TheCenter — ark

This article is about the first DLC map. For the floating island of the same name, see The Center (Floating Island).

DLC for ARK with a new map.

DLC

Content Type

Expansion Map

Release Dates

May 17th, 2016

December 6th, 2016

Unavailable

June 11th, 2020

September 1st, 2021

Spotlight

The Center is a free, official, non-canonical DLC expansion map for ARK: Survival Evolved.

Overview


Regions of The Center File:The Center Map.jpg

The Center originated as a custom map by modder Ben “EvilMrFrank” Burkart. It was added to ARK: Survival Evolved as free DLC in PC patch 241.0 and Xbox One update 734.0. It underwent a "mega-update" that added the Redwood Forests in PC patch 245.0 and was released on Xbox One and PS4.

The Center DLC has a default difficulty level of 5.0 which means wild dinos up to level 150 and better loot quality from supply drops. Prior to January 2017, Giganotosaurus had an extremely rare chance to spawn anywhere on the map; now Giganotosaurus will only spawn in a few areas such as the Lava Biome and Northern Snowy Mountain.

Unique Environmental Features

A Mountain with various ape statues carved from it overlooking the redwoods biome.
A large natural bridge connecting from the snow biome to the redwoods biome.
An island with lava rivers and lava lakes flowing throughout it.
An enormous Ocean that gets much darker the deeper you go (normal maps do it but to a far lesser degree).
2 Underwater Domes which can be used as waterproof bases.
A fall which leads to a bottomless ocean.
A massive floating island called The Center.
A Island which has the appearance of a Skull.
Glowing green spores throughout most of the map.
A Massive Underground ecosystem with its own miniature sun and branching tunnels that lead further into different portions of the Underground World.
The Boss Arena can be seen from the normal map unlike other maps, also due to it being part of the map itself it is also the only boss arena to have a Day and Night cycle.

The Center Map

The Center consists of multiple climatic and geological regions, including several that are not featured on The Island map. The map's most notable feature, a colossal floating island, can be found to the West of the map surrounded by treacherous swamps. To the far North, an active volcanic island can be found covered in basalt, lava, and dangerous predators. Numerous islands covered in jungles, tropical shorelines, mountains, and ancient ruins dot the varied archipelago. A unique set of caves push survivors to their limits in search of the Artifacts and their hidden rewards. Descend into Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth where survivors will find themselves in a self-sufficient underground ecosystem far beneath the lush jungles. Similarly, survivors can dive down to either of two underwater domes to build their own naval bases of Atlantean proportions!

Regions

DeepOcean
Half-Burnt Island
Lava Biome
Lava Biome High
Lava Oasis Cave
LavaCave
Scorched Island

Eastern Islets
Eastern Trench
Tropical Island North
Tropical Island South
Underwater Dome (East)

Jumping Puzzle
Jungle Cave
Jungle Mid
Jungle Mid Beach
Jungle North
Jungle North Beach
Jungle South
Jungle South Beach
Ocean Under Center
Secluded Island
Skull Island
The Center (Floating Island)
The Center Cave
Underground World
Underwater Dome (South)
Underworld Ocean

Cliffside Cavern
Edge of the World
North Ice Cave
Penguin Pond
Snowy Grasslands
Snowy Mountain (North)
Snowy Mountain (South)
South Ice Cave
Swamp
Western Cliffs

Redwood Biome
The Bridge

The Center Arena

Approximate Spawn Locations

Spawn Locations

	Lava Island
	Snow South
	Snow North
	Jungles North
	Jungles Mid
	Jungles South
	Tropical Island South
	Tropical Island North
	Redwood Forests West
	Redwood Forests East

Data Maps

Strategic Resources
Creature Spawns
Exploring the map
Loot Crates

Creatures

In other words, all Creatures that can be found on The Island can be found somewhere on The Center, except for the Polar Bear, the Polar Purlovia, the Unicorn, the Attack Drone, the Defense Unit, the Dragon and the Overseer.

Event Creatures

Creatures that only spawned during an Event:

Items

All items from the base game are available on The Center in addition to the items below.

Artifacts

Brute
Clever
Cunning
Devious
Devourer
Hunter
Immune
Massive
Pack
Skylord
Strong

Spotlight

Notes/Trivia

Prior to January 2017, Giganotosaurus was able to spawn anywhere in the overworld of The Center including beaches and small islands; now they only spawn in a few areas like Lava Biome
The Center has the only arena that can be viewed from the base map as it lies on the mountain overlooking the redwoods biome.
- It can also be reached and even entered into from the base map itself (tested with the Desert Titan).
The Center has its own spawn-in theme, based off of the regular theme found in The Island, Valguero, Ragnarok and Crystal Isles.
- It also has its own day and night transition themes.
On PvP servers, any structures in Caves, the Underground World, Underwater Domes, and any of the Ancient Ruins will take 3x damage.
There is a massive underground crystal cave that lies along the southern portion of the cliffs that form the Edge of the World. Similar to the Underground World but filled with cosmetic crystals all over as well as a small but detailed cosmetic ruin.
On Xbox since v757: If you would like to play The Center map without advancing through The Island, launch the Island and then open the command menu. Type in cheat playercommand Ascend2. Once finished you'll be able to load The Center as normal.
On PS4 since v510: If you would like to play The Center map without advancing through The Island ascension, launch the Island and then open the command menu. Type in cheat playercommand Ascend1. Once finished you'll be able to load The Center as normal.
The Center is the only official mod map that doesn't add any new creatures.
- It is also one of the two official mod maps to not have mini bosses since Ragnarok has the Spirit Direwolf and Spirit Direbear, the Lava Elemental, and the Iceworm Queen and Valguero has the Broodmother as a mini boss. The other official mod map without a mini-boss is Crystal Isles.
The Center is the first official mod map to be released to the base game.
- It is also the first downloadable map because it was released before Scorched Earth.