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Custom Dino Levels lets you replace ARK: Survival Ascended’s usual wild-creature level distribution with an equalized range, a Ragnarok-like curve, or a high-level curve. To make a specific range such as 50–150 possible, enable the mod, place its settings in GameUserSettings.ini, set exactly one distribution switch to True, and then wipe wild creatures so the map respawns them under the new rules. The mod changes newly spawned wild creatures; it does not retroactively change existing spawns or tames.
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What Custom Dino Levels changes
Custom Dino Levels is CurseForge project 928708 by kitzykatty. Its stated purpose is to alter the probability of wild-creature levels rather than to edit individual dinosaurs after they exist. The project page listed 7,245,272 downloads and a May 31, 2025 update, but download totals and update dates can change.
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The author says the mod works on any map and applies to vanilla and modded creatures that enter the world through normal map spawning. A creature produced by an item, a kill-trigger, or another mod-specific system can use a separate level routine and bypass the distribution. That distinction explains why two creatures on the same map may not follow the same range.
There are three distribution families:
| Mode | What it does | Custom range support |
|---|---|---|
| Equalized | Every base level in the configured interval has equal probability. | Yes. This is the mode required for custom MinLevel and MaxLevel values. |
| Ragnarok-like | Places more weight on higher levels than the low-skewed distribution used by story maps; some levels do not spawn. | Use the mode’s built-in curve rather than expecting an exact continuous interval. |
| High levels | Inverts the distribution toward the upper end of the available range. | Use the mode’s built-in weighting unless you specifically need an equalized interval. |
The mod’s configuration guide gives a strict warning: “ONLY ONE BOOLEAN OPTION SHOULD BE TRUE AT ALL TIMES.” If more than one of the three switches is enabled, the mod can go dormant instead of applying a predictable distribution.
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Install and enable the mod
Single-player or local session
- Open ARK: Survival Ascended’s mod browser or distribution flow.
- Search for Custom Dino Levels and install it.
- Enable it in the mod list for the world or session you intend to play.
- Launch the world once, then close the game before editing the configuration file. Starting the world first allows the game and mod to create their expected folders and reduces the chance of editing a non-existent path.
Dedicated or hosted server
Install and activate the mod through the server’s mod-management interface, then edit the host’s equivalent of GameUserSettings.ini. Providers may expose the file through a control-panel editor, a file manager, or an FTP-style connection. The settings belong on the server; changing only a local client file does not change the server’s wild-spawn rules. Follow the provider’s restart procedure after saving.
Windows configuration path
For a Windows installation, the documented file is:
ARK/ShooterGame/Saved/Config/Windows/GameUserSettings.iniBack up the file before making changes. Keep the backup outside the game’s configuration folder so an update or a server panel cannot overwrite both copies at once.
Add the CustomLevelDistrib section
Open GameUserSettings.ini in a plain-text editor. Find an existing section named [CustomLevelDistrib]. If it is absent, add the section at the end of the file and place the mod’s options beneath it. Do not put these keys under [ServerSettings]; that section is where the separate difficulty override belongs.
A working equalized setup for a difficulty-5 world with an in-game wild range of 50–150 is:
[CustomLevelDistrib]
MinLevel=10.000000
MaxLevel=30.000000
WantsEqualLevels=True
WantsRagLevels=False
WantsHighLevels=FalseUse the capitalization and decimal format shown by the mod’s examples. Most importantly, keep one—and only one—of the three Wants… values set to True.
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Choosing the switches
WantsEqualLevels=Trueselects an equal chance for every base level betweenMinLevelandMaxLevel. It is the required switch when you are defining an exact interval.WantsRagLevels=Trueselects the Ragnarok-like weighting. Set the other two switches toFalse.WantsHighLevels=Trueselects the upper-end weighting. Again, set the other two switches toFalse.
Leaving all three switches false, or accidentally leaving two true, is not a valid way to combine distributions. Treat the three booleans as mutually exclusive radio buttons.
