Element is the end of the resource chain and one of the lightest things in it: 0.01 weight, 100 per stack, a full stack weighing 1.0. It is also the only resource in the game that is routinely obtained by converting a hundred of something else, because 100 element shards become one element and one element becomes 100 shards again.
That round trip is the key to reading the tek tier. Every figure below is a cached infobox or recipe field from ark-resources.json.
The four element items
| Item | Weight | Stack | Weight per stack | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Element | 0.01 | 100 | 1.0 | Hexagons 2,000 |
| Element Shard | 0.05 | 1,000 | 50 | Craft time 5 s |
| Element Dust | 0.05 | 1,000 | 50 | Refined at the City Terminal |
| Element Ore | 0.5 | 100 | 50 | Aberration, Crystal Isles |
Element is an advanced, energy-charged material at the top of ARK’s tech curve. — ARK Wiki
The shard stack is the generous one: 1,000 units at 0.05 means 50 weight for a full stack, and 1,000 shards is ten elements’ worth. That is the format you farm in. Element is the format you store and spend.
The 100-to-1 conversion, weighed
The recipe on the element entry lists quantity1: 100 against Element Shard. The shard entry lists the reverse: quantity1: 1 against Element with a craft count of 100. Run both directions on the scale:
| Direction | Input | Weight in | Output | Weight out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shards to element | 100 Shards | 5.0 | 1 Element | 0.01 |
| Shards to element | 1,000 Shards | 50 | 10 Element | 0.1 |
| Element to shards | 1 Element | 0.01 | 100 Shards | 5.0 |
Converting shards into element compresses weight 500x. Ten elements weigh a tenth of a unit; the thousand shards that made them weigh 50. That is why a tek base can sit on a stock of element that would fit in a pocket, and why there is no such thing as an element hauling problem.
The reverse conversion exists because shards are the spendable format in some recipes. If you find yourself short of shards and long on element, the 1-to-100 split is the answer — but you lose 499 parts of weight advantage doing it, so it is a crafting decision, not a logistics one.
Dust is the second currency
Element Dust weighs 0.05, stacks to 1,000, and is processed at the City Terminal on Extinction. The dust entry lists quantity1: 1 against Element with a craft count of 200, which means one element expands into 200 dust.
| Conversion | Ratio | Weight in | Weight out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Element to Dust | 1 to 200 | 0.01 | 10 |
| Dust to Element | 200 to 1 | 10 | 0.01 |
Dust is the loosest unit in the chain — a thousand dust is 50 weight and worth five elements — and it is the one that makes Extinction’s corrupted zones useful. If you are farming there, dust is the resource you will accumulate without trying.
Element Ore is the raw end: 0.5 weight, 100 per stack, marked refineable, and limited to Aberration and Crystal Isles. Fifty weight per stack for an unrefined input is a poor deal compared with shards, which is why ore is mostly a charge-node ingredient rather than a hauling target.
The charge node recipe
The alternative recipe field on Element is the most detailed in the dataset, and it is the only way to make element from scratch rather than convert it:
| Charge Node input | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Blue Gem or Blue Crystalized Sap | 15 |
| Charge Battery | 8 |
| Congealed Gas Ball | 50 |
| Element Ore | 20 |
| Green Gem or Fragmented Green Gem | 20 |
| Red Gem or Red Crystalized Sap | 10 |
| Output | 3 Element |
The gems are all 0.5 weight with 100 stacks, the gas ball is 0.1 and stacks to 100, and the ore is 0.5. With the gems at 0.5, the ore at 0.5 and the gas at 0.1, the mineral inputs alone weigh about 38 for 0.03 weight of output. The charge node is not a weight-efficient machine; it is a way to turn Aberration’s mineral wealth into the one resource the map otherwise rations.
That asymmetry is the point. Element is cheap to carry and expensive to make, so every map offers a different route to it and none of them are about hauling.
Unstable element and the 30-second problem
Two Extinction variants sit outside the main chain: Unstable Element at 0.05 weight and Unstable Element Shard at 0.05, which spoils in 30 seconds. Thirty seconds is the shortest timer in the cached dataset by two orders of magnitude — organic polymer gets 1,800, cooked meat 1,200, and an unstable shard gets half a minute.
The practical rule is that unstable element is a place, not an item: it is meant to be used where it drops, in the middle of whatever fight produced it. Carrying it home is a plan that fails before you mount up. The Extinction map guide covers where those drops happen.
The hexagon ceiling
Element’s 2,000 hexagons is the highest value in the cached set, and the gap to the rest is enormous:
| Resource | Hexagons |
|---|---|
| Element | 2,000 |
| Electronics | 700 |
| Metal Ingot | 195 |
| Metal | 150 |
| Crystal | 115 |
| Stone | 40 |
Two thousand hexagons for an item weighing 0.01 is the dataset’s clearest statement about relative value — an element is priced at nearly three electronics chips and over fifty times a unit of stone. That is a useful sanity check when deciding whether to spend element on a structure or convert it — the data says element is the most valuable thing you can hold, per unit and per slot.
A practical element plan
- Farm shards, not element. A 1,000 shard stack is 50 weight, ten elements, and the conversion is instant. Shards are the only element-adjacent item you can haul comfortably.
- Convert in tens. Ten elements covers most tek purchases, and it costs 1,000 shards — a single full stack.
- Never carry unstable element. Thirty seconds is not a travel budget.
- Use ore locally. Element Ore at 0.5 weight is a charge-node ingredient on the map that produces it, not cargo.
The tek tier guide covers what the element is actually spent on, and the resources tier list places it at the top of the set.