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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsTo reset an ARK: Survival Evolved dedicated server, stop it, back up ShooterGame/Saved/, then remove only the save files that match the reset you want. Deleting the map’s .ark file creates a new world while retaining player and tribe data; deleting every save file starts the world, characters and tribes over.
Godlike.Host offers hosted ARK: Survival Evolved servers with its own game panel, SFTP access and free DDoS protection, if you would rather not host it yourself.
The procedure below applies to community-documented ARK: Survival Evolved layouts. The available guides are hosting-provider instructions and Steam community posts rather than Studio Wildcard documentation, and many have no visible publication date. File names or control-panel labels can therefore differ in your current game or host version.
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Choose the kind of reset before deleting anything
“Wipe the server” can mean several different operations. Decide what should survive first, because the files contain different parts of the game state.
| Reset scope | Delete | Keep | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| World-only reset | The map’s .ark file |
.arkprofile player files and .arktribe tribe files |
A newly generated map with existing characters and tribes available, subject to the map and server setup. |
| Full save wipe | All live save files in the relevant save location | Nothing from the saved world, players or tribes | A new world and a clean player/tribe state. |
| Single-player character reset | One player’s .arkprofile, after making a copy |
The map and tribe files | That player’s character data is reset without intentionally removing the world. |
| Configuration reset | Configuration files, only when you deliberately choose to replace them | Save data, if it is stored separately | Settings may return to defaults, but the exact behavior is not established by the available evidence. |
A world wipe is usually the least destructive option when the goal is to remove buildings, tamed creatures and gathered resources while letting players keep their characters. A full wipe is appropriate for a genuinely new season or a server that must not retain old ownership data.
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Know which files hold the world, players and tribes
On a dedicated ARK: Survival Evolved server, the commonly documented save location is ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks. A host’s file manager or an FTP client may expose that directory under a server root.
The map file: .ark
The .ark file is the map state. Community guides associate it with structures, creatures and resources. Removing that file is the normal world-only wipe: the server has to generate a fresh map state when it starts.
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Player files: .arkprofile
There is normally one .arkprofile per player. The files are named with the player’s SteamID64 and hold character information such as inventory, engrams and position. Keeping these files preserves that player data during a map-only reset. Removing one profile is the documented single-player character-reset method.
Tribe files: .arktribe
.arktribe files contain tribe data separately from the map and player profiles. A world-only reset that leaves these files in place can retain tribe information even though the physical map is new.
Map-specific folders and ARK backups
Host layouts are not identical. Documentation describes SavedArksLocal for The Island and Workshop mod maps, while other official maps may appear in folders named for the map. Check which folder is active for the map you are resetting instead of deleting every similarly named directory automatically.
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ARK also creates files with extensions such as .bak, .tribebak and .profilebak alongside live data. Their presence is reported by community guides, but the available material does not establish a complete, version-independent restore procedure for each backup type. Treat them as potentially useful recovery copies, not as a substitute for your own backup.
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Prepare safely: stop, copy, then edit
1. Stop the server completely
Use the host panel’s Stop command or shut down the process through the method your server manager provides. Wait until the panel reports that it is offline before changing files. Editing a running save risks having the process write old data back over your changes or leaving a partial save.
2. Back up the entire ShooterGame/Saved/ directory
Download or copy the complete folder to storage outside the server. Do not limit the backup to the one .ark file you plan to delete: the wider folder may contain player, tribe, configuration and backup data needed for a rollback. Give the copy a date and a description of the intended reset so you can identify it later.
3. Confirm you are editing the intended instance
Shared hosts can expose multiple servers or map directories. Check the server name, instance identifier and map folder before deleting anything. If your panel offers both a file manager and FTP, use one method consistently and refresh the listing after the server has stopped so you are not working from a stale view.
Dedicated-server world wipe: exact procedure
- Stop the server. Do not proceed while it is running or still finishing shutdown.
- Back up
ShooterGame/Saved/. Preserve the original directory outside the server’s live location. - Open the save directory. In the host file manager or through FTP, navigate to
ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks, or to the map-specific save folder your layout uses. - Identify the map save. Select the relevant
.arkfile. Do not select.arkprofileor.arktribefiles if players and tribes are meant to survive. - Delete the selected map file. If the host provides a recycle bin, retain the item there until you have confirmed the reset worked. Otherwise, rely on the external backup for recovery.
- Start the server. On startup, ARK should generate a fresh world in place of the removed map state.
- Join and inspect the result. Verify that the terrain is new while checking the player and tribe data you deliberately kept. Stop again before making any corrective deletion if the result is not what you intended.
The same sequence applies to a full save wipe, except the deletion step targets all relevant live save files. That includes the map, player profiles and tribe files. Keep the backup untouched until the new server has been tested.
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How to perform a full wipe without accidentally changing settings
Deleting every save file is not the same as deleting the whole Saved folder. Community forum users report that the wider Saved directory also contains .ini configuration files. Removing that directory can therefore erase server settings along with the world data.
Preserve configuration while wiping saves
- Stop the server and make the complete backup described above.
