Less Annoying Manas
If you have spent any time on the Ark maps of ARK: Survival Ascended, you know the frustration. A wild Managarmr spots you, dives from the sky, slams into your character, and before you can even raise your weapon, it has already launched itself back into the air. This endless leap-dive-leap cycle makes these creatures nearly impossible to fight, turning a supposedly thrilling encounter into a tedious exercise in respawning. The Less Annoying Manas mod is the community’s answer to this problem, and it does exactly what its name promises.
What Does Less Annoying Manas Actually Do?
This mod targets a single, specific behavior: the instant jump-back after a wild Managarmr lands. In the vanilla game, a wild Mana can chain its dive attack with an immediate aerial jump, creating an unbreakable loop of hit-and-run attacks. Less Annoying Manas for ARK: Survival Ascended forces a pause between landing and the next jump. This gives you a precious window to fight back, shoot, or run. It does not alter the stats, damage, or health of the creatures. It simply adds a mandatory cooldown to their ground-to-air transition.
Nothing Changes for Tamed Manas
A common concern with any creature-behavior mod is that it will nerf your own tamed mounts. This mod is carefully designed to leave tamed Managarmr completely untouched. Your loyal, fully-imprinted Mana will still perform its signature high-speed jumps and dives exactly as before. The cooldown only applies to wild creatures, ensuring that your gameplay experience with your own tames remains unchanged. This distinction is crucial for PvP and PvE players who rely on the Mana’s mobility.
Configuration and Customization Options
The mod is built with flexibility in mind. You can adjust the core setting through the game’s ini files. The primary variable is TimeToGround, which controls the duration in seconds that a wild Mana must wait after landing. The default value is 5.0 seconds, which feels balanced for most encounters. You can increase it for a more relaxed experience or decrease it for a more challenging fight.
- TimeToGround=5.0 – The default cooldown period.
- VanillaOnly=False – This setting determines if the cooldown applies to modded Managarmr variants.
The VanillaOnly option is particularly useful for servers that run creature mods like the S-Managamr. By setting this to True, you restrict the cooldown to only the vanilla Mana, leaving modded variants with their original behavior. The mod author advises keeping this setting as False unless you have a specific reason, as most modded Manas use similar jump logic and will work fine with the cooldown applied.
Applying the Mod to Existing Creatures
One important detail is that the mod only affects newly spawned Managarmr. Any wild Mana already present in your world will retain its old behavior until it is killed and replaced. To speed up this process, you can use the admin command provided in the mod description. This command wipes only the Managarmr class, forcing the game to respawn them with the new behavior:
admincheat DestroyWildDinoClasses IceJumper_Character_BP_C true
Change true to false if you want to include modded Manas in the wipe. This is a clean solution that avoids a full dinosaur wipe, which would reset all wild dinos on your map.
How to Install Less Annoying Manas
Installing this mod is straightforward, whether you are on a dedicated server or playing single-player. To download Less Annoying Manas, navigate to the mod page on the official ARK: Survival Ascended mod repository. Subscribe to the mod, and it will automatically download through the Steam Workshop integration. For server administrators, you will need to add the mod ID to your server’s mod list and restart the server. The process is the same as for any other mod. If you are looking for a more streamlined experience, the foxygame.net launcher offers a one-click install for Less Annoying Manas, pulling the latest version directly into your game folder without manual steps. This launcher also maintains a catalog of popular add-ons, making it easy to discover and manage your mod load order.
Compatibility and Safety
This mod is designed to work with the current builds of ARK: Survival Ascended. It does not add any new creatures, items, or engrams, so it is highly compatible with other mods that alter gameplay. Because it only modifies the behavior of the vanilla Managarmr, conflicts are rare. The mod can be safely removed at any time. If you delete it from your mod list, all wild Manas will revert to their original jump behavior, and your saved game will not be corrupted. This makes it a low-risk addition to any server.
Why You Should Add This Mod
The core value of Less Annoying Manas is the restoration of fairness to wild encounters. Fighting a Mana should be a challenging but possible task. With this mod, you can actually land hits, use traps, and engage in tactical combat. It also improves the overall flow of exploration, as you no longer have to constantly look over your shoulder for an unkillable flying menace. The configurable cooldown means you can tailor the difficulty to your preference, making it suitable for casual players and hardcore survivalists alike. The author also maintains a Discord server for updates and feedback, ensuring the mod stays current with game patches.
Final Thoughts on Less Annoying Manas
In a game filled with brutal creatures, the wild Managarmr stands out for all the wrong reasons. Its infinite jump loop is less a test of skill and more a test of patience. Less Annoying Manas for ARK: Survival Ascended is a simple, elegant fix that respects the creature’s threat level while removing the frustrating exploit-like behavior. It is a must-have for any player who values their sanity and their character’s health bar. Download it today and experience the tundra without the terror of an endless airborne assault. The mod’s lightweight design and clear configuration options make it a permanent fixture in any serious ARK player’s mod list.