In this article we'll be looking at some of the best ARK mods for 2023 that you can use to enhance your gameplay. After launching in 2015, Ark: Survival Evolved has become one of the most popular survival games around. From Studio Wildcard, it's set in an open-world environment where players start naked and must gather as many resources as they can to survive.
It's a pretty common concept for many survival games out there. However in ARK, there are dinosaurs and hundreds of other creatures that players can tame and breed. As such, mods can help augment your experience to make it even more enjoyable.
Elsewhere, check out our look at the best Terraria mods for some refinements in another hit survival game. We've also got a Genshin Impact tier list and AFK Arena tier list if you're into gacha games!
Best ARK mods for 2023
Mods usually come with unofficial features or features that could be well underway in the game, but are being delayed by the developers. So in our list of best ARK mods for 2023, we'll be showing you some pretty interesting features from volcanoes, pirates, rideable turtles, and many more. So without further ado, here are the best ARK mods for 2023.
The World Turtle
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Sure, the game has some incredibly gigantic dinosaurs roaming around and that's cool, but we can't deny the fact that a turtle the size of a whole different kingdom isn't cooler. This is similar to The Lion Turtle (Ancient One) in Avatar: The Last Airbender, except it doesn't possess ancient knowledge that can take away someone's bending.
So with the world turtle mod, you'll have a slight number of these giant turtles spawn in your game server that you can tame if you want. They're large, powerful, and have the stats of titans. If you want to check them out yourself, be our guest. You won't regret it.
The volcano
click to enlarge + 8The Volcano mod is nearly as large as the vanilla map, and comes with five different biomes that are also a sanctuary to pretty much all the dinosaurs, including Extinction and Aberration creatures. It also has a massive amount of resources that you can discover, including boss arenas from both the base island and Scorched Earth.
There are also cute dinosaur babies with up to 15 explorable caves, making it a gorgeous location. Some of its locations will even require you to swim underwater and uncover secret artifacts.
Enhanced dinosaurs and rare spawns
click to enlarge + 8With this mod, you'll be able to spawn dinosaurs that provide better blueprints, and will normally be a lot more challenging to put down than the normal ARK dinosaurs, which don't really prove to be that much of a challenge. Some of the special dinosaur variants you can hunt down with this mod include deadly and extra-large raptors.
There are also huge, alpha dinos that won't go down easily including the Obsidian Carnotaurus that has shiny black and grey scales, rumored to be making its way to the game in 2023. However, unlike normal dinosaurs, you cannot tame any of the dinos in this mod.
Additional turrets and tools
click to enlarge + 8This mod allows you to use some new good-looking turrets to defend your base. Some of them have fire, oil, web, armour-piercing, and even explosive rounds. Invaders would be wise not to step foot into your territory, or risk being extinguished in horrific ways.
With this mod, your plush new defences are also more convenient. Although it allows you to take down your enemies creatively, you can do so knowing your death machines will automatically refill themselves.
Ridable dodos
click to enlarge + 8Being able to ride your very own Dino is easily one of the best things that you can do in ARK. It's also one of the game's primary features that saw it amass millions of players on all compatible platforms. But what most players don't know is that there's a mod that allows them to ride dodos.
And although the actual game doesn't allow players to ride them because they've obviously too small to endure the weight of an adult human on their backs, the rideable dodos mode allows players to do just that. So if you've always wanted to ride one of those, then go ahead and grab the rideable dodos mod from Steam.
Thieves Island
click to enlarge + 8A lot of gamers understand that whenever pirates are involved, then there are bound to be goodies. Thieves Island is actually a map mod that was originally used as a base by Madame Cheng, a legendary pirate.
Since Cheng's fleet of about 18,000 ships requires enough room, the main island in this mod equals nearly half the size of The Island in vanilla ARK. It's not exactly a new location either, as players can also build fortresses in the sky with Scorched Earth dinosaurs thrown into the mix.
Higher difficulty
Some players have argued that ARK is too easy. If you're one of them, then you ought to consider using this mod. When fighting off vicious dinosaurs and trying not to die of starvation becomes too easy, then we suggest increasing the game's overall difficulty to, say, level 240.
This level allows diamond-hard Dinos to spawn up to level 9,600 with a player scale of 300, leaving you with more than enough hurdles and impediments that'll try and stop you from dominating the world of ARK.
Dino Tracker
click to enlarge + 8Like many other open-world games, it's very possible to get lost in the middle of nowhere in ARK. That way, you must rely on the map or some sort of tracker to help find your way. The Dino tracker mod will come in handy, allowing players to track any and all mislaid Dinos.
However, this tracker can only be unlocked at level 25. But once unlocked, will allow players to find all their tamed dinosaurs no matter where they're holed up on the map. It's a very easy-to-use tool that brings up a series of yellow crosses right back to the missing Dino of your choice.
Dome of Death
click to enlarge + 8This is yet another map mod that is not only gorgeous, but has an extreme difficulty level that only a few players can attempt. Even at that, players will find themselves evading the enemies rather than trying to take them down. So if you are seeking out more challenging enemies, then grab the Dome of Death mod right away!
That's it for our look at the best ARK mods! For even more handy guides, check out the best free strategy games, as well as the best free MMORPG games you can dive into right now with friends.
For more articles like this, take a look at our Guides and ARK Survival Evolved page.