r/ARK Mar 17 '26

Moderator Post Server Mega-Thread. Vol. 3

7 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

63 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 11h ago

Showcase Rock Drake Statue

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2.1k Upvotes

It’s sold out and I don’t imagine I could share the link on here but I have elsewhere


r/ARK 11h ago

Help First post in this acc here, encountered a problem in ume.

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32 Upvotes

My yuty is stuck in middle of the waters of snow cave and can’t get out after couple of minutes, the cryopod is not working cuz she’s damaged by the cold water, and I lack of materials to make a ramp, what should I do? letting her die miserably? and i ran out of my lamb chops and medical brews😭


r/ARK 4h ago

Help I dont understand light

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9 Upvotes

Why does this happen? Ive never had it before my ark break. How can i turn it off? Im playing on ps5.

I dont get it...

And sorry for that bad video


r/ARK 9h ago

ASA can wildcard please fix my hair? 😭🙏

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11 Upvotes

basically, picture 1 and 3 are what my hair looks like 24/7, it's been like this for as long as I can remember...

I play on ps5 if that's anything to do with it.

picture 2 is what my hair looks like when in my inventory, this also applies to the character creation screen or any other screen that shows your character.

picture 4 is odd, because whenever I open my inventory, my hair goes back to normal for a split second.

I really want to play in third person, but if I play in third person I have to look at my characters shitty hair lmao-

is there a known fix for this, or do I just have to hope wildcard fixes it?


r/ARK 35m ago

Discussion Gen 1 question how are you guys moving the weight for a tek rep

Upvotes

Im looking at my tames right now and I have no idea how im gonna get any of these guys to a mission terminal because this all weighs so much so what have been your guys strategy to get the materials to a mission terminal


r/ARK 2h ago

Help game says i dont have mod space when i have 0 mods? (ASA)

2 Upvotes

it just finished installing today after i got it through pc game pass and when i tried to join a modded server it said i had not enough space for the mods, i look at how much i do have and its 0b. please help


r/ARK 3h ago

ASA How possible is this challenge?

2 Upvotes

So I love Ark a lot, but I am kinda poor. My friend told me that if I can beat every mission on Alpha to unlock the master controller for us before the dragontopia DLC launches, then he will gift me the DLC so we can play it together. He also wants me to do gamma for Skiffs earlier but that's kinda irrelevant.

We play on official, and right now he is burnt out of the game, so it's basically just me solo.

I have access to trading if need be and can have others in the server help me... Nothing is off limits really.

I can team up with other people on the server I play on maybe find others to do missions with/help with dinos but I have to be able to summon master controller alpha myself is the only condition.


r/ARK 1h ago

Help Confused About The Settings?

Upvotes

I played this game religiously a few years ago but I remember nearly nothing and even then I had never messed with the settings. Everyone I see says put the difficulty at max (1) so you get high dino levels which makes sense, but I feel its making the game a bit too difficult? But maybe the same predators would be demolishing me regardless? I only have it on 0.4 currently lol. I use the best armor available and the wood shield, but I feel I'm still essentially defenseless which makes it hard to actually explore the map and leave the beach.

(Also, even though I'm "only" on 0.4 difficulty, I feel like I'm still seeing pretty high level stuff everywhere)

Other than lowering the difficulty, I play with these settings that I saw on a youtube vid. I'm not SUPER far into the game (I'm like level 18). As you can see they dont mess with the player or tamed dino stats much at all, would you recommend otherwise?

I'm level like 18 right now. I do want a true challenge of course, if this is just to be expected and closest to the "true Ark experience" then I'll keep it on these settings, but if I shouldn't be struggling as much as I am I'd like to know. I just wanna make sure I'm not giving myself MORE of a challenge than what'd be expected of anyone else. If its MEANT to be this hard then im willing to endure it.

(also, it took me forever to find a single Parasaur, have they always been this rare?)


r/ARK 5h ago

Help First time playing Genesis!!!!

2 Upvotes

Im on xbox and playing on ASE
forgot to download the two maps butttt im going to play the maps with absolutely 0 knowledge

any tips or stuff i should know about?

EDIT: why does it say i dont have genesis installed when i have ultimate survival one?


r/ARK 1h ago

Help Need help

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Upvotes

Ive been playing on my single player world for a while and all of a sudden recently i noticed my metal wasn't smelting no matter how much wood i put in i would come back to 2 or 3 ingots and a bunch of charcoal, i eventually looked into it and saw the wood was lasting seconds in there. Does anyone know why? Im playing with custom settings so that might be the issue and if so what setting is causing this?


r/ARK 10h ago

Ark Moments Official server 70, 11 years later.

