How To Unlock The Center Map And Ragnarok In ARK: Survival Evolved

Unlocking The Center to use that map involves a process called Ascension, and it is challenging to complete. While it’s necessary on a console to unlock The Center, you don’t have to do it on the PC to host a single-player map of the Center.

However, you can use workarounds to unlock The Center on any device – or simply do the difficult work to get through it as the game intends. 

What is Ascension in ARK?

Ascension is the process of beating the ARK map you’re currently playing on. Each ARK map tells its own story, but they’re also part of a larger, interconnected story. To move to the next part (or to show your mastery), you have to ascend by beating the bosses on one of three difficulties.

Ascension also unlocks the following map in the story. To open The Center and Ragnarok, you have to Ascend on The Island. This involves unlocking the Tek Cave and fighting your way to the end. There are a few different maps that include the opportunity to ascend. 

Ascension takes a lot of work. You can’t even attempt it until you’ve defeated the most brutal creatures on the island. 

What Is a Tek Cave?

The Tek Cave is the final location you can access on The Island. You have to present many trophies to get through the door. The items you have to use to access it varies depending on which difficulty you’re trying to access.

To enter on Gamma difficulty, you need:

• Gamma Broodmother Trophy
• Gamma Megapithecus Trophy
• Gamma Dragon Trophy

To enter on Beta difficulty, you need:

• Alpha Raptor Claw
• Alpha Carnotaurus Arm
• Alpha Tyrannosaur Tooth
• Beta Broodmother Trophy
• Beta Megapithecus Trophy
• Beta Dragon Trophy

To enter on Alpha difficulty, you need:

• Alpha Broodmother Trophy
• Alpha Megapithecus Trophy
• Alpha Dragon Trophy
• Alpha Raptor Claw
• Alpha Carnotaurus Arm
• Alpha Tyrannosaur Tooth
• Alpha Megalodon Fin
• Alpha Mosasaur Tooth
• Alpha Tusoteuthis Eye
• Alpha Leedsichthys Blubber

Present these items to open the Tek Door for five minutes. During that time, you need to move any dinosaurs and supplies you’re planning to use to fight your way through the cave into the cave itself. Once the door closes, anything left outside will be left behind. 

To ascend to The Center, you have to beat it on Gamma level. That is the easiest one to prep for and complete. The creatures will have less health and do less damage. However, this doesn’t mean it’s easy. You need to be prepared before you start. 

What Do I Get if I Beat the Tek Cave?

You ascend, which means you can access Ragnarok and The Center. It’s also part of the storyline and good to play through if you’re trying to complete the entire game.

You get between five and 15 experience levels once you’re completed the Tek Cave as well, depending on which difficulty you selected. 

An achievement is also granted to you once you’re done. While it doesn’t do anything specific for your account, some people like to collect them. 

How to Unlock The Center in ARK

Make your way through the Tek Cave on The Island to unlock the Center. Once you’ve ascended by completing the cave, The Center map will be available. Before this, it will be grayed out for most people. 

Unlocking the Center by Beating the Tek Cave

The more complicated way to ascend and unlock The Center is to beat the Tek Cave. It’s an arduous process that takes a lot of preparation for success.

1. Gather all the trophies that you need to unlock the door. You can get them by fighting creatures, and some are awarded to the last player who hits the creature before it dies. Others are received from a creature’s inventory when they die. You only need the trophies that correspond to the requirements for the difficulty you’re choosing. 
2. Prepare your dinosaur army. You want perhaps a dozen T-Rex, a few Yutyrannus, a couple of Daeodon as healers, an otter to manage the temperature, and Megalosaurs to help with Rexes fight. They should be high level with a lot of health and damage potential. Set them all to follow each other in a line to make movement easier to manage. 
3. Prepare your armor. You will want to use Ghillie Armor and Fur Armor to manage different zones with different temperatures. If you have access to Tek armor and enough element to power it, you can use that instead.
4. Prepare the items you’ll need. Bring foods to buff your temperature management, medical brew to heal you, items to craft and repair as required, and lesser antidote in case you get poisoned.
5. Prepare your weapons. You want ranged weapons, tranquilizers, and anything that can take down a dinosaur with a lot of damage. You may be knocked off your tames at some point and need enough firepower to get back onto them mid-fight. 
6. Place the trophies into the inventory of the Tek Cave door. Make sure to have all the items you need for your desired difficulty. The door will open to let you and your party inside after selecting your difficulty. 
7. Move your team, items, and dinosaurs into the cave. You can only bring items that come with you into the boss fights in the cave. There isn’t a way to get other tames into the cave other than the ones you move in during those five minutes. 
8. Work your way through the cave, killing any hostile creatures you meet. You are making a path to a teleporter that will take you to a boss. Be wary of the lava at some places on the way because your tames can easily fall into it if you aren’t carefully managing the line of tames. This is the part of the cave where you have to manage the heat.
9. Teleport into the Tek portion of the cave. Here, switch into armor that helps mitigate the cold.
10. Walk to the teleporter. There’s a platform where you have to group your dinosaurs once you’ve set it off. You have one minute to group up before you’re teleported to the boss. 
11. Explore the area. There are a few paths, and there’s nothing dangerous to set off at this point. You’re looking for a room with a projected map. Pause before entering to be sure you’re ready to fight. 
12. Fight the Overseer. After the fight, walk up to what the Overseer dropped. When you find the suitable space, the screen will go white, and you’ll go through an animation. In the end, you’ll see the credits for ARK. 
13. Reopen the game. The Center should be unlocked and ready to play.

Of course, unlocking The Center with this method can be tricky. There are other ways to do it without working your way through the Tek Cave and facing off against the Overseer for those who simply want access to The Center. 

Unlocking the Center With Console Commands

For a more direct experience, consider using console commands to unlock The Center. Many players do this for The Center and Ragnarok simply to start playing on those maps. Here’re the ways to enter console commands on different platforms:

On PlayStation

1. Log into The Island on an account that you have admin powers on.
2. Press Options.
3. Hold down R1+L1+Triangle+Square.
4. Enter “enablecheats serverpassword” without quotes. Replace the term “serverpassword” with the password for your server, if necessary.
5. Press Enter. Now cheats are enabled on your server.

On Xbox

1. Log into The Island with an account that has admin access.
2. Press Pause.
3. Hold down the left bumper, right bumper, X, and Y.
4. Enter “enablecheats serverpassword” without quotes. Replace the term “serverpassword” with the password for your server.
5. Press Enter.

On PC

1. Log into The Island with an account that has admin access.
2. Press Tab.
3. Type “enablecheats serverpassword” without quotes. Replace the term “serverpassword” with the actual password for your server.
4. Press Enter.
5. Once you have your game set up to accept commands, enter this command:
   PlayerCommand Ascend1

This should open The Center. If you’re interested in unlocking Ragnarok, enter a second command reading PlayerCommand Ascend2.

In some cases, you have to type Cheat PlayerCommand Ascend 1. Usually, you have to start the command with “Cheat” if you have to include a server password. 

Unlocking the Center Through Steam

If you’re on a PC, you can also add The Center as free DLC, which appears as an option when you launch the game. I actually played on The Center before I ever played on The Island on my PC.

The Center is free DLC. This means that you don’t have to pay for the content, and it will be added to your account if you just select it from the store page. It will download on your computer and can be pretty large file size, so make sure you have room before selecting it.