ASE: 'D3D device being lost' (HUNG), 'UE4-ShooterGame has crashed' or 'Assertion failed' crashes

Shortly after joining, the game lags and then closes with "Unreal Engine is exiting due to D3D device being lost. (Error: 0x887A0006 - 'HUNG')".
The game closes on start or while loading with "The UE4-ShooterGame Game has crashed and will close", or with an "Assertion failed" line.

D3D device lost. This is an Unreal Engine 4 graphics-driver hang, not something ARK alone does. A forum helper calls it a known Unreal Engine 4 problem with "no fix", and players link it to overclocking, overlay tools such as MSI Afterburner, third-party graphics enhancers, outdated launch options and drivers.

Crashes on start or while loading come from damaged or missing game files, a bad combination of mods, or broken local saved data. Our ASE maps run no mods, so mods only matter if you also play on other servers that use them.

Neither crash has an official fix. Everything below is what players reported, with how well it worked for them.

Shortly after joining, the game lags and then closes with "Unreal Engine is exiting due to D3D device being lost. (Error: 0x887A0006 - 'HUNG')".
The game closes on start or while loading with "The UE4-ShooterGame Game has crashed and will close", or with an "Assertion failed" line.

Neither crash has an official fix. Everything below is what players reported, with how well it worked for them.

Check first: drivers and tools. Update your graphics driver — or roll it back if the crashes began after an update — remove overclocks, and close tools such as MSI Afterburner while you play.
Verify the game files in Steam: Properties → Installed Files (older Steam: Local Files) → Verify integrity of game files.
D3D crash: the launch option -d3d10 (Steam → Properties → Launch Options) stopped the crash for players in two threads, at the cost of clearly worse graphics. Another option, -norhithread, made no difference for the player who tried it. Remove a launch option again if it changes nothing.
"Assertion failed: NewWorld" while you also use mods from other servers: removing a certain mix of mods fixed it for one player.
Crash at start or while loading a world: deleting the game's Saved folder (steamapps\common\ARK\ShooterGame\Saved) worked for three players in one thread and not for two. The folder holds your local settings and single-player saves, so copy it somewhere safe first.

How long to wait: there is nothing to wait for — these crashes come from the PC side, so try the steps in order.

There is nothing server-side here: these are crashes of the game on your PC, and our ASE maps run no mods. An admin needs the map and the time only if the crash happened while you were joining one of our maps.

Tell an admin the map, the time (the clock in your profile menu shows the server's time), your character's name, what you carried or had uploaded, and the exact message on the screen. For a transfer: both maps and both times. Report the same day — the backups reach back only about two days. Contact admin is in your profile menu; the Guides page has a question box.

Play with stock clocks and without overlay tools.
Keep a copy of the Saved folder before big changes to your game.

ASE: 'D3D device being lost' (HUNG), 'UE4-ShooterGame has crashed' or 'Assertion failed' crashes

What you see

Why it happens

Related guides

ASE: 'D3D device being lost' (HUNG), 'UE4-ShooterGame has crashed' or 'Assertion failed' crashes

What you see

Why it happens

Related guides

What you can do

When to ask an admin

Avoid it next time

Sources