The short answer
Check your custom command line for quotation marks around values. ?MaxPlayers="70"
is wrong, ?MaxPlayers=50 is right. If that is clean, remove
-TotalConversionMod= unless you are genuinely running a total conversion mod,
then make sure MaxPlayers in GameUserSettings.ini matches the
command line.
Key points
- The server is not losing your setting, it is being told to use a different one.
- Quotation marks around a numeric value break the parameter silently.
- The TotalConversionMod parameter is only for total conversions. On anything else it causes problems.
- The command line and the config file both set MaxPlayers. Keep them identical.
Why 70 specifically
The number is the giveaway. When ARK cannot read a player limit it has been given, it does not stop and complain: it carries on with a fallback. Seeing exactly 70 slots come back repeatedly, rather than a number close to what you set, is the signature of a value being discarded rather than a value being mis-set.
That reframes the problem usefully. You are not looking for a lost setting. You are looking for the thing that is throwing your setting away, and there are three realistic candidates.
Cause 1: a formatting error in the command line
The custom command line is the backbone of an ARK server's configuration, and it is unforgiving. A single stray character will break the parameter that follows it.
The most common version of this mistake:
?MaxPlayers="70"
The quotation marks around 70 are unnecessary and cause a formatting problem.
Write it without them:
?MaxPlayers=50When you are checking your own line, look for:
- Quotation marks around values that do not need them, and mismatched pairs where an opening
"has no closing partner. - Curly or smart quotes, which arrive when a command line has been pasted through a word processor or a chat client. They look almost identical to straight quotes and are not interchangeable.
- Stray spaces around the
=sign, or a space in the middle of a parameter name. - A missing
?or-prefix on a parameter that needs one.
A broken parameter can take the rest of the line down with it, not just itself. If several settings appear to have reverted at once, suspect one malformed parameter near the start rather than several unrelated failures.
Cause 2: misusing the total conversion parameter
ARK supports total conversion mods, which replace the game rather than adding to it. The parameter that loads them is aimed narrowly, and pointing it at an ordinary mod is a common and messy mistake.
Symptoms of getting this wrong:
- The server repeatedly defaults back to 70 slots.
- Mods fail to load, or load partially.
- The server crashes shortly after startup.
If you are running a genuine total conversion, the parameter takes the mod's ID and nothing else:
-TotalConversionMod=123456789Replace the digits with your total conversion mod's ID. If you are not running a total conversion, delete the parameter entirely. Leaving it in place pointed at a content mod is worse than not having it at all.
Cause 3: the config file and the command line disagreeing
ARK reads the player limit from two places. GameUserSettings.ini sets it under
[ServerSettings]:
[ServerSettings]
MaxPlayers=50
And the command line sets it with ?MaxPlayers=. When the two carry different
numbers the result is not reliably one or the other, which is why a server can look like it
is randomly changing its mind.
Keep them identical. Pick the number once, write it in both places, and change both together whenever you change it at all. Do not treat one as the real setting and the other as a leftover, because leftovers are exactly what causes this.
A five minute checklist
-
Stop the server
Editing the launch configuration on a running server gets you an inconsistent state and a confusing result.
-
Read the command line character by character
Specifically hunt for quotation marks, smart quotes and spaces around equals signs. Paste it into a plain text editor if that helps you see them.
-
Remove TotalConversionMod unless you need it
If you cannot name the total conversion mod it points at, you are not running one. Delete the parameter.
-
Make MaxPlayers match in both places
Command line and
GameUserSettings.ini, same number, no exceptions. -
Start the server and check the slot count
Look at the reported maximum in the server browser rather than in your own panel, so you are seeing what players see.
Stopping it happening again
- Back up before you edit
- Keep a copy of the working command line and config somewhere outside the server. Reverting then takes seconds rather than an evening of guesswork.
- Change one thing at a time
- If you edit five parameters and the server breaks, you have five suspects. Edit one, restart, confirm, repeat.
- Do not paste through chat apps
- Discord, email clients and word processors all rewrite straight quotes into curly ones. Paste through a plain text editor first.
- Keep mod parameters honest
- Recheck after every mod change that
TotalConversionModis either absent or pointing at an actual total conversion.
If you have worked through all of that and the server still comes back at 70, the next place to look is the startup log. It will usually name the parameter it could not read, which turns the remaining guesswork into a single line to fix.