Are you looking for the best ARK: Survival Evolved mods to play solo, or to add to your server? You've come to the right place!
With so many mods to choose from, it can be hard to find what you're looking for in ARK: Survival Evolved, especially if you're a new player!
We've put together a list of mods including ones that make the game a little easier, add decorations, add a new map, and expand what creatures are available!
All of these mods are free and are compatible with multiplayer servers, though not all of them are compatible with each other. If you're looking for a multiplayer server of your own, check out our hosting options.
Browse types of mods:
Game Expansion Mods
Versatile Raft Mod
This mod adds five new rafts to the game, ranging from the small and super speedy Speedboat raft with eight max structures to the huge and slow Mobile Base raft with 600 max structures. So whether you want to whizz through the waters or breeze through with a fully-fledged base, this mod has something for you!
Download Versatile Raft Mod https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=703724165
Structures Plus
This mod is perfect for anyone looking for a wide-ranging structures mod. It has everything you could want, including tens of new structures, lots of quality of life adjustments like silencing noisy structures, and building mechanic improvements like stackable foundations. It also has an inventory sorter, so you can automatically filter out any items you don't want to collect!
Download Structures Plus: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=731604991
Beacon Enhancer
If you find the default Beacon supply crates a bit boring or useless, this mod has you covered. It adds saddles, building materials, armour and lots more to sky drops as well as level 2, 3, and 4 cave drops. A super simple mod that spices up your Ark experience!
Download Beacon Enhancer: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=609425335
Dragonpunk: Mythical Creatures
At some point, we've all had daydreams about living in a mythical world with fire-breathing dragons, three-headed dogs, ogres, and more weird and wonderful creatures. Well, this mod brings you a little bit closer to that experience by adding all of those and more!
Download Dragonpunk: Mythical Creatures: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=848706943
Primal Fear
This mod adds a ton of awesome new creatures for you to battle or befriend, as well as new items to enhance gameplay including new armour, potions, dinosaur blood, and more. Added animals range from Godzilla-like monsters to a rainbow unicorn. With so much to see, you could spend countless hours exploring and finding new creatures!
Download Primal Fear: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=839162288
Eco's RP Decor
Decorate your bases with this beautiful, expansive mod that adds tons of new decorative items including flags, furniture, and food! Purely for decoration purposes, but it adds a whole new level of realism to your experience. Eco has lots of other mods we also recommend, and you can check those out here.
Download Eco's RP Decor: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=741203089
Play as Dino V2
If you've ever wanted to experience life as a dinosaur for some reason, well, now you can! You can also customise your dinosaur to your liking. With more than ten dinosaurs to choose from, you can breed, build and explore all as a dinosaur.
Download Play as Dino V2: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1429625638
Grind Reduction Mods
Death Recovery Mod
Are you tired of losing or having to hunt for your belongings after you die? This mod allows you to place a gravestone wherever you want to, and if you die, you can collect your belongings from the gravestone instead of travelling back to where you died.
Download Death Recovery Mod: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=751991809
Classic Flyers
Buffs winged dinosaurs back to their pre-nerf status. This mod gives flying dinosaurs more stamina to travel longer distances and also lets you level up the dinosaur's flying speed.
Download Classic Flyers: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=895711211
Better Reusables
This mod allows you to craft reusable items that are not normally reusable in vanilla ARK, including a reusable grappling hook, parachute, spear, boomerang, and bola.
Download Better Reusables: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1364327869
Automated ARK 3
Automated ARK reduces the amount of time you need to spend doing mundane tasks that aren't fun for anyone. With an all-in-one storage system and automated tasks, you can spend more time exploring, raiding, and enjoying your time on ARK. This mod has a core and then seven add-ons to choose from, so you can better customise your experience.
Download Automated ARK 3: https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=803250329
Super Spyglass
Super Spyglass lets you see statistics for each dinosaur, including their health, how their points have been spent and more. With the increased range and zoom feature, you don't even have to get close.
Download Super Spyglass: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=793605978
Ultra Stacks
As you can imagine, this mod changes stacking in ARK. But not only does it let you stack items up to ten thousand, but it also reduces item weights by more than 50% and more than doubles the spoil time for items!
Download Ultra Stacks: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=761535755
Maps
Valhalla
The map is pretty and absolutely massive, coming in at about three times the size of the standard ARK map, with plenty of biomes to explore. It even won ARK's first global mod competition. What more could you ask for? If you're lucky, you might even run into Odin.
Download Valhalla: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=504122600
Thieves Island
Once home to many of the world's crooks and criminals, the island used to be a thriving commune filled with pirates, thieves and vagabonds. Until one day, the island's original inhabitants had enough. The dinosaurs and creatures that called the island their home long before people wanted the island back, so they took it. The island is about half the size of the vanilla Ark map but is tightly packed with content and biomes to explore.
Download Thieves Island: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=651147582
The Center
From the creators of ARK: Survival Evolved, this expansion pack map is about twice the size of the vanilla ARK map and has the content match. With vast underground ice caves, ancient ruins, giant waterfalls and more, there's always something new to discover in this Tolkien-esque map.
Download The Center: https://store.steampowered.com/app/473850/
The Volcano
The focal point of this map is, of course, the volcano, which stands tall and spews fire and smoke into the sky. But there are also five biomes, including snow and swamp, to explore. Underneath the ground, you'll be able to find 15 caves to traverse!
Download The Volcano: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=715028562
Ragnarok
Our second expansion pack map on this list from the creators of ARK: Survival Evolved, Ragnarok is an absolutely massive map coming in at more than four times the size of the vanilla map. With elements from The Island and Scorched Earth, this map is perfect for base-builders and explorers alike. But beware on your travels, the map is home to polar bears, ice wyverns, and a new mythical creature unique to Ragnarok!
Download Ragnarok: https://store.steampowered.com/app/642250/
That completes our list! We'll continue to update this list as time goes on and new mods are released, so be sure to check back. If you try any and enjoy them or see any mods missing, let us know over on our twitter.
Do you want to start your own ARK server to play with friends and try out some of these mods? Check out hour hosting options.
