ARK: Survival Ascended is a survival game that you can enjoy solo or with a friend, but before you jump in, you’ll want to make sure your settings are all in order. Even that can be overwhelming though, so here’s a full breakdown of the best settings to use for ARK: Survival Ascended as a solo player, and for folks looking to optimize performance or graphics.
Best Performance Settings for ARK: Survival Ascended
First off, let’s go over the best PC settings to go for in ARK: Survival Ascended if you’re looking to prioritize framerate and performance. Listed below are all of the options you can fiddle with, and what you should set them to:
| Setting | Option |
|---|---|
| Advanced Graphics | Low |
| View Distance | Low |
| Textures | Low |
| Post Processing | Low |
| General Shadows | Low |
| Global Illumination Quality | Low |
| Effects Quality | Low |
| Foliage Quality | Low |
| Motion Blur | Off |
| Light Bloom | Off |
| Light Shafts | Off |
| Low-Light Enhancement | Off |
| Enable Foliage and Fluid Interaction | Off |
| Foliage Interaction Distance Multiplier | 0.01 |
| Foliage Interaction Distance Limit | 1 |
| Enable Footstep Particles | Off |
| Enable Footstep Decals | Off |
| GUI 3D Widget Quality | 0.5 |
Of course, if your PC rig is well and above the recommended specs for ASA, you can feel free to turn some of these on to make the game look a little prettier. Generally, the most taxing options here are General Shadows, Light Bloom and Shafts, and the Foliage Interaction settings. You may want to consider setting those to a minimum as you fiddle with the other options.
Best Graphics Settings
On the other end of the spectrum, while you could just set everything to a maximum to make the game look extra pretty, we don’t necessarily recommend that either even if your PC crushes the recommended specs. There are still a few optimization issues with the game that could get exacerbated if you’re playing everything on maximum.
That said, here are the settings to consider if you want the game to look its best:
| Setting | Option |
|---|---|
| Advanced Graphics | Low |
| View Distance | Medium |
| Textures | High |
| Post Processing | High |
| General Shadows | High |
| Global Illumination Quality | Medium |
| Effects Quality | Medium |
| Foliage Quality | High |
| Motion Blur | Off |
| Light Bloom | On |
| Light Shafts | On |
| Low-Light Enhancement | On |
| Enable Foliage and Fluid Interaction | On |
| Foliage Interaction Distance Multiplier | 0.5 |
| Foliage Interaction Distance Limit | 1 |
| Enable Footstep Particles | On |
| Enable Footstep Decals | On |
| GUI 3D Widget Quality | 0.5 |
Related: What Is The Best Gaming Monitor Size? on Dot Esports
Best Settings for Solo Players
Finally, if you’re planning on playing ARK: Survival Ascended as a solo player, there are some settings you should tweak to make it more manageable, especially if you’re on a first playthrough. Here are the recommended settings for that:
Player Settings
| Setting | Option |
|---|---|
| Damage | 1 |
| Resistance | 1 |
| Water Drain | 0.7 |
| Food Drain | 0.7 |
| Stamina Drain | 0.7 |
| Health Recovery | 1 |
| Harvesting Damage | 2 |
Creature Settings
| Setting | Option |
|---|---|
| Max Count | 1 |
| Damage | 1 |
| Resistance | 1 |
| Food Drain | 0.5 |
| Stamina Drain | 1 |
| Health Recovery | 1 |
| Harvesting Damage | 5 |
| Turret Damage | 1 |
| Disable Taming | Off |
| Disable Riding | Off |
And those are the best settings to consider for ARK: Survival Ascended. Be sure to search for Twinfinite for more tips and information on the game, including a full breakdown of the dinosaurs in-game and how to turn off clouds.
