If ARK replaces GameUserSettings.ini with defaults every time the server restarts, the file is usually failing validation. The common causes documented by Shockbyte, Point of Trade and Pingperfect are invalid syntax, a misspelled or misplaced setting, an unsupported value type, or missing required sections. The reliable repair is to let the server create a clean file, stop the server, merge your changes into that baseline one setting at a time, and restart after saving.
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Shockbyte summarized the behavior in its November 8, 2024 guidance: “If your GameUserSettings.ini file is resetting on server restart, this usually means there is an error in the file.” A reset is therefore a configuration error to isolate, not a normal save operation.
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What a reset tells you
ARK reads GameUserSettings.ini during startup. When the file does not pass the game server’s checks, the service can regenerate it from defaults or from a known-good template. Your old values then appear to have been “overwritten,” but the underlying problem is that at least one line, section, key, or value was unacceptable.
The three source providers identify the same broad failure pattern:
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- Syntax error: a line is not written as a valid INI assignment.
- Missing required content: a section header or setting expected by the generated file is absent.
- Invalid configuration: a key is in the wrong section, a name is misspelled, or a value is outside what the server accepts.
Do not begin by pasting another complete INI generated elsewhere. Whole-file generators often omit sections that ARK expects. Use a file generated by your own server as the structural baseline and merge only the changes you need.
Identify the file and live server directory
Edit the copy that the running service actually loads. A template, downloaded example, local backup, or file in a different server instance will not affect the process you restart.
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Nitrado documents this File Browser location for Windows servers:
arkse/ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/
The file in that directory is GameUserSettings.ini. Nitrado describes it as the file containing most general server settings and instructs administrators to save changes, then restart the server to load them.
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Linux server path
The ARK Official Community Wiki search result lists the Linux configuration directory as:
ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/
The filename remains GameUserSettings.ini. The platform folder is different, so placing a corrected Windows file in a Linux directory, or vice versa, will not repair the live instance.
GameUserSettings.ini versus Game.ini
These files are not interchangeable. Nitrado identifies GameUserSettings.ini as the place for general options such as difficulty, passwords, PvE/PvP mode, and multipliers. Advanced progression changes, including level caps and experience ramps, belong in Game.ini. If a setting is ignored, first verify that you are editing the file that owns that setting rather than moving unrelated entries into GameUserSettings.ini.
| File | Typical purpose documented by Nitrado | Example location |
|---|---|---|
GameUserSettings.ini |
General server settings, including difficulty, passwords, PvE/PvP and multipliers | arkse/ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ on a Windows server |
Game.ini |
Advanced settings such as level caps and XP ramps | The same platform-specific ShooterGame/Saved/Config/ tree used by the live server |
Use the clean-baseline recovery procedure
Follow this sequence whenever the file resets. It preserves a copy of your current work and gives you a known-good structure to test.
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- Back up the current file. Stop making edits and copy
GameUserSettings.inito a separate backup with a date or revision name. Keep the copy outside the live configuration folder if your host’s panel can regenerate files there. Shockbyte and Point of Trade both recommend a backup before repair. - Generate a clean baseline. Start or restart the server once without further edits so ARK creates a working
GameUserSettings.ini. Wait for the service to finish starting, then stop it cleanly before opening the file. This gives you the exact structure your server accepts. - Open the live file while the server is stopped. Use the host’s File Browser or the server’s actual filesystem. Do not edit while the process is running; a running server can rewrite the file or load the old version before your save is complete.
- Confirm the required section headers. Shockbyte’s baseline guidance lists these headers:
[ServerSettings][/Script/ShooterGame.ShooterGameUserSettings][ScalabilityGroups][SessionSettings][/Script/Engine.GameSession]
Keep the spelling, brackets and capitalization of the generated headers. A missing header can make ARK regenerate the file with defaults.
- Validate every line. Each assignment should use one key and one value in this form:
Key=Value. Do not put spaces around the equals sign. Check the key’s spelling, the section in which it appears, and the value’s type. A Boolean setting must remain a Boolean value; do not replace it with a number simply because another setting uses numeric input. - Compare before you copy. Open your backed-up file beside the newly generated baseline. Identify only the settings you intentionally changed. Add those values to the corresponding existing sections instead of replacing the whole baseline.
- Apply changes incrementally. Change a key that already exists in the clean file first. Then add one missing key at a time under its correct section. Save a new backup after each group that starts successfully. If the next restart resets the file, the most recent addition is the first item to remove and test.
