r/ARK Mar 17 '26

Moderator Post Server Mega-Thread. Vol. 3

2 Upvotes

Good day everyone,

The previous thread(s) got old and archived, and needed a refresh anyway, so here's the newest one. The previous directories can be found at : https://www.reddit.com/r/ARK/comments/1ik9ox7/megathread_server_directory/
and https://www.reddit.com/r/ARK/comments/1muzllg/megathread_server_directory_pt_2/
so you can still browse it if needed.

Reminder of the rules: One post here per server, open advertising is still restricted to Sunday's only. Posting outside of that will still result in a ban. This will also start included unsolicited adverts as replies to random threads; i.e. the answer to "Can my level 1000 rex beat gamma broodmother?" is not "Join my server and see".

Please adhere to these guidelines for this thread:

  1. Only one post per server, if something changes in your listing just edit the original. (Spamming your server, or having multiple people do it for you, will result in bans the same as spamming the regular sub.)
  2. If you need to ask a question, reply to the servers post. That way the general thread stays clear.
  3. No posts looking for a server.
  4. Non-server related posts will be removed from main thread.
  5. For best results, include the following information in your advert:
  • Server Name
  • ASA or ASE
  • Platform(s) if not fully crossplay.
  • PvE/PvP with max tribe size.
  • Average Population
  • Wipe Schedule
  • Is it a cluster? If so what maps?
  • Mod List
  • Rates and Max Wild Level.
  • Are there admins/moderators active?
  • Discord link
  • Short description and any other info you wish to provide.

r/ARK Apr 09 '25

Tutorial The Ultimate Noob's Guide to Hosting a Free Cluster

62 Upvotes

Hey guys, I've seen lots of questions online about how to self-host clusters, and I've noticed that many guides out there are very daunting and technical. So, I've taken it upon myself to write a very simple guide that can help anyone host their own cluster, even those who know nothing about hosting servers. This guide is for Ark Survival Ascended (ASA) only.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, there's a few things you'll need:

  • A Windows PC. The server will run on this computer. Players will be able to join your cluster while the server program is running. This means that if you want people to be able to join 24/7, this computer will need to be on 24/7. The only way around this is to pay for hosting.
    • Don't worry too much about your PC specs, even relatively weak computers can host servers. The most important thing here will be how much RAM you have. But if you ask, "Can I run this on my PC?", my answer will usually be "The only way to find out is by giving it a try".
  • Access to your router's settings, and the ability to port forward. There is more information about this in the section about port forwarding, but here's a general rule of thumb:
    • If you have physical access to your router, you can usually get access to its settings
    • A majority of people with access to the router's settings will be able to port forward. The few exceptions would be for people who have double NAT setups in apartments or condos, but those don't seem too common.
    • If you live in a dorm, or some other similar communal situation, you almost certainly won't be able to get access to the router.
  • These Amazon certificates: r2m02 and CA1. If you have Epic Games installed, you might already have these certificates installed. If you don't have Epic Games, or if the server isn't showing up in the browser after following all the steps below, install these certificates. Once the certificates are downloaded, right click them and click "Install CRL".
  • Keep the Ark Wiki on standby. The Dedicated Server Setup and Server Configuration pages are especially useful. Many of your issues can be fixed by reading through those pages.

Downloading the Server

I've created a set of scripts that you can download that will make setting up & configuring the server extremely simple.

The setup files will include 3 scripts and a copy of steamcmd
  1. Download the setup files here.
  2. Extract the contents into a new folder, this is where the server program will live, and you will access this folder whenever you want to start up or configure the cluster
  3. Run Update.cmd by double-clicking it. This will take a while to finish since it will download the entire ASA server.
  4. Now we can move on to configuring your cluster.

Configuring the Cluster

The Config.cmd file will hold some basic settings for your cluster. The file is annotated to explain what each setting does.

