Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: how to use console commands

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: mounted riders ride a raptor, trike, t rex and baryonyx against each other
(Image credit: Wildcard)

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats are a really useful tool for anyone willing to bend the rules in the Dino-survival game. If you are willing to get over the hurdle of allowing yourself to use console commands, there is almost nothing in the game you can’t do at the drop of a hat. 

The reality is that Ark: Survival Evolved is an arduous game, where it can take 100s, if not 1000s of hours to get to a point where you are able to ‘beat’ it. On the default settings, even basic tasks can take hours of resource management and survival. If you’re on a server where you are playing alone or with players who are okay with it, there’s no harm in trying to take a couple of shortcuts. It’s your game anyways, so you can set your own rules. 

Ark has one of the most robust cheat lists out there too, and you really can do just about anything you can think of within the parameters of the game. Cheats come in big and small sizes, from simple tasks like starting or stopping rain, to the more egregious ones like spawning in a level 999 Giganotosaurus and forcing it to tame. 

It’s your game though, so you can break the rules as you see fit. However, there are hundreds of codes, so here’s what you need to know about enabling cheats in Ark: Survival Evolved. 

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats

How to enable cheats in Ark: Survival Evolved

To use Ark: Survival Evolved cheats, you'll need to enable them within the game itself. To do this, you'll need to have admin permissions on the server you're playing in or at least a password that needs to be entered. Once you have either of those, you're going to need to open the console to input cheats. 

On PC, that's easy enough. You merely have to hit Tab while in your server. On consoles, you're going to need to put in a fighting game-esque button combination. All at once, you need to press:

  • PlayStation consoles: L1, R1, Square and Triangle
  • Xbox consoles: LB, RB, X and Y

Once the console is open you need to type enablecheats. If you need the password, you’d type it like this: enablecheats [type the password]. Once that’s done, you can start putting in cheats to your heart's desire.

When you put in a cheat, you then need to type admincheat as a prefix to any console command. If that doesn’t work, you can try just prefixing the command with cheat

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: player

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: a man running from raptors in a nighttime field

(Image credit: Wildcard)

Here is a list of commands you can use to affect yourself or other players around you. These can be anything from giving yourself tons of experience to enabling God mode so you can't die, or even changing your size to be minuscule or giant. 

For some of these, you'll need to find you or another person's PlayerID. In order to do that, type showmyadminmanager into the console. Then under a list titled Connected Players, look for your character name and there will be a long string of numbers on the right-hand side. That is your PlayerID. So, for example, to give yourself 10000 experience, you'd type, 'cheat GiveExpToPlayer [Your PlayerID] 10000'.

  • GiveEngramsTekOnly
  • SetTargetPlayerBodyVal
  • GiveWeaponSet
  • ToggleGun
  • EnvQA
  • SetTargetPlayerColorVal
  • DebugAllowvrMissionTeleport
  • ChangeSize
  • InfiniteWeight
  • DefeatBoss
  • ShowTutorial
  • SetAdminIcon
  • SetHeadHairStyle
  • GiveItemToPlayer
  • EnemyInvisible
  • GiveAllExplorerNotes
  • UnlockEngram
  • ClearMyBuffs
  • SetGodMode
  • SetFacialHairPercent
  • GiveExpToPlayer
  • GiveItemSet
  • RefillStats
  • GiveItemNumToPlayer
  • Ghost
  • LeaveMeAlone
  • DefeatAllBosses
  • AddHexagons
  • SetFacialHairStyle
  • MaxAscend
  • OnToggleInGameMenu
  • GiveSlotItem
  • ShowInGameMenu
  • InfiniteStats
  • GiveItem
  • GiveTekengramsTo
  • Playercommand
  • OpenMap
  • GiveItemNum
  • Suicide
  • Walk
  • HideRiders
  • SetHeadHairPercent
  • GiveResources
  • GiveToMe
  • ExecSetSleeping
  • ToggleInfiniteAmmo
  • GiveExplorerNote
  • GiveArmorSet
  • ClearTutorials
  • AddExperience
  • SetMyTargetSleeping
  • GiveSlotItemNum
  • HurtMe
  • GiveEngrams
  • Fly
  • GMBuff
  • GiveColors
  • God
  • HideTutorial

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: dinosaur

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: several pterrordons fly in the sky

(Image credit: Wildcard)

There's a lot you can do with the dinosaurs and other mythological beasts stranded on these islands through cheats. The sky really is the limit here, with you able to summon any creature in the game to the level you want and tame it immediately. 

