If you run an ARK: Survival Ascended server, BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier is one of the most important config keys you will ever touch — and one of the most misunderstood. Set it too low and your players lose interest before a Rex matures. Set it too high and breeding loses all meaning. Set the related multipliers inconsistently and you'll accidentally make 100% imprint mathematically impossible, which is a complaint you will hear about constantly.
This guide covers every ARK: Survival Ascended breeding multiplier: what it controls, the exact formula it feeds into, and the interaction effects that catch new server admins off guard. We'll use real numbers throughout, and by the end you'll be able to calculate exactly what your settings will produce before a single egg is laid.
If you want to skip the math entirely, NodeMesh's ARK Breeding Calculator reads your server's live config and shows the output for any creature — no spreadsheet required.
These six settings cover the full breeding loop in ASA: mating, gestation/incubation, maturation, and imprinting. All live in GameUserSettings.ini under [ServerSettings] unless otherwise noted.
| Config Key | Controls | Default | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier | How fast babies grow to adult | 1.0 | Higher = faster |
| EggHatchSpeedMultiplier | How fast fertilized eggs incubate | 1.0 | Higher = faster |
| BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier | Frequency of imprint cuddle windows | 1.0 | Higher = more frequent (shorter interval) |
| BabyImprintAmountMultiplier | Imprint quality per cuddle interaction | 1.0 | Higher = more % per cuddle |
| MatingIntervalMultiplier | Cooldown between matings | 1.0 | Lower = shorter cooldown (opposite!) |
| MatingSpeedMultiplier | Duration of the mating animation | 1.0 | Higher = faster animation |
MatingIntervalMultiplier is the odd one out — it multiplies the cooldown duration, so lower values = shorter cooldown. Every other multiplier above divides the relevant time, so higher = faster. Mixing these up is one of the most common admin mistakes.
This multiplier divides a creature's base maturation time. All growth phases (Baby, Juvenile, Adolescent) are scaled proportionally, so the ratio between phases stays the same — only the total duration changes.
The table below shows ASA base maturation times and the resulting times at common boosted settings. Base values sourced from the ARK wiki (ASA). Actual in-game times may vary slightly between patches — verify against your current version for precision-critical breeding.
| Creature | Vanilla (1×) | 2× | 3× | 5× | 10× |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rex | ~100 hrs | ~50 hrs | ~33 hrs | ~20 hrs | ~10 hrs |
| Wyvern | ~90 hrs | ~45 hrs | ~30 hrs | ~18 hrs | ~9 hrs |
| Raptor | ~17 hrs | ~8.5 hrs | ~5.7 hrs | ~3.4 hrs | ~1.7 hrs |
| Dodo | ~0.5 hrs | ~15 min | ~10 min | ~6 min | ~3 min |
Rex, Raptor, Carno, and most mammals give live birth — BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier governs the entire cycle from gestation to adult. Egg-laying creatures (Wyverns, Griffins, Rock Drakes, Pteranodons, etc.) use EggHatchSpeedMultiplier for incubation and BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier for maturation after hatching.
Only affects fertilized eggs that must be incubated at a specific temperature before they hatch. Does not affect gestating mammals at all.
Example: a Wyvern Egg takes roughly 5 hours to hatch at vanilla speed (temperature conditions met). At EggHatchSpeedMultiplier=5, that's 1 hour. At 10×, 30 minutes.
Note that eggs still require appropriate temperature to incubate — EggHatchSpeedMultiplier only changes how long the incubation takes, not the temperature requirements. A Wyvern egg still needs to be incubated hot regardless of your multiplier setting.
This is where breeding configuration gets subtle, and where many admins make mistakes. When a baby is born or hatches, imprint cuddle windows open at regular intervals throughout maturation. The interval is creature-dependent and is shortened by this multiplier:
A higher value means intervals are shorter — more frequent imprint windows per unit of maturation time. A Rex at vanilla has a base cuddle interval of roughly 14,400 seconds (4 hours). That means at vanilla maturation speed (~100 hours total), you get approximately 25 imprint windows.
Here's the math that catches new server admins off guard: if you raise BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier (faster maturation) without also raising BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier (more frequent cuddle windows), the baby will finish growing before you can collect enough imprints to reach 100%.
Number of imprint windows during maturation:
For a Rex at 3× BabyMatureSpeed but 1× BabyCuddleInterval:
Compare that to 3× on both settings:
The practical rule: keep BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier in proportion to BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier to preserve the same number of imprint opportunities. Or raise BabyImprintAmountMultiplier so each cuddle gives more quality.
