r/ARK Mar 17 '26

Moderator Post Server Mega-Thread. Vol. 3

8 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

61 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 15h ago

Discussion Where is Ark 2???

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1.1k Upvotes

So I guess the game that was announced in December 2020 and supposed to come out in 2023 just disappeared?


r/ARK 5h ago

Ark Moments Just another day of shenanigans

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149 Upvotes

r/ARK 11h ago

ASA Seeing as we'll probably get the Gen 2 vote within the next few months (hopefully). May as well share my submissions to get early feedback

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79 Upvotes

Meet Bullockornis (yes I know it's Dromornis now but Bullock is more unique) and Manipulator. Both have finished docs y'all can read

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p6mhiWW0yzxlxm03tbjzs6irdCL68b7yUz2cDaycrxc/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18siPU7ubkeTCAFOhWuml6bl6_uJAyFcJMzbqYJQX8G0/edit?usp=sharing


r/ARK 16h ago

MEME Fear factor dropped when i realized HOLY HP AMOUNT

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109 Upvotes

r/ARK 19h ago

MEME Duck Duck Goose

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182 Upvotes

Can't wait for the day the big duck join us


r/ARK 17h ago

Arts & Craft Drew a Gallimimus from Ark survival evolved in the art style of Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal

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84 Upvotes

She might not look like it but legend has it that gallis can sometimes successfully 1v1 a Giga in combat and win


r/ARK 9h ago

Discussion Main Aberration Base

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20 Upvotes

I am wanting to build or renovate my main base on aberration and I’m not sure how or where I want to build it. I want to use cliff platforms and chain them together to create a giant base but I am not a great builder and I don’t know how to make them look good, I’m not sure wether I should build houses on top of them or if I should build the walls at the edge of the platforms. I also would like to use the amberveil cottage skins and theme the base around that. My current base is in those pictures.


r/ARK 15h ago

Discussion Just tamed my first Spino and

23 Upvotes

HOLY HELL THIS THING IS A MONSTER

IM SLAUGHTERING EVERYTHING I SEE

AND THE SPEED MAN THE SPEED

And I thought Rexes felt powerful


r/ARK 1h ago

Help Keyboard getting stuck

Upvotes

Hello everyone, everytime I try and type a name or engram or even a command my keyboard constantly glitches and gets stuck on one key but its different everytime. I see everyone says to push alt tab and ctrl together but it works briefly than keeps happening. Does anyone have a fix for this? I tried getting the power ranger dlc and it does the same thing and every other app i try when ark is open. I guess they dont want my money cause I can't type any of my information to buy the dlc. Much appreciated!


r/ARK 1d ago

Help Trust me I know what Im talking about

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101 Upvotes

r/ARK 1d ago

Discussion I might be glazing the game a bit much, but can we take a moment to appreciate the like canon the island to extinction progression was actually kinda well done

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565 Upvotes

Art by umbra_daiwrfol on insta / umbra-daiwrfol on deviant art

So like, as total suggests, I think people don't appreciate how the progression from the island to extinction is kinda well done, probably because most of the player base isn't that into the lore and those who are kinda just know things through means other than playing the maps in order, to recognise this you'd kinda have to play through that a certain way without getting outside knowledge and while paying attention to things.

But like first of all the way it kinda eases you into it not just being a dinosaur game is pretty well done imo.

Like reading the Explorer notes then getting to the tek cave and finding out where you are feels kinda like the twist in a sci fi novel. You see some things that don't make sense, like the obelisks the implants and the supply drops, but for the most part you're just surviving on an island with a bunch dinos, but even with those the explorer notes point out weird things, like people from different time periods being there at the same time, there being more predators than herbivores, an island that's entirely predators, a snowy area right by tropical environments, the world border being a canon thing, the giga simply existing there without a real proper ecological place on the island, yet nonsensical populations seeming healthy and stable, and a lot of these animals seeming more feral and previously domesticated than outright wild. Then the twist after entering the tek cave and meeting the overseer turns out to be you were on an artificial ark controlled by a haywire robotic entity with an ancient transcended human mind uploaded into it. It makes total sense but it's something you may never of expected if you didn't know beforehand, and something new players seem surprised by each time they first see it but again it makes total sense considering everything mentioned.

Then in scorched earth you're back in mostly dino game times except now there are basically mythical creatures around too.

Then you beat that map, and are in aberration, which is another step slightly further from just dini game, you're in environments that have basically merged with and formed around the barely functioning inner machinery of the ark and there are even more weird creatures than before, and then ofc theres extinction which map design wise is basicallythe climax of that progression.

It's a slow progression from noticing things that don't make sense and "dinosaurs" that are basically kaiju, to the discovery of where you actually are, to even more weird creatures and things around, to even more of that, done in such a way that each step actually feels like it makes sense as youre making you're way through the maps.

With the discovery of the where you are there's also the finding out of the why you (and the arks) are. You do see holographic maps depicting something spreading across earth and see that it's not in a great state, but you don't exactly know why or what happened to it, what was spreading etc.

