A creature won't upload or download: not listed, a timer, its saddle on the ground, not allowed on that map, a map missing from the list

Tames move between maps through ARK Data at an Obelisk or a Tek Transmitter. Here is everything that can stop that, and what to do.

The creature is not in the Obelisk or Tek Transmitter list, or upload is greyed out with a timer.
After uploading, its items and saddle lie on the ground; a downloaded tame arrives with no saddle and an empty inventory.
A downloaded creature stays in ARK Data instead of coming out, or appeared and was missing at the next login.
A creature can't be downloaded or released on one map, or a creature from single player, another server or official servers can't be downloaded here.
One map of the cluster is missing from the travel list, or the Obelisk says downloads are disabled on this map.

Tames move between maps through ARK Data at an Obelisk or a Tek Transmitter. Here is everything that can stop that, and what to do.

The creature is not in the Obelisk or Tek Transmitter list, or upload is greyed out with a timer.
After uploading, its items and saddle lie on the ground; a downloaded tame arrives with no saddle and an empty inventory.
A downloaded creature stays in ARK Data instead of coming out, or appeared and was missing at the next login.
A creature can't be downloaded or released on one map, or a creature from single player, another server or official servers can't be downloaded here.
One map of the cluster is missing from the travel list, or the Obelisk says downloads are disabled on this map.

Distance. "Only tames which are near the above structures will be listed" (ARK Wiki).
Inventory. "If you upload one of your tames, their inventory will be dropped in the process" (ARK Wiki).
Timers. Servers can set a re-upload cooldown (43,200 seconds on official servers). After a Cryopod release a visible timer of 6–7 minutes appears, but the creature also carries a hidden 12-hour timer (ARK Wiki).
Slots and limits. ARK Data holds 20 creatures by default. If the destination is at its tame limit, the creature "will not download into the server" and waits in ARK Data (ARK Wiki) — see the guide Tame limit reached.
Cluster. Creatures, items and characters travel only between servers of the same cluster — not from official servers, and not from single player (ARK Wiki). Our ASA maps form one cluster and our ASE maps another.
Map rules. Aberration accepts only its listed creatures unless the server allows foreign ones; tamed Titans cannot go to Genesis: Part 1; the Chalk Golem and Polar Bear stay on Valguero (ARK Wiki). Each map can also block uploads or downloads.
A listing glitch. A cluster map missing from the travel list "should fix itself on the next server restart" (Steam, 2023).

Bring the creature right next to the Obelisk or Tek Transmitter, and take off its saddle and empty its inventory first. Or put it in a Cryopod and upload the pod as an item: its inventory drops, except the saddle (ARK Wiki).
Forgot? Go straight back: the dropped items form a bag that lasts only a limited time (Steam, 2024).
A timer: wait it out, and ask an admin for this cluster's re-upload interval.
A downloaded creature that is missing: check the destination's download list again — a full tame limit keeps it in ARK Data. If it is not there either, see the guide A tame is missing: read the tribe log first.
Before uploading tames, check the destination map's creature rules, and ask an admin before moving creatures between our PvE and PvPvE maps.
A map missing from the travel list (players' workaround, Steam 2023): upload your survivor, travel to another listed map but do not spawn in, exit to the server list, join the missing map directly and download your survivor there.
A map refuses downloads: do not upload toward it. If transfers are paused, do not upload anything — on another server uploads were deleted when their timer ran out while downloads were disabled (Steam, 2020).

When a creature vanished after a download, or a map stays missing from the travel list after a restart. An admin can check each map's transfer settings, restart a map that is not listed, and read an older save for a proven loss with Restore from backup. A creature restored from a pod comes back without its saddle or inventory, in a vanilla Cryopod. Whether anything is replaced is the owner's decision.

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.

Here, also name the creature (species, name, level).

Planning to travel? Upload the creature before you release it from its pod: the hidden 12-hour timer starts at the release (ARK Wiki).
Empty every tame before upload, and read the destination map's restrictions first (ARK Wiki).

A creature won't upload or download: not listed, a timer, its saddle on the ground, not allowed on that map, a map missing from the list

What you see

Related guides

A creature won't upload or download: not listed, a timer, its saddle on the ground, not allowed on that map, a map missing from the list

What you see

Related guides

Why it happens

What you can do

When to ask an admin

Avoid it next time

Sources