Death Recovery Mod
Dying in ARK: Survival Ascended is inevitable. Whether a Raptor ambushes you on the beach or a Giga decides your base is a snack, death often means losing hard-earned gear. The Death Recovery Mod changes that narrative by giving you a practical, craftable solution: a Personal Gravestone that returns everything from your corpse or death cache directly to your inventory. This guide covers how the mod works, how to install it, and the configuration options that make it a staple for solo players and tribes alike.
What Is the Death Recovery Mod for ARK: Survival Ascended?
The Death Recovery Mod for ARK: Survival Ascended adds a single, focused structure to the game: a Personal Gravestone. Once crafted and placed, this stone acts as a recovery point. After you die, activate the stone to pull all items from your corpses and death caches back to you. It is rated Clean and Stackable, meaning it integrates smoothly with other mods and server setups without bloat or conflicts.
The mod is cross-platform, so players on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation can use it. It was last updated on January 8, 2026, to version 1.29.2, ensuring compatibility with recent patches. The mod is brought to you by Mannalo (Aka Manalo), a creator known for practical QoL additions.
How the Gravestone Works
Using the Death Recovery Mod is straightforward. Craft the Personal Gravestone, place it near your bed or a safe location, and forget about it until you die. When you respawn, interact with the stone. If items are found, a Flame of Recovery effect appears for five seconds, signaling that your gear is being returned. If no flames appear, nothing was recovered.
- Personal Use Only: Each stone works only for the player who placed it, preventing theft or accidental use.
- Overflow Handling: If your inventory fills up during recovery, excess items go into a cache at your feet. If that cache fails, items return to their original corpse.
- Cooldown Timer: A 30-second cooldown prevents spam and performance issues. You can adjust this in the settings.
- Decay Over Time: The gravestone takes damage over time, so regular maintenance is required. You cannot pick it up while the cooldown is active or if it is damaged.
How to Install the Death Recovery Mod
Learning how to install the Death Recovery Mod is simple, whether you play single-player or on a dedicated server. The mod is available on the CurseForge and mod.io platforms for ARK: Survival Ascended. To download Death Recovery Mod, search for "Death Recovery" in the in-game mod browser or on the CurseForge website. Subscribe to the mod, then activate it in your server or single-player session. The mod ID is 930404.
For server administrators, adding the mod is as easy as including it in your mod list and restarting the server. The mod is compatible with most other QoL and building mods, though you should always test new combinations on a backup save.
If you use the foxygame.net launcher, you can find the Death Recovery Mod in the add-on catalog. The launcher simplifies the process by handling version compatibility and offering one-click install, so you can get back to surviving without wrestling with manual file management. The launcher also tracks updates, ensuring you always run the latest stable release of the mod.
Configuration and GameUserSettings.ini
The Death Recovery Mod offers deep customization through the [DeathRecovery] section in your GameUserSettings.ini. Here are the key options:
- DelayTimer: Adjust the cooldown between uses. Default is 30 seconds; set 3600 for one hour.
- DisableDecay: Set to true to stop the stone from taking damage over time.
- DecayMultiplier: Controls how fast the stone decays. A value of 0.142857 makes it last one real-world day.
- MaxLifeSpan: Define how many seconds a stone can exist before disappearing.
- DisablePickup: Prevents players from picking up the stone.
- UseOnce: Destroys the stone after a single use. The DelayTimer then determines how long until destruction.
- ThereCanOnlyBeOne: Limits each player to one placed stone.
- UseGlobalTimer: Makes all stones on the server share the same cooldown timer.
- ExclusionList: Use case-insensitive filters to prevent specific items from being recovered. Supports wildcards like
PrimalItemResource.. - ExceptionList: Overrides the ExclusionList for specific items, like keeping Chibis safe from filters.
These settings are examples only. Do not add them to your ini unless you need to change a default value.
Recent Updates and Invisible Item Fixes
The mod has evolved to address game-breaking bugs. As of April 28, 2024, filters were added for custom skins that appear on death, preventing unintended transfers. On November 1, 2024, a new "Duplicate Skin removal" feature was added to the radial menu. This removes invisible duplicate skins that could fill your inventory and block new pickups. As of January 4, 2026, the mod now includes built-in filters for a newly discovered invisible inventory issue, requiring no user intervention.
Admin Commands and Engrams
Server admins can summon a gravestone directly with the command: cheat giveitem "/DeathRecovery/PrimalItemStructure_Personal_Grave.PrimalItemStructure_Personal_Grave" 1 0 0 false. The engram override for the mod is EngramEntry_Personal_Grave.
Known Limitations and Warnings
The mod cannot recover items deleted by the game. If a corpse or cache falls outside map boundaries, it is permanently gone. Sea creature deaths can also cause inventory deletion, depending on the map. The Flame of Recovery effect may occasionally not display; picking up and replacing the stone fixes this.
Final Thoughts
The Death Recovery Mod is an essential addition for any ARK: Survival Ascended player who values their gear. It reduces the frustration of losing rare items and lets you focus on exploration and building. With its robust configuration options, cross-platform support, and regular updates, it is a reliable tool for solo survivors and large tribes alike. Whether you are a casual player or a server admin, this mod is worth adding to your loadout. Download it today and never fear a death screen again.