A 6 GB SavedArks folder can contain the map, characters, tribes, and several automatic backups at the same time. The wrong click does not just reset the bases, it can also force 40 players to recreate their level 1 survivor. The right choice depends on what you want to keep, character progression, tribe membership, or nothing at all.
ARK server wipe: what does the SavedArks folder contain?
ARK stores several sensitive data files in the same directory. The ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/ folder contains the active map, player profiles, tribes, and backup saves. A lot of failed wipes start there. You delete the backup, then you discover the survivors disappeared with the bases.
The map file is named after the map. On The Island, the current file is called TheIsland.ark. On Ragnarok, you will find Ragnarok.ark. On Fjordur, Fjordur.ark. This file contains the modified terrain, structures, tamed dinos, chest inventories, beds, generators, turrets, and resources already gathered. A map file from 800 MB to 12 GB is still common on an active server. Above 20 GB, cleaning abandoned bases one by one often takes more time than a map wipe.
Characters are stored in other files. A player profile can be identified by its SteamID64, 17 digits, followed by .arkprofile. Tribes use files ending in .arktribe. Keep these two families and players get back their levels, engrams, and tribe. Delete them, and everyone goes back to character creation.
A server started with ?AltSaveDirectoryName= can write somewhere other than the default folder. Check this option before deleting anything, especially after a migration, an old cluster, or a panel change.
Choosing between resetting the ARK map and wiping everything
The word wipe refers to two different actions. The first resets the world and keeps identities. The second deletes the world, characters, and tribes. In general, both restart in less than 2 minutes on a vanilla map. The result for players is not the same at all.
| Choice | What disappears | What remains | Visible result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Map only | Bases, dinos, chests, beds, map state, resources already taken | Characters, levels, engrams, tribes | Players reconnect with their survivor and respawn according to the spawn rules |
| Map plus characters | Map, player profiles, tribes, tribe rights | Server settings, mods, password, external whitelist if there is one | Each player creates a new level 1 survivor |
Keep characters for a short season of 2 to 6 weeks, when the community wants to start again on a fresh map without losing 80 levels of farming. Also delete the characters for a real new season, with new tribe leaders and a race to level 105. A map wipe can leave kits on players, depending on what they are carrying at the time of shutdown. For a clean economy, have inventories emptied before shutdown, or launch a full reset.
Do not confuse wipe and restart. A restart on game port 7777 reloads the existing save. A wipe deletes files. An automatic backup every 15 minutes will not save you from a deletion confirmed in the panel.
Prepare an ARK wipe without losing the wrong file
Stop the server before touching the files. ARK keeps writing even after the console has just shown a stop request. Wait 60 seconds after the state "stopped" if your world is over 5 GB, especially with 20 players connected in the previous hour. A file copied during a write produces inconsistent rollbacks, a recent chest is missing, a tribe still exists, or the map refuses to load.
- Warn players at least 10 minutes before shutdown. A disconnect during a save can leave an inventory in an old state.
- Start a manual backup from the panel or by RCON if your hosting allows it. The expected console message looks like "World Save Complete".
- Stop the server. Do not restart to test between deletions, otherwise ARK recreates a fresh map and mixes up the dates.
- Download the backup folder before deleting. A compressed ARK world often takes up 300 MB to 4 GB. A large modded map goes up to 10 GB.
- List the files and date your copy. A zip named before-wipe-2026-08-26 is easier to find than a folder called "final backup".
If you are working over SSH, this command gives the readable list of files in the default folder:
find ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks -maxdepth 1 -type f | sort
Do not delete anything from FTP while the server still shows "stopping". FTP does not know that the ARK process may be writing a 2 GB file.
Delete ARK map files while keeping characters and tribes
This operation destroys the active map. You lose bases, tamed dinos, storage boxes, beds, generators, turrets and the resource state. You keep the characters and tribes if the profiles and tribes box stays unchecked.
