Ark Breeding Calculator
Your expert tool for calculating creature maturation, imprinting, and food consumption in Ark: Survival Evolved.
Breeding Timer & Food Calculator
What is an Ark Breeding Calculator?
An Ark Breeding Calculator is an essential tool for players of Ark: Survival Evolved. It helps survivors plan and manage the complex process of breeding dinosaurs and other creatures. By inputting your server’s specific rates, the calculator can accurately predict critical timers and resource needs. This includes how long an egg will take to hatch (or a mammal to gestate), the total time for a baby to mature into an adult, how often you will need to perform imprinting actions, and the total amount of food required to raise the creature from birth to adulthood. Using a breeding calculator ark saves players countless hours and prevents the tragic loss of baby creatures due to starvation or missed imprints.
The Ark Breeding Formula and Explanation
The core of the breeding calculator ark lies in a few simple formulas that adjust the game’s base values according to server settings. The base values are constant for each species, but server multipliers can drastically alter the experience.
The primary formula is:
Actual Time = Base Time / Speed Multiplier
This applies to hatching, maturation, and imprinting intervals. Understanding these variables is key:
| Variable | Meaning | Unit | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Time | The default time required for a process on a 1x official server. | Seconds | Varies greatly by species (e.g., a few hours to over a week). |
| Speed Multiplier | The server setting (e.g., BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier) that speeds up the process. | Multiplier (e.g., 1x, 10x, 50x) | 1 (Official) to 100+ (Boosted private servers). |
| Actual Time | The final calculated time you will experience on your server. | Time (Days, Hours, Minutes) | Can range from minutes to days. |
For more advanced calculations, check out our Ark Taming Calculator for taming-related metrics.
Practical Examples
Example 1: Breeding a Rex on a Boosted Server
- Inputs: Creature: Rex, Hatch Speed: 20x, Mature Speed: 15x
- Assumptions: Standard 1x imprint interval multiplier.
- Results: The total maturation time is significantly reduced from over 4 days to just a few hours. The hatch time becomes a matter of minutes. You will need to be ready to imprint frequently, and the total food required will be less, but it will be consumed much faster during the baby phase. This is crucial for planning with the breeding calculator ark.
Example 2: Breeding an Argentavis on a Near-Official Server
- Inputs: Creature: Argentavis, Hatch Speed: 2x, Mature Speed: 2x
- Assumptions: Standard 1x imprint interval multiplier.
- Results: The process is still lengthy. Maturation will take over a day. The time between imprints will be a standard 4 hours (since the default is 8 hours, and 8 / 2x maturation = 4 hours). This requires long-term planning, and our Ark Breeding Guide can provide further tips.
How to Use This Ark Breeding Calculator
- Select Creature: Choose your desired creature from the dropdown list. Base times for hatching and maturation are automatically loaded.
- Enter Server Multipliers: Input your server’s unique `EggHatchSpeedMultiplier`, `BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier`, and `BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier`. If you don’t know them, ask your server admin or check your single-player settings. The default is 1.
- Calculate: Click the “Calculate” button to see the results.
- Interpret Results: The calculator will show you the total maturation time, the duration of each growth phase, your imprinting schedule, and the total food needed. Use this information from the breeding calculator ark to prepare troughs and set alarms.
For a deeper dive into creature stats, see our guide on the Ark Stat Calculator.
Key Factors That Affect Ark Breeding
- Server Rates: This is the most significant factor. Highly boosted servers can reduce breeding times from days to minutes.
- Creature Type: Different species have vastly different base timers. A Dodo matures in a few hours, while a Giga takes over a week on official settings.
- Food Availability: Baby creatures consume food at an alarming rate. Running out of food in their inventory or a nearby trough will cause them to starve quickly. Raw meat is better than cooked meat for carnivores.
- Imprinting: To get the best stats, you must be available for cuddle, walk, or food requests. Missing an imprint means a permanent loss of potential bonus stats.
- Mutations: Breeding is the only way to get color mutations and stat mutations, which can drastically improve a creature’s power. For more detail, read our Ark Imprinting Guide.
- Mating Cooldown: Females have a cooldown period after mating before they can breed again. This can be reduced by server settings.
- Special Conditions: Some creatures have unique mating requirements, like the Magmasaur needing to be in lava.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
A: Baby creatures can request a random kibble, even if it’s not their preferred type. It’s wise to have a variety of kibble on hand. A good Ark Maturation Guide can help you prepare.
A: You lose the percentage bonus for that specific imprint permanently. You can still get 100% on the next baby, but the current one will have a lower maximum imprint quality.
A: No, a Level 1 and a Level 150 of the same species have the identical maturation and hatch times. Level only affects stats.
A: During the ‘Baby’ phase (the first 10% of maturation), a creature can only hold a small amount of food and cannot eat from a feeding trough. You must manually place food in its inventory until it reaches the Juvenile stage.
A: A baby has a 55% chance to inherit the higher of each of its parents’ base stats. To get the best baby, you need to breed parents with high stats in different areas repeatedly until you get a baby that inherits all the best stats.
A: This setting directly affects the time between imprints. A lower number means a shorter wait. For example, a value of 0.5 will halve the time you have to wait for the next cuddle request.
A: Yes, but be careful. A baby’s food will not drain in a Cryopod, but its maturation timer will also be paused. This can be used to save a baby if you are running out of food or need to log off.
A: It uses the creature’s base food consumption rate and the total maturation time to estimate the total food points required. Note that food consumption is fastest during the baby phase and slows down as the creature matures.
Related Tools and Internal Resources
Expand your Ark knowledge and efficiency with these related tools and guides:
- Ark Taming Calculator: Plan your next tame with precision.
- Ark Stat Calculator: Analyze your creature’s stats to see where its points have been allocated.
- Ark Maturation Guide: A complete overview of the different growth stages.
- Ark Imprinting Guide: Master the art of imprinting for maximum bonuses.
- Ark Breeding Basics: A starter guide for those new to breeding.
- Best Server Rates for Ark: Find the optimal settings for your play style.