Version: 2.3.1.3

Server Management

• Importing an Existing Config
• Using Beacon with Ark Single Player
• Updating Your Nitrado Server
• Updating Your Server With FTP
• Updating Your Server Manually
• Ark Config File Reference
• The Difference Between Deploy and Export

Core Features

• Using Config Sets
• Using Presets to Automate Item Set Creation
• Adding Unsupported Engrams, Creatures, Loot Drops, or Spawn Points to Beacon
• Preset Selectors Guide

Config Editors

• Breeding Multipliers
• Crafting Costs
• Creature Adjustments
• Creature Spawns
• Custom Config
• Day and Night Cycle
• Decay and Spoil
• Engram Control
• Harvest Rates
• Item Stat Limits
• Levels and XP
• Loot Drops
• Stack Sizes
• Stat Multipliers

User Accounts

• Create or Recover Your Account
• Sign Into Beacon
• Activating Beacon Omni
• Sharing Beacon Documents with Other Users
• About User Privacy

Troubleshooting

• Item Quality Is Different Than Expected
• Loot Drops Are Not Working As Intended
• How to Stop Using the Custom Config Editor
• Solving Connection Problems to Beacon or Nitrado
• Beacon System Status

For Developers

• Registering Your Mod With Beacon
• Beacon API Documentation

Importing is the best way to quickly get started with Beacon.

Importing is a very powerful feature of Beacon. For Nitrado and FTP servers, importing provides a way to link a server to a document to enable Beacon's deploy feature. For everybody else, importing is a way to bring existing config data into Beacon so you don't start from scratch.

To start, create a new Beacon document and press the import button. You'll be asked where you want to import from.

Nitrado

This option will prompt for your Nitrado username and password on Nitrado's website and allow you to grant Beacon access to your servers.

Your username and password are never available to Beacon or its developer.

After you sign in, your Ark servers will be listed. Simply check off the servers you want to import and continue. Cluster servers should often be imported into the same document.

Server With FTP Access

If your server has FTP (File Transfer Protocol) access, Beacon can import the config files from your server directly. Beacon supports password-based plain FTP, FTP with TLS/SSL, and SFTP. After you enter your server details, Beacon will attempt to automatically find your config files. If it cannot find them, you'll be presented with your server's file list where you can find your Game.ini file.

Single Player, Local Files, or Copy + Paste

If your server does not support FTP - which most console servers do not - then you can manually import your files. The next screen will allow you to input the contents of your Game.ini and GameUserSettings.ini files. You do not need to import both, but Beacon can do a better job with both. When selecting a file or using drag-and-drop, Beacon will automatically look for the sibling file. So if you add Game.ini, Beacon will try to import GameUserSettings.ini too. Unfortunately, if you're using copy and paste.

Mac users: due to macOS sandboxing, Beacon cannot automatically import the sibling config file. Instead, you'll be prompted to select it yourself. You may cancel the file selection dialog without harm.

Other Beacon Document

Beacon can even import config parts from other documents. So if you've setup your document but found a loot drop setup in the document library that you'd like to use, you can just select the "Other Beacon Document" and choose to import only loot drops from the other document.

When Parsing Finishes

Beacon will spend a little time parsing your ini files. Once finished, you will be presented with list of pieces that can be imported into your document.

In this example, 5 servers in a cluster have been imported, so there is a lot of information here. When importing from multiple servers, Beacon will prefix each item name with the server name it came from.

It's a very good idea to review the pieces before accepting the import, so you understand exactly what changes will be made.

Basic Config Groups, such as Loot Drop Contents and Crafting Costs

Nothing fancy here, though sometimes the piece may have a notice that says "This imported config is not perfect. Beacon will make a close approximation." Some items require a little guesswork. In the case of loot drops, the quality values Beacon parses will be as close to original as possible, but will not be perfect.

Server Link Items

These items allow Beacon to enable its deploy feature. By linking your server to Beacon, it can automatically put changes back onto your server.

Add/Remove Map Items

When Beacon has figured out which map (or maps in the case of multiple servers) your server uses, it'll offer the ability to change the selected maps.

Custom Config Content Items

This group contains all the lines not directly supported by Beacon. This may or may not be what you want, depending on how you intend to use Beacon.

When Beacon updates an ini file, the order of precedence is:

1. Directly supported configs, like loot drops, stack sizes, and crafting costs.
2. Custom config content.
3. Content in ini file being updated.

This means that if your whole config is stored in Beacon, then you change or remove a value outside of Beacon, such as with your host's control panel, Beacon will revert that value during its next deployment.

Therefore, if you intend to use Beacon as your only config editor, it is generally convenient to import your Custom Config Content. However, if you want to continue to use your host's control panel or another tool such as ASM, importing Custom Confit Content lines can become a source of confusion and frustration.

If you import a Custom Config Content item and later decide you do not want it, see How to Stop Using Custom Config Content for instructions.