Browse to ..\Steam\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\Windows and open the GameUserSettings.ini.
Edit the Scalability Settings:
[ScalabilityGroups]
sg.ResolutionQuality=66
sg.ViewDistanceQuality=1
sg.AntiAliasingQuality=0
sg.ShadowQuality=0
sg.GlobalIlluminationQuality=0
sg.ReflectionQuality=1
sg.PostProcessQuality=0
sg.TextureQuality=0
sg.EffectsQuality=0
sg.FoliageQuality=0
sg.ShadingQuality=0
[ScalabilityGroups]
sg.ResolutionQuality=66
sg.ViewDistanceQuality=2
sg.AntiAliasingQuality=1
sg.ShadowQuality=0
sg.GlobalIlluminationQuality=2
sg.ReflectionQuality=1
sg.PostProcessQuality=0
sg.TextureQuality=1
sg.EffectsQuality=0
sg.FoliageQuality=0
sg.ShadingQuality=0
If you cannot enable DLSS (requires NVIDIA RTX 2060 or higher), use sg.ResolutionQuality 100
Use the image slider to chose the command. Click on the text on the bottom of the page to copy the command. Then paste it into the ARK Console.
![](img/cloud0.jpg)
![](img/cloud.jpg)
Performance Impact: Medium
Volumetric Clouds: Disable to save performance.
![](img/fog.jpg)
![](img/fog1.jpg)
Performance Impact: Low
Volumetric Fog: Disable to save performance.
![](img/lumen0.jpg)
![](img/lumen1.jpg)
![](img/lumencave0.jpg)
![](img/lumencave1.jpg)
Performance Impact: High
Lumen: Dynamic Global Illumnation is expensive. You won't see a big difference unless in caves. They can be grey if Lumen is disabled. Even with Lumen enabled, you should disable Lumen Reflections (r.Lumen.Reflections.Allow 0) to save performance.
![](img/skylight1.jpg)
![](img/skylight3.jpg)
Performance Impact: None
Skylight: If Lumen and Volumetric Clouds are disabled, the shadows will be dark. Increasing the Skylight Intensity can help there.
![](img/distancefieldnocascade.jpg)
![](img/virtualshadow.jpg)
Performance Impact: High
Virtual Shadow Maps: Dynamic shadows are expensive. You can disable them and only keep static Distance Field Shadows. Note: Characters and Dinos won't cast shadows with this option.
![](img/distancefield.jpg)
![](img/distancefield+contact.jpg)
Performance Impact: Low
Contact Shadows: Small detail shadows for grass, rocks.
![](img/wpHLOD0.jpg)
![](img/wpHLOD1.jpg)
Performance Impact: Medium
HLODs: Can be disabled to save performance. Note: This can now be disbled in the Video Settings
![](img/grass0.jpg)
![](img/grass2.jpg)
Performance Impact: Medium
Landscape Grass: The amount of foliage can be changed by using sg.FoliageQuality 0-3 or in the Video Settings Foliage Quality: Low-Epic