- Open the relevant save directory rather than deleting
ShooterGame/Saved/itself. - Remove the map, profile and tribe save files required for a clean start.
- Leave configuration files in place.
- Start the server and test the settings that matter to your community, such as the intended map and rules.
This approach separates a gameplay reset from a settings reset. The available sources do not establish a universal rule for every host’s directory layout, so compare the file names in your own panel with the backup before confirming a bulk delete.
What is known about GameUserSettings.ini?
One hosting guide claims that clearing GameUserSettings.ini makes ARK regenerate default settings. That claim was not corroborated by a second search, and the available evidence does not confirm how current server versions behave. If you test it, preserve the original file first and treat the result as an experiment you can reverse, not as a guaranteed reset procedure. There is no established evidence here that a world wipe alone resets this file.
Reset one player in a single-player game
A single-player character reset is narrower than a dedicated-server wipe. Back up the relevant .arkprofile, then delete or rename that profile. The documented effect is to leave the world and tribe files alone while removing that player’s profile data, including the inventory, engrams and position associated with the profile.
- Exit the game completely so the local save is not open.
- Locate the local profile file associated with the player’s SteamID64.
- Copy the file to a separate backup location.
- Rename it first if you want an easy rollback, or delete it if your backup is secure.
- Start the game and check the character state before making any additional changes.
Do not use this method when your goal is to regenerate the map. The map’s .ark data and the tribe files are separate, so removing only a profile does not constitute a world wipe.
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Troubleshooting when the wipe appears not to work
The old map is still present
First confirm that the server was stopped before deletion and that you edited the active map directory. Some layouts use SavedArksLocal for The Island or Workshop maps and map-named folders for other official maps. A deletion in an unused folder will have no visible effect.
A forum user described a server-manager setup in which deleting save files alone did not work until the server was started and saved data for each area was removed. That is a single report tied to one setup, not a general ARK rule. If the ordinary procedure fails, stop the server again, compare every map-related folder with your backup, and contact the host about which directory the instance actually loads.
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Check whether the configuration files were removed along with the saves. If the entire Saved directory was deleted, restore the backed-up configuration files before attempting another wipe. Because the behavior of clearing GameUserSettings.ini is unverified, do not assume a settings reset is intentional until you compare the current file with your backup.
Single-player data did not refresh
A Steam community reply reports that deleting SavedArksLocal alone did not refresh a local map and that the LocalProfiles folder also had to be deleted. This report concerns local/single-player storage and may not apply to every version or installation. Preserve both locations before trying it, and remove additional local data only when you accept that it can affect characters as well as the map.
Players or tribes disappeared unexpectedly
That indicates that profile or tribe files were deleted or restored from the wrong backup, rather than a clean world-only wipe. Stop the server, preserve the current state for diagnosis, and restore the original .arkprofile and .arktribe files from the backup. Do not overwrite the only copy until you have verified which files belong to the intended instance.
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The server will not generate a new world
Check that the map file, rather than only a backup file, was removed and that the process had fully stopped before the deletion. If the host has a “restore,” “reinstall” or “reset” button, do not use it as a substitute for the file-level backup unless you know exactly which directories it changes.
Validate the reset before inviting players back
A reset is complete only after the generated world and the retained data match your plan. Use this checklist after startup:
- The server loads the intended map and does not show the previous world’s structures, creatures or gathered resources when you selected a world-only wipe.
- Characters, inventories, engrams and positions remain only when their
.arkprofilefiles were intentionally retained. - Tribe membership remains only when the relevant
.arktribefiles were intentionally retained. - Server settings match the configuration files you chose to keep.
- The new server can be stopped and started once without reverting to the old map.
- The external backup is still available and has not been used as the live directory by mistake.
Test with an administrator account first. If the result is wrong, stop the server before restoring anything; continuing to play can add new data that complicates a rollback.
Recovery and rollback
Your full copy of ShooterGame/Saved/ is the primary recovery path. Stop the server, preserve the failed post-wipe state under a different name, and copy the required original files back into the matching location. Restore only the category that needs repair when possible: a world-only rollback can use the old .ark, while a player or tribe recovery can use the corresponding profile or tribe files.
Do not mix files from unrelated backups unless you understand which map, player and tribe state they represent. A map from one point in time combined with profiles from another can produce a state that is difficult to diagnose. Keep the backup until everyone has confirmed that the reset and retained data are correct.
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A search summary suggested a Survival Ascended save path of /home/container/ShooterGame/Saved/SaveGames/, but no fetched page confirmed it. Do not assume that the Survival Evolved path or deletion sequence applies to Ascended. Identify the exact game edition, ask the host for its current save-location documentation, and back up the directory they identify before making any change.
What the available documentation can—and cannot—confirm
The practical steps in this guide are consistent across several third-party hosting guides and Steam community discussions: stop the server, back up the save directory, remove the specific save files, and start the server to generate new data. Those sources do not include a confirmed Studio Wildcard procedure, published test statistics or a dated, version-specific guarantee for current menu labels and paths. Treat your host’s current panel instructions as authoritative for its file layout, and keep a reversible backup whenever the labels or folders differ from the examples above.
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