ARK: Survival Ascended is moving to Unreal Engine 5.8. Studio Wildcard first planned the upgrade for September 30, on the same day as Cerberax, Gargantar and the Therizino TLC. In Community Crunch 525 it split the rollout into stages and moved the full release to October 28. The creatures still arrived on September 30.
For an unofficial server, the day itself works like any big patch: the server needs the new build as soon as your players' games update. The run-up is what needs planning. From October 5, CurseForge recooks every mod for 5.8, and mod authors cannot publish updates until modding reopens on release day. Below is what we would do in the three weeks before, on the day itself, and in the weeks of hotfixes that tend to follow an engine upgrade.
The dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| September 30 | Content update on the current engine: Cerberax, Gargantar, the Therizino TLC and fixes for several server crashes |
| October 5 | Public Test Realm (PTR) beta client opens on Steam. CurseForge takes its mod cooking servers offline and recooks all mods in batches, while Wildcard releases the 5.8 test client and a beta DevKit |
| October 28 | Full UE 5.8 update on all platforms. Modding reopens and CurseForge publishes the list of mods that need work from their authors |
The CurseForge part comes from Overwolf's note to mod authors, quoted in full in Community Crunch 525. It ends with a line worth taking seriously: dates may shift depending on testing and recooking. Check Wildcard's posts again in the week before the 28th.
The September 30 patch also added one server setting you may want before the big update lands. AllowVariantDinoPacks in the [ServerSettings] section of GameUserSettings.ini (off by default) lets variants of the same creature count toward each other's pack or gang, so Raptors and Aberrant Raptors can count as packmates.
What changes for your server
Your server has to run the new build from October 28. Players can only join a server that runs the same version as their game, and the update goes out on PC, Xbox and PlayStation on the same day. A server that stays on the old build is out of reach for everyone who updated.
Mods come along without you doing anything, as long as their recook works. CurseForge rebuilds every mod for 5.8 and collects the ones with significant problems on a list. If a mod you run lands on that list, its author has to fix it before it is ready for 5.8. A mod that stays off the list can still have smaller bugs. Before the 5.5 recook, Wildcard warned that some of the thousands of recooked mods might have new functional issues (Community Crunch 451).
No ASA mod updates go out on CurseForge for about three weeks. From October 5 until modding reopens on the 28th, a bug in a mod you run today stays there. CurseForge also warns that cooking and moderation may be slow in the first days after the update, because it expects a spike in traffic.
What Wildcard has said about the engine itself is general. In Community Crunch 520 the team wrote that it was "focusing on tangible performance improvements, platform-specific fixes, and stronger technical foundations". There are no numbers, and so far nothing about server memory use, launch options or save files.
If you run ARK: Survival Evolved, none of this applies. Evolved is a separate game on Unreal Engine 4.
Before October 5
- Copy your mod list somewhere safe: every mod ID, in the order your server loads them. You will check it against CurseForge's list on the 28th. Our ARK Survival Ascended mods guide shows where the IDs come from.
- Get the mod changes you were waiting for done now. Once the cooking servers go offline, authors cannot ship fixes or new versions until October 28.
- Measure the server as it runs today. Write down its memory use on a normal evening with players online, how long a start takes and how long a world save takes. Without those numbers you cannot tell afterwards whether 5.8 made your server better or worse.
Between October 5 and October 28
Leave the live server alone as much as you can, apart from normal game updates. Smaller patches can still arrive before the 28th, and Steam's app data already shows a new dedicated server build from October 1. This is a bad month to try a big new overhaul mod, because nobody can ship a fix if it misbehaves.
Explain the PTR to your players. It is a separate beta build on Steam for trying 5.8 early. Anyone who opts in runs a different build from your server, so they have to switch back to the normal version to play with you.
If you want to test, use a copy. Steam's app data for the ARK: Survival Ascended Dedicated Server tool shows a public_test_realm branch, but on October 1 it had not been updated since February 2026, and Wildcard has not said whether a 5.8 server build will follow the client. If one does appear, run it on a copy of your save and never on the live world.
On the 27th, make the backup you will fall back on. Run saveworld over RCON or in the admin console (our ARK admin command list has the syntax), make a backup in the panel and download the whole ShooterGame/Saved folder over FTP. SavedArks holds the world and Config/WindowsServer holds GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini. If you run a cluster, take the cluster transfer folder as well. If your server updates itself when it restarts, the first restart after the release may already run 5.8, and this is the copy you can go back to.
On October 28
- If the server has not updated yet, run
saveworld, stop it and make a fresh backup, so the last hours of play are in it too. If it already runs 5.8, your copy from the 27th is the one to fall back on. - Check CurseForge's list of mods that need author action against your mod IDs before you start the server with mods.
- Update the server files, start the server and compare its version in the server browser with your own game.
- Read the start log before you let players in. Mod loading errors show up there.
If one of your mods is on the list or will not load, you have two options and neither is nice. Keep the server closed until the author ships a 5.8 fix, or take the mod out. Removing a mod that adds creatures, items or structures means that content is gone from the world once the server saves without it, so only do that with your pre-update backup in hand. A modded map is a mod too. If it lands on the list, a server that runs that map has to wait for its author.
The weeks after
The last engine upgrade is a fair guide. When ASA moved from Unreal Engine 5.2 to 5.5 in June 2025, mod updates were paused from May 20 until the release (Community Bite, May 2025). After launch, Wildcard spent weeks on what it called "post-launch issues with UE5.5": FPS drops, structure replication delays, crashes and exploits (Community Crunch 462).
Plan for a run of hotfixes after October 28, each one a server update and a restart. Keep the pre-update backup until the patches settle, and do not schedule a fresh wipe or a big tribe event for the first week.
What we do not know yet
- Whether a 5.8 dedicated server build will be available during the PTR.
- Whether 5.8 changes server memory use or performance in a way you can measure. Wildcard promises performance improvements but has not published figures.
- Whether any GameUserSettings.ini or Game.ini settings change. Nothing has been announced.
- Whether World Creator comes with it. In May, when the upgrade was still planned as Unreal Engine 5.7, Wildcard said the in-game map editor would release alongside it (Community Crunch 505). The September posts do not mention it.
- What time of day the update goes live on October 28.
Read the patch notes on release day before you update. They are the first place any of this will show up.
Running ASA on Space-Node
On our ARK server hosting, every Survival Ascended plan comes with three backup slots, full FTP access for that off-server copy, and RCON. You add CurseForge mods from the control panel. If your server does not come back up properly after the update, our support team is online from 08:00 to 20:00 UTC, seven days a week.
FAQ
When does the ARK Survival Ascended UE 5.8 update come out? The full update is planned for October 28, 2026 on all platforms, with a Public Test Realm client on Steam from October 5. Wildcard moved the release from September 30 in Community Crunch 525.
Will my mods work after the UE 5.8 update? CurseForge recooks every mod for 5.8 itself. Mods with significant problems go on a list that CurseForge publishes on October 28, so check your mod IDs against it before you start your server. Mods that stay off the list should need nothing from their authors, but smaller bugs can still turn up, so read the start log and try your main mods in game before you let players in.
Can mod authors update their mods in October? Not between October 5 and October 28. CurseForge takes its cooking servers offline while it recooks, and modding reopens with the 5.8 release. Expect slower cooking and moderation in the first days after that.
Do I need to wipe my ARK server for UE 5.8? Wildcard has not announced a wipe for unofficial servers, and nothing in its posts says save files need converting. Back up the Saved folder before you update anyway, and keep that copy until the post-launch patches settle.
Related: ARK Survival Ascended mods guide, ARK admin commands, ARK Survival Ascended server hosting guide