ARC Raiders PvE Toggle Beta: Update 2.1.0 Patch Notes

Embark Studios shipped Update 2.1.0 for ARC Raiders on October 13, and the headline feature isn't a weapon or a map — it's an option to turn PvP off entirely. The patch opened a one-week beta for a PvE matchmaking toggle, letting players switch between the game's standard PvPvE sessions and new PvE-only servers, detailed in the full announcement on ARC Raiders' official site. The test runs from October 13 at 11:00 CEST through October 20 at the same time, after which Embark says it will decide the toggle's future using in-game data and a feedback survey sent to participants once the test closes.

The studio has said players have been asking for a way to avoid PvP entirely for months, and that this is a genuine test rather than a confirmed feature — nothing about the toggle is guaranteed to stick around past October 20.

01How the PvE Servers Change a Run

According to the official Update 2.1.0 patch notes and the beta's own rules page, switching into a PvE session changes several things about a run at once:

• Zero player-to-player damage, including from stun and fire throwables (barricades, ziplines and other physical interaction items still work normally).
• Overall loot value is lowered compared to standard PvPvE sessions.
• Squad separation isn't prioritized, so groups of different sizes will cross paths more often than in normal matchmaking.
• Five major map conditions are excluded entirely: Night Raid, Locked Gate, Hidden Bunker, Frigate and Redirection.
• ARC enemies can still re-acquire a downed player after an eight-second grace period if they catch you moving.
• Matchmaking times may run longer in low-population regions and during quiet hours while Embark monitors session quality.

Progress earned on PvE servers will not affect a player's standard PvPvE matchmaking rating, and standard matchmaking continues to apply during ordinary PvPvE sessions throughout the test. Embark says that's deliberate, so the team can isolate how the toggle affects the wider PvPvE population before making any broader changes to matchmaking.

02The Carrion Set and the Rest of Patch 2.1.0

The PvE toggle shares the update with a paid cosmetic drop — the Carrion Set — alongside a long list of fixes across nearly every system in the game. On the weapons side, Embark closed an exploit where stamina-restoring consumables could be used to bypass the cooldown penalty from the Sprinting on Fumes skill, and fixed a bug where the Hairpin's Semi-Auto Amplification wasn't applying reduced headshot damage as intended.

The Grappling Hook got a round of traversal fixes too: vaulting onto ledges and rooftops is more reliable, especially on the Pendola Pass map, and Embark fixed cases where the hook could detach mid-swing from fast-moving objects like the Ballistic Gondola. On the ARC side, Frigate hatches now deal burning damage when they open, cargo drops were adjusted to stop unintended knockouts, and an exploit involving throwables and doors on the Emperor encounter was closed. Performance also got attention — Embark says it reduced memory usage on Spaceport, Buried City and Dam Battlegrounds, with particular benefit on Xbox Series S.

03Hotfix 2.1.1 Closes a Locked-Room and Duplication Exploit

Three days into the beta, on October 16, Embark pushed Hotfix 2.1.1 to shut down what the studio described as "several instances that allowed players to access locked rooms and duplicate items." The post, signed off simply as "Ossen" (no role was given), specifically thanked players who reported the issues privately through Discord support or the in-game @ScrappyMail channel rather than spreading the method publicly — Embark's framing was that quiet reports let the team act on exploits "without spreading the method publicly," keeping the fix ahead of wider abuse.

The hotfix landed mid-beta, so it applies on both the standard PvPvE servers and the PvE toggle's test servers. Embark hasn't published a separate list of affected rooms or items, and no specific exploit method has been detailed publicly by the studio, so treat any third-party breakdown of exactly how the dupe worked as unconfirmed.

04What to Watch For Before October 20

With the beta roughly halfway through its run, the biggest open question is what happens after it ends. Embark has repeatedly stressed this is a test, not a soft launch of a permanent PvE mode, and that the decision will come down to a mix of player feedback and the matchmaking data the toggle generates this week. If you want your experience to count toward that data, Embark's ask is simple: play the mode you'd actually want to see kept, and fill out the survey when it lands after October 20.

For full patch notes, including the complete animation, audio, UI, Outpost and quest fixes not covered here, see Embark's own posts linked below rather than third-party summaries, since Update 2.1.0 touched dozens of smaller systems beyond what's practical to list in full.