The short answer
Open GameUserSettings.ini, and under [ServerSettings] set
DifficultyOffset to a value between 0.01 and 1.0,
then restart. 1.0 gives wild dinos up to roughly level 120. For level 150 and
above you also need OverrideOfficialDifficulty=5.0.
Key points
- DifficultyOffset is a multiplier between 0 and 1, not a level number.
- An offset of 0 is not the lowest setting. It means difficulty 1.0 and max level 30.
- The real minimum is 0.01, which is difficulty 0.5 and max level 15.
- Wild dinos spawn in steps of 5 levels, so you get 5, 10, 15 and so on.
- The setting only applies after a restart, and only to creatures that spawn afterwards.
What Difficulty Offset actually does
The confusion around this setting comes from the name. Difficulty Offset is not the difficulty level. It is a value between 0 and 1 that acts as a multiplier inside a defined range, and the difficulty level is what comes out the other end.
That distinction produces one genuinely counter-intuitive result: setting the offset to
0 does not give you the easiest server. It gives you the default.
DifficultyOffset=0- Difficulty value 1.0. Wild dinos spawn up to a maximum of level 30. This is the default, not the minimum.
DifficultyOffset=0.01- Difficulty value 0.5, the lowest possible. Wild dinos cap at level 15.
DifficultyOffset=1.0- Difficulty value 4.0. Wild dinos spawn at level 100 and above.
- Anything in between
- Interpolates linearly, so dino levels scale proportionately between the minimum and the maximum.
The developers can raise the upper cap for difficulty, for example from 4.0 to 5.0. If that happens, an offset of 1.0 scales your server to whatever the new maximum is rather than staying pinned to the old one. That is usually what you want, but it does mean an untouched config can produce higher dinos after a game update.
Changing it on your server
-
Open your server configuration
You need
GameUserSettings.ini. Reach it through the config file editor in your control panel, or over FTP if you prefer editing locally. -
Find or add the DifficultyOffset line
It belongs under the
[ServerSettings]header. If the line is not there, add it.[ServerSettings] DifficultyOffset=1.0 -
Save and restart the server
Difficulty is read at boot, so the change does nothing until the server comes back up. Creatures already in the world keep the level they spawned at.
If a difficulty value is also set on the command line, the command line wins. A config file edit that appears to do nothing is very often being silently overridden there, so check both before assuming the setting is broken.
What each value gives you
The practical version of the table. These are approximate maximums for wild spawns, not guarantees that you will meet one on your first walk down the beach.
| DifficultyOffset | Approx max dino level | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
0.01 |
15 | Lowest possible. Difficulty value 0.5. |
0.25 |
60 | Gentle. Roughly half of default scaling. |
0.50 |
90 | Balanced. The usual choice for a mixed-ability server. |
1.00 |
120+ | Maximum. Difficulty value 4.0. |
How dino levels are calculated
Wild creatures do not spawn at every level in the range. They spawn in
increments of 5. With DifficultyOffset=1.0 that means you will
encounter levels like 5, 10, 15, 20 and so on up to 120 and beyond, and you will never meet a
wild level 37.
This matters when you are setting expectations for players. A server advertised as "level 150 dinos" is really advertising the top of a ladder whose rungs are five levels apart, and the highest rungs are rare. Most of what spawns sits well below the ceiling.
Going past the cap with OverrideOfficialDifficulty
DifficultyOffset alone stops at 1.0. To take wild levels higher you need a second setting that multiplies the maximum level by a value you choose.
OverrideOfficialDifficulty=5.0The two settings work together rather than replacing each other. Combining them is how most high-level servers are configured:
DifficultyOffset1.0OverrideOfficialDifficulty5.0- Result
- Maximum wild dino levels of 150 and above.
Higher is not automatically better for a community server. Very high wild levels compress the taming curve: a level 150 tame early on removes most of the reason to keep taming, and players who joined for progression tend to drift off once there is nothing left to climb towards. Decide what you want the mid-game to feel like before you set the ceiling.
Checking your setting worked
After the restart, do not judge it from the first creature you see. Wild spawns are random within the range, so a single level 20 Dilo tells you nothing.
- Fly or run a wide loop across a populated area and look at a spread of creatures rather than one.
- Remember that anything already alive when you restarted kept its old level. Give the world time to cycle.
- If nothing has changed after a full cycle, check the command line for a competing difficulty parameter.
Mods can also override spawn levels entirely. If you run something like a dino overhaul mod, its own spawn tables may take precedence over the vanilla difficulty calculation, and the place to change levels is the mod's config rather than this one.