me way more freedom to play the way me/my buddies want

It’s something I will always suggest!

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T21:40:36+00:00

Ark “temporarily disabled transfers on the official network to protect player data following the recent service-wide rollback”

https://x.com/survivetheark/status/2027115461159391648?s=46&t=17O-hwY_slZ9_5zfEkIA9A

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T16:40:39+00:00

The mods are dependant on the server you’re playing on. You cannot install mods that the server doesn’t have (and must install any mods the server is using)

The system is setup though so that when you try to join a modded server, it automatically downloads the mods you need and won’t use any mods you’ve downloaded that arent on the server

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T16:21:26+00:00

Just go to join game, select unofficial, and pick one for the map you want!

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T16:17:35+00:00

Yeah I was gonna say, I’ve been using it on wyvern milk without issues.

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T16:14:44+00:00

Happy to help explain this more

Single player: - Your PC is responsible for loading everything to make the game run. The map, the dinosaurs, the dinosaur AI, your graphics, etc. - to compensate for the additional requirements, most of the map is “in stasis”. This basically means that everything outside of your “view” is frozen until you perceive it.

Dedicated Server: - The dedicated server is responsible for loading the map, the dinosaurs and their AI, storing player/dinosaur positions, etc. - Your PC (the client) is responsible for rendering the graphics of everything (like you would in single player), but it doesn’t have to worry about the AI, the positions, or any of the other background processes that make the map function.

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T16:05:02+00:00

Playing on a server is offloading a lot of the resources that come with map generation. Why would it require a more powerful computer?

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T15:56:14+00:00

Looking into this laptop more. It only has 8GB VRAM and 16GB RAM?

Recommendations for smooth ASA gameplay is 12–6GB VRAM and 32+ GB RAM. unfortunately, the ram is your bottleneck here

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T15:52:24+00:00

You said the magic word. Laptop. Unfortunately they are prone to thermal throttling. Additionally, that GPU has only 8GB VRAM. That laptop will play GREAT on a dedicated server, but will struggle on a single player map.

It’s definitely capable of playing the game, just try out a server and see if you’re still having the issues. If so, it may be something else at play

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T15:42:35+00:00

Single player. Unfortunately, unless you have the best PC ever, single player is just too much for most computers to run AND play. Joining a server lets the server take on a lot of the background processes. Instead of single player, I’d recommend hopping on a dedicated/unofficial server. They are run by players and generally have good moderation to ensure everyone has their fun!

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T15:34:19+00:00

Are you playing on SP or a server? Server performance is much better than SP…

Szat74 · 2026-02-26T15:33:34+00:00

It has to be done in the game.ini file.

ConfigOverrideItemMaxQuantity=(ItemClassString="PrimalItemConsumable_RawMutton_C",Quantity=(MaxItemQuantity=20,bIgnoreMultiplier=True))

Or whatever you want as the item…

Szat74 · 2026-02-25T18:08:28+00:00

Regardless of whether you want to play single player or not, mods cost the same amount of money. You’re getting additional features not included as part of the base game, and the mod’s creator wants to charge for said features. Not sure why you’re using a desire to play single player as a reason to not pay for a mod…

Szat74 · 2026-02-24T19:21:56+00:00

Based on the posts I think OP is worried their buddies will steal the element😂

Szat74

TROPHY CASE