How to Enable Automatic Mod Updating on ARK

Published June 8, 2026 · By Host Havoc Technical Support Team

Automatic mod updating checks your ARK: Survival Evolved mods for updates each time the server starts. It can save manual work, but we generally advise against it: a failed mod update during startup is a common cause of a server that will not boot. If you would rather update manually, see how to add mods.

Warning: Updates only run at startup, and a failed mod update can stop the server from starting. If you enable this and the server later will not boot, see mods not loading.

Enable automatic mod updates

  1. Log into the game panel and stop the server.
  2. Open the Command Line Manager and enable the Auto Managed Mods parameter.
  3. Save the command line, then open the Configuration Files module.
  4. Open Game.ini in the text editor.
  5. Add each mod you want auto-updated under a [ModInstaller] section:
[ModInstaller]
ModIDS=680481868
ModIDS=682394267
  1. Save Game.ini and start the server.