How to make an ARK Survival Ascended server

An ARK: Survival Ascended server needs a plan with at least 12 GB of RAM and a map. Once it’s running, you search for your server’s name in the game’s unofficial server list. PC, PlayStation and Xbox players can all join it.

What you need

• Your own copy of ARK: Survival Ascended. Each friend needs their own copy too, on PC, PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. The dedicated server software is free and installs from Steam. We never ship game files.
• A plan with enough RAM (the server’s memory). ARK is one of the hungriest games to host.

A note on consoles. Your server is hosted on PC hardware. Console players join it through the in-game list, the same way they join any PC-hosted unofficial server. Servers that run on PlayStation or Xbox themselves are a different product, and we don’t offer them.

The ARK server software only comes for Windows. We run it on our Linux machines with a compatibility layer, the same way the Steam Deck runs Windows games. Players can’t tell the difference.

Create your server

1. Choose ARK: Survival Ascended in the game list.
2. Choose a plan from the table above. You can upgrade later without losing your world.
3. Choose a region: EU or US East. Pick the one closest to most of your players.
4. Choose a name. It becomes your address, like dinoshore.play.wilderack.com. Names use 3 to 32 characters: lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens in the middle.
5. Pay, and the server installs the game from Steam and starts.

Choose a map

Pick the map in Settings. These come with the game:

• The Island, Scorched Earth, The Center, Aberration, Extinction, Ragnarok, Valguero and Genesis: Part 1.

Some maps are paid expansions, such as Astraeos and Lost Colony. Every player needs to own a paid map to play on it, so check with your group first. Each map keeps its own save, so you can switch and come back. See the map list.

The first start

The first start takes the longest. The server downloads the game from Steam, then any mods from CurseForge, then builds the world. After that, a normal start takes a few minutes. Big maps with many mods can take up to about 15 minutes. You can watch it in Console.

Once the server has started, it can take a few more minutes to appear in the game’s server list.

Make yourself admin

ARK uses an admin password instead of an admin list.

1. Set your admin password under Settings > Players. Pick something long that you don’t use anywhere else. If the server is running, restart it so it uses the new password.
2. Join your server.
3. Open the in-game console. On PC, press the ~ key.
4. Type enablecheats and your password, like enablecheats long-password-here.
5. You’re admin until you leave. Admin commands start with cheat, like cheat fly.

The admin commands guide covers consoles, the most useful commands, and the panel’s Console.

Invite your friends

To play: tell them your server’s name, and the server password if you set one. They search for it in the unofficial server list. PC players can also join with the address and port from the address card. The How to join card on Overview has the steps, and so does how to connect.

To help run it: open Friends and make an invite link with a role. Admin can change settings, mods and backups. Moderator can start, stop and use the console. Panel roles are separate from the in-game admin password.

Why your ARK server stays awake

Most Wilderack servers nap when nobody’s playing. ARK servers stay awake by default, and here’s why:

• The in-game server list comes from the game’s own online service. A sleeping server drops out of it.
• PlayStation and Xbox players can only join from that list, so they’d have no way to wake it.
• ARK takes minutes to start from cold, which is a long wait for a friend.

If your whole group plays on PC, you can turn sleep on under Settings > Sleep. PC players then join with the address and port, which wakes the server. Anyone can also wake it with your wake link, play.wilderack.com/w/dinoshore, then find it in the list a few minutes later.

What to read next

• How to connect: joining from PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
• Admin commands: becoming admin and the commands you’ll use.
• Config reference: rates, difficulty and breeding.
• Mods: CurseForge mods for every platform.