Ark is a very intensive game, and if you have a lower end PC, you may find yourself suffering from FPS issues, which can make the game unplayable. In this article we’ll go over several ways that you can increase your FPS in Ark: Survival Evolved, as well as look at some changes that you can make to the game’s config file, which will make your experience on the island that much more enjoyable.
How to Increase your FPS
The first thing you’ll want to do if you’re having FPS issues in Ark is head into your Steam Library and locate the game. From here, select the game and right click on it. Scroll down to the Properties button, and open it up.
Now, look for the Set Launch Options button on the first tab, and then input the following line:
-USEALLAVAILABLECORES -sm4 -d3d10 -nomansky -lowmemory -high
Not sure what those commands mean? Here’s a breakdown:
-USEAllAVAILABLECORES: forces the game to use all of your CPU cores.
-sm4 and -d3d10: force the game to run within DirectX 10.
-nomansky: Turns the sky settings and effects off or down to low.
-lowmemory: forces the game to use 4GB of ram or less.
-high: lists the game as a high priority in Windows.
Now that you’ve changed your launch options, the next thing you can do is head into the config files. If you have an Nvidia card, you can also head into the Nvidia Control Panel, and make some changes there, but we won’t cover them in this article.
The next change you want to make is in your Configs. You can find these easily by right clicking the game in your Steam Library, and then choosing Properties, and then Local Files, and finally by clicking Browse Local Files.
Once you are in your local files, locate the Engine.ini file and then delete everything inside of it and replace it with the following code:
[/script/engine.renderersettings]
r.DefaultFeature.Bloom=False
r.DefaultFeature.AmbientOcclusion=False
r.DefaultFeature.AutoExposure=False
r.DefaultFeature.MotionBlur=False
r.DefaultFeature.LensFlare=False
r.EarlyZPass=0
r.SSAOSmartBlur=0
r.HZBOcclusion=0
r.AmbientOcclusionLevels=0
r.BloomQuality=0
r.DepthOfFieldQuality=0
r.SSR.Quality=0
r.SSS.Scale=0
r.SSS.SampleSet=0
r.DetailMode=0
r.LensFlareQuality=0
r.MaxAnisotropy=0
r.oneframethreadlag=1
r.LightShaftQuality=0
r.RefractionQuality=0
r.ExposureOffset=0.3
r.ReflectionEnvironment=0
r.Atmosphere=0
r.Shadow.MaxResolution=2
r.SimpleDynamicLighting=1
r.UpsampleQuality=0
r.ViewDistanceScale=0.4
r.TrueSkyQuality=0
[/script/shootergame.shooterengine]
bFirstRun=False
FrameRateCap=200
FrameRateMinimum=200
[Core.System]
Paths=../../../Engine/Content
Paths=../../../ShooterGame/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/Experimental/CharacterAI/Content
Paths=../../../Engine/Plugins/TrueSkyPlugin/Content
[SystemSettings]
TEXTUREGROUP_World=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_WorldSpecular=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Character=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_CharacterSpecular=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=4,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Weapon=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_WeaponSpecular=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=64,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Vehicle=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleNormalMap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_VehicleSpecular=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Cinematic=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Effects=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=linear,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_EffectsNotFiltered=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Skybox=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_UI=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=256,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Lightmap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=8,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Shadowmap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point,NumStreamedMips=3)
TEXTUREGROUP_RenderTarget=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=128,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_MobileFlattened=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Terrain_Heightmap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
TEXTUREGROUP_Terrain_Weightmap=(MinLODSize=1,MaxLODSize=2,LODBias=0,MinMagFilter=aniso,MipFilter=point)
[Oculus.Settings]
bChromaAbCorrectionEnabled=True
bYawDriftCorrectionEnabled=True
bDevSettingsEnabled=False
bOverrideIPD=False
bOverrideStereo=False
bOverrideVSync=True
VSync=True
bOverrideScreenPercentage=False
bAllowFinishCurrentFrame=True
bLowPersistenceMode=True
bUpdateOnRT=False
FarClippingPlane=0.000000
NearClippingPlane=0.000000
[WindowsApplication.Accessibility]
StickyKeysHotkey=False
ToggleKeysHotkey=False
FilterKeysHotkey=False
StickyKeysConfirmation=False
ToggleKeysConfirmation=False
FilterKeysConfirmation=False
Save the file and then open up GameUserSettings.ini and replace all of that with the following code:
[/script/shootergame.shootergameusersettings]
MasterAudioVolume=0.107143
MusicAudioVolume=0.039683
SFXAudioVolume=0.409387
CameraShakeScale=0.037899
bFirstPersonRiding=False
bThirdPersonPlayer=False
bShowStatusNotificationMessages=True
TrueSkyQuality=0.000000
FOVMultiplier=1.250000
GroundClutterDensity=0.000000
bFilmGrain=False
bMotionBlur=False
bUseDFAO=False
bUseSSAO=False
bShowChatBox=False
bCameraViewBob=False
bInvertLookY=False
bFloatingNames=True
bChatBubbles=True
bJoinNotifications=False
bCraftablesShowAllItems=True
LookLeftRightSensitivity=1.000000
LookUpDownSensitivity=1.000000
GraphicsQuality=4
ActiveLingeringWorldTiles=10
bUseVSync=False
ResolutionSizeX=1920
ResolutionSizeY=1080
LastUserConfirmedResolutionSizeX=1920
LastUserConfirmedResolutionSizeY=1080
WindowPosX=-1
WindowPosY=-1
bUseDesktopResolutionForFullscreen=False
FullscreenMode=0
LastConfirmedFullscreenMode=1
Version=5
bHideServerInfo=False
LastServerSearchType=2
LastServerSearchHideFull=False
LastServerSearchProtected=False
HideItemTextOverlay=False
bDistanceFieldShadowing=False
LODScalar=0.000000
HighQualityMaterials=False
HighQualitySurfaces=False
bTemperatureF=False
bDisableTorporEffect=True
[ScalabilityGroups]
sg.ResolutionQuality=100
sg.ViewDistanceQuality=2
sg.AntiAliasingQuality=0
sg.ShadowQuality=2
sg.PostProcessQuality=2
sg.TextureQuality=2
sg.EffectsQuality=0
sg.TrueSkyQuality=0
sg.GroundClutterQuality=0
sg.IBLQuality=0
sg.HeightFieldShadowQuality=2
[SessionSettings]
SessionName=ARK #563569
[/script/engine.gamesession]
MaxPlayers=70
[AdminPassword]
Password=
ServerPassword=
Save the file, and exit out of the settings. Now, you should be able to launch the game, and if everything was changed correctly, you should now have around 10-20 more FPS than you had before. For more help, be sure to check out our guide on how to tame dinosaur in Ark, as well as our guide on how to build your first house.
