ARK: Survival Evolved Wiki
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The Inventory in ARK: Survival Evolved is the survivor's ability hold all sorts of different items. The inventory is accessed by pressing I by default. Many materials are held in stacks of one hundred while armor and tools cannot be stacked. Creatures and buildings can also have an inventory.

Hotkeys[]

Action Default Key Result
Drop Item O Item is dropped from the inventory currently being accessed to the ground.
Transfer Stack T The stack you hover over is transferred from one inventory currently being accessed to the other.
Transfer Half-Stack ⇧ Shift+T Half of the stack you hover over is transferred from one inventory currently being accessed to the other.
Transfer Item Ctrl+T One item from the stack you hover over is transferred from one inventory currently being accessed to the other.
Transfer Item Lmbx2 One item from the stack you double click is transferred from one inventory currently being accessed to the other.
Transfer Five Items ⇧ Shift+Lmbx2 Five items from the stack you double click are transferred from one inventory currently being accessed to the other.
Transfer Half-Stack Ctrl+Lmbx2 Half of the stack you double click is transferred from one inventory currently being accessed to the other.
Toggle Item Names Q Toggle whether or not to show the names of all inventory items over the item icon.
Toggle Tooltip G Toggle display of tooltip information when hovering over inventory icons.
Assign To Hotbar Slot Shift + Selected Hotbar Number Slot (1,2,3,....,0) Assign to the Selected Number Slot
Clear Selected Hotbar Slot Ctrl + Selected Hotbar Number Slot (1,2,3,....,0) Clear the Selected Hotbar Slot

Inventory management[]

Inventory management is a very important skill to develop, as it often can save or ruin you, depending on your inventory setup.

Things to consider first[]

Before reading on, consider the following:

This advice may not be perfect for you, depending on your playstyle, weight levels, and available resources. But for the most part, these tips will be extremely helpful anyway.

General tips[]

When it comes to your inventory, there are some things that are always prudent to be kept, no matter what you're doing. You never know when a potential tame, dangerous dino, rare resource, etc. may come across your path. So be sure to always, if possible, to include the following:

  • Materials to repair your Tools and Armor. (If they are crafted in a Smithy Smithy, consider bringing a pair of Pliers (Aberration) Pliers (exclusive to Aberration), or even a Smithy Smithy (though the latter is not recommended unless you expect your armor to break and want to save resources).
  • Extra Tools/Armor, especially if they are crafted in a Fabricator Fabricator/Smithy Smithy. Definitely carry multiple Pike Pikes/your primary Weapon.
  • Bola Bolas. They can easily save your life or get you another tame.
  • Torpor-inducing Weapons such as Tranq Arrow Tranq Arrows, Tranquilizer Dart Tranquilizer Darts, Wooden Club Wooden Clubs, etc. You never know when you might need them for a Raptor Raptor, Sabertooth Sabertooth, etc.
  • Food and Water. Need I say more?
  • Stimberry Stimberries and Narcoberry Narcoberries. (Or better, Stimulant Stimulant and Narcotic Narcotics.)
  • Periodically dump/store all extra items that you don't need in order to lighten and shrink used space you have to scroll and search through.
  • Other than these things, use common sense and what you think you might need, depending on where you are. For example, if you live in or near a cold biome, carry extra torches, warm clothing, and other things that will help with local dinos and your warmth.

Hotbar[]

This is where your most important tools and such go, ready to be used at any second. When setting your Hotbar up, keep the following in mind:

  • It's a good idea to keep your main Melee Weapon in a place that is easy to select while running. (It can be especially hard to swap slots on a controller)
  • Keeping a Pick Pick and Hatchet Hatchet on your hotbar is extremely helpful.
  • Always keeping a Bola Bola there is often handy.
  • Keeping Stimulant Stimulant or Stimberry Stimberries can be helpful, especially in Caves and Swamps.
  • Water Water and Food Food is optional. Although it is quicker to eat/drink/refill from your hotbar, you can do this from your inventory, and often, there are more important items you can keep instead.
  • Aside from this, use what is most prudent given the task. Keep in mind that you can eat/drink/select tools directly from your inventory.

Ideas and tips for specific situations[]

Hunting for a tame[]

  • Torpor Torpor-inducing gear, obviously.
  • Consider bringing lots of Armor. You need to be able to take a lot of hits from the potential tame while in the Taming process.
  • Taming food. If you know what you're looking for, bring extra of that dino's taming food. If you don't know what to expect, bring Raw Mutton Raw Mutton and Advanced Crops Advanced Crops. If you happen to be travelling on a platform saddle pack perishable items in a Refrigerator Refrigerator or Preserving Bin Preserving Bin. If you wish to use less advanced items for feeding your tame you should collect them on the spot with a dino.
  • Traps. If you know what to expect, bring several traps for its size. If not, just bring smaller traps if it's just you. Large Bear Trap Large Bear Traps, Chain Bola Chain Bolas, etc. Won't be useful if you don't also have lots of preparations for a large tame.
  • Extra Narcoberry Narcoberries or Narcotic Narcotics to keep unconscious creatures asleep.
  • Additional needed supplies suiting your target tame. For example, if you're going to tame a Rex Rex, bring walls and anything else that will be useful.
  • If the Extinction Engrams are accessible, have a few Cryopod (Extinction) Cryopods on standby if you plan to tame a couple of large Creatures that could cause a problem in moving. Mind the decay timer on it though, however.

Exploring[]

  • Dinos. You never know what valuable materials or dangerous dinos you may come across, so bringing a few decent, possibly expendable dinos to fight and hold more weight is a great idea.
  • GPS GPS if possible. If not, then bring a Compass Compass. These are what let you draw your map, and the GPS GPS can help you mark important places on the map.
  • Lots of food.
  • If possible, bring Armor suiting all enviroments.
  • Taming gear. Though not always useful when exploring, as taming takes you off track and slows you, taming gear is something to consider.
  • Any extra available gear that you know will be useful in your situation.

Raiding[]

If you play on any multiplayer PvP server, raids are a major component of the gameplay. The chances of surviving any raid is pretty low. So try to balance good gear and minimum valuables. The Inventory that players take with them on raids varies immensely, so this section will combine different role's preferences and general tips. Note: this section WILL NOT discuss raiding strategies.

  • Decent armor. Flak Armor Flak is preferable, as it provides decent protection, but can be expensive to make several sets. Chitin Armor Chitin is the next best thing, providing moderate protection and being fairly cheap.
  • Weapons that suit your role. Guns, Bow Bows, Pike Pikes, Sword Swords, Explosives Explosives, Assault Rifle Assault Rifles, Fabricated Sniper Rifle Fabricated Sniper Rifles, and even Rocket Launcher Rocket Launchers are all commonly used.
  • Bola Bolas. Any player hit with a Bola Bola is doomed.
  • Food/Water. This includes any available dishes made from Rockwell Recipes Rockwell Recipes.
  • Resources for repairing Armor and Tools, if they can be repaired from your Inventory.
  • Other than the above, bring whatever will help you, depending on your enemy's base, location, and strength. If you're raiding very weak players (Not encouraged, as it is bullying, unless they attacked you first) don't risk your good gear. Save it for stronger foes. Minimize items and gear that you will regret losing, and will not be very helpful in the raid. Remove all items from your Inventory that are not required for raids.
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