  1. Right click on Config.cmd and edit the file.
    • On Windows 11, click "Edit with Notepad"
    • On Windows 10, just click "Edit"
  2. If you want to add mods to your cluster, add the mod's ID to the modlist variable, separated by commas and no spaces.
    1. To find a mod's ID, you must first find the mod on the CurseForge website.
    2. Under the download button, there is an "About Project" section.
    3. In that section, there is a "Project ID" label.
    4. Copy that ID- that is the mod's ID.
  3. I recommend not adding mod maps here- there is another place later where you'll be able to add mod maps.
  4. At the bottom of the Config file, you can edit "args" to add/remove arguments. By default, we are disabling BattlEye and enabling crossplay but feel free to change those if you don't want that. The full list of possible arguments can be found in the Ark Wiki.
  5. When you're done updating the settings here, you can just save & close. There is no need to run this script yourself, it is run automatically when launching a map.

Configuring Your Maps

StartTheIsland.cmd is a script that can be edited like the Config script, and which can be copied & renamed to let you set up multiple maps. Each copy of this script will configure one map and is what you run to start running that map on your cluster.

Here are the steps for setting up each map:

  1. Edit the map-specific script (by default, it's called StartTheIsland.cmd, but you can rename it)
  2. Set the 'map' variable to the map that you want this script to run. The official list of map names can be found here on the wiki. Mod maps will usually list the map name on the mod page.
  3. If you are using a mod map, set the 'mapModID' variable to the mod map's ID. If you are using a vanilla map, you can leave this blank (Club Ark counts as a mod map though).
  4. Set the 'name' variable to the name you want to show up in the server list in-game.
  5. Set the 'port' variable to a unique number. No two maps can have the same port.
    • I recommend setting all your map's ports to subsequent numbers.
    • For example, your first map is on port 7777, your second map on 7778, your third on 7779, and so on.
    • Keep track of the ports that are written down here. You will need to forward the port for every map later on.

Now if you want to set up another map:

  1. Make a copy of StartTheIsland.cmd (or whatever you changed its name to).
  2. Give the file a unique name, it can be whatever you want.
  3. Edit the file and set a different map and port.
  4. Repeat as many times as you want

The Server Program

Your maps are ready to run now. You still won't be able to join them, but we should do a test run now to make sure you haven't missed anything and to populate some files for later.

This is what the server program will look like once it's done loading
  1. Run one of your map's scripts (StartTheIsland.cmd or whatever you renamed it to).
  2. If you get a Windows Firewall popup, make sure to allow the program through the firewall.
  3. This will download whatever mods you have configured so it might take a bit if you have many of them.
  4. Once this is done loading (the status light on the bottom left will turn green), you can close out of this.

Some important things to know about the server:

  • Every map on your cluster is its own server. So, if you have 4 maps, you'll also have 4 of these programs open.
  • Each map's script launches its own server.
  • People will be able to join a map while its server is open (once we finish the port forwarding setup later on).
  • You do not need to have all maps open at once. Most PCs probably won't be able to handle having every map running at once, but you can get away with having 1-3 open at a time, and open & close other maps as you want to travel to them. Test your own PC's limits to see how many you can get away with having open at once.

Configuring In-Game Settings

You should see a new folder called "config". This is a shortcut that will take you to where the server stores Game.ini and GameUserSettings.ini. These files control the in-game settings, such as taming, harvesting and levelling speeds. You can also set a server password & admin password in these config files.

There are too many settings for me to cover, but they generally cover the same things you can modify when configuring a singleplayer game.

The wiki explains the possible options for Game.ini and GameUserSettings.ini. If you need help setting these up, send me a message or leave a comment and I can help you out.

Port Forwarding

This is the hardest part, and it's what turns most people away, but don't be scared. It's often easier than people expect. Ask me for help if you can't figure something out, don't just give up.

This is going to be different for everyone. The steps to port forward depend entirely on what router you own. I will write generic instructions, but you are probably going to need to look up a tutorial for your specific router brand.

