ARK: Survival
Maturation & Breeding
ARK breeding is mostly a scheduling problem: the maturation timer runs whether or not you are online, and the imprint window does not wait for you.
How this is calculated
Maturation time scales with your server's maturation multiplier, and the imprint interval scales with its own separate setting. The calculator works out how long a baby takes to reach each stage and when each imprint request will land, so you can see up front whether a species is compatible with the hours you actually play.
The arithmetic
- maturation hours = base maturation ÷ maturation multiplier
- cuddle interval = base interval ÷ cuddle multiplier
- cuddles = floor(maturation hours ÷ cuddle interval)
- imprint = min(100%, cuddles × imprint per cuddle × imprint quality)
What people get wrong
The two multipliers interact in a way that catches people out. Raising maturation speed without adjusting the cuddle interval reduces the number of imprints a baby can receive before it grows up, which lowers the final imprint percentage. If you are tuning a server for full imprints, both values have to move together.