- Save, start, and verify. Save the file while the server is stopped, start the server, and connect to confirm that the setting is active. Nitrado’s documented workflow also requires saving the edit and restarting before the change is loaded.
Validate INI syntax before every restart
Use this checklist on the complete file, not just the line you most recently changed:
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- Assignments follow
Key=Value, with no spaces surrounding=. - Every key is spelled exactly as expected by ARK.
- Each key is under the section that owns it.
- Boolean, numeric and text values use the expected type; do not substitute one type for another.
- All five baseline section headers are present unless the server-generated file for your installation clearly differs.
- You have not pasted settings intended for
Game.iniintoGameUserSettings.ini. - The file you saved is in the live platform directory, not a backup or template location.
When comparing files, treat the generated baseline as authoritative for structure. Preserve sections and existing lines even if a third-party configuration tool produced a shorter file.
Choose a safe editing workflow
Both managed panels and direct filesystem access can work. The important controls are stopping the service, editing the live file, saving completely, and restarting.
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| Workflow | Best use | Required controls |
|---|---|---|
| Managed-panel File Browser | Hosts that expose the server directory and a Save action | Open the documented platform folder, stop the server before editing, click Save, then restart |
| Direct file editing | Administrators with filesystem or SFTP access | Back up the live file, stop the process, edit the live copy, preserve section headers, then restart |
| Clean-file incremental merge | Recovering from a reset or uncertain generator output | Generate a baseline, change existing keys first, add one key at a time, and keep revision backups |
| Whole-file generator paste | Fast only when the generator exactly matches the server’s required structure | Verify every required section and setting; otherwise use the generated baseline instead |
A panel editor does not remove the need for validation. It only changes how you reach the same file.
Fix the most common traps
You replaced the complete file with a generated snippet
A generator may output only the options you requested and omit sections ARK expects. Restore the server-generated baseline, then copy individual values into it. This approach retains the required structure while preserving your custom settings.
You edited the wrong INI file
If you changed level caps or XP ramps in GameUserSettings.ini, move those changes to Game.ini according to your host’s configuration guidance. Keep general options such as difficulty, passwords, PvE/PvP and multipliers in GameUserSettings.ini.
You edited while the server was running
Stop the server first. Otherwise the process can write its current state after your edit, or it can start before the new contents are fully saved. After saving, restart so ARK reads the corrected file.
You put mod settings in the wrong place
Shockbyte notes that its servers use ark.properties for mod configuration rather than GameUserSettings.ini. Follow your provider’s documented mod mechanism; do not add mod declarations to this INI simply because other server settings are stored there.
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Nitrado warns that extreme values can stop the server from booting. If the service fails to start after a change, stop attempting further edits, restore the last known-good revision, and start again. Reintroduce the suspect value only after the baseline boots.
Troubleshoot by symptom
The file resets immediately after restart
- Stop the server and save a copy of the reset file for comparison.
- Restore the clean baseline generated by the server.
- Check all five section headers and every edited assignment.
- Reapply only one setting, restart, and observe whether it persists.
- Continue one setting at a time until the offending line is identified.
This isolates syntax, section placement, invalid keys and unsupported values without discarding your entire configuration.
The server starts, but a setting does not take effect
- Confirm that you edited the platform directory used by the running instance.
- Check whether the option belongs in
Game.iniinstead. - Verify the key’s spelling, section and value type.
- Confirm that you saved before restarting and that the panel did not open a different server instance.
The server will not boot after an edit
Revert the latest change or restore the last backup that started successfully. Nitrado specifically identifies extreme values as a possible cause of startup failure. Once the server is online, add the removed setting again with a supported value and test it alone.
When to ask the host for help
Escalate after you have a server-generated baseline, have edited the live platform directory, and have tested incremental changes without success. Include the intended GameUserSettings.ini with the ticket. Point of Trade asks customers to provide the file for support, while Pingperfect says provider staff may be able to restore a reset file from internal backups.
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Tell support exactly when the reset occurs, which revision last worked, whether the server is Windows or Linux, and whether the clean baseline also resets. That information distinguishes a malformed edit from a host-side restore or service-path problem.
Quick Recap
Final pre-restart checklist
- The server is stopped.
- A dated backup of the current file exists.
- You are editing the live platform-specific directory.
- The file contains the generated section headers.
- Every assignment uses
Key=Valuewith no spaces around the equals sign. - Keys are in the correct section and values use the correct type.
- Settings intended for
Game.inior a provider-specific file are not mixed in. - Only the latest intended change is being tested.
- The file is saved before the server is restarted.
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