To enable creative mode on an ARK: Survival Evolved dedicated server, set a server admin password, restart after saving the setting, join the server, open the in-game console, authenticate with enablecheats <adminpassword>, and run cheat Gcm or cheat givecreativemode. Creative mode gives the issuing player access to all available engrams and removes the normal material requirement for crafting. The procedure below is for the dedicated-server version of ARK: Survival Evolved; controls and command behavior can differ in other ARK editions, on different hosts, or after game and mod changes.
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What creative mode changes
Creative mode is an administrator-enabled player state. It does not require a separate server type or a special world file. Once the issuing player has authenticated and activated it, the creative inventory exposes the available engrams and allows crafting without the materials normally required. The cited server guide describes the resulting inventory as containing the Creation or creative menu and unlocked engrams.
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The commands apply to the player who enters them. Giving yourself creative mode therefore does not automatically place every survivor on the server into that mode. Each player who needs it must authenticate and activate it for their own character, or an administrator must use the appropriate command while controlling that player where the server and edition support it.
Creative mode is separate from the server’s normal difficulty, PvE/PvP choice, experience multipliers, and level settings. Those general settings remain in the server configuration; creative mode changes the crafting and engram access of the issuing player.
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What you need before changing the server
- A dedicated ARK: Survival Evolved server. It can be hosted through a control panel or managed on your own machine. The documented panel workflow uses Nitrado, but the same concepts apply to other hosts that expose the ARK configuration files.
- Permission to edit server settings. You need access to the host’s settings page or to the server’s
GameUserSettings.inifile. - A server admin password. This is the value assigned to
ServerAdminPassword. It is not necessarily the same as the password players use to join a password-protected server. - A client connected to the intended server. The console commands authenticate the player on the server they have actually joined. Joining a different server, an unofficial listing, or a local session will not change the target server.
- A way to open the console on your platform. PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One use different controls, listed below.
Keep the server’s edition in mind. The documented commands and controls are specifically for ARK: Survival Evolved. Do not assume that an instruction written for another ARK release, a console remaster, a modded server, or a different patch has identical command names or input behavior.
Step 1: Set the server admin password
Open your host’s ARK settings and locate the general server settings. In a Nitrado panel, these are under General. Set a value for ServerAdminPassword. If you edit files directly, place the setting in GameUserSettings.ini using the server’s normal INI format:
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ServerAdminPassword=your-admin-passwordReplace your-admin-password with the exact value you intend to type in the game console. When entering the command later, do not type the angle brackets shown in documentation; they mark the placeholder. For example, if the configured value is RiverStone42, the command is enablecheats RiverStone42.
Save the panel form or the INI file. A password change is not active merely because it appears in the editor. Restart the server after saving so the server loads the updated configuration. The host guide explicitly calls for a restart after server-setting changes.
Step 2: Join the server and open the console
Start the game client, connect to the same dedicated server whose password you just configured, and wait until your survivor has loaded into the world. Then pause if your platform requires it and open the console with the matching control:
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| Platform | How to open the in-game console |
|---|---|
| PC | Press Tab. |
| PlayStation 4 | While paused, press L1 + R1 + Square + Triangle. |
| Xbox One | While paused, press LB + RB + X + Y. |
On PC, a missing console is often an input-mapping issue rather than an authentication problem. Check the game’s keyboard mapping if pressing Tab does not display the command line. On consoles, perform the listed combination while the game is paused; pressing it during normal play may not open the interface.
Step 3: Authenticate as an administrator
With the console open, enter:
enablecheats <adminpassword>Substitute the exact value of ServerAdminPassword. This command is the authentication step: it switches the connected player into admin mode on the server. A successful creative command depends on this step being accepted first.
If the command is rejected, check two facts before changing anything else:
- You joined the intended dedicated server, not another ARK session with a similar name.
- The password in the command exactly matches the current
ServerAdminPassword, including capitalization and any numbers or symbols.
After correcting the password or the server setting, save the change and restart the server again before attempting authentication.
Step 4: Turn on creative mode
After authentication, use one of the two documented creative-mode commands. Both affect the player who enters the command.
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| Command | Result | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
cheat Gcm |
Toggles creative mode for the issuing player. | Use this when you want a short command and may need to turn the state off again by toggling it. |
cheat givecreativemode |
Sets the issuing player to creative mode. | Use this when you want the explicit give-creative-mode command. |
Enter the command exactly as shown, including the cheat prefix. The short form is commonly called the GCM command; the full form is useful when you want the command’s purpose to be self-evident. If you use cheat Gcm again, it functions as the documented toggle for the issuing player.
Step 5: Confirm that creative mode is active
Close the console and open your inventory. Look for the Creation or creative menu and the unlocked engrams described by the server guide. Attempting to craft from that interface should not require the normal material list while creative mode is active.
Verification should be done on the survivor that entered the commands. If another player checks their inventory and sees no creative interface, that does not by itself indicate a server failure; the commands are player-specific.