Convert your desired levels to MinLevel and MaxLevel
The mod works with base levels from 1 through 30 before ARK applies the server’s difficulty multiplier. Convert each desired in-game level with:
MinLevel = desired minimum level / difficulty value
MaxLevel = desired maximum level / difficulty valueBoth calculations must use the same difficulty value that governs your world. The values in the INI are therefore not always the numbers you expect to see floating above a creature.
Example: levels 50–150 at difficulty 5
Divide 50 and 150 by 5. The resulting base interval is 10–30:
MinLevel=10.000000
MaxLevel=30.000000
WantsEqualLevels=TrueAfter the difficulty multiplier is applied, the equalized base interval corresponds to in-game levels 50 through 150. This does not guarantee that a level-150 creature appears quickly; equal probability describes the distribution of levels when a qualifying wild creature spawns, not the number of spawn attempts you will need.
Example: only level 78 at difficulty 6
Divide 78 by 6, which gives 13. Set both limits to 13 and keep equalized mode enabled:
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[CustomLevelDistrib]
MinLevel=13.000000
MaxLevel=13.000000
WantsEqualLevels=True
WantsRagLevels=False
WantsHighLevels=FalseEvery creature affected by the normal map-spawn path will be assigned the corresponding in-game level. Creatures created through a special system can still follow that system’s own logic.
Rounding and practical checks
- Use a decimal value when the division does not produce a whole number, and keep enough precision for the intended endpoint.
- Recheck the difficulty value before calculating. A range calculated for 5 will be wrong if the server is actually running at 6.
- After the first respawn cycle, inspect several species rather than one creature. This helps distinguish a distribution problem from a species-specific spawn exception.
Set the world’s difficulty separately
Custom Dino Levels does not turn on maximum official difficulty by itself. The author’s single-player instruction for the official maximum is to add this line under [ServerSettings]:
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteOverrideOfficialDifficulty=5.00The difficulty multiplier and the mod’s distribution are separate controls. Setting WantsEqualLevels=True changes how levels are selected; it does not change the multiplier. Conversely, setting the multiplier to 5 does not equalize the distribution. On a hosted server, place the override in the server’s [ServerSettings] section and use the host’s restart process.
Control special creature ranges
The general MinLevel and MaxLevel settings are not the only controls documented by the project. Separate keys are available for creature groups that use special level rules:
| Keys | Documented purpose |
|---|---|
MinDrakeLevel and MaxDrakeLevel |
Set the range for wyverns and rock drakes. |
MinDeinonLevel and MaxDeinonLevel |
Set the range for Deinonychus. |
| Optional species controls | The configuration page also documents optional controls for bees, titanosaurs, and Magmasaurs. |
Apply the same multiplier logic when the species-specific keys use base-level values. Check the mod’s current configuration notes for the exact optional key names before adding them; do not invent names based on a creature’s display name. If a species is produced by a mission, item, kill-trigger, or another mod system, its special routine may bypass both the general and species-specific distribution.
Apply the settings and replace old spawns
- Save
GameUserSettings.iniafter checking the section name, spelling, decimal values, and booleans. - Restart the single-player session or restart/reload the dedicated server as appropriate for your host.
- Use a wild-dino wipe if you want the new distribution to be visible immediately. The wipe removes existing wild creatures so the map can create replacements under the new settings.
- Allow the map’s normal spawn cycle to repopulate. Test several affected species and inspect their levels.
Without a wipe, creatures that already spawned remain unchanged. The mod affects new spawns only, so seeing old levels immediately after a configuration edit is expected and is not proof that the file failed.
Troubleshoot missing level-150 creatures
The server still shows the old distribution
First confirm that the file you edited belongs to the world you launched. On a hosted server, a local copy of GameUserSettings.ini has no effect. Next, verify that the [CustomLevelDistrib] section is spelled exactly and that it is not nested beneath another section. Restart, then perform a wild-dino wipe. Existing animals will not be retroactively recalculated.
