Managing an ARK: Survival Evolved or ARK: Survival Ascended server means dealing with bugs, griefers, and stubborn server settings. You can't rely on the standard menu to fix everything. ARK admin commands give you direct control over your world, letting you spawn items, ban troublesome players, and manipulate the environment instantly.
If you run a multiplayer cluster or just want to test builds without spending fifty hours grinding materials in single-player, learning these console commands saves you time. This guide breaks down the essential cheat codes, permission setups, and troubleshooting tips you need to run your server smoothly.
Enabling Cheats and Admin Access
Before you can type anything useful, you need to authenticate as an admin. Without this step, every command you enter will return an error or do nothing.
On single-player, press Tab to open the console, type enablecheats [yourpassword], and hit Enter. If you're on PC running your own dedicated server, you must prefix commands with admincheat unless you have already authenticated using the server's admin password.
For console players on PlayStation or Xbox, open the pause menu and press L1 + R1 + Square + Triangle (PlayStation) or LB + RB + X + Y (Xbox) to reveal the admin bar at the top of the screen. Type your password and tap the admin button.
Essential Utility and Character Commands
Once you have admin rights, you can alter your character's status and manipulate the immediate environment. These are the commands you'll use most often during daily server maintenance.
- God: Makes your character completely invincible to damage, temperature, and drowning.
- Fly: Lets you soar through the air to inspect builds or recover lost gear. Type
walkto land. - Ghost: Turns on noclip mode, allowing you to walk through walls, terrain, and base structures.
- InifiniteAmmo: Gives you endless ammunition and eliminates item durability loss.
- GiveMeHelmets or spawning specific gear speeds up testing. Use
GCM(GameMode) to enter creative mode instantly, giving you infinite crafting resources and instant builds.
If you get stuck inside a rock or your game crashes while riding a creature, use Destroymethat while looking at the object, or type Teleport to move forward a few meters. For more details on dedicated server hosting setups, check out the Steam Server Documentation.
Spawning Creatures and Items
Testing late-game tek tier items or taming high-level creatures without console commands takes weeks. Spawning them directly lets you test configurations safely.
The syntax for spawning a tame is admincheat Summon [ClassName] or admincheat SpawnDino [Path] [Distance] [Level] [Imprint]. For items, use GiveItemToPlayer [ID] [Quantity] [Quality] [Blueprint].
For example, spawning a high-level Rex requires knowing its blueprint path:
admincheat SpawnDino "Blueprint'/Game/Prims/Dinos/Rex/Rex_Character_BP.Rex_Character_BP'" 500 150 0
You don't need to memorize every long path. You can use shorthand commands like giveitemnum [ID] [Quantity] [Quality] [Blueprint] for items if you reference standard item ID lists. Always check the official ARK Survival Ascended Wiki for exact class paths when patches update game files.
Server Management and Player Control
When running a public community, you'll occasionally need to deal with disruptive players or adjust environmental rules on the fly.
- BanPlayer [SteamID/Gamertag]: Permanently removes a malicious user from the server database.
- UnbanPlayer [SteamID]: Restores access for a wrongfully banned user.
- KickPlayer [SteamID/Gamertag]: Drops a player from the current session without banning them.
- Broadcast [Message]: Sends a glowing red text announcement across the screens of every active player on the server.
- SaveWorld: Forces an immediate save of the game state to prevent rollback losses during unexpected crashes.
You can also control the time of day using SetTimeOfDay [Hours:Minutes], which helps builders test lighting or forces night-only events to end quickly.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Typing commands incorrectly will break your flow or mess up your save file. Watch out for these pitfalls:
- Forgetting the prefix: If you're on a dedicated server, typing
Flyinstead ofadmincheat Flywon't work. - Unsaved progress: Running destructive commands like
DestroyAllwithout backing up your save file first can delete entire species across the map. Always runSaveWorldbefore experimenting. - Typos in blueprints: A single missing quotation mark or capitalization error in a spawn path will result in nothing happening. Double-check your spelling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do admin commands disable achievements on single-player?
No. ARK allows you to use console commands in single-player without locking out your Steam or console achievements.
Why won't my admin password work on my dedicated server?
Makeure your ServerAdminPassword= is set correctly in your GameUserSettings.ini file. If it's left blank, the game rejects all authentication attempts.
Can console players use custom spawn commands?
Yes, console players can use the admin bar to type commands, but typing long blueprint paths using a controller virtual keyboard is tedious. Stick to simpler item ID commands or use a USB keyboard plugged into your console.
How do I check who is currently online?
Type ListPlayers in the console. This displays a list of connected players and their unique platform IDs, making it easy to kick or ban griefers.
