Installing Mods via SteamCMD?

[Jodian]

Hey folks,

So for a while I've been hosting a vanilla Ark server on a dedicated (and remote) rack-mounted system, which has been great. I've kept it updated using an automatic SteamCMD script. That said, we're ready to move on.

For the past few hours I've been fiddling with SteamCMD commands and have about 90% of the process figured out. I wipe the old mods, get clean downloads, and copy them over to the server. Everything works perfectly, except... It doesn't.

Upon further examination I found out that Ark needs to somehow actually "install" the mod files, and that's where I'm stumped. When I check the mods that are downloaded (example Ark Advance) I find out that it appears they're compresssed. On my client that specific mod is about 1.3GB in size but on my server, after confirming the mod is successfully downloaded, the mod folder is only about 600Mb.

This also happens, I note, when you install to the client using Steam. The mod that's downloaded is much smaller than the mod after Ark performs it's install (when you start Ark).

So my question is, how do you get the dedicated server to perform that "Install" of the mod? It doesn't appear to do it on it's own like the Ark client does.

[woodsguide]

once you get your mod or update your mods in your client.. start ark and load your mods at single player.. once you have finished loading your mods(look bottom right) you can shutdown your client.


with client and server both off:
copy your mods folder from the client to the server

from default
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ARK\ShooterGame\Content\Mods

to
C:\games\arkServer\ShooterGame\Content\Mods (or whatever your server dir)

in your gameusersettings.ini you need to add your active mod list
example:
ActiveMods=760884349,478736056,733089781

[garth033]

Have you heard of Ark Server Manager? It makes everything you are trying to do simple.

[Jodian]

Originally posted by woodsguide:

once you get your mod or update your mods in your client.. start ark and load your mods at single player.. once you have finished loading your mods(look bottom right) you can shutdown your client.


with client and server both off:
copy your mods folder from the client to the server

from default
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ARK\ShooterGame\Content\Mods

to
C:\games\arkServer\ShooterGame\Content\Mods (or whatever your server dir)

in your gameusersettings.ini you need to add your active mod list
example:
ActiveMods=760884349,478736056,733089781

The problem is I don't have a client on my dedicated server, just the server. For me to transfer the mod files from my client (on my PC) to my dedicated server (in a data center) would take hours.

[Jodian]

Originally posted by garth033:

Have you heard of Ark Server Manager? It makes everything you are trying to do simple.

Actually I have been using Ark Server Manager for a while with my vanilla Ark server. That said, it would seem that ASM doesn't support the new options to use procedurally generated maps, which is what our server has moved to.

I have also tried the "Mod Updater" by oNdsen, but it doesn't seem to actually update mods anymore. It says they're all up to date, even when no mods are actually installed.

[Jodian]

Originally posted by ViperZeroOne:

I have also tried the "Mod Updater" by oNdsen, but it doesn't seem to actually update mods anymore. It says they're all up to date, even when no mods are actually installed.

Correction, I just tried this again after manually erasing the mods out of my SteamCMD folder and it seems to have actually worked. Mods downloaded, extracted, and installed. I just wish I knew how it does it in case it 'breaks" again.

[cat lover]

use this tool: https://github.com/CobraColin/Ark_Mod_Downloader_v2

[william_es]

Originally posted by cat lover:

use this tool: https://github.com/CobraColin/Ark_Mod_Downloader_v2

Sorry, please engage your time machine and travel back in time to 2016 and resend your message. So the person who posted that nearly SIX YEARS ago can see it.

[Jodian]

Originally posted by william_es:

Sorry, please engage your time machine and travel back in time to 2016 and resend your message. So the person who posted that nearly SIX YEARS ago can see it.

Truth... lol ...Don't ya just love it when people don't check the date something was posted? Ark Server Manager, which is what I still continue to use, fixed this issue like 5 years ago.

[JD777]

Originally posted by cat lover:

use this tool: https://github.com/CobraColin/Ark_Mod_Downloader_v2

Thank you very much for this.

[Adam]

This thread was quite old before the recent post, so we're locking it to prevent confusion.