How to Change Spawn Rates in ARK: Survival Evolved

Running an ARK: Survival Evolved server with too few Rexes on the map or a world overrun with low-level Dilos gets old fast. Fortunately, ARK gives server owners two tools to fix this: a single setting for adjusting all dino populations at once, and a per-creature configuration for more granular control. Both are handled through your server’s config files, which are accessible directly from your Apex Hosting panel. This guide covers both methods and explains what to do after saving so the changes actually take effect in-game.

How to Change Spawn Rates in ARK

ARK: Survival Evolved uses two different config files for spawn rate changes. GameUserSettings.ini handles the global multiplier that scales all dino populations at once. game.ini handles per-creature settings that let you target specific dinosaurs individually. You can use either method alone or combine them for precise control. Before making any changes, review your ARK server config files setup to confirm your panel access is working correctly.

How to Change Overall Spawn Rates

If you want to scale all dinosaur spawn rates at once without targeting specific species, use DinoCountMultiplier in your GameUserSettings.ini. The default is 1.0; setting it to 2.0 doubles the number of dinos across the entire map.

1. Navigate to the Apex Panel and stop your server.
2. In the menu on the left-hand side, click on the "Config Files" tab.
3. Click on the "GameUserSettings.ini" to edit the file.
4. Locate the "[ServerSettings]" section at the top of the page.
5. Search for the "DinoCountMultiplier" setting. If the setting is missing, follow the gif to add it.
   

6. Change the value to what you would prefer. 1.0 is the default, 2.0 doubles the spawn rate and so on.

How to Change Individual Dino Spawn Rates

For control over specific creatures, add DinoSpawnWeightMultipliers entries to your game.ini. This method targets one species at a time and lets you both adjust how often it spawns relative to other creatures and set a hard cap on how many can exist on the map simultaneously. The example below increases Megalodon spawn rates:

1. Navigate to your control panel and stop the server.
2. Click on the "Config Files" option in the menu on the left side of the screen.
3. Find and click on the "game.ini" option to open it in the webeditor.
4. On the top line, add:
   [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode]
5. On the next line, add the following code to change the dino spawn rates:
   DinoSpawnWeightMultipliers=(DinoNameTag="Megalodon_Character_BP_C",SpawnWeightMultiplier=1.5,OverrideSpawnLimitPercentage=true,SpawnLimitPercentage=2.0)
6. Press the green "save" button, then restart the server for the changes to take effect.

Understanding the Spawn Rate Parameters

The code in step 5 looks complex, but each part does one specific job:

DinoSpawnWeightMultipliers=(DinoNameTag="Megalodon_Character_BP_C",SpawnWeightMultiplier=1.5,OverrideSpawnLimitPercentage=true,SpawnLimitPercentage=2.0)

DinoSpawnWeightMultipliers=(): the function wrapper. Tells ARK to apply custom spawn weight rules to whatever creature you specify inside.

DinoNameTag=”NAME”: the internal tag for the creature you want to target. In the Megalodon example, the tag is Megalodon_Character_BP_C. Replace this with the exact entity ID for any other creature. You can find the full list of creature IDs on the ARK Official Community Wiki under the Creature IDs page.

SpawnWeightMultiplier=1.5: controls how frequently this creature spawns compared to all others. A value of 1.5 means Megalodons will appear 50% more often than creatures at the default weight. Lower values reduce spawns; higher values increase them.

OverrideSpawnLimitPercentage=true: enables the hard population cap below. Set to false if you only want to adjust spawn frequency without capping the total count.

SpawnLimitPercentage=2.0: sets the maximum number of this creature that can exist on the map at once, expressed as a multiplier of the default cap. A value of 2.0 allows twice as many Megalodons in the world before new ones stop spawning. This only applies when OverrideSpawnLimitPercentage is true.

Applying Your Changes In-Game

Restarting the server saves your config changes, but existing wild dinos on the map were generated under the old settings. To see your new spawn rates immediately, run the DestroyWildDinos admin command after the server restarts. This removes all current wild dinosaurs and triggers a full respawn using your updated configuration. Tamed dinosaurs are not affected.

To run the command on a dedicated server, open the admin command bar in-game and type admincheat DestroyWildDinos. The map will repopulate within a few minutes. Note that running this command can cause brief server lag as the repopulation begins, so warn your players before using it on an active server.

Common Issues and Fixes

In most cases, this happens because there is an error or typo in the code. Go back to your game.ini or GameUserSettings.ini and make sure there are no errors. Check the exact code against the examples in this guide. Also confirm you ran DestroyWildDinos after restarting; existing dinos stay on the map until they despawn naturally or are cleared by this command.

The DinoNameTag value is not the same as a creature’s display name or blueprint path. For example, the Megalodon uses Megalodon_Character_BP_C as its DinoNameTag, but other creatures use shorter tags that bear no obvious relation to their names. Always look up the exact DinoNameTag on the ARK Creature IDs list before adding a new entry to your config.

If you added DinoCountMultiplier to GameUserSettings.ini but the map population hasn’t changed, verify the setting is under the [ServerSettings] section header. Values placed outside this section are ignored by the game. Also run DestroyWildDinos to clear existing spawns.

Customizing Your ARK Server Further

Adjusting spawn rates is one part of running a well-tuned ARK server. The recommended ARK server settings guide covers the full range of options for balancing gameplay, and the stat multipliers guide walks through adjusting player and creature stats for a more customized experience. If you want to change what creatures are in the world entirely, check out mods for your ARK server; creature mods let you introduce new species alongside your custom spawn weights. For a full list of ARK: Survival Evolved guides, visit the ARK: Survival Evolved guides hub.