Ark Breeding Calculator
Master your dino breeding with precise maturation, imprinting, and food calculations.
Select the dinosaur you are breeding.
Found in your server’s GameUserSettings.ini (BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier).
Found in your server’s GameUserSettings.ini (BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier).
What is an Ark Breeding Calculator?
An Ark breeding calculator is an essential tool for any survivor in Ark: Survival Evolved or Ark: Survival Ascended who wants to efficiently raise dinosaurs. Breeding is a complex process involving specific timings for maturation, imprinting, and feeding. This calculator removes the guesswork, providing precise data based on your server’s specific rates. By using an Ark breeding calculator, you can perfectly plan your schedule to achieve 100% imprinting, ensuring your dinos have the best possible stats and receive the powerful rider bonus. It helps you understand how long a creature will take to mature from a baby to an adult, the interval between care (cuddle) actions, and the total amount of food required to prevent the baby from starving.
Ark Breeding Formula and Explanation
The core of the Ark breeding calculator relies on a few simple but critical formulas that interact with your server settings. The base values are defined by the game, but multipliers can drastically change the outcome.
Total Maturation Time:
Calculated Time = Base Maturation Time / BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier
Imprint Interval:
Calculated Interval = Base Imprint Interval (8 hours) * BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier
These formulas show that a higher maturation speed multiplier shortens the total time, while a lower cuddle interval multiplier reduces the time between required interactions. Finding the right balance is key and is a primary function of this calculator. For more advanced strategies, check out this guide on Ark mutation stacking.
| Variable | Meaning | Unit | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Maturation Time | The default time in seconds a dino takes to mature on a 1x server. | Seconds | ~45,000 (Dodo) to ~1,200,000 (Giga) |
| BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier | The server setting that speeds up maturation. | Multiplier | 1 (Official) to 100+ (Custom) |
| BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier | The server setting that adjusts the time between imprints. | Multiplier | 0.01 to 1 (Official) |
| Base Food Consumption | An approximate value related to how quickly a baby consumes food. | Internal Value | Varies by species |
Practical Examples
Example 1: Breeding a Rex on Official Server Rates
Imagine you are on an official server with default settings and want to breed a T-Rex.
- Inputs: Dinosaur: Rex, Maturation Multiplier: 1, Cuddle Interval Multiplier: 1
- Results: The Ark breeding calculator would show a total maturation time of about 4 days and 12 hours. The time per imprint would be 8 hours. This means you would need to be available every 8 hours for almost five days straight to achieve a full imprint, a significant time commitment.
Example 2: Breeding a Raptor on a Boosted Server
Now, let’s say you’re on a private server with heavily boosted rates to speed things up.
- Inputs: Dinosaur: Raptor, Maturation Multiplier: 50, Cuddle Interval Multiplier: 0.1
- Results: The total time to mature the Raptor would be drastically reduced to under an hour. The time per imprint would be approximately 48 minutes (8 hours * 0.1). Since the total maturation is less than the imprint interval, you would likely only need one single imprint to achieve 100%. This is a common setup on unofficial servers to make breeding less of a grind. If you’re looking for dinos to breed, you might find our dino spawn map guide useful.
How to Use This Ark Breeding Calculator
- Select Your Dinosaur: Choose the species you are breeding from the dropdown list. The calculator has pre-set base values for many popular dinos.
- Enter Server Multipliers: Input your server’s `BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier` and `BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier`. These are crucial for accurate results. If you’re on an official server, these are both ‘1’.
- Calculate: Press the “Calculate” button.
- Interpret the Results: The calculator will display the Total Maturation Time, Time Per Imprint, Total Possible Imprints, and an estimate of the food required. Use this information to plan your in-game activities. For a deep dive into dino stats, see our guide on the dino stat calculator.
Key Factors That Affect Ark Dino Breeding
- Server Rates: This is the most significant factor. The Maturation and Cuddle Interval multipliers dictate the entire timeline.
- Dino Species: Different species have vastly different base maturation times. A Dodo matures in hours, while a Giganotosaurus takes over a week on default rates.
- Imprinting: Performing the care action (cuddling, walking, or giving specific food) within the time limit is the only way to increase the imprint bonus.
- Food Availability: Babies consume food at an alarming rate. If they run out of food in their inventory (or a nearby feeding trough, once they reach the Juvenile stage), they will starve and die.
- Stasis: When no player is nearby, the area can enter “stasis.” In stasis, timers for maturation and food consumption are paused. This is a critical mechanic to understand for long-term breeding projects.
- Mutations: While not directly affecting time, mutations are often the goal of breeding. A deep understanding of the breeding and mutation system is key for creating powerful “super dinos.”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
-
What happens if I miss an imprint?
You will lose the percentage gain from that specific imprint. You cannot go back and recover it. However, you can still perform the next imprint when it becomes available. -
Can I get 100% imprint if my maturation time is too fast?
If the total maturation time is shorter than the calculated imprint interval, it’s impossible to get even one imprint. You need to adjust your `BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier` to be low enough that at least one imprint timer fits within the maturation window. -
Does this calculator work for Ark: Survival Ascended (ASA)?
Yes, the underlying mechanics and multipliers for breeding are fundamentally the same in both Ark: Survival Evolved (ASE) and Ark: Survival Ascended (ASA), so this Ark breeding calculator works for both. -
Why is the food amount an approximation?
A dino’s food consumption rate changes slightly as it passes through maturation phases (Baby, Juvenile, Adolescent). The calculator uses a reliable average for planning purposes, but it’s always wise to have extra food on hand. -
How are baby stats determined?
A baby has a 55% chance to inherit the higher of each of its parents’ base stats (the stats they had right after being tamed, before leveling). This is why breeding is used to combine the best stats from multiple dinosaurs. You can track this with a good Ark stat extractor tool. -
What is the rider bonus from imprinting?
If a dino is 100% imprinted, the person who did the imprinting will receive a 30% bonus to damage and damage resistance when riding it. The dino itself also gets a 20% bonus to all of its base stats. -
Do I have to hand-feed the baby the whole time?
No. You only need to keep food in the baby’s personal inventory until it reaches 10% maturation (the Juvenile phase). After that, it can eat from a Feeding Trough. -
Can different species breed together?
No. You can only breed a male and a female of the exact same species (e.g., two Rexes). Variants like Aberrant or Tek dinos also count as separate species and cannot be cross-bred with their standard counterparts.