Wipe your ARK Ascended server

Wiping an ARK: Survival Ascended server means deleting the save for the map it runs, so the next start builds a new world. Each map has its own save folder, which makes the wipe tidy: only the map you are on is affected, and the others stay as they are. Here is how to wipe one map, how to keep players' characters, and how to get the old world back if you change your mind.

What a wipe deletes

Saves are in ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/, with one folder per map. The default map, TheIsland_WP, keeps its world in SavedArks/TheIsland_WP/TheIsland_WP.ark. ARK also keeps dated copies of the world file beside it, ending in .arkrbf (such as TheIsland_WP_10.11.2026_01.23.10.arkrbf), plus one TheIsland_WP_AntiCorruptionBackup.bak, so the folder holds several files after a few restarts. Characters and tribes sit in the same folder: one .arkprofile file per player, named after their player ID, and one .arktribe file per tribe, each with a .profilebak or .tribebak copy. On a new server that nobody has joined, there are no .arkprofile or .arktribe files yet.

Your settings are not in SavedArks. They are in ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ (on a new server only GameUserSettings.ini is there at first), and your map, passwords and Mod IDs are in Server Options > Startup Parameters, so a wipe leaves all of them alone.

Wipe the map

1. Back up first. Open the Backups tab and create a backup. How to create and restore backups covers slots and restoring. Restoring a backup is how you undo a wipe.
2. Open the Console tab and press Stop. Wait for the server to show as offline. A stop saves the world on its way out, so the files you delete next are the final ones.
3. Open the File Manager and go to ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks, then open the folder named after your map.
4. Tick every file in it, or use the select-all box in the list header, then press Delete and Confirm. Deleting is permanent.
5. Go back to the Console tab and press Start.

The first start builds a new world, so wait for advertising for join in the Console before anyone joins. A first boot can take a couple of minutes.

Wipe the world but keep characters and tribes

Do steps 1 to 3, then delete only the world: TheIsland_WP.ark and its dated .arkrbf copies. Leave the .arkprofile, .arktribe, .profilebak and .tribebak files in place. The AntiCorruptionBackup.bak file can stay too, because the server builds a new world rather than loading it. Start the server. Players come back with their characters, but they spawn somewhere new, and the buildings and tames were part of the world file, so those are gone.

Wipe by switching map

You can start fresh without deleting anything. Set Map on the Startup Parameters page to a map you haven't played, such as ScorchedEarth_WP, and restart. It starts as a new world, and TheIsland_WP is still there if you switch back. How to change the map on your ARK: Survival Ascended server has the full map list and the plan each one needs.

Reset only the wild creatures

For a quick reset that keeps every base, open the Console tab and run DestroyWildDinos. The ARK wiki describes it as destroying all untamed creatures on the map, so they respawn fresh. Tames stay, and the server stays online.