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news Version 0.9.3.0 Released (20th August 2026) - v0.9.3 - The Automation Update: Sync Groups auto-apply, vanished-character…
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Product release · v0.9.3

AASM v0.9.3: The Automation Update

Ark Ascended Server Manager v0.9.3 makes your cluster configuration propagate itself, brings vanished player characters back automatically with checksum verification, fixes in-app build rollbacks with a one-time Steam login, watches server memory, and streams backup restores so big worlds restore in seconds — on both Windows and Linux.

Direct answer: AASM v0.9.3, released 20 August 2026, is about the manager doing the right thing on its own. Sync Groups now apply leader edits to every follower automatically; a vanished player profile can be detected and restored from a checksum-verified snapshot without an operator touching anything; and depot rollbacks work in-app again via a one-time Steam login that happens entirely in Valve's own window.

Published by Cryptek

What changed in v0.9.3

Over 30 community-requested features and fixes: five new systems, a dozen quality-of-life improvements and a deep reliability pass. The theme is automation — work the manager previously asked you to do, it now does itself, with every action verified and auditable. The complete item-by-item list is in the full changelog.

Sync Groups auto-apply

A Sync Group's leader edit now propagates to every follower automatically, within seconds, from any edit surface — desktop tabs, the web interface, or config sets. The engine carries your full raw INI, including hand-written custom keys, not just the settings with form fields. Identity keys — session names, ports, passwords — never travel. Every application is written to an audit log, repeated failures pause the group automatically with a one-click Resume, and a persisted record means a manager restart never loses track. A per-group toggle restores the old manual flow.

Vanished-character auto-restore

ASA's cluster transfer can consume a character's .arkprofile mid-transfer. v0.9.3 detects that the moment it happens — a desktop alert with click-to-restore appears while recovery is still trivial. Optionally, armed per cluster, an automation restores the newest checksum-verified snapshot on its own: only while every server in the cluster is verifiably stopped, only after the profile stayed missing across two separated scans (cluster transfer folder included), and only when the snapshot's checksum, origin server and map match exactly.

Safety model: the automation is off by default, can never overwrite an existing file (if the profile reappears even a moment before commit, it backs off and touches nothing), rate-limits itself per player, and pauses globally if something systemic is deleting profiles. Every action is auditable.

Rollbacks that actually download — Steam login

Steam rejects anonymous depot downloads — the reason in-app build downloads used to fail. v0.9.3 adds a one-time Steam login for rollbacks: the login happens in Valve's own SteamCMD window, so AASM never sees or stores your password — it keeps only your username and rides Steam's cached session, which survives normal server updates. Rollbacks can also use a local source: another server still on the old build, your staging install, or any folder you point at, with full verification before a single file moves and a mandatory backup first.

Remote fleet in the web interface

Registered remote machines now appear in the web UI as well as the desktop — admin-only, read-only summaries with explicit per-action elevation, the same certificate pinning as the desktop, and nothing sensitive ever handed to the browser.

More requested capabilities

A per-server memory watchdog (warning badge at your threshold, optional restart only when the server is empty); a compact multi-column dashboard for big fleets; .bat import that parses an existing launch script into typed settings without ever executing it; scheduled-RCON copy between servers; live whitelist changes over RCON with bulk EOS-ID import; Discord bot server provisioning and a /players command; and exit diagnostics that record exactly why the app closed.

Reliability and community-reported fixes

  • Backup restores no longer freeze the manager: extraction is fully streamed — a 300 MB world restored in under six seconds in testing, interface responsive throughout — and every file is checksum-verified during extraction, so a corrupt archive aborts before touching anything.
  • Duplicate server instances after a daily restart: crash detection could re-launch an already-running server on a single failed process lookup. The detection path now fails closed and asks the operating system first.
  • Update-with-countdown no longer degrades to a plain shutdown: countdown updates count down, then update.
  • Taskbar identity: AASM groups under its own icon instead of whichever application it launched beside.
  • Cross-server snapshot restore can no longer wipe the target server's map setting.
  • Companion app: the bundled ASA RCON Manager is version-synced to v0.9.3 with player-history pagination, a consent-first import-from-AASM flow, and a fix for the destructive-commands toggle not persisting.

Platform and file details

PlatformPackageSizeRequirements
Windows.zip372.2 MBWindows 10/11 or Windows Server 2019+
Linux.tgz290.6 MB64-bit graphical session; Ubuntu 22.04+ or Debian 12+ recommended

For either platform, use at least 16 GB RAM. AASM recommends 32 GB when running multiple ASA servers, plus SSD storage and sufficient free space for server files, staging data and backups.

Upgrade guidance

  1. Stop active server maintenance and wait for backups or updates already in progress to finish.
  2. Create a current backup of every world and any shared cluster data.
  3. Update in-app through Settings → Check for Updates, or download the correct platform archive from this domain and verify its SHA-256 fingerprint.
  4. Confirm v0.9.3 in AASM before restarting the fleet.
  5. If you use Sync Groups: auto-apply is on by default for existing groups — flip the per-group toggle off if you prefer the manual flow.
Linux overview Linux installation guide Previous release: v0.9.2 Current downloads Pricing and licences Complete changelog

Common questions about v0.9.3

Can ARK server settings sync across a cluster automatically?

Yes. From AASM v0.9.3, a Sync Group applies leader edits to every follower automatically within seconds, from the desktop app or the web interface, including hand-written INI keys. Identity settings such as session names, ports and passwords never propagate. Repeated apply failures pause the group with a one-click resume, and every application is written to an audit log. A per-group toggle restores the previous manual capture-and-apply flow.

Can a lost ARK character be restored automatically after a cluster transfer eats it?

Yes. AASM v0.9.3 detects a vanished player profile the moment it disappears while snapshots of it exist and shows a click-to-restore alert. Optionally, per cluster, an automation can be armed that restores the newest checksum-verified snapshot on its own — only while every server in the cluster is verifiably stopped, only after the profile stayed missing across two separated scans including the cluster transfer folder, and never by overwriting an existing file. It is off by default, rate-limited per player, and every action is auditable.

Why did in-app ARK build downloads fail, and how does v0.9.3 fix rollbacks?

Steam rejects anonymous depot downloads, which is why downloading an older ARK build from inside a server manager used to fail. AASM v0.9.3 adds a one-time Steam login for rollbacks: the login happens in Valve’s own SteamCMD window, AASM never sees or stores the password, and it keeps only the username while relying on Steam’s cached session. Rollbacks can also use a local source — another server on the old build, a staging install, or any folder — with verification before any file moves.

Do backup restores freeze the server manager?

Not since v0.9.3. Backup extraction is now fully streamed, so large world files no longer decompress in one blocking chunk: in testing, a 300 MB world restored in under six seconds with the interface responsive throughout. Every extracted file is also verified against its archive checksum during extraction, so a corrupt backup aborts cleanly before touching anything else.

Can AASM restart an ARK server that is using too much memory?

Yes. AASM v0.9.3 adds a per-server memory watchdog: set a threshold and the server shows a warning badge when it exceeds it, and optionally restarts automatically — but only when the server is empty. It never restarts a populated server.

Does AASM v0.9.3 run on Linux?

Yes. The entire v0.9.3 release was certified on Ubuntu 24.04 as well as Windows, including live verification of the new automation systems against the real Linux build. v0.9.3 is published for Linux as a tarball containing both AASM and the companion RCON manager, with its SHA-256 checksum published alongside. See the Linux page for requirements.