Calculate raw resources, stack counts, and total weight for bulk crafting.
— Custom / Manual Input —
Wooden Wall
Wooden Foundation
Wooden Ceiling
Stone Wall
Stone Foundation
Stone Ceiling
Behemoth Stone Gateway
Metal Wall
Metal Foundation
Metal Ceiling
Metal Pillar
Advanced Rifle Bullet
C4 Charge
Rocket Propelled Grenade
Auto Turret
Industrial Forge
Chemistry Bench
Resource Cost Per Item
Enter the resources required to make ONE item. (Presets auto-fill this).
Crafting Requirements
Total Weight Estimate
0.0
Units
Items to Craft
0
Resource Breakdown
Optimizing Your Crafting in ARK: Survival Evolved
In ARK: Survival Evolved, resource management is the backbone of progression. Whether you are building a starter base on The Island or constructing a massive Tek fortress on Genesis, knowing exactly how many resources you need prevents wasted trips and encumbrance issues. This Resource & Crafting Calculator helps you plan bulk crafting sessions efficiently.
How to Use This Calculator
This tool is designed for both quick lookups and custom crafting recipes:
Select a Preset: Use the dropdown menu to instantly load resource costs for common items like Metal Walls, Industrial Forges, or Ammo.
Custom Input: If you are crafting a modded item or a blueprint with higher costs (Ascendant/Mastercraft), manually enter the cost per item in the grid fields.
Set Quantity: Enter how many of the item you wish to craft.
Analyze Results: The calculator outputs the Total Resources needed, the number of Stacks (based on vanilla stack sizes), and the estimated Weight to help you manage inventory slots and carrying capacity.
Understanding Stack Sizes and Weight
One of the biggest challenges in ARK is inventory management. Resources have different stack limits and weights:
Raw Metal vs. Ingots: Raw metal stacks to 300, while Ingots often stack to 200 or 300 depending on server settings. Ingots are significantly lighter (1.0 weight) compared to raw ore.
Wood & Stone: These are heavy (0.5 weight per unit) and stack to 100. Building a stone base requires thousands of units, often necessitating a Doedicurus or Beaver (Castoroides) for transport due to their weight-reduction perks.
Fiber & Thatch: Extremely light but required in high volume. Fiber stacks to 300, making it easy to carry in bulk.
Tips for Efficient Gathering
Use Specialized Dinos: Never gather by hand if you can avoid it. Use an Ankylosaurus for Metal/Flint, a Doedicurus for Stone, and a Therizinosaur or Castoroides for Wood.
Weight Reduction: Many creatures reduce the weight of specific resources in their inventory. For example, Stone weighs 75% less in a Doedicurus.
Blueprint Scaling: Remember that higher-tier blueprints (Ramshackle through Ascendant) require significantly more resources than the base engram. Always check your specific blueprint numbers before calculating.
Crafting Station Slots: Smiths and Fabricators have slot limits. If your calculator shows you need 100 stacks of material, ensure your crafting station has enough slots to hold the ingredients and the output item simultaneously.
Common Crafting Formulas
While the calculator handles the math, here are common ratios to remember:
Metal Structure Ratio: Most metal structures follow a pattern of Metal Ingots and Cementing Paste (approx. 25:7 ratio for foundations).
Gunpowder: 1 Sparkpowder + 1 Charcoal. This is the bottleneck for all late-game ammo.
Electronics: 3 Silica Pearls + 1 Metal Ingot.
Polymer: 2 Obsidian + 2 Cementing Paste. (Or substitute with Organic Polymer from Kairuku/Mantis).