Ark Survival Evolved is an incredible survival game, with tons of content, but much like other survival games on Steam, it can be made even better with mods. After years of running servers, we have put together a list of the best Ark mods for 2023.
Ark mods can be used to make quality of life changes, or to completely change the way the game is played, all you need to do is pick the right mods for you.
The Best Ark Mods of 2023
Each year we update our best Ark mods list with the latest mods, making sure we keep up with new and updated Ark mods.
If you would like us to review an Ark mod for this list, why not drop us a message in the comment section at the bottom of this article.
1. Structures Plus (S+)
We’ve already mentioned S+ in the Top Building Mods post we did, however, it really is an essential mod for any server and one we highly recommend.
In fact, I won’t actually play on a server now unless it includes S+. The ability to build on any landscapes makes it invaluable.
For those that have tried S+ and aren’t too keen on it, there is an alternative, Super Structures. While Super Structures is similar to S+ in many ways, it does also have its own unique features and buildings, which some people might prefer.
The best bet is to try out both and see which one suites your play-style best.
2. Awesome Spyglass
We’ve already mentioned S+ in the Top Building Mods post we did, however, it really is an essential mod for any server and one we highly recommend.
In fact, I won’t actually play on a server now unless it includes S+. The ability to build on any landscapes makes it invaluable.
It also shows you what you can use to tame the dinosaur, making things even easier.
The great thing about this mod is, it’s fully customizable, meaning if you don’t want to be able to target players with it, you can turn that off. You can find a full list of ini settings on the link below.
3. Platforms Anywhere
As the name suggests, you can build platforms… Anywhere. Well, kind of, you need to build one of 30 prebuilt stands for them to go on, but you are no longer restricted to trees anymore.
4. Platforms Plus
5. Reusable Plus
- Reusable Bola
- Reusable Flare Gun
- Reusable Grappling Hook
- Reusable Parachute
- Reusable Spear
6. Automated Ark
Automated Ark is one of those mods for Ark that you either love or hate, it’s perfect for casual players that only get a short time to play between work and family life. But also great for people who may just want to jump into the action and not feel like Ark is actually their job.
It does all the tedious jobs that take up so much of your time, especially with a bigger base and potentially more dinosaurs.
It also has some mechanics built in to ensure that it makes up for the fact it is making things easier.
7. Rare Sightings
8. Auction House
The auction house mod allows players to put both items and creatures up for sale. Not only can you buy and sell on your server, if you are playing on a clustered server, you can also buy and sell across the others servers in your cluster too.
The mod has been designed to work with currency mods, meaning you can list items for currency, or if you prefer, you can keep it default, where players choose the resource they would like to list their items for.
As with many mods, there are customizable settings, allowing players to change the listing fees, or completely remove them, as well as changing the skins for player’s mailboxes and vendors.
9. Capitalism Currency Series
As you can tell from the title, this one is a series of mods, which requires the base mod to work.
Capitalism Currency adds money to Ark, as well as tons of other cool features, including a bank, money from supply drops and currency from killing and looting dinos.
Not only are there tons of configuration options, but there are also tons of other mods which this mod can work alongside, creating a diverse market on your server.
Once you have the main mod installed, these are the other mods which can be installed as addons:
- Capitalism Props Table [ModID: 771279262]
- Capitalism Research Table [ModID: 775049557]
- Capitalism Admin Table [ModID: 784166441]
- Capitalism NPC Trader [ModID: 873746971]
- Capitalism Player Trader [ModID: 873749349]
- Capitalism Bounty Hunter [ModID: 898472628]
10. MarniiMods: Wildlife
If you get bored of dinosaurs and mythical creatures, then this might just be one of the best mods for you.
MarniiMods: Wildlife adds real-life creatures to the game, giving the game a touch of realism.
Currently the Ark mod features the following creatures:
– Lions and Lionesses
– Cows and Bulls
– Snow leopards
– Roosters and hens
– Exotic birds
– Cats
– Hares
– Geckos
– Owls
– Shadowcats
– Elephants
– Wolves
– Rats
– Frogs
– Camels
– Snakes
– Ravens
– Mountain Goats
The workshop page also states there will be more creatures being added soon, which we can’t wait for.
You may wonder why I haven’t included stacking mods on the list, well there are two reasons;
- I don’t like them, I don’t mind mods making time-consuming tasks a bit quicker, but find most stacking mods take it too far,
- It’s a built-in option in the INI now! Which looking at Reddit, seems some people are not aware of, an example below
ConfigOverrideItemMaxQuantity=(ItemClassString=”PrimalItemResource_SnailPaste_C”,Quantity=(MaxItemQuantity=10000,bIgnoreMultiplier=true))
A full list of multipliers for this new setting can be found here.
Other Best Ark Mods:
As we feel that the Ark modding community have a massively positive impact on the game itself we feel it’s helpful for us to keep supplying you with mod lists, keep an eye out for our dedicated mods lists such as the best building mods.
Check out the rest of our specific mods from the list below, please feel free to contact us should you want us to create any new lists with a specific category of Ark mods.
Best Building Mods: Click here
3 comments
Structures Plus is a limited support mod. The author Has made one update in 2020 and has made it clear he wont be doing much more. Look into Super Structures, A branch off Structures+ but with continued support.
@DF Rubbish!
S+ is still active and was last updated in 23rd Aug 2021.
@Moo the developer did actually stop working on it for a while and announced support would end, but shortly after changed his mind and continued working on updates.