Auto Imprint + Imprinting Changes
Few mechanics in ARK: Survival Ascended are as rewarding—or as time-consuming—as creature imprinting. The bonding process demands precise timing, constant attention, and a willingness to drop everything when the notification chimes. For solo players, busy tribes, and server owners alike, the Auto Imprint + Imprinting Changes mod transforms this chore into a streamlined, highly configurable system. It automates the application of imprint quality while handing you granular control over how that bond translates into stats and combat performance.
Why Automate Imprinting in ARK: Survival Ascended
Imprinting is critical for maximizing a creature's potential. A fully imprinted tame gains significant stat boosts and a rider bonus that can turn the tide of battle. However, the process is unforgiving. Miss a care interaction and your imprint quality drops, permanently reducing the creature's ceiling. Auto Imprint + Imprinting Changes for ARK: Survival Ascended eliminates this anxiety. The mod works out of the box with normalized defaults, meaning you can install it and immediately benefit from automatic imprinting without touching a single configuration file.
How Automatic Imprinting Works
The core function is elegantly simple. The mod scans eligible tamed creatures on a configurable interval and automatically applies imprint quality to them. It supports both bred creatures and, optionally, wild tames, giving you flexibility for unique server rules. You can set the imprint quality to a fixed value, assign the current player as the imprinter, or enable dynamic imprinter selection. The latter is particularly useful for tribes, as it automatically designates the nearest player from the taming tribe as the imprinter, ensuring the bonus goes to the right person.
Custom Imprint Stat Scaling
Vanilla ARK applies a blanket imprint bonus to a handful of stats. This mod blows that system wide open. With Auto Imprint + Imprinting Changes, you independently configure the imprint contribution for Health, Stamina, Oxygen, Food, Weight, Melee Damage, and Movement Speed. Each stat can be reduced, increased, or effectively disabled by setting its multiplier to zero. This allows server owners to craft truly unique creature balance. Want tanky brontos that hit like wet noodles? Set Health high and Melee to zero. Prefer speed demons? Pump Movement Speed and drop Weight.
All percentage-style INI values use normal percentages: 100 equals 100%, 50 equals 50%, and 200 equals 200%. This intuitive system makes balancing straightforward. The mod uses the creature's existing imprint quality, so if you set AutoImprintQuality to 80, the stat multipliers apply based on that 80% bond.
Passive Imprint Combat Bonus
One of the most requested features in ARK is finally here: a passive combat bonus for imprinted creatures that works even when you are not riding them. The Auto Imprint + Imprinting Changes mod allows imprinted creatures to benefit from configurable damage and damage-resistance bonuses while unridden. This is a game-changer for base defense, where tames often stand idle. You can set PassiveDamageBonus and PassiveDamageResistance to values like 30, granting a fully imprinted creature a 30% outgoing damage bonus and a 30% damage resistance.
Stacking with Native ARK Bonuses
The mod is designed to respect ARK's existing systems. It works with ordinary melee attacks and many creature-specific projectile, breath, ranged, and special attacks. Some fixed-damage, status-effect, aura, bleed, or other specialized creature mechanics may retain their native ARK behavior. Crucially, you can set StackNativeImprinterRiderBonus to true. This allows the passive combat bonus to stack with ARK's normal rider/imprinter bonus when the creature is ridden by its actual imprinter. This creates a powerful synergy for players who actively ride their best tames.
Cryopod Friendly and Reliable
Modern ARK gameplay revolves around cryopods. This mod handles them flawlessly. Imprint information is preserved normally when a creature is podded. Custom stat scaling is reapplied automatically after the creature is released and processed by the next scan. This ensures your carefully configured stats are never lost or corrupted by the podding process, making it a seamless addition to your existing workflow.
For players seeking a hassle-free setup, the foxygame.net launcher offers a one-click install for Auto Imprint + Imprinting Changes, automatically handling version compatibility checks so you can jump straight into your server without manual file edits. Its built-in add-on catalog keeps the mod updated, ensuring you always have the latest fixes and features.
Default Configuration and Installation
Getting started is simple. After installing the mod, you can use it immediately with its default settings, which are designed for a balanced, out-of-the-box experience. To customize, add the following block to your GameUserSettings.ini file:
[ImprintSettings] EnableAutoImprint=true AutoImprintWildTames=true AutoImprintQuality=1 DynamicImprinter=false ScanInterval=10 EnableCustomImprintStats=true HealthImprintMultiplier=100 StaminaImprintMultiplier=0 OxygenImprintMultiplier=0 FoodImprintMultiplier=100 WeightImprintMultiplier=100 MeleeImprintMultiplier=100 SpeedImprintMultiplier=100 EnablePassiveImprintBuff=true PassiveDamageBonus=30 PassiveDamageResistance=30 StackNativeImprinterRiderBonus=true
This configuration enables full auto-imprint at 100% quality, applies custom stat scaling to Health, Food, Weight, Melee, and Speed, and grants the passive combat buff. The ScanInterval of 10 seconds ensures prompt processing without excessive server load. The mod supports the current versions of ARK: Survival Ascended and is compatible with most other mods, provided they do not overhaul the core imprinting system.
How to Install
Learning how to install this mod is straightforward. Subscribe to it via the Steam Workshop or your preferred mod manager, then add it to your server's mod list. Once activated, the configuration options appear in your GameUserSettings.ini. If you prefer a more guided approach, the foxygame.net launcher streamlines the entire process, from downloading to deploying, with its curated add-on catalog that includes Auto Imprint + Imprinting Changes and handles version compatibility automatically.
In conclusion, Auto Imprint + Imprinting Changes is an essential quality-of-life and balance tool for any ARK: Survival Ascended server. It removes the tedium of manual imprinting while offering unprecedented control over creature stats and combat viability. Whether you are a solo survivor or a large tribe, this mod empowers you to focus on the adventure, not the babysitting. Download it today and experience the difference.