While Ark: Survivor Evolved is all about finding your own way to stay alive and eventually thrive on a deadly mysterious island, help does come from a mysterious benefactor in the form of supply drops. These supply caches are marked on the map with huge beacons of light. The color of the light will vary with each supply drop and dictates the rarity of the items it holds. White light means common items while a red beacon contains extremely rare goods.

Where Do Beacons Spawn

Beacons have set spawn points in Ark, so if you see one spawn in an area, another one will definitely spawn there again eventually. What determines what beacons spawn where is not exactly known, but it appears that the more hostile the area (deeper into the island) the more beacons you will find and the higher their rarity will be.

If you’re wanting to set up a base around a beacon spawn point don’t get too close. Placing structures within close distance of them will cause them to stop reappearing.

How Do Beacons Work

When a beacon first arrives you will not be able to access the supply crate for several minutes. During this time the supplies are slowly being lowered down the beam. You will know the goods have reached the ground because the ball of energy at the top of the beam will no longer be there, only the single beam of light.

Once the cache reaches the ground its health will begin to decay from 100. When it reaches 0 the cache will be destroyed and the beam with disappear.

You will also need to be a certain level to open the different beacon types. Red beacons require the highest level of 60, while white ones can be opened by anyone over level 3.

Beacon Types and Item Contents

White Beacon

Required Level: 3

Contents: The white beacons are the most common ones and contain the least valuable goods. Items you might find in a white beacon are Thatch building materials, cloth clothing and assortments of berries and other raw materials like wood and thatch.

Green Beacon

Required Level: 15

Contents: Prebuiltd wooden structures like wooden walls, roofs and doors. Hide clothing can also be found here along with stone level tools, water pipes, raw goods, narcotics, and raw goods such as wood and berries.

Blue Beacon

Required Level: 25

Contents: Metal building components like walls, roofs and doors. Chitin armor outfits as well as metal tools, early dinosaur saddles, raw goods, and blueprints for crafting metal lvl items.

Purple Beacon

Required level: 35

Contents: Chitin armor sets and more advanced saddles for Mammoths, Anklyos, and Pteradons. Also contains early modern weapons such as the simple pistol, grenade and scope attachments.

Blueprints for crafting bullets, guns, saddles and other metal goods.

Yellow Beacon

Required Level: 45

Contents: Has a chance to contain a full Flak outfit as well as some of the more advanced saddles that will let you ride the T-Res or Megalodon. More advanced weaponry can be found in these drops, including the machine pistol, longneck rifle, and shotgun.

Electrical components are sometimes found within. GPS, electrical wires and outlets have all been found. Blueprints for all of the above and some other items have also been found.

Red Beacon

Required Level: 60

Contents: The highest lvl beacon contains come of the most advanced weapons in the game including the assault rifle, rocket launcher and C4. Can also hold some of the most advanced saddles used for the Bronto , Spino and T-Rex.

Can also include blueprints for all the items above as well as metal building items, auto turrets, ammunition and more.