In this article, we will review some of the common sources of lag and their solutions. 99% of the lag issues our client's experience are due to either mods or server configurations.
Configuration Files
- Having multiple lines per settings in the config files have been known to cause lag issues, more prominently with the autosave setting but for others just as well. Please ensure there is only one line for each setting in your config file.
- Setting your autosave period to a low value (shorter period) could very well impact performance. We always suggest either leaving it at its default value (15 minutes) or increasing it and simply force saving the map via RCON upon restarts/updates.
- Increasing your dino count multiplier is going to hurt your performance. The server effectively needs to manage x times the amount of dinos on the map, which results in it needing to work harder. It's also crucial to be mindful of the effects it will have on players' frame rates.
- Setting multipliers to absurdly high amounts will degrade performance
Mods
- Several mods have been known to cause performance issues for ARK servers. If mods are on your server, the first thing we suggest is temporarily removing them alongside your saved data (for testing purposes) to see if the performance issues persist.
- We recommend reviewing mods used on your server to make sure they are compatible with the latest version of ARK and that there is no negative feedback regarding bugs\issues with the mod, typically developers may disclose known issues.
- Make sure the mods you use are compatible with other mods you intend to use, not all mods work well together with other mods e.g. using a mod that edits a dinosaur with another mod that does the same thing can cause conflicts leading to instability and errors.
