This page was contributed by a member of the AMP community
Note: This article assumes that the CubeCoders official module (which is now legacy) is being used for ARK. See this guide if using the newer “Generic” template.
Note: Before doing any of the below instructions, your ARK:SE server must be started at least once. So, after creating the ARK:SE instance in AMP, manage the instance and click Update to install the ARK:SE server. Then click Start, wait until the server is running, and then stop it.
Linux
Currently some manual intervention is required to install mods on ARK:SE servers on Linux. There are two options: manually upload mods to the server, or manually adjust the server files so that mods are able to be automatically downloaded by the server.
Option 1 - Manual upload approach
While it is possible to download Steam workshop items, including mods, on Linux servers via AMP (via Configuration->Steam Workshop), steamcmd does not install them in the correct directory, and therefore they need to be manually moved. In addition, in the case of ARK:SE servers, the required .mod
file is not created at all when this method is used.
As a result, to manually upload mods to an ARK:SE server on Linux:
- Install the mod on your client and run the client.
- Upload the resulting mod directory and associated
.mod
file to the server. Place them in thearkSE/376030/ShooterGame/Content/Mods
directory. Use AMP’s File Manager or in-built SFTP to do this, to ensure correct permissions on the directory and file. - To activate the mod for the server, either:
- add
GameModIds
as a Custom Setting key for the ARK instance under Configuration->Server, with comma-separated numbers for the mods as the value (no spaces - for example,731604991,680481868
); OR - add
ActiveMods=
with comma-separated numbers for the mods inarkSE/376030/ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini
, in the[ServerSettings]
section. For example,ActiveMods=731604991,680481868
Option 2 - Automatic download approach
ARK:SE comes with a launch parameter option that is meant to automate the process of downloading, installing and updating mods. Unfortunately it does not work on Linux systems without manual intervention.
Warning: This option does not appear to work correctly if the ARK:SE instance is run in a Docker container.
To use this option:
-
Run the following commands on the command line as the
amp
user. If you are not already theamp
user, first runsudo su -l amp
to switch. Also, substituteARK01
in the first line with your ARK instance name as shown in~/.ampdata/instances/
(NOT the “friendly name”):
INSTANCE=ARK01
LINUXDIR=~/.ampdata/instances/${INSTANCE}/arkSE/376030/Engine/Binaries/ThirdParty/SteamCMD/Linux/
mkdir -m 700 ${LINUXDIR}
ln -s ~/.ampdata/instances/${INSTANCE}/arkSE/steamcmd.sh ~/.ampdata/instances/${INSTANCE}/arkSE/linux32 ~/Steam/steamapps ${LINUXDIR}
- Add
-automanagedmods
as a Custom Flag for the ARK instance under Configuration->Server. - In
arkSE/376030/ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/Game.ini
, add a[ModInstaller]
section with each mod listed on a separate line, for example:
[ModInstaller]
ModIDS=731604991
ModIDS=680481868
- Follow Step 3 in the “Manual upload approach” above to activate the mods for the server.
Note: You only need to do Steps 1 and 2 above once for your server.
Windows
Like for Linux, there are two options for ARK:SE servers on Windows: configure the server to automatically download mods, or manually upload mods to the server.
Option 1 - Recommended approach (automatic download)
On Windows servers, the ARK:SE launch parameter option that is meant to automate the process of downloading, installing and updating mods works, without the need for manual intervention.
To use this option:
- Add
-automanagedmods
as a Custom Flag for the ARK instance under Configuration->Server. - In
arkSE\376030\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\Game.ini
, add a[ModInstaller]
section with each mod listed on a separate line, for example:
[ModInstaller]
ModIDS=731604991
ModIDS=680481868
- To activate the mod for the server, either:
- add
GameModIds
as a Custom Setting key for the ARK instance under Configuration->Server, with comma-separated numbers for the mods as the value (no spaces - for example,731604991,680481868
); OR - add
ActiveMods=
with comma-separated numbers for the mods inarkSE\376030\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\GameUserSettings.ini
, in the[ServerSettings]
section. For example,ActiveMods=731604991,680481868
Option 2 - Alternative approach (manual upload)
If the recommended approach above does not work, a more manual process can be used:
- Install the mod on your client and run the client.
- Upload the resulting mod directory and associated
.mod
file to the server. Place them in thearkSE\376030\ShooterGame\Content\Mods
directory. Use AMP’s File Manager or in-built SFTP to do this, to ensure correct permissions on the directory and file. - Follow Step 3 in the “Recommended approach” above to activate the mods for the server.