December 23 was the start of ARK’s Winter Wonderland event in 2024—not a confirmed annual start date. Studio Wildcard scheduled that event for December 23, 2024, through January 9, 2025, on Official Servers. The next official schedule began earlier, on December 19, 2025, so the available announcements do not establish a December 23, 2026 event.
What happened on December 23 in ARK?
Studio Wildcard announced Winter Wonderland in Community Crunch 439, published December 21, 2024. The holiday event began December 23, 2024, and ran through January 9, 2025, on Official Servers. The announcement described a seasonal event with increased server rates, holiday creatures, gift boxes, and collectible cosmetics.
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RaptorClaus appeared at midnight game time on all maps. The announcement also featured Santa’s Big Helper Yeti, the Abominable Snowman, Pegomastax Grouch, rideable reindeer, and the newly added Gacha Claus. Players could encounter gift boxes and seasonal materials including Coal and Mistletoe; the listed collectibles included themed chibis, emotes, skins, and other items. Event recipes were available at the Smithy rather than the Cooking Pot.
What were the 2024 Winter Wonderland rates?
Studio Wildcard published different multipliers for each Official Server mode during the 2024 event:
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#1 Best Overall
- Use cunning strategy and tactics to tame, train, ride and breed the 100+ dinosaurs and other primeval creatures roaming the dynamic, persistent ecosystems across land, sea, air, and even underground Build your character's strengths and gain items, skills, and pet creatures using in-depth role-playing systems
- Start a tribe with hundreds of other players to survive and dominate competing tribes...and ultimately discover ARK's true purpose
- Build a fire or shelter, then craft customizable clothing & armors to help protect against damage and extreme temperatures on your way to unlocking advanced technologies and equipment
- Chop down trees and mine metal and other precious resources to build massive multi-leveled structures composed of complex snap-linked parts
| Server mode | Harvesting | Taming | Experience | Breeding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PVP/PVE | 2x | 2x | 2x | 2x |
| Small Tribes | 4.5x | 4.5x | 4.5x | 4x |
| ARKpocalypse | 5x | 5x | 5x | 5x |
These figures are the rates Studio Wildcard announced for the 2024 event, not standing server settings or a guarantee for later Winter Wonderland events.
Did Winter Wonderland start on December 23 every year?
No. Studio Wildcard’s later Community Crunch 489, published December 20, 2025, scheduled Winter Wonderland on Official Servers from December 19, 2025, through January 5, 2026. The 2025 announcement again listed 2x rates for PVP/PVE, 4.5x harvesting, taming, and experience plus 4x breeding for Small Tribes, and 5x rates for ARKpocalypse. It also said RaptorClaus would appear at midnight game time on all maps.
Rank #2
- Capture and Tame Dinosaurs: Discover over 100 different dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures on the island, finding ways to tame them into useful additions for your tribe's dino herd
- Survive Above All: Hunger, thirst, basic safety, and protecting yourself from the weather are all part of the game
- 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!)
- Customize Everything: An extensive crafting system invites you to mix and match materials scavenged from the island, while also modifying the colors, textures, shapes, and styles
- Explore the Island: Solve the mystery of The ARK as you explore this massive island, discovering Explorer's Notebooks (filled with clues!) throughout
The start dates differed by four days between the two announcements. As of October 8, 2026, these official schedules do not confirm a Winter Wonderland event beginning December 23, 2026. Check Studio Wildcard’s current announcements for any future schedule rather than assuming the 2024 date will recur.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Official Servers and private-server play
The dates and multipliers above refer to Official Servers. The 2024 announcement also gave instructions for enabling the Winter Wonderland mod in ARK: Survival Ascended, including mod ID 927090, and for private servers. Those instructions apply to setting up the event for private play; they are not a requirement to join the Official Server event.
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Rank #4
- Capture and Tame Dinosaurs: Discover over 100 different dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures on the island, finding ways to tame them into useful additions for your tribe's dino herd
- Survive Above All: Hunger, thirst, basic safety, and protecting yourself from the weather are all part of the game
- 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!)
- Customize Everything: An extensive crafting system invites you to mix and match materials scavenged from the island, while also modifying the colors, textures, shapes, and styles
- Explore the Island: Solve the mystery of The ARK as you explore this massive island, discovering Explorer's Notebooks (filled with clues!) throughout
Rank #3
- Capture and Tame Dinosaurs: Discover over 100 different dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures on the island, finding ways to tame them into useful additions for your tribe's dino herd
- Survive Above All: Hunger, thirst, basic safety and protecting yourself from the weather are all part of the game. Run too far and not only will you be exhausted, but you will also quickly get hungry and thirsty. Weather effects are based on real-world climates, and so you'll need to hide out from rain and snow, while making the most of sunny days
- 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!)
- Gather Resources, Customize Everything: An extensive crafting system invites you to mix and match materials scavenged from the island, while also modifying the colors, textures, shapes and style of everything from the walls of your home, to your character's armor, weapons and more
- Explore the Island: Solve the mystery of The ARK as you explore this massive island, discovering Explorer's Notebooks (filled with clues!) throughout. Make your way to the final boss and figure out why you've been dropped into this Jurassic-era experience
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