You leave base, take off on a flyer, and the moment you cross into a dense biome your frame time spikes. The screen stutters. You miss the landing. A wild pack gets free hits. In ARK: Survival Ascended, bad performance is not just annoying. It is lost tames, lost kits, and wasted time.
This guide covers the best ARK Survival Ascended settings for FPS and smooth performance. You will get a clean Video setup, the exact Graphics options that cost the most frames, what to do with upscaling and frame generation, and a short list of safe advanced tweaks for when the game still stutters.
Stable Frame Time
Fix Stutter First
- Window Mode: Fullscreen
- VSync Mode: Off
- Resolution Scale: 70 To 85%
- Upscaler: DLSS Or FSR
Graphics Cuts
Remove The Expensive Stuff
- Performance Only Preset If Needed
- General Shadows: Low
- Global Illumination: Low
- Foliage Quality: Low
Advanced Tweaks
When You Still Hitch
- Cinematic Lighting Mode: Off
- Foliage And Fluid Interaction: Off
- Disable HLOD: Test If Stuttering
- Optional Console: Disable Clouds
Why ARK: Survival Ascended FPS Drops Happen Unreal Engine 5 Reality
ARK: Survival Ascended is built on Unreal Engine 5 features that look incredible but punish mid-range hardware. The fastest way to raise FPS is not tweaking ten tiny sliders. It is removing the one or two expensive systems that are blowing up your frame time. In ASA, that usually means lighting, shadows, foliage density, and the cost of rendering full resolution.
Your goal is not chasing the highest FPS number. It is holding a frame rate you can actually maintain while flying over dense areas, entering caves, and loading new chunks. If your FPS swings wildly, the game feels worse than a lower cap that stays stable. If you want a deeper breakdown of why spikes feel so bad, this guide on micro-stutters explains what is happening at the frame time level.
Best ARK Survival Ascended Video Settings For FPS Display And Upscaling
These are the high leverage settings that decide whether ASA feels smooth or turns into a slideshow. Start here before touching anything else.
Video Settings Quick Reference
Resolution Scale
Resolution Scale is the cleanest performance lever in ARK Survival Ascended. Lowering it reduces the internal render resolution, which directly cuts GPU load. If you need a quick FPS boost without breaking gameplay visuals, start at 85% and move down to 70% until your stutters stop.
Upscaler And Anti Aliasing
ASA supports modern upscaling so you can render lower and reconstruct a sharper image. If you see an Upscaler And Anti Aliasing selector, pick DLSS on supported NVIDIA GPUs or FSR when available. Newer PC patches also added an FSR upscaler option and a quality mode dropdown for FSR, so you can tune the tradeoff between clarity and FPS.
Frame Generation
Frame generation can dramatically raise perceived smoothness, but it is not free. It can add latency and can make fast camera movement look odd depending on your setup. ASA enabled AMD FidelityFX Frame Interpolation broadly, and later patches added an option to select no frame generation so you are not forced into it.
Best ARK Survival Ascended Graphics Settings For Performance Recommended Values
Now that your video pipeline is sane, you can cut the actual heavy graphics features. These settings exist in ASA and are the usual culprits behind low FPS, hitching, and bad frame pacing.
Optimized Graphics Settings For FPS
| Setting | Best Value For FPS | Performance Impact | Why It Helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics Preset | Performance Only (If Needed) | Very High | One click baseline that disables expensive features for FPS |
| Advanced Graphics | Low | High | Reduces a bundle of costly effects at once |
| View Distance | Low Or Medium | High | Less distant geometry and foliage to render |
| Textures | Medium Or High (VRAM Dependent) | Low To Moderate | Keep FPS while avoiding VRAM overflow stutter |
| Post Processing | Low | Moderate | Removes extra screen-space effects that cost frames |
| General Shadows | Low | Very High | Shadows are one of the biggest GPU sinks in ASA |
| Global Illumination Quality | Low Or Medium | Very High | Lowers dynamic lighting cost, especially in complex scenes |
| Effects Quality | Low | High | Helps during combat, fires, explosions, and weather |
| Foliage Quality | Low | High | Less grass and foliage density, fewer draw calls |
| Motion Blur | Off | Low | Clarity improves, and it avoids extra post-processing |
| Light Bloom | Off | Low To Moderate | Removes glow haze that can also reduce visibility |
| Light Shafts | Off | Moderate | Removes god rays that cost frames in bright scenes |
| Low-Light Enhancement | Off | Low | Preference and clarity, not worth potential overhead |
| Enable Foliage And Fluid Interaction | Off | High | Disables reactive foliage and fluid effects that can tank FPS |
| Enable Footstep Particles | Off | Low | Reduces small effects spam in active areas |
| Enable Footstep Decals | Off | Low | Fewer decal draws and less visual noise |
| GUI 3D Widget Quality | 0.5 | Low To Moderate | Less overhead when lots of world UI is present |
Performance Only Preset
If you are on a low-end or mid-range PC and you just need the game to stop hitching, the Performance Only graphics preset is the fastest win. It was added as part of ASA updates to prioritize frame rate by disabling certain features at the cost of visual quality.