For many of these cheats, you're going to want to target the Dinosaur you're trying to affect – for example, select a Dinosaur out in the wild, and type 'cheat DoTame' to grant yourself ownership of that dinosaur. 

However, for some, you're going to need a unique ID number to spawn a specific type of creature. There are too many to list here, but here is a full list of creature IDs. You'd use this by typing, for example, 'cheat Summon Allo_Character_BP_C' to make an Allosaurus. 

  • Summon 
  • DinoSet Cooldowns
  • SpawnActorSpread
  • TransferImprints
  • SetImprintQuality
  • SummonTamed
  • SpawnDino [DinoID]
  • DinoSet BlinkBack
  • SetImprintedPlayer
  • SpawnActor
  • DoTame
  • SetBabyAge
  • DinoSet Blink
  • DinoSet Fuel
  • SetTargetDinoColor
  • Dino Inflate
  • GiveDinoSet
  • Dino DestroyCenterNode
  • Dino InfiniteFuel
  • Dino DestroyLeftNode
  • Dino InfiniteGas
  • Dino NoHeat
  • DinoSet EatTime
  • RainCritters
  • RainDanger
  • Dino ToggleUpkeep
  • DinoSet Inflate
  • DumpDinoStats
  • ForceTame
  • RainDinos
  • SpawnSetupDino
  • SDF
  • GMSummon
  • Dino DestroyRightNode
  • Dino TitanMode
  • DinoSet UpkeepInterval
  • Dino Reset
  • ForceTameAOE
  • Dino ReplayIntro
  • ForcePoop
  • ClearCryoSickness

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: server

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: a player rides a pterrordon

(Image credit: Wildcard)

As an admin, there is a lot you can do to the server you're in. These cheats are all about changing the world itself or player management. Within this list is the ability to level up all dinosaurs in a radius around you, set the time of day, as well as ban and contact players directly.  

  • SetDay
  • SaveWorld
  • SetCheatPlayer
  • DisallowPlayerToJoinNoCheck
  • KillAOE
  • GetChat
  • RenameTribe
  • BanPlayer
  • LevelUpTarget
  • DoExit
  • LevelUpAOE
  • SetTimeOfDay
  • TribeStructureAudit
  • ForceUpdateDynamicConfig
  • RenamePlayer
  • ShowMessageOfTheDay
  • TakeAllDino
  • GiveInfiniteStatsToTarget
  • TribeMessage
  • TakeAllStructure
  • GiveExpToTarget
  • GetGameLog
  • Broadcast
  • TribeDinoAudit
  • SetGlobalPause
  • LevelUp
  • ServerChatToPlayer
  • AllowPlayerToJoinNoCheck
  • Kill
  • ClearPlayerInventory
  • UnbanPlayer
  • ServerChatTo
  • KickPlayer
  • KillPlayer
  • GetTribeIDPlayerList
  • GetAllState
  • ServerChat

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: destroy and teleport

Ark: Survival Evolved cheats: players assault a guarded base

(Image credit: Wildcard)

While some cheats are about light touches to ease your experience, sometimes, you just need to use a sledgehammer to get what you want. These cheats have the ability to kill players, structures, or even kill everything in a radius around you. 

You can also teleport objects, creatures, and players to you. 

  • DestroyTribePlayers
  • DestroyMyTarget
  • DestroyStructures
  • DestroyTribeID
  • DestroyTribeIDPlayers
  • DestroyTribeStructuresLessThan
  • DestroyTribeIDDinos
  • DestroyTribeIDStructures
  • DestroyTribeDinos
  • DestroyWildDinos
  • DestroyFoliage
  • DestroyAll
  • DestroyAllEnemies
  • DestroyTribeStructures
  • TP
  • MoveTargetTo
  • TeleportToPlayer
  • Teleport
  • TeleportPlayerNameToMe
  • TeleportToActiveHorde
  • TeleportPlayerIDToMe
  • SPI
  • SetPlayerPos
  • TPCoords
  • TeleportToPlayerName
Patrick Dane
Gaming Guides Editor

Patrick Dane is TechRadar Gaming's Guides Editor. With nearly a decade in the games press, he's been a consistent voice in the industry. He's written for a plethora of major publications and travelled the world doing it. He also has a deep passion for games as a service and their potential to tell evolving stories. To wit, he has over 2000 hours in Destiny 2, over 1000 in Overwatch and is now deeply into Valorant.