The available documentation describes the expected inventory state but does not provide an independent test for every platform, patch, mod combination, or host. If the inventory does not change after successful authentication, work through the troubleshooting section rather than assuming that a different ARK edition behaves the same way.
Useful administrative commands
Creative mode is the immediate goal, but these commands help diagnose or manage the authenticated player session:
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- Harvest, Hunt and Build: Cut down trees and turn them into a basic home, which you can quickly expand into a Jurassic estate. Hunt for meat, scavenge for plants (or start your own garden!)
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- Explore the Island: Solve the mystery of The ARK as you explore this massive island, discovering Explorer's Notebooks (filled with clues!) throughout
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
showmyadminmanager |
Opens the administrative manager and its cheat tools. |
setcheatplayer true |
Turns cheat commands on for the issuing player. |
setcheatplayer false |
Turns cheat commands off for the issuing player. |
These are not replacements for setting ServerAdminPassword and running enablecheats. Authentication remains the server-side gate described above.
Where ARK stores the settings
Knowing which file controls which option prevents a creative-mode setup from being mixed up with unrelated gameplay settings.
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|---|---|---|
| Host control panel, General section | Convenient interface for the general server options, including the admin password on the documented Nitrado workflow. | Save the form, then restart the server. |
GameUserSettings.ini |
General settings such as ServerAdminPassword, the server join password, difficulty, PvE/PvP mode, and gameplay multipliers. |
Save the file and restart so the server reads the new values. |
Game.ini |
Advanced settings such as experience ramps, level caps, and detailed experience-point settings. | Save the file and restart; these options are separate from the admin-password entry. |
Creative mode itself is enabled through the authenticated in-game command. Editing an experience curve or a level cap in Game.ini will not substitute for the console authentication sequence.
Nitrado panel workflow, step by step
If your dedicated server is hosted in Nitrado, the setup follows this order:
- Open the server in the Nitrado control panel.
- Go to General and locate the admin-password field.
- Enter the value for
ServerAdminPasswordand save the settings. - Restart the server and wait until it is available again.
- Join that server in ARK: Survival Evolved, open the console for your platform, and authenticate with
enablecheatsfollowed by the configured password. - Run
cheat Gcmorcheat givecreativemode, then check the inventory.
The panel changes and the in-game commands are separate stages. Saving without restarting leaves the running server on its previous configuration; authenticating before the restart can therefore fail even if the password field now looks correct in the panel.
Troubleshooting creative mode
The console does not open on PC
Check the game’s keyboard mapping first. The documented PC control is Tab, but a remapped key can prevent that key from opening the console. Confirm that the client is connected to the intended dedicated server before testing commands.
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Verify that the server has been restarted since ServerAdminPassword was changed, then compare the password in the command with the configured value character for character. Also confirm that you did not join a different server than the one whose settings you edited.
cheat Gcm or cheat givecreativemode does nothing
Authenticate again with enablecheats using the current admin password. Enter the creative command with the cheat prefix and check the inventory of the same player who entered it. If the host, game edition, patch, or installed mod differs from the documented ARK: Survival Evolved setup, identical behavior is not guaranteed.
The password works on one server but not another
Admin passwords belong to the server configuration. A password configured in one server’s GameUserSettings.ini does not authenticate you on a different server. Join the intended server and use that server’s current value.
Panel or INI edits disappear after a restart
Return to the same configuration location you edited and confirm that the value was saved before restarting. In a panel workflow, save the General settings first. In a file workflow, confirm that ServerAdminPassword is in GameUserSettings.ini, not only in Game.ini, then restart once more.
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The documented commands set or toggle creative mode for the issuing player. Have that player authenticate with the server’s admin password and run the creative command on their own connected survivor, subject to the server’s edition and platform behavior.
Edition, platform, and mod limits
This procedure should be labeled for ARK: Survival Evolved, not presented as a universal ARK instruction. The source material specifies PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One console controls and describes the dedicated-server command sequence for that edition. Other editions, newer console generations, hosts with custom panels, mods, and later patches may change the console shortcut, command handling, or inventory presentation.
When documenting a server for a community, state the edition and platform in the instructions, keep the exact admin-password location visible, and tell players which survivor must run the commands. That small amount of context prevents most reports that “GCM does not work” when the actual problem is a different server, an un-restarted configuration, or a platform-specific console shortcut.
Quick Recap
Printable setup checklist
- Confirm the server is a dedicated ARK: Survival Evolved server.
- Open the host’s General settings or
GameUserSettings.ini. - Set
ServerAdminPasswordand save. - Restart the server after the change.
- Join the same server with the survivor that will use creative mode.
- Open the console with Tab on PC, L1 + R1 + Square + Triangle on PS4 while paused, or LB + RB + X + Y on Xbox One while paused.
- Run
enablecheats <adminpassword>, replacing the placeholder with the exact configured password. - Run
cheat Gcmorcheat givecreativemode. - Open the inventory and confirm the Creation or creative menu and unlocked engrams appear.
- If anything fails, recheck the intended server, exact password, save operation, and restart before changing unrelated settings.
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