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The safest ARK: Survival Ascended server backup is a stopped-server copy of the entire ShooterGame/Saved directory. Force a fresh save with SaveWorld, stop the dedicated server, copy that directory to separate storage, and keep dated generations. To restore, stop the server again, preserve the current files, then either use your host’s restore tool or replace the matching map, player, and tribe files manually.
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What a complete ASA backup contains
ARK: Survival Ascended stores dedicated-server progression beneath ShooterGame/Saved. The directory includes the world, player characters, tribes, configuration, logs, and cluster-related data. The ARK Official Community Wiki gives the essential rule: “To make a backup of the server data, simply copy the folder named ShooterGame/Saved (and its content) to the desired backup location.” See the ARK Official Community Wiki dedicated-server documentation.
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A copy of only the visible world file is not a disaster-recovery backup. It can omit character, tribe, configuration, and cluster information. Copy the complete tree whenever you want to recover from a wipe, corruption, failed update, or server move.
| File or folder | What it represents | When it matters |
|---|---|---|
ShooterGame/Saved |
The complete server-data tree, including saves, configuration, logs, and cluster-related data. | Use for a full server backup, migration, or disaster recovery. |
ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks |
The active dedicated-server map-save area. | Use when locating a particular map save for a manual restore or transfer. |
.ark |
World state: the map, structures, inventories, creatures, and other world progression stored in that save. | Required to restore the map itself. |
.arkprofile |
Individual player-character/profile state. | Required when characters and their progression must survive. |
.arktribe |
Tribe state. | Required when tribe ownership and progression must survive. |
Before you make a backup
- Have administrator access to the dedicated server or its file manager.
- Know the active map and its expected save filename.
- Have destination storage with enough free space for the complete
ShooterGame/Saveddirectory and multiple dated copies. - Choose storage separate from the running server. An external hard drive or SSD is suitable for a local copy; an off-site copy protects against a host or machine failure.
- Tell players that the server will be stopped. Copying live files can capture an inconsistent state.
Use a clear naming scheme such as ASA-Saved-2026-10-15-before-update. Keep more than one generation when possible: a current copy for quick rollback and an older copy from before a major change. No universal retention period or backup-frequency statistic is established here, so choose an interval based on how much progress your community can afford to lose.
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How to create a reliable full backup
1. Force a known save point
When you need the backup to include the latest activity, issue the administrative SaveWorld command before stopping the server. On PC, this requires admin-cheat permission. The command forces the current world state to disk, giving you a known point in time rather than relying on when the server last wrote its save automatically.
- Connect to the server’s administrative console or in-game administrator interface.
- Authenticate with the required admin-cheat permission.
- Run
SaveWorld. - Wait for the command to complete, then stop the dedicated server cleanly.
The command saves the game world; it does not replace the need to copy the surrounding server directory. Player, tribe, configuration, and cluster data still belong in the full ShooterGame/Saved backup.
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Do not copy or replace save files while ASA is running. A live process may still be writing the world, player, or tribe data, leaving a backup that looks complete but cannot be restored consistently. Stop the server through your host panel or service manager and wait until it reports that the process has ended.
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3. Copy the complete directory
- Locate the server installation’s
ShooterGame/Saveddirectory. - Copy the folder itself, including every subfolder and file, to your chosen backup location.
- Do not limit the copy to
SavedArksif you want a full recovery; retain configuration and cluster-related data as well. - Give the copy a date and purpose, such as before an update, mod change, map change, or transfer.
- After the copy finishes, check that the destination contains the same directory structure rather than a single loose world file.
On Nitrado, the documented file-transfer workflow starts with stopping the server and then opening Tools > File Browser. Other hosts may use different labels, but the stop-first rule and the complete-directory copy remain the important controls.
4. Store more than one generation
Keep the newest backup on storage separate from the host. Retain at least one earlier dated generation when space allows, especially before deleting saves, changing maps, installing updates, or transferring a server. A second copy gives you a way back if the newest archive was created after corruption or an unwanted change.
Choosing a backup method
The right method depends on how much control you need and how far back you must roll. Host interfaces and retention rules are provider-specific, so verify what your provider actually keeps and which files each option includes.
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| Approach | Scope | Rollback window | Control | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game-internal save | Recent game world state written by the server. | Short; tied to the latest available game save. | Command-level control with SaveWorld. |
It is not a separate archive and does not by itself preserve a history of server directories. |
| Complete server-directory copy | Entire ShooterGame/Saved tree, including world, characters, tribes, configuration, logs, and cluster data. |
As long as you retain dated copies. | Highest control; can be copied to local, external, or off-site storage. | Manual copying and replacement can overwrite current progression if done carelessly. |
| Host restore tool | Whatever the provider’s server-backup point contains, potentially including server configuration. | Depends on provider retention and available restore points. | Convenient UI workflow. | Restoration overwrites existing progression; interface behavior and retention are provider-specific. |
| Database backup | Database-oriented game data where the host offers that class. | Provider-specific. | Useful for games built around databases. | It is not a substitute for an ASA ShooterGame/Saved copy unless the provider explicitly says it contains the required ASA files. |
Nitrado describes game-internal backups as suited to shorter rollbacks, server backups as a way to restore the server and configuration to a point in time, and database backups for database-oriented games. Treat those categories as a description of that provider’s interface, not as a guarantee that every host exposes the same options.
