Best Quality of Life Mods for Ark: Survival Evolved

If you’re still playing Ark in 2021 then chances are you’re well versed in the struggles of vanilla gameplay. As amazing as the game is, it can be punishing so there’s no shame in getting a bit of help. Luckily, in the six years since its release, many talented creators have filled the Steam Workshop with thousands of great mods. So if you need some improvements to tide you over until the release of Ark II then consider adding some of these to your game.

Structures Plus (S+)

By Orionsun

For builders this one is a necessity. The vanilla building system is frustrating at best and S+ fixes a lot of the common problems builders experience as well as adding a ton of extra features.

Quality of Life:

• New stations and structures (e.g. Item Collector, Gardener, Vivarium, Auto-Crafter, etc.)
• S+ versions of noisy structures are silent.
• All gates, doors and trapdoors can automatically open and close.
• Torches require no fuel and automatically turn on and off.

Building Features:

• Continuous structure placement queues with building pieces, so you don’t have to use your hotbar for every. single. piece you place.
• Snap ceiling to foundations and foundations to ceilings.
• Dynamic gateways and pillars (adjustable sizes).
• Internal wires and pipes to hide away the inner workings of your base.
• A full glass building tier for more creative freedom while building.
• And more!

Super Structures

By Legendarsreign

Made from the same source code, Super Structures is an offshoot of S+. As such they share many of the same primary functions, though Super Structures has the most polished overall design (less glitches and just a bit easier to use).

Awesome Spyglass!

By Chris

A regular spyglass allows you to see things from far away and check the level of a dino without getting within biting distance—but an awesome one allows you to see much more. For dinos it displays their health, torpor, level, and stats—but it doesn’t just stop at creatures! Awesome Spyglass can also give you info on other players, structures, eggs, loot, and supply drops.

Awesome Teleporters!

By Chris

Spending hours exploring the beautiful maps is a great pastime but if you’re just trying to get from A to B quickly then you should invest in some teleporters. Dotting them around the map at key points can make resource runs a lot more efficient. This mod also has a nifty personal teleporter remote that allows you to recover your inventory when you die if you have it equipped.

Auto Engrams!

By Chris

Levelling your character is exciting when you first start playing,but by the 100th time it’s more of a chore. Engrams from the various DLCs only compounds this problem. This small and simple mod unlocks all engrams as you level so all you need to worry about is getting XP and staying alive.

HG Stacking Mod

By (HG)Hulk

There’s a variety of stacking mods by [HG]Hulk to choose from to help you with inventory management. They vary in how high items will stack as well as how much the weight of stacks is reduced. No one likes a cluttered inventory, an issue that only gets worse with increased gathering rates.

Upgrade Station v1.8i

By Ghazlawl

Sometimes the standard equipment just doesn’t cut it anymore and you need something with a bit more power. Use the upgrade station to improve your armour, weapons and tools until you’re the strongest on the map. Of course this comes at a price; high tier items are expensive to upgrade but it’s worth it in the end.

Meat Spoiler

By Sea-Chicken

Waiting for meat to spoil can be such a drag, so having a station to instantly spoil meat is always handy. Sure there’s plenty of mods that include them but this is the only one that plays funky tunes while it runs. This is a good option for players who want very light mods or just like coming back to base with a 24/7 party going. If you don’t like Sea-Chicken’s music taste there are options to disable it.

Dino Storage v2

By Lethal

In your quest to catch them all, servers can end up cluttered with too many creatures. Let’s be honest, you don’t need your 20 T-rexes out on your front porch increasing server lag. This mod gives you small glass spheres to store your dinos in without any annoying debuffs. It also has a quick capture time so if you see that you’re about to lose a fight you can make a last ditch attempt to save your dino.

Lethals Reusables

By Lethal

There is no good reason why certain items should only be single use, surely parachutes shouldn’t instantly dissolve the second you land. On top of enabling multiuse for some tools, Lethals Reusables removes the durability and improves the usability of certain tools. Hazard suits, scuba tanks, and tents will only lose durability when they take damage, so just don’t let a raptor gnaw on them.