Options
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A lot of ARK: Survival Evolved can be configured through its in-game Options menu. In order to access this menu, you can either click the "Options" button on the main-menu or hit your ESC key in-game and select the "Options" button.
Graphics
Setting | Description | Options |
---|---|---|
Resolution | changes game display resolution | depends on hardware |
Window Mode | forces the game into different window modes | Windowed, Fullscreen, Windowed Fullscreen |
Graphics Quality | graphics presets | CUSTOM, Low - (e.g GTX 660), Medium - (e.g GTX 770), High - (e.g GTX 970), Epic - (e.g Titan X) |
Resolution Scale | a slider that changes the render quality; maxing will display 100% same resolution as your output/set display resolution, any less may improve performance at the cost of quality | slider |
World Tile Buffers | the amount of graphics memory used to render areas of the map that you aren't in; areas, textures, models are stored in buffer for quicker loading while transitioning between areas (tiles) of the map; increased may lead to better load times between tiles | Low, Medium, High, Epic |
View Distance | the maximum distance Ark will load tiles; lowering may increase performance | Low, Medium, High, Epic |
Anti-Aliasing | smooth edges of objects at a slight cost in performance | Low, Medium, High, Epic |
Post Processing | controls visual quality such as bloom, depth blurring, portal distortion, character lines, light rays, and selective scene tinting | Low, Medium, High, Epic |
General Shadows | adjust quality/intensity/abundance of most shadows | Low, Medium, High, Epic |
Terrain Shadows | adjust quality/intensity/abundance of terrain specific shadows | Low, Medium, High, Epic |
Texture | controls texture quality. lower settings use less GPU RAM (VRAM) higher settings use more. | Low, Medium, High, Epic |
Sky Quality | self-explanatory | slider |
Ground Clutter Density | This controls the quantity of non interactable ground decoration. | slider |
Ground Clutter Distance | This controls the view distance of non interactable ground decoration. | slider |
Motion Blur | streaking of rapidly moving objects. effectively adding bluring during motion. | Checked, Unchecked |
Film Grain | added grain filter to visuals, reminiscent of film artifacts | Checked, Unchecked |
Distance Field Ambient Occlusion | shading and rendering setting for how exposed each point in a scene is to ambient lighting | Checked, Unchecked |
Screen Space Ambient Occlusion | shading and rendering setting for how exposed each point in a scene is to ambient lighting | Checked, Unchecked |
Dynamic Tessellation (Restart Required) | allows the breakdown of polygons to create finer, higher quality graphics | Checked, Unchecked |
Distance Field Shadowing | Checked, Unchecked | |
High Quality Materials (Restart Required) | Checked, Unchecked | |
Sub Surface Scattering (Requires Restart) | Typically used for skin surfaces, allows lighting to partially penetrate the surface and reflect off of various layers, depths, and colors to provide more realistic looking skins for characters and various monsters. | Checked, Unchecked |
High Quality VFX (Requires Restart) | Allows higher quality visual effects at the cost of performance | Checked, Unchecked |
Simple Distance Character Movement | When checked lowers the quality of the movement animations for distant creatures, this significantly reduces CPU usage | Checked, Unchecked |
Mesh Level of Detail | Controls the quality of trees and similar at a distance | Slider |
Sound
Setting | Description | Options |
---|---|---|
Master Volume | adjusts all volume levels at once | slider |
Music Volume | self-explanatory | slider |
SFX Volume | SFX = sound effects aka all sounds besides background music (bgm) | slider |
Ambient Volume | beehives and water | slider |
NPC volume | adjusts the volume of NPC's like HLNA | slider |
Camera Controls
Setting | Description | Options |
---|---|---|
Camera Shake Scale | how much the camera shakes when you do something or something's happening to you | slider |
Camera FOV | adjusts first-person field of view | slider |
Invert Y | inverts/reverses/flips the control of the camera on the Y-axis (looking up and down) | Checked, Unchecked |
Look Left/Right Sensitivity | self-explanatory | slider |
Look Up/Down Sensitivity | self-explanatory | slider |
Camera View Bob | view bob when moving | Checked, Unchecked |
First Person Riding | forces player into first person view when mounted | Checked, Unchecked |
HUD
Setting | Description | Options |
---|---|---|
Floating Names | turns name plates on and off | Checked, Unchecked |
Join Notifications | notifications when a player joins or leaves the server | Checked, Unchecked |
Chat Bubbles | displays in-game chat bubbles when a player sends a message | Checked, Unchecked |
Status Notification Messages | a message is displayed at the top of the screen whenever your status changes | Checked, Unchecked |
Auto Chatbox | the chatbox is displayed whenever you receive a message (global, local and tribe) | Checked, Unchecked |
Hide Server Info | hides the server info that is displayed on the ESC menu; useful for streamers protecting privacy | Checked, Unchecked |
Reset Tutorials | resets on-screen tutorial | button |
Controls (Default)
Main article: Keyboard Controls
Action | Keyboard | Gamepad |
---|---|---|
Move Forward | W | |
Strafe Left | A | |
Fire | Lmb | |
Iron Sights / Alt Fire | Rmb | |
Run | ⇧ Left Shift | |
Use | E | |
Jump | Space bar | |
Reload | R | |
Crouch | C | |
Access Other's Inventory | F | |
Remove Shoulder-Mount | Double Tap F | |
Toggle Fists | Q | |
Selfie Cam | Right Alt | |
Prone | X | |
Expanded HUD Info | H | |
Your Inventory | I | |
Tribe Manager | L | |
Melee/Pistol Whip | Left control | |
Toggle Chatbox | Backslash | |
Map | M | |
Zoom Camera In | Mouse scroll up | |
Zoom Camera Out | Mouse scroll down | |
Push to Talk | B | |
Toggle Weapon Attachment | N | |
Place Map Marker | P | |
Toggle Console | Tab ↹ | |
Tribe Chat | Slash | |
Move Backward | S | |
Strafe Right | D | |
Toggle Orbit Camera | K | |
Your Craftables | V | |
Defecate | Z | |
Whistle "All Follow Me" | J | |
Whistle "All Stay Put" | U | |
Drag Body | G | |
Toggle HUD | Back space | |
Use Slot Item 1 | One | |
Use Slot Item 2 | Two | |
Use Slot Item 3 | Three | |
Use Slot Item 4 | Four | |
Use Slot Item 5 | Five | |
Use Slot Item 6 | Six | |
Use Slot Item 7 | Seven | |
Use Slot Item 8 | Eight | |
Use Slot Item 9 | Nine | |
Use Slot Item 10 | Zero | |
Whistle "You Follow Me" | T | |
Whistle "You Stay Put" | Y | |
Craft Slot Item (Modifier) | Left Alt | |
Turn Right | → | |
Turn Left | ← | |
Look Up | ↑ | |
Look Down | ↓ | |
Global Chat | ↵ Enter | |
Tribe Chat | / |