The Center is an official ARK map with floating islands, deep ocean areas, large caves, and a different progression feel from The Island. Use this guide when you want the server to boot directly into The Center instead of the default map.
- Take a backup before changing map, especially if the server already has players or tames: Backing up and restoring world and player data on your ARK server.
- Open the ARK service in your control panel.
- Open Commandline Manager from the service menu.
- Use the currently selected command line if this server is moving to The Center, or create a new custom command line if you want to keep the old map profile available: Creating a custom command line on your ARK server.
- Enable the Map row and set it to
TheCenter.
- Save the command line, select it, and restart the server so the startup map changes.
The Center uses its own save data. If ARK keeps loading another map, confirm the TheCenter command line is selected before restarting again.
