This collection is sorted in the correct load order.
Make sure this is reflected in the mods section of the Launcher to cut down on bugs/incompatibilities.

This is important too - server settings. The worst thing I ever saw in ARK was solo players, spending HOURS waiting for a low-level dino to be tamed or spending insane amounts of time doing basic things, because by default they where playing multiplayer settings.
These can all be changed on the fly, during the game too! So anything you dislike, see if there's a setting for it. Test stuff out.
Make the game your own.

Here are my server settings:
Progression: (More XP for kills, less/no XP for standing around with your hands in your pants)
XP Time Multiplier: 0.1
XP Kill Multiplier: 2.0

Day Night Cycle: (Very long days, very long daytime, less roaming around in the dark only to get killed by something you cant see, while keeping a shortish nighttime period. Great for new starters)
Day Speed: 0.6
Day Time Speed: 0.4
Night Time Speed: 2.0
Dawn/Dusk Time Speed: 0.5

Survival: (more stamina because it's always too low in games, increased need for food/water to give it more value, corruption strong, entertainer's more useful)
Stamina Cost Multiplier: 0.8
All Hunger/Thirst settings: 2.5
Thrall Corruption Removal: 0.1
Player Corruption Gain: 3.5
Corruption Gain From Sorcery: 5.0

Combat: (Settings aim to make combat more deadly. Cutting down on bullet-sponge enemies, while still keeping the world deadly and the stronger non-boss monsters scary. Most normal/low-tier enemies will be two or three hits to kill. Bosses are hard, even with the reduced HP mod below. Adjust to your liking if you feel too weak or too godlike.)
Player Damage Multiplier: 2.5
Player Damage Taken: 0.8
NPC Damage Multiplier: 1.5
NPC Damage Taken Multiplier: 1.5
Thrall Damage to NPCs Multiplier: 2.0
NPC Respawn Multiplier: 0.1
Friendly Fire: 0.5
Building: 0.8
Durability: 0.7

Harvesting: My gripes here where that you got too little (and I generally get bored harvesting things) and trees reappearing seconds after I chopped them down broke immersion)
Harvest Amount: 1.5
Resource Respawn Speed Multiplier: 0.1


After learning the game and experiencing most of it, I would recommend you try the mod Age of Calamitous.
Not if you're a new player to the game tho as some monsters are insane, even when level 150.
It gives you a new intro to the game. Is more guided with missions, but without being a hand-holding intrusive experience.
And adds a ton of new things to build/use/experience/kill. Remember to use the AoC menu to turn down enemy health to Very Easy.

More vanilla mods I like: Dancer Dance change (no more silly Nord dances), PvE Plus Ambush (remember to read description and change the settings because Ambushes happen very often otherwise) and Huzav's Custom UI mod has been a positive change too - I'd add it to the list but it's people's preference really. I was fine using the vanilla UI for a long while.

Happy slaying!