UPDATED 2026 · SURVIVAL EVOLVED & ASCENDED

How to Reset or Wipe Your ARK World

The process is identical whether you’re on Survival Evolved or Survival Ascended — same save folder, same steps. A clean slate for a new season, without deleting the wrong thing.

⚠ This is permanent — back up first

Wiping a world deletes everyone’s bases, tames and progress on that map with no way to undo it. If there’s any chance you’ll want to reference or restore the old world later, copy the save files somewhere safe before touching anything below. If you’re running a multi-map cluster, wiping one map does not affect the others — see our clustering guide if you’re unsure how that separation works.

Step by step

Wiping a world

Same folder, same process, in both games — ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/ is where dedicated server saves live whether you’re running Evolved or Ascended.

1
Stop the server
Same rule as editing any config file — never touch save data while the server is actively writing to it.
2
Back up the current save
Navigate to ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/ and copy the map’s save folder somewhere safe. This path is identical in Evolved and Ascended. Each map’s data is self-contained here, separate from any other map you might be running in a cluster.
3
Delete the map’s save files
With your backup safely stored elsewhere, delete the save files for the specific map you want to reset from SavedArks/. Leave other maps in a cluster untouched if you only want to wipe one.
4
Start the server
With no existing save file found, the server generates a brand new world on startup using whatever seed and settings are currently in your config — a good moment to double-check those are what you actually want. See our settings guides for Ascended or Evolved.
Alternatives to a full wipe

Sometimes you don’t need to delete everything

Just clear wild creatures

Run cheat DestroyWildDinos from an authenticated admin console — this respawns wildlife without touching a single base or tame. The command is identical in both games; only the console-opening key differs slightly by platform.

Just want a new season, not a new save

Consider keeping the old world archived rather than deleted, and starting the new season as a genuinely fresh save — cheaper on storage than it sounds, and gives you the option to revisit the old world later.

FAQ

Resetting an ARK world — common questions

No — the save folder (ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/), the backup step and the wipe process are identical in both games. This is one of the few areas where the two games genuinely don’t differ.
No, each map’s save data is entirely separate. Wiping one map’s files doesn’t touch any other server in the cluster, in either game.
Only if your hosting provider keeps automatic scheduled backups, which many managed hosts include as standard. Without one, deleted save data generally can’t be recovered — this is why backing up first matters even when you’re confident you want a fresh start.
Yes, wiping only deletes the save data in SavedArks — your config files and mod list are untouched and apply to the newly generated world exactly as before, in both games.
Terrain layouts on official maps like The Island are fixed regardless of seed in both games — a wipe regenerates the world state (loot, resources, wild creature spawns) rather than the landscape itself, which stays the same each time on a hand-crafted map.
Keep reading

More ARK guides

Ascended Admin CommandsDestroyWildDinos & more Clustering & MapsReset one map, not the whole cluster Best ARK: Survival Ascended HostingCompare all providers Best ARK: Survival Evolved HostingCompare all providers
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I'm an avid gamer from Sweden with a lot of time spent in England in the last 5 years who loves survival games — ARK, Palworld, Valheim, Sons of the Forest, V Rising and plenty of WoW and Dota 2 on the side. I created this site to help other gamers find the best server hosting without wasting money on laggy providers.

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