How to change the rates on your ARK server (XP, taming)

⚡ The short answer

ARK "rates" are multipliers you set in two server configuration files. Experience, taming and harvesting go in GameUserSettings.ini; everything to do with breeding goes in Game.ini. The setting names are the same in ARK: Survival Evolved and ARK: Survival Ascended. They all default to 1.0, you edit them with the server stopped, and they take effect the next time it starts.

📁 Where the files are

Both files sit in the same folder, inside ShooterGame/Saved/Config/: the LinuxServer subfolder on a Linux server, or WindowsServer on a Windows one. On ZentexNode you open them from the panel's file manager or, if you'd rather edit them on your own PC, by connecting over SFTP.

Each setting takes one line, written as Name=value, and has to sit under the header of its section. If the line is already there, change the value; if it isn't, add it. Don't leave the same setting in the file twice.

📈 XP, taming and harvesting

These go in GameUserSettings.ini, under the [ServerSettings] header. If that header is already in the file, don't add it again.

Setting	What it multiplies
XPMultiplier	The experience earned by players, tribes and tamed creatures.
TamingSpeedMultiplier	How fast creatures are tamed.
HarvestAmountMultiplier	What you get from harvesting: chopping trees, picking berries, mining rocks or carving carcasses.

For all three, a higher value means more. A "3x" server looks like this:

XPMultiplier=3.0
TamingSpeedMultiplier=3.0
HarvestAmountMultiplier=3.0

🦖 Wild creature levels

In the same file and the same section you'll find OverrideOfficialDifficulty. It defaults to 0.0 (off); set to 5.0, common wild creatures spawn up to level 150. It is usually changed along with the rates.

🥚 Breeding: mating, hatching and maturation

These go in Game.ini, under the [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode] header. If the file is empty, type that header on the first line. Careful: they don't all move in the same direction.

Setting	What it controls	To speed things up
MatingIntervalMultiplier	The wait between one mating and the next.	Lower it: at 0.5 creatures can mate again 50% sooner.
EggHatchSpeedMultiplier	How long a fertilised egg takes to hatch.	Raise it.
BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier	How fast a baby matures.	Raise it.
BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier	How often a baby asks for care for imprinting: every 8 hours at 1.0.	Lower it.
BabyImprintAmountMultiplier	The imprinting percentage each care adds.	Raise it.

🤝 Keeping imprinting within reach of 100%

The care interval does not shrink by itself when you speed up maturation. If you raise BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier a lot and leave the interval at 1.0, some babies grow up before they have asked for the care they need. A practical rule: lower the interval by the same factor you raise maturation. For "3x" breeding:

[/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]
MatingIntervalMultiplier=0.5
EggHatchSpeedMultiplier=3.0
BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier=3.0
BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier=0.33

✅ Applying the changes without losing them

• Stop the server before you edit. Anything you change in these files while the game is running is lost.
• Take a backup before touching anything. Here is how to create and restore backups from the panel.
• Edit, save and start. The new values are read on startup.
• If a setting has no effect, check that it is in the right file, under its header, and not repeated.

The multipliers are the same in both editions, but the edition itself is chosen when you order your ARK server: Evolved or Ascended. And mods don't need to be typed into these files by hand: you manage them from the panel's Mods tab.