This choice starts a clean map without erasing player progression. It matches most requests to "reset the ARK server" after a season that has been built up too much, a spawn blocked by foundations, or a change in PvE rules. Survivors do not come back at level 1.
In the Starmine panel, two boxes separate what ARK still stores in the same folder. "Delete map files" removes only the world files. "Also delete profiles and tribes" affects survivors and tribes. The panel saves you from sorting similar extensions by hand and map backups that look far too alike on a Sunday evening.
- Stop the server and check that the status remains stopped for at least 60 seconds.
- Open the reset tool.
- Check "Delete map files".
- Leave "Also delete profiles and tribes" unchecked.
- Confirm, then start the server.
On the first launch, ARK recreates a fresh map with the same GameUserSettings.ini settings, the same mods and the same password. The first spawn often takes 30 to 90 seconds longer, because the areas are rebuilt. A player who returns at level 78 in their tribe sees the expected behavior. If an old base is still visible, you deleted the wrong folder, or the server was not stopped.
Delete ARK characters, profiles and tribes
This operation destroys player profiles and tribes in addition to the map. Each player recreates their character. Levels, learned engrams, stats, tribe membership and governance rights disappear on the server side.
Use this option for a new season. It fixes cases where old tribe leaders keep their rights, where players come back with 120 levels in advance, or where you change game mode. Moving from a heavily modded x10 server to a x3 season without deleting profiles creates an imbalance from the first minute.
The full reset deletes three groups: the map, profiles and tribes. Server settings stay in place. Port 7777, query port 27015, the mod list and difficulty settings do not change. If your whitelist comes from a plugin or an external system, it stays too, because it does not live in ARK profile files.
Check clusters separately. Characters uploaded in an obelisk or terminal may be stored in a separate cluster folder depending on your configuration. Deleting SavedArks does not always empty that storage. To announce a fully new season, disable transfers before the wipe, empty the cluster storage provided by your hosting, then reopen transfers after the first start.
Do not promise a "full reset" if you keep the profiles. Players see it at first login: no creation screen, character already there, level kept. A clean wipe is judged in game, not by the button label.
Check the restart after an ARK server wipe
The first check is done in game and in the logs. A reset world shows a map with no old structures, normal wild spawns and no remaining tribe beds. On the server side, the log file in ShooterGame/Saved/Logs must advance after startup. If the console stays stuck for more than 5 minutes on map loading with a fresh save, look at the mods before wiping again. A broken mod can block a fresh map just like an old one.
Three symptoms come back often. An old base still appears: ARK read another folder, often because an AltSaveDirectoryName option was forgotten. Characters are still level 80 after a reset announced as complete: the profiles were not deleted, or the server is loading a cluster with imported survivors. The message "Save file corrupted or failed to load" appears after a partial copy, a stop that was too short, or a map file mixed with profile files from another instance.
Keep the server closed to players during the first test. Log in alone, check the spawn, create a tribe if the full reset was planned, then place a foundation. Restart once. If the foundation is still there after that restart, writing is working. This test takes 4 minutes and avoids opening to 30 players on a backup that does not persist.
Keep the pre wipe archive for at least 7 days. Requests rarely come in within the hour. The player who had an artifact chest or a level 103 character often speaks up the next day, when everyone already thinks about the new season.
Guides
Does a map wipe remove player levels?
No, not if you only delete the map files. Player profiles stay in place. Levels, engrams and server-side stats therefore remain linked to the character.
Why are my old bases still there after the reset?
The server is probably loading another save folder, or it was not really stopped when the deletion was done. Check the AltSaveDirectoryName option, the name of the map started and the file times in SavedArks.
Does a full ARK reset delete mods and configuration?
No. Mods, the password, ports, difficulty and the settings in GameUserSettings.ini stay in place. The full reset affects the map, player profiles and tribes.
Can a deleted character be recovered after a wipe?
Yes, only if a backup of the folder exists before deletion. Without an archive containing the player profile, ARK creates a new survivor and does not rebuild the lost levels.