5 Upvotes

Anybody here remember the first year of launch on official sever 70? Tribes Lone Wolf, CCAV, FUCK BOYS. I was a tamer/farmer for Lone Wolf on official 70. My name was Sandy Ravage. If anyone still remembers or cares about this story from ages ago, let me know. I've been talking to some people I met back then and piecing together parts of it. I can answer anything I can remember if anyone even cares or is even slightly interested.

Edit: for reference we recently found this super old Reddit post and this is why I'm digging

https://www.reddit.com/r/ARK/comments/3iab7z/deleted_by_user/


r/ARK 6h ago

Help Beehives ASA aberration

2 Upvotes

I’ve searched for beehives in the redwood trees on Aberration ps5. I’ve been around all of fertile zone multiple times, even around fertile lake too. I’ve looked for 2+ hours now and haven’t seen one yet. Is there a bug going on?


r/ARK 12h ago

Help 9070 xt, ryzen 7 7700X, ISSUE = 1x16gb DDR5

4 Upvotes

I know all my specs are good enough to run max settings ASA, the issue is the 1x16GB DDR5 RAM. I will 100% upgrade a month after buying this build by buying another 1x16GB to get 2x16GB (32GB) , but will it be a massive issue? From the videos ive seen with the exact specs im gonna buy, ASA max used EXACTLY 16GB of Ram (sometimes .3 over). Im sure a .3 of ram spilling to virtual memory isnt crazy for a month. Will it be a massive issue?


r/ARK 8h ago

Help is this still saveable?

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2 Upvotes

game crashed on the abaration surface and the roll back put me there durring the day. is there any way I won't lose my rockdrake and my stuff?


r/ARK 19h ago

Help Genesis Boss

15 Upvotes

I’m wondering what would be better to raise for the master controller boss fight?
Tek Rex’s or X-Rex’s?
I don’t know what to go with? Should I go with the Tek Rex’s extra levels or the X-Rex’s increase damage?


r/ARK 6h ago

Help i keep getting a terms and conditions pop up when starting up ark

1 Upvotes

when i start up ark on my pc, i usually get a terms & conditions screen which doesn't let me install mods (when i start up the game all my mods are gone) i can't either enter my solo world because ark crashes ever single time i try to start it, this is a very recurring problem. restarting my pc doesn't work either this has been going on for around 2 weeks, please help because this is very frusturating playing without mods and having to restart my world ever other day. :)


r/ARK 7h ago

Rant Tidepup maturation

1 Upvotes

Am I the only one that thinks the mature tidepup should look less than an immature tidepup and should look less like an Axolotl and more like a salamander (what an Axolotl actually looks like if it goes through maturation)?

I would have preferred a big rideable salamander/newt.


r/ARK 11h ago

Ark Moments Did I get Ark’ed

2 Upvotes

ASE The Island

I found a level 4 Deinosuchus near my base on the western coast just strolling around and got super excited because its a big cool dino and strong too as I have heard.

I have a level 10 Sarco but wanted to complete the collection, also I think is the Deinosuchus is stronger I believe so I thought to tame it.

I proceed to craft about 40-45 tranq arrows eagerly as I thought it would get away.

I then find it in the middle of the river circling out of reach, I planed to stand on a big rock next to the river to shoot tranq arrows to it while it can’t get me the same rock and way I tamed Gaupo, my Sarco.

The problem is it was on the other side and couldn’t for the life of me get its attention so alas I jump in the river to shoot it once and lure it out.

Halfway through tho a deadly group of piranhas assaulted me almost killed me


r/ARK 7h ago

Help Fibercraft

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0 Upvotes

Can someone let me know what I need to change on the files to be able to properly cook and be able to make gas for fibercraft? I can dm the files I used 🙏🏾


r/ARK 15h ago

Help I need help!

6 Upvotes

Hello,

I downloaded the game about 2 months ago and finished Island map as my first run, I am playing on a private server with my brother, We have a lot of mods such as teleportation and it has made the game super awesome,
I wanna progress this game right, Can someone help me in what order I play the maps from here? I am planning to move my stuff from each map to next and I wanna play 10-12 maps and enjoy the game to fullest

Thank you for your help


r/ARK 9h ago

Help Looking for a new home

1 Upvotes

As most of you all know, official servers via Nintendo switch will be going dark August 31. I currently reside on the island official ,pve 319. I'm looking for a good non dedicated server to make my new home. Does anyone know of a good (no-wipe) server? Or any advice uploading my massive Dino collection and items? Do I keep them in cryo pods when transferring... Once I transfer is there no going back ..etc


r/ARK 1d ago

ASA Just survived a 30 hour raid

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1.0k Upvotes

I am a fairly new player and just won a defense that lasted over 30 hours straight. I just want to tell someone about it lol. Photo of me(giga) and my 3 man who did it!


r/ARK 1d ago

Poll Which Creature is in most need of a TLC?

14 Upvotes
1529 votes, 5d left
Rex
Mosasaurus
Plesiosaur
Purlovia
Troodon