FroggyMac's Kibble Station (FMK v2)
Taming in ARK: Survival Ascended can be a grind. You need the right kibble, the right torpor management, and a lot of patience. FroggyMac's Kibble Station (FMK v2) is a comprehensive mod that removes most of that busywork, adding a powerful crafting station, a suite of quality-of-life items, and a streamlined approach to breeding. This guide covers everything you need to know, from installation to advanced features.
What Does the FMK Station Do?
The centerpiece of the mod is the FMK Station itself. This isn't just a crafting bench; it's a multi-functional hub for your taming and breeding operations. It acts as a refrigerator, which is essential for storing eggs and kibble ingredients. More impressively, it will automatically pick up and incubate any fertilized eggs within its radius. Once incubation is complete, a radial menu option appears, allowing you to hatch the egg instantly. This feature alone saves you hours of managing temperatures and babysitting eggs.
The station also allows you to hitch nearby tames via its radial menu. You can lock it to prevent unauthorized use, pick it up to move it, and rename it to keep your base organized. For those using the foxygame.net launcher, adding FroggyMac's Kibble Station (FMK v2) to your mod list is a one-click process that keeps the add-on updated automatically, ensuring version compatibility with the latest ASA patches.
Mastering Kibble Crafting
One of the biggest hurdles in vanilla ARK is the kibble tree. FMK v2 simplifies this dramatically. All the standard kibble types are craftable at a very reduced cost compared to vanilla recipes. You can craft Basic, Simple, Regular, Superior, Exceptional, and Extraordinary Kibble directly in the FMK Station. Additionally, many items can be crafted directly in your inventory, making it easy to prepare on the go.
This reduction in cost means you can spend less time gathering rare resources like Wyvern Milk, Nameless Venom, and Deathworm Horns. The mod also adds these resources as craftable items, allowing you to bypass some of the most dangerous gathering trips in the game.
Custom Items and Consumables
Beyond kibble, FroggyMac's Kibble Station (FMK v2) introduces a host of unique items designed to give you more control over your creatures and gameplay.
Utility Pastes
These consumables offer powerful effects for both you and your tames. Healing Paste removes all torpor and restores health to maximum when consumed, and using it from your hotbar applies the effect to your dino. Stuffed Paste refills your food and water, while Slumber Paste refills a sleeping dino's torpidity to max. Famine Paste is a taming tool that starves a wild dino to heal it quickly, and Gender Paste lets you change a creature's sex. Finally, Growup Paste instantly matures a creature and grants full imprinting.
Tools and Weapons
Say goodbye to broken tools. The mod adds reusable versions of several vanilla items. The Stone Hatchet, Stone Pick, and Stone Sickle are all indestructible. The Spear can be thrown infinitely without breaking, and the Bola is reusable. The Grapple and Parachute lose no durability, and the Torch provides three times the light radius of a standard torch. There are also customizable Tranq Arrows and Darts, plus a Wakeup Dart for instant revival. A Creature Mindwipe resets all tamed levels on a creature, and the Pickup Relic allows you to carry a creature on your shoulder.
Base Building and Ruins
For builders, the mod adds craftable Ruins and Bunkers. These structures make you invisible to wild creatures and protect you from harsh weather. The FMK Ruins Buffer extends this buff to an area around it, irrigates crop plots, provides a 300% Greenhouse effect, and acts as an adjustable lamp. It doesn't need a water connection to operate, making it perfect for desert or mountain bases. You can also craft all Artifacts in the FMK Table, bypassing cave runs entirely.
INI Settings and Configuration
FroggyMac's Kibble Station (FMK v2) is highly configurable via the GUS.ini file. You can adjust torpor amounts for different tiers of arrows and darts, set the egg pickup radius, tweak the incubation multiplier, and configure the Ruins Buffer radius. You can also enable or disable trophy and artifact crafting. This flexibility ensures the mod can be tuned to match your preferred difficulty and server settings.
Supported Versions and Compatibility
The mod is designed for ARK: Survival Ascended and is regularly updated to support the latest game versions. It works well alongside other popular mods, though you should always check for specific conflicts if you run a heavily modded server. If you are managing a server, the foxygame.net launcher simplifies the process of deploying mods to your community; its add-on catalog includes FroggyMac's Kibble Station (FMK v2), allowing you to manage version compatibility and updates from a single dashboard.
How to Install FroggyMac's Kibble Station (FMK v2)
To get started, you need to know how to install the mod. The process is straightforward. First, navigate to the Steam Workshop for ARK: Survival Ascended and search for "FroggyMac's Kibble Station (FMK v2)". Click the Subscribe button. The mod will download automatically. For single-player, enable the mod in the game's mod list before loading your save. For dedicated servers, you must add the mod ID to your server's mod list in the GameUserSettings.ini file. Once the server restarts, the mod will be active. After installation, craft the FMK Station from your inventory to begin using all its features.
Final Thoughts
FroggyMac's Kibble Station (FMK v2) is an essential mod for any survivor who wants to cut down on tedious taming and breeding mechanics. Its combination of a powerful central station, cost-effective kibble, and a wide array of custom tools makes it one of the most useful add-ons available for ARK: Survival Ascended. Whether you are a solo player or running a large server, this mod offers a level of convenience that transforms the late-game experience. It streamlines resource management and gives you more time to explore and build, making it a worthy addition to any mod list.