Add text and icon to structures – ARK Ascended Mod

Add text and icon to structures

Walking into a sprawling ARK: Survival Ascended base can be overwhelming. You have rows of storage boxes, fridges packed with prime meat, and troughs that all look identical. Wouldn't it be perfect if your vault simply told you what was inside, or if your Cryofridge displayed the exact creature waiting within? That is exactly what the Add text and icon to structures mod delivers. This custom cosmetic add-on transforms your functional buildings into informative displays, showing both the structure's name and a relevant item icon directly on its surface.

What Does This Mod Actually Do?

This is a purely cosmetic modification, meaning it does not alter gameplay mechanics, stats, or resource costs. Instead, it applies a visual skin to your structures. When you apply this skin, the structure will automatically use its current name. Additionally, if there is an item in the first slot of the structure's inventory, that item's icon will be displayed alongside the text. This turns your base into a well-labeled warehouse, eliminating the guesswork of where you stored your rare resources.

Supported Structures in the Base Mod

The creator has currently whitelisted a solid list of essential end-game and mid-game storage solutions. The Add text and icon to structures for ARK: Survival Ascended works flawlessly with the following:

• Vault
• Fridge
• CryoFridge
• Small Storage Box
• Large Storage Box
• Feeding Trough
• Tek Trough
• Preserving Bin

Because this is a custom cosmetic, it should also work with items and dinosaurs from other mods. If you happen to find an incompatibility, the developer encourages you to report it so they can patch it quickly. This makes the mod a versatile addition to heavily modded servers.

How to Use the Mod In-Game

Using the mod is incredibly straightforward. You treat the skin like any other cosmetic item in ARK. Simply apply the skin to the structure you want to label. The mod will immediately read the structure's current name. For Cryofridges specifically, the logic is a bit smarter. If the first slot is empty or contains an empty cryopod, it displays an empty cryopod icon. However, if you have a cryopod with a creature inside, it will display the specific dino icon, making it easy to identify your breeding stock at a glance.

Upcoming Features and Customization

The developer is actively working on expanding the mod's capabilities. The roadmap includes support for more structures, as well as icon and text location and rotation customization. This means you will soon be able to place the label exactly where you want it, whether that is centered on the door or on the side panel. The mod's relatively large file size is due to the Vault skin, which had the "lock" part removed to create a clean display area for the icon.

Server Installation and Configuration

If you are running an unofficial server, you might be wondering how to install this feature for your players. The process involves a quick configuration change. The mod relies on ARK's Custom Cosmetics system, which requires a whitelist override. Here is the step-by-step process:

1. Open your GameUserSettings.ini file.
2. Add the line: CosmeticWhitelistOverride="Your-Site.TLD/Path/To/CustomCosmeticsWhiteList/file.txt". This also works with a local file path like c:\ASAServers\Path\To\Whitelist\file.txt.
3. Create the file.txt and add the Project ID 975527 for this mod. If you have other custom cosmetics, separate the IDs with a comma and a space (e.g., 1, 2, 3).
4. Save both files and restart your server. After this initial setup, you can add new IDs to the text file without restarting the server again.

For official servers, the whitelist endpoint is managed by the game developers, so you do not need to worry about this step.

Mod Compatibility and Game Versions

This mod is designed for the latest version of ARK: Survival Ascended. It is important to ensure your game client and server are updated to the current patch to avoid any skin rendering issues. Since it is a cosmetic mod, it generally does not conflict with other mods that alter structure stats or gameplay. However, if you are using mods that change the inventory slots or structure names, you may see visual discrepancies, though this is rare.

If you are looking to streamline your server setup, the foxygame.net launcher offers a one-click install for Add text and icon to structures. This launcher handles the mod installation and updates automatically, ensuring your players always have the latest version without manual file management. It also provides a convenient add-on catalog, making it simple to browse and deploy this cosmetic mod alongside your other favorite server mods.

Final Thoughts on Base Organization

The Add text and icon to structures mod is a quality-of-life game changer for base organization. It saves you the time of running around opening every box to find your cementing paste or checking every fridge for spoiled meat. The visual clarity it provides is unmatched, especially in large tribe bases where multiple players store items. While it is currently limited to a specific set of structures, the promise of more additions and customization options makes it a worthy download for any survivor looking to tidy up their digital home. The developer is active on Discord (oli.vier) and welcomes feedback to improve the mod further. If you want to eliminate the chaos of unlabeled storage, this is the perfect cosmetic solution for your ARK: Survival Ascended experience.