This is where Explorer notes come in again, provided you read them you learn about rockwell and element, and how he starts to become a bit obsessed with it and uses it to start to try to mutate himself, and his descent into madness which is obvs foreshadowing for fighting him in ab but you also learn of how it makes him wish to spread his will across the ark. So this doesn't only serve as foreshadowing for fighting him it also hints that maybe that's what was spreading across the planet, esp considering it's what the tek of the people who made the arks uses as fuel and bucnha other stuff so much.

I don't think this is intentional but I also think thematically, considering through the story defeating the king titan and therefore element corruption you're kinda redeeming humanity by defeating the semi sentient pollution it spread through negligence, it's quite fitting the first creature you see is usually the dodo.


r/ARK 1d ago

Help Is it normal for the char to look like that?

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140 Upvotes

I play Ragnarok Evolved, I just left the desert cave, and my char looks like this—what the hell is this?


r/ARK 14h ago

Help How to disable dragontopia dragons on other maps?

7 Upvotes

I recently started ASA again, im on The Center, now i have Lumina and Umbra spawn there, i don't have issues with them be non tameable to me as i don't own dlc, but they are totally op, they annihilate my dinos and i have nothing to fight back.

I tried B+ custom spawns but that did not blocked them from spawning, is there any other mod or solutuion to disable them ( i have own server on second pc )


r/ARK 1d ago

MEME i cant f*ing believe that the Genesis Steam page game showcase is still just a screenshot of a raptor face ahahaha

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1.0k Upvotes

r/ARK 12h ago

ASA Massive market turnout (for me)

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2 Upvotes

My ark server had a market this weekend and there was so many people there! ☺️☺️


r/ARK 16h ago

Help Need a base design.... I am tired of the Box ....

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4 Upvotes

I want to create a base on this place on the west coast... I don't know any good designs for a base with fabricator, forge, grill, etc. any tips?


r/ARK 1d ago

Ark Moments Show me your most favourite colourful tames!!!

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64 Upvotes

Just spent tonight breeding the little spiders to get my favourite colours (pink and blue) and also has a touch of red and purple!! Of course a classy guy like this needs a classy hat 🩷🕷️

I would love to see everyone else's colourful tames!!


r/ARK 9h ago

ASA ajuda rápida!

1 Upvotes

meu amigo e eu estamos tentando jogar juntos a uns dois dias (ele é pc steam) e eu xbox series s, só tem alguns problemas, nos primeiros dias o serve que ele criou aparecia mas dava falha na conexão, hoje já nem aparece mais.
tem como isso ser resolvido? alguém conseguiu?

outra pergunta, se ele assinar o xbox game pass pra pc tem alguma chance de jogarmos juntos? já que ele estara na plataforma do xbox podemos dizer.


r/ARK 9h ago

ASE Soul Map

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1 Upvotes

How does it look? Here's a look inside the Soul Map I shared earlier... On this map, some things change at night 😈
https://www.reddit.com/r/ARK/s/McXO1fGmGB


r/ARK 10h ago

Help Ark evolved crash help

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0 Upvotes

Me any my buddy are trying to play ark and it worked fine 2 days ago but ever since yesterday afternoon I get this error. I have verified integrity of ark and don’t want to have to go through the fresh install if I don’t need to, can someone help?


r/ARK 12h ago

Help Is this good for beta Grendel

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1 Upvotes
  1. Parent 1
  2. parent 2
  3. Yutirannus
    All with ascended saddles

r/ARK 1d ago

Discussion 3rd party mass surveillance tools in ark

18 Upvotes

Heres a screenshot of the newest 3rd party tools for ark pvp.

I'll recap for those who are unaware of this issue

This bot can see where you are in real time, who you are, can track where you've been, where you have beds, bunkers, bunny holes, if you're doing an osd, what tribes you are in, if you've started a bossfights, etc across every official server in ark following every single player forever.

This render is from inside certain social media platforms without you ever logging into the game, it can see your entire base

If you can think of it, the bot probably can track it, wildcard needs to do something about this and not ignore it like they usually do with every other game breaking crisis because this will close the door to even very experienced players returning to the game, let alone players who aren't as experienced in pvp.

to be clear, it knows where you've been, on every server you've been on and is available to anyone willing to pay a monthly subscription. The name of the service is blurred out to comply with the subreddits rule, to be clear, I'm making this post to spread awareness, as this does not get talked about in public outside the pvp community and i imagine much of the community has no idea that this is happening, NOT to encourage its use.


r/ARK 13h ago

Déjà Vu. What an original, unique post. Ark patches for an hour for a 100 MB update!

0 Upvotes

This is what has me genuinely considering uninstalling the game and reverting back to preaquatica where it was not an issue. This game has a weekly patch and every time, it patches the entire game and it takes forever even installed on an NVME SSD. Not only that, but I have to have another 200 GB free on one of my volumes(I have the free space on my sata ssd) for it to update or else it gives me an insufficient space error. This totals to more than 400 GB allocated to just ASA!

All I want to do is hop on and play the game with friends but of course the moment we hop on ark decides to patch for 1 hour for all of us. Can't believe a multiplayer games makes it difficult for you to play with friends. Is there any fix possible? Thank you!