Level 150 is possible but rarely appears
Check the world difficulty multiplier and the arithmetic. For difficulty 5, the upper endpoint is base level 30; for a different multiplier, the required MaxLevel changes. In equalized mode, level 150 has the same per-level probability as every other level in the configured interval, but the total number of spawn attempts, species spawn weights, and occupied spawn slots still affect how long you wait to see one.
No levels appear after changing modes
Inspect all three switches. Exactly one must be true. A configuration with both WantsEqualLevels=True and WantsRagLevels=True, for example, conflicts with the mod’s requirement and can leave it dormant. Set the unwanted options to False, save, restart, and wipe wild creatures.
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Determine how that creature was created. Normal map-spawned vanilla and modded creatures are the supported case, including maps with custom spawners. A creature generated by an item, a kill-trigger, a mission, or a mod-specific mechanism may retain its own level logic. Test a species that you know uses ordinary map spawning before changing the global configuration.
Only some species respond
Review the species-specific controls for drakes, Deinonychus, and the other documented groups. A separate range can make a creature appear to ignore the general interval even though the mod is functioning. Also confirm that you are testing wild creatures rather than existing tames.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Compatibility, maps, and platform considerations
The author states that Custom Dino Levels works on any map and supports vanilla and modded dinos that use normal map spawning. The author also says maps with custom spawners are supported, but that statement does not override the special-spawn caveat: a custom spawner can still create a creature through a path with its own level logic.
The configuration is an INI-based workflow. The documented setup does not describe an in-game slider for entering minimum and maximum levels, so plan to edit the server or local configuration file and restart after changes. For console or cross-platform delivery, use the game’s supported mod-distribution flow and your server provider’s documented configuration access; the available configuration notes do not establish a separate console-only interface.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →When evaluating another level-distribution mod, compare concrete capabilities rather than assuming they are interchangeable:
- Whether it is delivered to ASA console and cross-platform servers.
- Whether settings are INI-only or exposed through an in-game UI.
- Whether it permits exact minimum and maximum ranges.
- How it treats creatures created by special spawn systems.
- Whether a wild-dino wipe is needed after a change.
- Whether it coexists with the creature and map mods already on your server.
Those are decision criteria, not claims that another product has been verified against Custom Dino Levels here.
Remove the mod without losing tames
The author says the mod does not directly modify the dinosaurs themselves. Removing it therefore retains existing tames. Before removal, disable the mod through the game or server’s mod manager, remove its configuration section if the host requires a clean file, and restart. Wild creatures that spawn afterward will follow the game’s normal distribution or any remaining level mod. Existing wild creatures can persist until naturally killed or wiped, so a post-removal wild-dino wipe is useful when you want the old distribution to appear immediately.
A reliable configuration checklist
- Install and enable Custom Dino Levels in the world’s active mod list.
- Edit the correct local or server-side
GameUserSettings.ini. - Create or locate
[CustomLevelDistrib]. - Choose one distribution switch: equalized, Ragnarok-like, or high levels.
- Set the other two switches to
False. - For an exact interval, use equalized mode and divide desired in-game endpoints by the difficulty multiplier.
- Set
OverrideOfficialDifficulty=5.00under[ServerSettings]only when you want that official difficulty value. - Configure drake, Deinonychus, or other documented species ranges separately when needed.
- Save, restart, wipe wild creatures, and test normal map-spawned wilds.
What the documentation does—and does not—establish
The available project documentation establishes the configuration syntax, the three distribution modes, the level-conversion formula, the restart and wipe behavior, the stated map and creature compatibility, and the retention of tames after removal. It does not provide a controlled benchmark, an independent study of spawn rates, or a published performance measurement. Expect the mod to change level selection, not to guarantee a particular number of high-level creatures per hour or a measurable server-performance improvement.
In practice, the key diagnostic order is simple: verify the server’s difficulty, verify that exactly one distribution switch is true, verify that the settings are in the active GameUserSettings.ini, restart, and wipe existing wild creatures. If a normally map-spawned creature still falls outside the range after those checks, investigate its species-specific setting or whether its spawn path is one of the special systems that the mod does not control.
Quick Recap
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