Scales the percentage of imprint quality you receive from each cuddle interaction. The base quality per cuddle is creature-specific — small creatures tend to give larger % per cuddle (since they have shorter total maturation) while large creatures like Rex or Wyverns give smaller percentages per cuddle.
Raising this is the other lever for ensuring 100% imprint on fast servers. Instead of making cuddle windows more frequent, you make each cuddle count more. Many servers combine both approaches: slightly faster cuddle intervals and higher imprint amount, which feels more natural and gives players a buffer if they miss a window.
Note that imprint quality is capped at 100% — BabyImprintAmountMultiplier above what's needed for 100% doesn't give you more than 100%.
Controls the cooldown period between when a pair of creatures can mate again. This multiplier works in the opposite direction from the others: it multiplies the cooldown, so a value of 0.1 gives a 10× shorter cooldown, and a value of 2.0 makes cooldowns twice as long.
Default vanilla mating cooldowns range from around 18 hours (Dodos) to several days (Rexes, Wyverns). Most boosted servers set this between 0.01 and 0.1 to enable repeated mating within a single play session.
Unlike BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier, where higher = faster, MatingIntervalMultiplier uses multiplication instead of division. Lower = shorter cooldown. A common mistake: setting this to 10 expecting faster mating, when 10× the vanilla cooldown is extremely long. Set it to 0.1 for 10× faster mating.
A less commonly adjusted setting. Controls how long the actual mating animation takes before gestation begins. At vanilla, this takes 30–90 seconds depending on the creature. Most admins leave this at default or raise it slightly (2–5×) for a minor quality-of-life improvement. It has no effect on gestation, maturation, or imprint — just the brief mating interaction itself.
Raising only BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier compresses maturation time without adding more imprint windows or making each window worth more. Result: players consistently can't reach 100% imprint. Fix: match BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier to BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier, or raise BabyImprintAmountMultiplier proportionally.
Setting MatingIntervalMultiplier=10 thinking it means "10× faster mating" — it actually means 10× slower (longer cooldown). This one catches almost every new admin. The value multiplies the cooldown, so you want a number less than 1 for shorter cooldowns. Set 0.01 for near-instant mating.
All six core breeding multipliers live in GameUserSettings.ini under [ServerSettings]. Some Game.ini overrides can conflict. Make sure you're editing the right file and that there are no conflicting duplicate entries. Duplicates in .ini files typically take the last value in the file.
ARK reads config at startup. Changes to GameUserSettings.ini or Game.ini do not take effect until the server is fully restarted. A "save and reload" in the RCON console does not pick up config file changes.
Imprint per cuddle is creature-specific. A Dodo gives roughly 50% per cuddle at vanilla, while a Rex gives around 10–12%. This means the same BabyImprintAmountMultiplier setting affects small and large creatures differently. Always verify per creature if 100% imprint matters to your community.
All six settings belong in GameUserSettings.ini under the [ServerSettings] section. A typical boosted breeding configuration might look like:
This configuration gives 3× faster maturation and hatching, proportionally more frequent imprint windows (so the window count stays similar to vanilla), slightly more quality per cuddle (1.5× so players have a small buffer), near-instant mating cooldown (0.1× = 10× shorter), and slightly faster mating animations.
After applying new settings and restarting your server:
Doing all this math manually is accurate but slow. NodeMesh's ARK Breeding Calculator accepts your server's multiplier values and calculates creature-specific breeding times, imprint windows, and 100% imprint feasibility for any creature in the roster — all at once, with each result labeled by the config key driving it.
The public calculator (no login required) defaults to vanilla multipliers so you can use it as a vanilla reference too. Connect your ARK server to NodeMesh and the calculator automatically reads your actual live config — you just pick the creature and see the numbers.
Enter your BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier, BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier, and all the rest — see exact maturation times, imprint windows, and 100% imprint feasibility for any creature at your settings.
Open the ARK Breeding CalculatorNew to the idea of boosted breeding times and want to understand why vanilla calculators don't match your server? Read the companion guide: ARK Breeding Times on a Boosted Server: Why Dododex Is Wrong for You.
For taming calculation at your server's TamingSpeedMultiplier, see the ARK Taming Calculator. For creature stat analysis, see the ARK Stats Calculator.