How to Fix Lag on Your ARK Server

Almost all ARK: Survival Evolved server lag comes down to two things: configuration files or mods. Work through the config checks first, since they are quick, then review your mods. If the server is hanging rather than lagging, that is a different problem covered in server crashing.

Check your configuration files

1. Remove duplicate lines. A setting listed more than once (the auto-save setting is a common offender) causes lag, so keep one line per setting.
2. Lower very high multipliers back toward the standard values.
3. Leave the auto-save interval at its default (15 minutes) or higher, and force a save over RCON before restarts. A very short auto-save interval hurts performance.
4. Be careful with the dino count multiplier. Raising it makes the server manage many times more creatures, which lowers both server performance and player frame rates.

Review your mods

Several mods are known to cause performance issues. If you run mods, disable them to test whether the lag clears, then reintroduce them one at a time via how to add mods to find the culprit. Stick to actively maintained mods.

Tip: Change one thing at a time and recheck. It is the only reliable way to find which setting or mod is responsible.