Restore with a host backup tool
A host-managed restore is usually the least error-prone option when the desired point is available and you want the provider to handle file replacement.
- Stop the server and wait for it to shut down.
- Open the host’s backup or restore area. On Nitrado, the path is Tools > Restore Backup.
- Review the available restore points and select the date you need.
- Read the confirmation carefully: restoration overwrites the existing progression at the server.
- Start the server only after the restore operation reports completion.
- Log in and verify the map, a known character, tribe membership, structures, inventories, and a recent world change.
If the host offers no suitable point, or if you need to move the save to another server, use the manual procedure below. Make a new copy of the current files before accepting any host operation that overwrites them; that copy is your last chance to undo a mistaken selection.
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Restore manually or transfer a server
1. Preserve the current state
Stop the destination server. Before deleting or replacing anything, copy its current ShooterGame/Saved directory to a separate, dated location. This precaution matters even when you are certain the incoming backup is correct: it lets you recover the destination’s latest state if you selected the wrong map or archive.
2. Locate the active map save
Open arksa/ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/, then open the folder for the active map. The exact folder layout can vary by host, but the active map’s save is the location documented for a manual dedicated-server transfer.
3. Replace the world file carefully
- Identify the world
.arkfile in the backup. - Make one more copy of the destination’s existing world file before removing or overwriting it.
- Upload or copy the backup world file into the active map’s
SavedArkslocation. - Rename it to the standard filename expected by the server for that map.
| Map | Expected world filename |
|---|---|
| The Island | TheIsland_WP.ark |
| The Center | TheCenter_WP.ark |
| Scorched Earth | ScorchedEarth_WP.ark |
Filename conventions must match the map actually configured on the server. Confirm them again after a game or map update; a correctly uploaded file with an unexpected name may be ignored and leave the server loading its existing world.
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4. Restore characters and tribes
Copy the matching .arkprofile files for the players who must retain their characters and the matching .arktribe files for tribes that must retain ownership and progression. Restoring the world without these companion files can produce a map that loads while players appear to have lost characters, tribe membership, or ownership relationships.
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For a true server transfer or disaster recovery, restore the relevant contents of the complete ShooterGame/Saved tree, not just the map file. This preserves configuration and cluster-related information alongside the save. Avoid blindly mixing files from unrelated dates: use one coherent dated backup generation whenever possible.
6. Start and verify
- Start the server after all intended files are in place.
- Confirm that the expected map loads rather than a new or older world.
- Log in with a known player account and check the character level, inventory, location, and engrams that should exist at the backup point.
- Check tribe membership, tribe ownership, structures, storage, tamed creatures, and other shared progression.
- Test a recent world change that was present when the backup was made.
- If anything is missing, stop the server before making further edits and return to the preserved destination copy or another dated generation.
How to recover from a wiped or apparently empty server
An apparent wipe does not always mean the backup is unusable. First stop the server and determine whether it is loading the wrong map filename, the wrong backup generation, or a new save directory. Compare the active map’s expected filename with the files you restored, then check that the corresponding player and tribe files are present.
- New world, no structures: the server may be reading a newly created or incorrectly named
.arkfile. Stop it, preserve the current state, and restore the correct map file with the expected name. - World is present, character is missing: restore the matching
.arkprofilefile from the same backup generation. - Character loads, tribe ownership is wrong: restore the matching
.arktribefile and verify that the world and companion files come from the same point in time. - Server settings or cluster behavior changed: restore the broader
ShooterGame/Savedtree rather than onlySavedArks. - Restore appears to do nothing: stop the server again, check the map folder and filename, and confirm that the host is using the directory you edited.
Failure-prevention checklist
- Run
SaveWorldwhen you need a known current save point. - Stop the dedicated server before copying, deleting, uploading, or replacing save files.
- Copy the complete
ShooterGame/Saveddirectory for disaster recovery. - Keep the backup on separate storage and retain multiple dated generations where possible.
- Make a fresh rollback copy immediately before any restore or overwrite.
- Preserve matching
.ark,.arkprofile, and.arktribefiles when world, character, and tribe continuity all matter. - Check map filename conventions after game or map updates.
- After restarting, test login, character state, tribe state, structures, and recent world changes before inviting players back.
- Document which map, date, and server change each archive represents.
Practical backup policy for a community server
A simple policy is to create a dated full-directory archive before every high-risk change and to keep a recent rolling set for ordinary play. High-risk changes include game updates, map changes, major configuration edits, mod changes, and server transfers. Store at least one copy away from the host so a host outage or damaged machine does not remove both the live server and its backup.
Use the game-internal save when you need a quick, recent rollback point; use a dated ShooterGame/Saved archive when you need to recover characters, tribes, settings, cluster data, or a complete server state. Whatever schedule you choose, verify a backup by inspecting its folders and periodically performing a test restore on a non-production instance or spare server when that is practical.
Bottom line
For ASA, back up the whole ShooterGame/Saved directory, not just the map. Force a current save, stop the server, copy the directory to separate dated storage, and keep more than one generation. During recovery, stop the server, preserve the current files, restore a coherent map/world backup with its matching player and tribe files, use the correct map filename, and verify the result in-game before treating the rollback as complete.
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