ARK: SA saves can get corrupted from either a game update or from mods.
This guide will show you how to resolve the Save and SQL error in ARK: SA.
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1. Log in to your Game Control Panel.
2. Start the server and then check the Web Console
3. If the web console mentions the SQL database or the save is corrupt, continue following this guide.
Open the File Manager in the sidebar. Navigate to the save folder location in:
"<Home>/ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/<Map Folder>"
4. Once you are in the Map's Save folder, find the main map save file.
It will usually be named "<Mapname>_WP.ark". This file is what the server reads.
The rest, which have date and time stamps, are backups that the game automatically creates.
5. Once you have found the main map file and the latest backup. We will now replace it with the backup file.
You can either rename the main map file or delete it since it's already corrupted.
Once renamed or deleted, scroll down. The latest backup is usually located at the bottom.
Rename and remove the timestamp from the backup's name. It should have the name of the main map file.
6. You can now start the server, and it should load the backup save file. If it does not, try older backup files.
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