Admin's Arsenal
Running a successful ARK: Survival Ascended server requires more than just setting up rates and hoping for the best. You need tools that empower your community and streamline the economy. Enter Admin's Arsenal, a powerful and highly configurable add-on commissioned by Terrae Prima Cluster. This mod transforms the way items are traded and distributed on your server, giving both administrators and players a robust marketplace system that is both intuitive and deeply customizable.
What Does Admin's Arsenal Bring to Your Server?
At its core, Admin's Arsenal introduces a stocked, admin-controlled marketplace. But it goes far beyond a simple shop. This add-on allows admins to sell any item for any other item, with all data stored locally per shop. This means you can create a unique trading hub on each map in your cluster, tailoring the economy to the specific needs of that server. The flexibility is staggering, allowing for dynamic pricing and bartering systems that are impossible with vanilla settings.
The mod also includes a dedicated playershop system. This gives your community the ability to trade with one another in a structured environment. Players can set up their own stalls and sell their wares, although they do not have the ability to create repeat sales or unlimited packages like admins do. This ensures that the player economy remains balanced and prevents inflation, while still offering a fantastic quality-of-life feature for your community.
Key Features of the Marketplace
- Item and Package Sales: Sell individual items or create bundles (packages) of items for a set price.
- Store-Wide Limits: Set sell limits for specific items across the entire store. Once the limit is reached, the item is removed from the shop until it is reset.
- Per-Character Package Limits: Limit how many times a single character can purchase a specific package. This is perfect for gated progression or limited-time offers.
- No Spoiling: Items and packages on sale never spoil, and the spoil timer is reset to maximum when a purchase is made.
- Shop Management: Close the store at any time, rename the structure, and even customize the in-game UI shop name via the ini file.
- Data Portability: Save and load shop data between shops, even on different servers in your cluster. This is an admin-only feature, perfect for setting up a central hub.
Understanding the Universal Coin and Vendor System
Admin's Arsenal also introduces a universal coin item, giving you a consistent currency if you need one. You can configure the mod to grant coins to players based on playtime intervals, creating a steady trickle of currency into your economy. This is perfect for servers that want to reward active members without requiring them to farm specific resources.
Furthermore, the add-on includes an Ark Trader structure. This acts as a vendor that can be set to Buy Mode or Sell Mode. In Buy Mode, it will purchase listed resources from players, provided it has enough coins in its storage. In Sell Mode, it sells resources to players, with profits going into its storage. The vendor has stacking disabled, allowing for an incredible amount of inventory variety, even for low-quantity stacks of items.
The Item Compressor: A QoL Essential
One of the most innovative additions is the Item Compressor. This simple tool allows you to drag and drop any item onto it to absorb it into the compressor's storage. This is a game-changer for transferring normally untransferable items between maps or characters, bypassing standard transfer restrictions. It is an invaluable tool for server admins and players alike, making inventory management significantly easier.
When you decide to download Admin's Arsenal, you are not just getting a shop mod; you are getting a comprehensive suite of server management tools. The mod is designed to work seamlessly with the current version of Admin's Arsenal for ARK: Survival Ascended, ensuring you have access to the latest features without compatibility headaches. The mod's configuration is handled through a simple ini file, allowing you to adjust everything from shop names to discord webhooks for transaction logging.
How to Install and Configure
Learning how to install the mod is straightforward. Simply add it to your server's mod list and restart. Once loaded, you can spawn the structures using the provided cheat giveitem commands. The configuration is done through the [AdminsArsenal] section in your GameUserSettings.ini file, where you can set the shop name, toggle damage prevention, and enable transaction logging to a Discord webhook. This level of control ensures that the mod behaves exactly as you need it to.
For those using a dedicated launcher, the process is even smoother. The foxygame.net launcher simplifies server management by offering a one-click install for mods like Admin's Arsenal, and its add-on catalog automatically checks for version compatibility, ensuring your server stays up-to-date with the latest patches. This removes the guesswork from mod management, letting you focus on building your community.
Important Considerations and Troubleshooting
Before you implement this mod, it is crucial to understand a few limitations. The most significant is that Offline Raid Protection (ORP) from Wildcard can prevent shops from functioning correctly when the owning tribe is offline. Additionally, certain other mods or ArkServerApi plugins could potentially interfere with the shop's functionality. It is also important to note that the UseItemDupeCheck server launch argument prevents the shop from working properly, so you must disable it to use this mod.
The save and load feature for shop data is considered experimental, particularly for console users, so it is recommended to test it thoroughly before relying on it. Finally, the mod includes a built-in bug reporting system accessible via the shop's radial menu, allowing you to send constructive feedback directly to the developer. With these points in mind, Admin's Arsenal is a robust and reliable addition to any serious ARK: Survival Ascended server, offering an unprecedented level of control over your in-game economy.