When you start an ARK: Survival Ascended server, Wildcard's binary accepts a long list of launch-time flags that change how the server boots — things like -log for the console window, -NoBattlEye to disable anti-cheat, or -ClusterDirOverride to point at a shared cluster folder. ASM v0.8.3 lets you set these in a single textbox per server, and re-applies them automatically every time the server starts.
v0.8.3 syntax change: arguments are separated by spaces (standard shell convention), not commas as in older versions. Quote-aware so -Foo="value with spaces" works.
Click your server's tab in the top bar (next to Dashboard). The server tab opens with the Server Settings sub-tab selected by default, showing Session Name, ports, map, and so on.
Scroll down past the Server Platform Options. You'll find a section titled Custom Command Line Inputs with a single text field labelled Console Arguments.
Type the flags into the field, separating them with single spaces. Example:
-NoBattlEye -log -ServerAllowAnsel
For arguments with values, use the -Flag=Value form. If the value itself contains spaces, wrap it in double quotes:
-MapModID=1009169 -ClusterDirOverride="D:\Ark Cluster\island"
How ASM parses this: the parser splits on unquoted spaces, strips the outer quotes, then appends each token to the ARK launch command. To embed a literal " inside a value, double it: -Foo=""quoted bit"" — only the outer pair is consumed.
Don't duplicate flags that ASM already manages. ASM owns ?Port=, ?QueryPort=, ?RCONPort=, ?ServerAdminPassword=, ?SessionName=, and the chosen map. Adding these manually here will either be ignored or fight ASM's own argument. Use ASM's UI fields for those instead.
Click Confirm Saved at the top-right of the server tab (the dark-blue button next to Refresh). ASM writes your arguments into the server's GameUserSettings.ini under [ServerSettings] as ConsoleArguments=.
Then restart the server (Stop, wait, Start) so ARK picks up the new launch flags. Already-running servers don't see the change until they reboot.
To verify it worked, watch the server's ARK console window when it starts — your flags appear in the command line at the top.
A non-exhaustive list of the launch flags most commonly added via this field. Wildcard's full list lives in the official ASA dedicated server docs — this table just collects the ones most ASM users reach for.
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
-log | Opens an ARK console window showing live log output. Useful for troubleshooting mod issues and watching player join/leave activity. |
-NoBattlEye | Disables the BattlEye anti-cheat layer. Required for some modded servers; never use on PvP without explicit reason. |
-servergamelog | Writes ShooterGame.log with chat / kill / structure events. Helps ASM's helper bot triage issues. |
-servergamelogincludetribelogs | Adds tribe-log entries (build, tame, kill events) to the game log. |
-ServerAllowAnsel | Allows NVIDIA Ansel screenshots in-game. |
-ForceRespawnDinos | Wipes all wild dinos once on next boot, then ARK respawns them. One-shot — remove after a single restart. |
-UseDynamicConfig | Enables Wildcard's dynamic config system (used for officials / rates events). |
-StasisKeepControllers | Keeps AI controllers loaded when dinos stasis. Higher RAM, smoother behaviour when players return to area. |
-EnableIdlePlayerKick | Boots AFK players after the timeout configured in Game.ini. |
-clusterid=<id> | Joins this server to a cluster. Set via ASM's Cluster Settings sub-tab instead — don't put it here. |
-ClusterDirOverride=<path> | Overrides the cluster save directory. ASM owns this when you configure clustering via the UI. |
Your launch flags now apply every time this server starts. To verify they took effect, start the server and look at the top of the ARK console window — your custom args appear in the command line.