A short, opinionated list. The main filter: does it work on official servers, where nothing has server access?
Plenty of ARK bots exist; most of them assume you run the server. For tribes on official servers the useful set is small. Here's what earns a slot in a tribe's Discord.
1. Tribe log & raid alerts — ASA Tribe Log Bot
Reads the Tribe Log from a running client and posts to Discord: every event as an embed with a picture, alert routing, @mention thresholds, a voice siren, parasaur alerts, chat and online-member pictures, Battlemetrics population, and slash commands for mute/status/timers. Works on official because it needs no server access. Features · Pricing.
2. Server population — Battlemetrics
Battlemetrics tracks every official server's player count. Their Discord integration (or our bot's population alert) tells you when the server fills at 3 AM — which on Small Tribes usually means a raid is being set up.
3. Taming and breeding — Dododex
The Dododex Discord bot answers taming calculations in chat: food, time, kibble, stat distribution. Not defense, but the most-used ARK bot for a reason.
4. Timers — baby, generator, forcefield
Imprint timers and fuel countdowns are where small tribes bleed tames. ASA Tribe Log Bot ships /baby, /tekgen and /forcefield; generic reminder bots (e.g. Reminder Bot) work too.
What doesn't work on official
RCON bots, chat-relay bots, and admin-command bots all need server access. They're great on unofficial clusters and irrelevant on official. If a bot's setup says "enter your RCON password", it's not for you.
Questions
▸Are these free?
Battlemetrics and Dododex have free tiers. ASA Tribe Log Bot is a paid license because it ships as a desktop app with support.
▸Can one bot do everything?
Log alerts and timers, yes. Taming calculations are better left to Dododex.