The best way to use Performance Only is as a baseline, then manually raise just one setting: Textures. Textures barely impact FPS if you have enough VRAM, but they have a huge impact on how clean the world looks.
Cinematic Lighting Mode
Cinematic Lighting Mode is a real option in ASA and it is expensive. Leave it off for normal gameplay. Treat it like a photo mode feature, not a performance setting. If you want better FPS, turning this off is non-negotiable.
Foliage Interaction Settings Stop Paying For Physics You Do Not Need
If you are trying to optimize ARK Survival Ascended for FPS, reactive foliage is one of the easiest sacrifices. Disable Enable Foliage And Fluid Interaction first. If you must keep it on for immersion, reduce the interaction sliders (Distance Multiplier, Distance Limit, Quantity Limit) as low as your menu allows.
Disable HLOD A Stutter Fix To Test
ASA includes HLOD controls, and some players report fewer hitches by disabling HLODs. This is not a guaranteed FPS increase on every PC, but it is a valid troubleshooting toggle when your game pauses or spikes during traversal or UI moments. Test both states and keep whichever produces steadier frame time.
Advanced Console Commands For More FPS Optional And Situational
If you already applied the best ARK Survival Ascended graphics settings and your FPS is still unstable, you can use console commands to disable a few costly effects. On PC, you can open the console and enter commands, but be aware that ASA has disabled various commands that gave visual advantages, especially in competitive contexts. If a command does not work on your server, that is likely why.
r.VolumetricCloud 0
// Disable Volumetric Fog (helps in heavy atmospherics)
r.VolumetricFog 0
// Disable Virtual Shadows (large performance win, visual tradeoff)
r.Shadow.Virtual.Enable 0
// Reduce Water Reflections Cost
r.Water.SingleLayer.Reflection 0
If you want these to persist, add them to your Engine.ini under the appropriate sections. Updates can reset configuration files, so keep a backup of your changes.
Short PC Checklist For ASA Performance The Stuff That Stops Random Stutter
In ARK: Survival Ascended, settings can only do so much if your system is choking on background software or storage bottlenecks. Install the game on an SSD, close overlays you do not need, and keep RAM usage under control if you run browsers and Discord while playing. If you need a quick system-level checklist, these steps to get better FPS on PC cover the common non-game causes of frame drops.
If your frame rate is fine but you get periodic spikes, the fix is usually stability, not raw power. Cap your FPS to a value you can hold everywhere, keep temperatures under control, and focus on eliminating the cause of the dips. This walkthrough on fixing FPS drops is a good companion once your in-game graphics settings are already optimized.
Conclusion
The best ARK Survival Ascended settings for FPS are simple: use Fullscreen, turn VSync Mode off, lower Resolution Scale, use an upscaler (DLSS or FSR), and cut the true performance killers like shadows, global illumination, effects, and foliage. If you are still struggling, use the Performance Only preset as a baseline and keep Cinematic Lighting Mode off unless you are taking screenshots.
Once you lock in stable performance, ARK stops feeling like it is fighting your PC. You get consistent traversal, smoother combat, and fewer stutters when it matters.
FAQ
What are the best ARK: Survival Ascended settings for FPS
Use Fullscreen, set VSync Mode to Off, lower Resolution Scale to 70 to 85%, and use an upscaler like DLSS or FSR. Then set Advanced Graphics to Low, lower View Distance, Shadows, Global Illumination Quality, Effects Quality, and Foliage Quality, and disable Motion Blur, Light Bloom, and Light Shafts for the best ASA FPS and performance.
Should I use the Performance Only preset in ARK Survival Ascended
Use Performance Only if you need a fast FPS boost and do not care about visual quality. It is designed to disable certain features to improve frame rate. A common approach is enabling Performance Only, then manually raising Textures if you have enough VRAM.
Is Cinematic Lighting Mode worth enabling for gameplay
No. Cinematic Lighting Mode is an expensive graphics option and is best reserved for screenshots and cinematics. Leave it off for normal gameplay if you want the best ARK Survival Ascended FPS.
How do I turn off frame generation in ARK: Survival Ascended
Go to the Video settings and set Frame Generation to Off or select the No Frame Generation option if your menu shows it. Newer ASA PC patches added a dedicated option to select no frame generation, along with additional FSR options.
What settings should I disable first to improve ARK Survival Ascended performance
Start by lowering Resolution Scale, turning VSync Mode Off, and setting General Shadows, Global Illumination Quality, Effects Quality, and Foliage Quality to Low. Then disable Motion Blur, Light Bloom, Light Shafts, and Enable Foliage And Fluid Interaction for additional FPS gains.
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