Auto Fish Trap
Fishing in ARK: Survival Ascended has always been a grind. You spend precious time at the water's edge, waiting for a bite, or you dive into dangerous waters to spear fish one by one. The Auto Fish Trap changes that entirely. This lightweight, quality-of-life add-on introduces a single new structure that does the work for you. Drop it in the water, add some raw meat, and walk away. When you return, your trap will be full of raw fish meat, prime fish meat, and occasionally live fish in baskets.
What Does the Auto Fish Trap Do?
The concept is beautifully simple. The Auto Fish Trap is a placeable structure that works passively over time. It requires no fuel, no electricity, and no complex piping. Just place it in a body of water, fill it with raw meat as bait, and let it run. The trap operates on a timed interval, generating resources automatically as long as it is submerged.
Resource Generation Breakdown
- Raw Fish Meat: The primary output, generated steadily over time.
- Raw Prime Fish Meat: A rarer drop, perfect for high-value taming or cooking.
- Live Fish in Baskets: A chance to catch live fish, which can be used for special taming recipes or aquarium displays.
The efficiency of the trap scales with depth. The deeper you place it underwater, the faster it fills. This encourages players to seek out deeper ocean trenches and underwater caves for maximum yield, adding a small element of exploration to the otherwise passive mechanic.
Why You Need This Add-On
If you are tired of manually hunting Coelacanth or Sabertooth Salmon, this mod is a lifesaver. It is especially useful for players who maintain large taming operations, as prime fish meat is a highly efficient taming food for many aquatic and carnivorous creatures. The Auto Fish Trap also frees up your gameplay time, allowing you to focus on base building, exploring, or boss fights while your food supply steadily accumulates.
Perfect for Future Content
While the mod is fully functional on current maps, it was designed with future content in mind. The original creator specifically highlighted its utility for the Genesis Part 2 map, which features extensive ocean biomes and unique aquatic challenges. Having a passive fish farm ready to go will give you a significant head start when that content arrives. The mod is also compatible with the current version of ARK: Survival Ascended, ensuring smooth performance on both The Island and Scorched Earth.
Configuration and Customization
One of the best aspects of this add-on is its flexibility. The mod includes a simple configuration file that lets you tweak the mechanics to suit your playstyle. You can adjust the chance of catching live fish baskets, modify the depth scaling factor, and even toggle the basket generation on or off entirely.
For those who prefer a more challenging experience, lowering the FishBasketChance to 0.05 will make live fish a rare commodity. Conversely, if you want an abundant supply, you can raise the DepthAdjustmentFactor to 2.0 for a more dramatic increase in yield at deeper levels. This level of control ensures the mod fits seamlessly into both vanilla-style playthroughs and heavily modded servers.
Admin Spawn Command
Server administrators and single-player users can easily spawn the structure using the console. Use the following command to get the item directly into your inventory:
cheat giveitem "/AutoFishTrap/Basic/PrimalItemStructure_AutoFishTrap.PrimalItemStructure_AutoFishTrap" 1 0 0 false
This command bypasses the need to craft the item, which is handy for testing or for setting up community fishing areas on public servers.
How to Install the Mod
Installing the Auto Fish Trap for ARK: Survival Ascended is straightforward. The mod is available through the Steam Workshop and various mod repositories. To get started, simply navigate to the mod page and select the subscribe or download option. Once downloaded, the mod will appear in your game's mod list when you launch ARK: Survival Ascended.
For players using the foxygame.net launcher, the process is even smoother. The launcher features an integrated add-on catalog that allows you to browse and install mods like the Auto Fish Trap with a single click. It also handles version compatibility checks automatically, ensuring that the mod runs without conflicts on your specific build of the game. This is particularly useful for players who frequently switch between different mod configurations or play on dedicated servers.
Step-by-Step Installation Guide
If you are installing manually, follow these simple steps to get your trap working:
- Download the Auto Fish Trap mod file from your chosen source.
- Extract the files if necessary, and place them in your ARK: Survival Ascended mod folder.
- Launch the game and navigate to the Mods menu in the main title screen.
- Activate the Auto Fish Trap mod from your list of available mods.
- Start your single-player game or join a server that has the mod enabled.
Once in-game, craft the structure from your inventory or use the admin command provided above. Place it in water, add raw meat, and you are ready to go.
Maximizing Your Trap Efficiency
To get the most out of your Auto Fish Trap, consider placement carefully. Shallow rivers and ponds will work, but they produce results slowly. For optimal output, find a deep underwater location. The mod's depth adjustment factor means that even a modest increase in depth can lead to a significant boost in resource generation. Additionally, placing multiple traps in different locations can create a robust, decentralized food network across your map.
Another tip is to combine the Auto Fish Trap with a dedicated storage system. Use a nearby chest or a feeding trough to collect the output automatically. This way, you can maintain a constant supply of fish meat without ever needing to check the trap manually, unless you want to collect the live fish baskets for special uses.
Final Thoughts
The Auto Fish Trap is a prime example of how a simple idea can dramatically improve the ARK: Survival Ascended experience. It removes the tedium of manual fishing, provides a steady stream of valuable resources, and integrates seamlessly with both vanilla and modded gameplay. Whether you are a solo survivor or a server admin looking to add convenience for your community, this mod is a must-have addition to your loadout. Download Auto Fish Trap today and let the ocean work for you.