Character & Dino Levels Tool
Ark: Survival Evolved
Our tool is designed to allow you to quickly and easily generate the code required to customize the Character & Dino leveling system, along with Engram Points. This will make modding your Ark: Survival Evolved Dedicated Server a lot faster and easier. This tool also includes the code to automatically set the Maximum Xp limits for both Players & Dinos.
If you are looking for other tools, you can find a complete list of our growing collection of customization tools here: Customization Tools
In addition to your custom levels, you may wish to customize the Engrams in game to reflect your new level system. This tool will allow you to customize all of the Engrams in Ark: Engram Configuration Tool
This tool can also be used for Single Player & Non-Dedicated Sessions. For information on customization in these situations and for information on what customization can do for you in general please see this page: Balancing Ark
How To Use Our Code Generation Tool
The tool is already filled out with an approximate set of values from level 0 to level 70. To add additional levels, simply add additional lines. To change the values, simply change the numbers.
Each level has a line in the big code box under the title line 'Custom Levels Confirguration As Csv'. In order to set custom leveling for your server, you need to specify all levels. Even if you only want to add a few levels, you must specify all of them from the ground up. That is why I have prefilled it up to 70 with values close to their defaults.
This tool supports different level limits, xp scales, and max xp levels for Players & Dinos. If you wish to have the same for both, simply put the same CSV data into both boxes. If you wish to have different values, simply put the CSV information for players into the 'players' box, and the dino CSV values into the 'dino' box. The tool will automatically generate the code and max xp limits based on the highest level you entered. Please be aware that for Dinos you only need to enter two values per line instead of 3. Please see the default values for an example.
Note: To make life easier, if you want identical progression for players and dinos, you can simply put the exact same data in each box. The tool will automatically ignore the third value when calculating the code for Dinos as this information is not used.
Example:
To set Level 71 with an xp threshold of 40,000 Xp and an Engram Point Reward of 60 you would add this line to the box:
70,40000,60
Remember, each level has its own line. And each number is seperated by a Comma. Once you have made the edits, just click the Generate Code button.
Now what you will get is all the code you need to put in your Game.ini file to make this work. The formatting is a bit odd, but it is the required specification supplied by the game developers.
The first line is the section definition required in the ini file. If you have already have this line in your ini do not put that line in again. Instead, put the rest of the generated code under that section in your ini file.
The second line defines the details for each level and is applied to characters. The third line is identical to the second and is used by the game engine for Dinos. It is required.
After that you have a bunch of lines and many will look identical. That is because we must now specify the Engram Point Awards for each level, in order, on its own line. Yeah, that's a heck of a lot of lines. But that is the specification supplied by the game developers. I'm using it on my private server and it works like a charm :)
Underneath the big text box with your custom code in it I have included additional information and instructions. Read it all. Altering these files can mess up your server, the world map and the character profiles on it. Or simply make it crash and not start. So read all of those instructions and notes and you should be all set.
Generating For Players Only
If you only want to create code to change the levels, xp, and engrams for players, then simply check the box that says 'Generate For Players Only'. This will create the first (player) code line (instance) to override the player levels and generate the code required to override the engrams assigned, skipping the instance for overriding the Dinos.
I have not included the option for Dinos only because it does not look like it is possible. As mentioned before, the game reads these customization lines as the first instance of the command is for players, and the second for Dinos. We can't change the way this works, nor can we have a second instance of a line of code without a first instance. Therefore there will always be a line for players, and you can't change the dinos without changing the players as well.
PerLevelStatsMultiplier (Optional)
When Players, Tamed Dinos, and Wild Dinos level up there is a choice of a stat to increase. If you adjust these values you can control the amount of the increase. For example, you would normally get an extra 10 points on Health if you click the + for it on level up. Set the corresponding multiplier to 2.0, you'll get 20 points instead.
Keep in mind that not all of the options affect Dinos. For example, Dinos don't craft, and at this time they don't use water. 1.0 is the default value and will change nothing.
Installing The Code: Step #1
Shutdown the Ark: Survival Evolved Dedicated Server. The server cannot be running while you edit these files. Then make a copy of your 'Saved' directory and put it somewhere safe. This directory can be found in the 'ShooterGame' directory of your Ark Server. This will backup your world, character profiles, and current configuration files just in case. That is why I said earlier you should read all of the instructions and information. If something goes wrong, you can just restore your backed up files and be back to where you started.
Installing The Code: Step #2
Now we need to edit the Game.ini file.The first line in the box may already exist in your file. If so, omit this line when you copy your code and simply place the code below the line already existing in your file.
To find your Game.ini file look in your server's directory for one of the following directories, depending on which OS your server box is running:
ShooterGame\Saved\Config\Windows\
ShooterGame\Saved\Config\Linux\
If you have already added code to this file, then there are two possibilities. Look at the custom code generated by our tool. If the first line already exists in your Game.ini file, do not copy that line. But do copy everything else and put it in your Game.ini file under where that line appears.
If the first line you see in our code box does not exist in your Game.ini file then you can simply copy and paste all of the code and put it at the end of the file.
Remember, you must save and close the file after editing it.
As a final note, if you have already tried to setup custom level definitions then you must remove all of that and replace it all with the code from this tool. Having information specified more than once can cause havoc with the server.
Installing The Code: Step #3
Now we have to test things. Make sure you have saved the changes to the Game.ini file and closed it. Then start your server and login to the game with your game client. Then disconnect from your server and shut it down.
Check the Game.ini file again. If the server likes the code, it will all still be there. If there was a problem with it then the server will have replaced the file with a fresh copy that is blank.
As long as the code is still in that file, you're good to go. If it didn't work, please try again and make sure that you have followed the instructions exactly. As I mentioned I have used this tool to adjust my server and now have levels up to 1000. With this code properly installed in the right Game.ini file you should have no problems.
The most common problem that I am seeing when people contact me because of problems with the tool is either an empty line, or they have accidentially put in a period instead of a comma. So if you have troubles, try a find/replace in your document and see if there are any rogue periods.
Another good idea can be to use a simple spread sheet and then save it as a csv file. That way you know for sure that it's formatted correctly. Then you can just copy paste the csv data by opening it in a program like Notepad or Gedit, and just copy and paste into the boxes. Always remember not to have any empty lines. That will glitch the tool. You'll also get a blank response from the tool if you have put in a period instead of a comma.
