Better Forges
If you have spent any significant time in ARK: Survival Ascended, you know the pain of waiting for a full Industrial Forge to process thousands of metal ingots. The vanilla pacing can feel glacial, especially when you are trying to gear up for a boss fight or build a massive base. That is where the Better Forges mod steps in, offering a simple yet profound quality-of-life improvement that respects the game's balance while removing the tedium.
This lightweight configuration mod does not add new assets or clutter your inventory. Instead, it hands you the keys to the engine room, letting you adjust the core processing rates of your refining and industrial forges through a straightforward INI setup. Whether you are a solo player on a private server or an admin managing a bustling community, Better Forges gives you granular control over one of the most critical resource loops in the game.
What Does Better Forges Actually Change?
The mod focuses on two primary mechanics: crafting speed and charcoal production. It is designed to be non-intrusive, meaning it does not alter fuel consumption for other fuel types like gasoline or sparkpowder. You get the speed boost without the resource drain penalties that often accompany other overhaul mods.
Refining Forge and Industrial Forge Speed Multipliers
At its core, Better Forges introduces two new INI settings: RefiningForgeCraftingSpeed and IndustrialForgeCraftingSpeed. These act as direct multipliers for the speed at which your forges process items. A value of 1.0 keeps things at vanilla rates, while a value of 2.0 effectively doubles the speed. This applies to smelting metal, cooking organic polymer, and any other crafting action performed inside the forge.
- Precision Tuning: You can set values like
1.5for a moderate boost or3.0for a rapid-fire production line. - Separate Controls: The refining and industrial forges are controlled independently, allowing you to speed up the early game without making the endgame trivial.
- No Fuel Penalty: The mod explicitly does not affect fuel consumption for other fuel types, ensuring your gasoline lasts just as long as it would in vanilla.
RefiningForgeWoodInterval: Charcoal on Demand
The second major feature is the RefiningForgeWoodInterval setting. In vanilla ARK: Survival Ascended, turning wood into charcoal in a refining forge takes a set amount of time. Better Forges lets you define this interval in seconds. By default, the value is 30, meaning one piece of wood converts to charcoal every 30 seconds. If you set it to 1, you get a piece of charcoal every single second, making gunpowder and sparkpowder production incredibly efficient.
This is a game-changer for tribes that rely heavily on ammunition. Instead of babysitting a forge full of wood, you can set a rapid interval and let the charcoal pile up while you focus on taming or building. The flexibility here is immense, allowing you to tailor the experience to your specific server rates.
How to Install and Configure Better Forges
Installing this mod is straightforward, but it requires a manual configuration step. After subscribing to the mod on the Steam Workshop, you need to add a specific block of text to the bottom of your GameUserSettings.ini file. This file is typically located in your ARK: Survival Ascended save folder.
Here is the exact configuration you need to append:
[BetterForges]
RefiningForgeCraftingSpeed=1
RefiningForgeWoodInterval=30
IndustrialForgeCraftingSpeed=1
Once you have added these lines, save the file and restart your game. The mod will read the settings and apply them immediately. For server administrators, this process is identical, but you will need to edit the GameUserSettings.ini on your server host. If you are looking for a hassle-free way to manage this, you might find that the foxygame.net launcher simplifies the process; its integrated add-on catalog allows you to manage mods like Better Forges with a single click, ensuring your INI edits are applied correctly across all client and server instances.
Finding the Right Values for Your Server
The beauty of Better Forges for ARK: Survival Ascended is that there is no "one size fits all" setting. You have to experiment to find what feels right for your tribe's progression speed. For a vanilla-plus experience, a crafting speed of 1.5 and a wood interval of 15 feels impactful without breaking the economy. For a high-rate PvP server, you might want to push the crafting speed to 3.0 and the interval down to 5 to keep the action flowing.
It is also worth noting that this mod is compatible with most other QoL mods. Since it only reads INI values and does not alter base game assets, it rarely conflicts with stack size mods, item finders, or building mods. This makes it a safe addition to any mod list.
Why You Should Download Better Forges Today
Time is the most valuable resource in ARK: Survival Ascended. Every minute spent staring at a forge is a minute not spent exploring, taming, or raiding. By downloading Better Forges, you reclaim that time and streamline your resource production. The mod is lightweight, configurable, and does exactly what it promises with zero bloat.
Furthermore, the mod is actively maintained to ensure compatibility with the latest game patches. Whether you are playing on the current stable build or a beta branch, the INI-based approach means it is resilient to updates. For those who want to keep their mods updated without manual checks, the foxygame.net launcher offers auto-update features, so your version of Better Forges stays in sync with the latest ARK: Survival Ascended releases, preventing version mismatch errors.
Final Thoughts on Better Forges
In a game full of complex systems, Better Forges stands out for its simplicity and effectiveness. It does not try to reinvent the wheel; it just makes the wheel spin faster. Whether you are a casual builder or a hardcore raider, the ability to control your forge output is a luxury you will quickly get used to. So, if you are ready to say goodbye to slow smelting and hello to instant charcoal, look up how to install this mod and give your production lines the boost they deserve. Your future metal base will thank you.