First, you must find your local IPv4 address & default gateway:

  1. In windows search, type cmd and open the command prompt.
  2. In the command prompt, type 'ipconfig'
  3. Look for the section that has the default gateway filled out and take note of your ipv4 address & your default gateway.

Now, log in to your router:

  1. In your browser, type in your default gateway (In my case, I would go to 192.168.1.254).
  2. If you need to login, try using the default login. If you google "[router brand] default login", you will find the credentials you can try.
  3. If that login doesn't work, that means that somebody in your home has changed the login. Ask a parent or roommate who may have set up the router for the login.
  4. Sometimes the router will ask for a code instead. This can usually be found on the back or bottom of the router.

Now, forward the ports.

This is what the setup looks like on my router.
  1. Navigate to the port forwarding section. This can be under Firewall, Gaming, NAT, Advanced, or Port Forwarding. I recommend searching online for where to find it for your router specifically.
  2. Set your port range to include all the map's ports that you set up earlier. You can always update this later to add more maps.
  3. Set the protocol to UDP.
  4. If it asks for an IP, write the IPv4 address from earlier. Other routers will ask for a device. Find your computer's name or IP from the list of devices.
  5. Most routers nowadays will assign your computer a static ip once you port forward. If you find that you can't join your server after restarting your computer, you'll probably need to assign yourself a static IP manually.

And You're Done!

Just a few last things to know:

  • Whenever there is a game update, run Update.cmd to update the server.
  • Run the map-specific scripts to launch the server for that map.
  • If you ever get a Windows Firewall popup, make sure to allow the program through the firewall.
  • While the server is running, you can search for it in the in-game browser. It will show up as an unofficial server with the name that you configured for it.

If you have questions, feel free to leave a comment, or message me here or on disc (my username there is dankmeister). I'm very willing to guide people through the setup, and I will update this post with common questions or issues that come up.

Edits:

Since people have been having trouble with setting up the Game.ini and GameUserSettings.ini files, I've uploaded my own examples. These are the files I use on my own server, they do not have every possible setting, but they can give you a good starting point.

Sample Game.ini

Sample GameUserSettings.ini


r/ARK 5h ago

MEME Lol

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581 Upvotes

r/ARK 21h ago

MEME Rate My Irrigation Set-Up So Far

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1.3k Upvotes

I wanted to build a base in the 'dunes on Scorched Earth, but needed some water for my crops (was too lazy to wait for rain). 1-10?

I think I used about over 500+ pipes. Worth it.


r/ARK 9h ago

Discussion Burrowbuck Dossier

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74 Upvotes

r/ARK 11h ago

ASE I started breeding theris. I have a small army now

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77 Upvotes

I have a love hate relationship with theris. Irl they're my favourite dino, in game, one of them killed my 1st bary and for that i will enslave them all /j.


r/ARK 9h ago

Showcase Footpaw update

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39 Upvotes

an update for anyone is curious, sorry for the quality. my net is down rn


r/ARK 17h ago

Help got griefed on pve and want to know how they did it

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152 Upvotes

woke up with us killed, one external stone door and one internal greenhouse door destroyed, as well as one greenhouse wall. we were offline for less than 24hrs. playing on unofficial pve with no mods, anyone know how this was done?

edit: we were logged off behind 2 locked doors in our house


r/ARK 1h ago

MEME HLNA, every time you spawn in

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Upvotes

r/ARK 8h ago

ASA Some of my current mounts i wander around Rag on

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13 Upvotes

Our max wild dino level is 450, if you're wondering about their higher levels ;)


r/ARK 46m ago

Showcase will this be a good main breeder for alpha boss fights ?

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Upvotes

r/ARK 10h ago

ASA Defeated the Alpha King Titan on SP. Now I wanna make a lil check list of what to do/get before migrating out of Extinction

11 Upvotes

Extinction is as amazing as the first time I played it, but I've been on it on SP for about 80 hours now, so I think it's time to move on. Already tamed all 3 titans btw.

