ARK Survival Ascended Patch Notes: Cerberax, Astraeos 1.0 (2026)

The latest ARK Survival Ascended patch, released September 30, 2026, added the Cerberax, the Gargantar dragon and the Therizinosaurus TLC, plus a new AllowVariantDinoPacks server option (Steam, September 30, 2026). It follows the Astraeos 1.0 "Heaven and the Abyss" update of August 27. Here is what changed and what server owners should do.

What is in the September 30 ARK Survival Ascended patch?

Three creature releases and a batch of fixes, with no engine change. The Unreal Engine 5.8 upgrade that was meant to ship the same day was moved to a planned October 28 release, covered in our ARK UE 5.8 update article.

Addition	Who gets it	Maps
Cerberax, a three headed hound with fire, venom and electric attacks	ARK Fantastic Tames Season 1 owners	The Center, Scorched Earth, Lost Colony, Ragnarok, Extinction, Valguero, Astraeos, Genesis
Gargantar, a dragon that inhales creatures and resources	ARK: Dragontopia owners	The Center, Scorched Earth, Lost Colony, Ragnarok, Extinction, Valguero, Astraeos
Therizinosaurus TLC: new model, jump, Cross Swipe attack, hold to harvest	Everyone	Existing spawns
Cryolophosaurus spawns in snow regions	Everyone	The Island, The Center, Valguero, Ragnarok, Extinction, Astraeos

Taming the Cerberax means winning over all three heads separately: one by wrestling, one with food and one through a hunt. Wild Therizinos now give a threat display before they attack, and they tolerate players who back off.

Other notable changes in the same patch:

Ramming damage was adjusted on all ship types.
Umbra's Plasma Projectile homes less strongly against players and tames.
Allied tribe creatures now count toward Pack and Gang bonuses, with same tribe creatures filled first.
Wyvern breath damage no longer varies with server or client frame rate.
The Bounty Board now works on modded maps.
"Multiple server crashes" and several exploits were fixed, including one involving Burrowbuck gateways.

Which new server settings were added in 2026?

Studio Wildcard has added several options unofficial server owners can set in GameUserSettings.ini. These are the ones published in this year's patch notes:

Setting	Default	What it does	Added
`AllowVariantDinoPacks`	`false`	Lets variants of a creature count toward each other's Pack or Gang, so Raptors and Aberrant Raptors can be packmates	September 30
`MaxAnchoredVesselsInRange`	`50`	Caps anchored ships in an area	July 3
`AnchoredVesselCheckRadius`	`30000`	The radius used for that ship count	July 3
`NeedsPowerToActivateAquaticCompartments`	`True`	Whether Aquatic Compartments need power	July 3
`PreventTemplateOnSaddle`	not stated	Blocks Clipboard and Hammer template building on platform saddles, as on Official PvP	May 2

Add them under the [ServerSettings] section, with the server stopped, for example:

[ServerSettings]
AllowVariantDinoPacks=True
MaxAnchoredVesselsInRange=30

If a value does not stick, the usual cause is editing while the server runs, since it rewrites the file on shutdown. Our guide to ARK Survival Ascended server settings not working covers the other reasons.

What came with the Astraeos Heaven and Abyss update?

Astraeos reached 1.0 on August 27, 2026 with its final expansion, "Heaven and the Abyss," version v0.1.4 of the map (Steam, August 27, 2026):

Helianthos, an island region with mountain ridges, flower plains and floating islands.
Abyssanthos, a deep sea region with underwater air pockets you can build in.
The Trireme, a warship for Astraeos owners, with new wave physics on the Astraeos ocean.
The Boaratos, a scorching boar found only on Astraeos.
Two Kraken ascension fights, Abyssalus the Void Beneath and Shallocis the Void Above. Beating both gives maximum player levels.
New minibosses, the Colossus and Kroaratos, and new Apex drops: Astral Souls and Hex Coins.

The same update added the Concavenator to Scorched Earth, Ragnarok, Extinction and Astraeos (with X and Aberrant variants on Genesis and Aberration) and the Galleon ship for ARK: Tides of Fortune owners. One server fix is worth knowing: "an incorrect map name in a server batch file could prevent creatures from spawning." If your self hosted server had empty maps, check the map name in your start line matches the exact name in our ARK Survival Ascended maps list.

What is coming next for ARK Survival Ascended?

Two things are announced but not yet out:

Unreal Engine 5.8, with a Steam beta from October 5 and full release planned for October 28, 2026.
Xeranox, a four winged dragon teased for ARK: Dragontopia in Community Crunch 526 on October 3, 2026. No date has been given.

What this means for your server

Restart to update. Players on the new build cannot join a server on the old one. A restart after each patch fixes most "cannot join" reports on patch day.
Check DLC creatures. Cerberax and Gargantar spawn on the maps listed above, but taming and riding them is tied to owning Fantastic Tames Season 1 and Dragontopia.
Try the new options. AllowVariantDinoPacks=True is a nice quality of life change for PvE servers with Aberrant or X variant packs.
Back up before big patches. Keep a copy of SavedArks and both ini files before each update, especially with mods installed.

On our ARK: Survival Ascended servers, the server updates itself on every restart, the ini files are in the file manager, and you can take a backup from the panel before you edit anything.

FAQ

What was added in the latest ARK Survival Ascended update?

The September 30, 2026 patch added the Cerberax for Fantastic Tames Season 1 owners, the Gargantar dragon for Dragontopia owners, the Therizinosaurus TLC and Cryolophosaurus snow spawns on six maps.

Is Astraeos finished?

Yes. Astraeos reached 1.0 with the Heaven and the Abyss update on August 27, 2026, adding Helianthos, Abyssanthos, the Trireme and two Kraken ascension fights.

What does AllowVariantDinoPacks do?

It lets variants of the same creature count toward each other's Pack or Gang bonus, for example Raptors with Aberrant Raptors. It defaults to false and goes in GameUserSettings.ini.

Did the September 30 update include Unreal Engine 5.8?

No. The engine upgrade was moved to a planned October 28, 2026 release, with a Steam Public Test Realm opening October 5.

Do I need to wipe my server for these updates?

No wipe was required by any of these patches. Restart the server to update it and keep a backup in case a mod breaks.