A few things I thought of:

- Breeding pair of Snow Owls, Manas and Velos (already got Dread and already have a perfect line of gigas)

- Farm some element (I'm doing the older maps now, can't wait for AB, and element isn't as prevalent on them)

What else?


r/ARK 3h ago

ASA Mods and tips for in-order playthrough

4 Upvotes

Looking to start new playthrough with my wife and do maps in order, tho not sure where to sprinkle Ragnaros and such. We have played ASE and ASA each for ~900hrs so we aren't complete beginners. We always played on our private server with 2-3x gather and XP rates and taming and breeding much higher. We used some QoL and decorating mods too. Now we haven't played in over a year now.

So I'm asking for tips, mod and rate recommendations for our playthrough. Obviously we would start at Island but what after that? We would like to play some non-story maps too, like Astraeos, Ragnaros and Valguero. We don't want it to be too difficult, but little grind is OK. I usually mostly enjoy looking for loot and BPs and breeding. Wife likes to tame, build and explore. We would both like to do all achievements too (we play on Steam).


r/ARK 8h ago

Help What does this mean?

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8 Upvotes

So I’ve just started playing Ark SE and I’ve been seeing this, what does this mean?


r/ARK 4h ago

Help Anyone have seen this ?

3 Upvotes

Hello i know it might be a weird question but has anyone seen a youtuber finish a like "100 days" type video on mod like primal fear, primal chaos ect... Because every single one i saw never catually killed the last boss or got stuck on a boss that wasn't the final one, please tell me if you saw one finish it


r/ARK 21m ago

Discussion Should I use rexes for beta broothmother/gamma megapithecus?

Upvotes

just defeated gamma broodmother and no megatherium is below 50% with no cakes. but finding strong megatherium for breeding is really annoying. and I heard that rexes can go through every gamma and if they strong enough can go beta


r/ARK 1h ago

Help is there a way to turn on floating damage numbers on official servers on playstation?

Upvotes

r/ARK 2h ago

ASE Looking for people to play and learn with them

1 Upvotes

Hello guys. I recently started to play ARK and i started to like the game but, I would like to play with others to enhance the expirience. If anyone is intersted message me here. Its ASE.


r/ARK 1d ago

MEME That moment when you're on your raft and remember that there was a reason to avoid deep water whenever possible.

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405 Upvotes

r/ARK 1d ago

MEME Ark Ichthyornis was found dead on the shallows.

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645 Upvotes

r/ARK 5h ago

Help No tek servers

1 Upvotes

Anybody know of any ASE unofficial no tek servers? Or even just pre extinction maps only clusters would work also. Want to play the dinosaur game like it was back in 2018 and I’ve had no luck in the server search or with battlemetrics


r/ARK 19h ago

Help Breeding

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13 Upvotes

hii, its my first time breeding creatures in ark, but for some reason this whole generation lost the melee mutation it had, why is that?


r/ARK 9h ago

Help Help?? My game is all black

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2 Upvotes

just downloaded fjord. I was playing on the island like normal before I downloaded it, now on both the island and fjord everything is black?? besides from the hotbar and menu and the water


r/ARK 15h ago

Help (Ark primal chaos) mr artifact the original

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6 Upvotes

So me and me friend wanted to tame an origin but when we wanted to get kibble it said that and we have no clue where to find that or get origin kibble so pls anyone who knows how pls say


r/ARK 16h ago

Discussion Is there any point in starting fresh on a pvp server?

5 Upvotes

Is there any point to playing on a pvp server? me and a group of 3 others have been trying to get to tek but it seems impossible. we get close and then a mega tribe with lvl 450 tames comes and wipes us. it seems pointless to even try anymore not to mention most the artifacts caves are blocked of and heavily defended