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

64 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 6h ago

Ark Moments Is Nekatus …Ok? (Affectionately)

119 Upvotes

The sheer scale of Astraeos blows my goddamn mind, and I stumbled on the Riverlands biome today while teleport hopping looking for places to move my base and it’s such a unique and gorgeous biome I can’t get over it.

Dude does not fail to cook every goddamn time.

This is a Nekatus simp post and I don’t even care. I’m in awe.


r/ARK 4h ago

MEME something something low effort slop

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70 Upvotes

r/ARK 12h ago

MEME When the Ark Community gets burned by bad business decisions (P.S. Just posting for the lols)

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283 Upvotes

r/ARK 8h ago

Discussion Weird Jerboa I found

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103 Upvotes

Theyve got crystals growing out of their head/chest area, as y’all can tell, i thought it was a glitch or a skin or something so i killed it and bupkis. then i found a baby with the exact same crystal growth, claimed it, cryo’d it and released it again cause maybe it’s a visual bug but it stuck so, crystal jerboa (im on scorched earth) the baby is female i will be taking name suggestions


r/ARK 7h ago

Ark Moments as someone who is a bit scared of the ocean, genesis ascended has been going swimmingly...

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54 Upvotes

(I know the octopus is passive, but can you blame me for being scared there?)


r/ARK 8h ago

Ark Moments Sheep (Ovis) are driving me crazy

31 Upvotes

I've now spent more than an hour screwing with them.

So... I had the bright idea, what better way to get more hide for saddles than to raise Ovis. Well, made them a little pen, surrounded with wood fence.

Had a couple little glitches where they would get stuck in the fence, but for the most part, no issues. UNTIL they started popping out babies. First issue, my server settings are apparently set in such a way that the little things die before they hit juvenile and can get fed from the trough. Thats with or without imprinting/claiming. Second issue, the little ones can fit THROUGH the fence. Like goats... only smaller. Escape artists. Third issue... kinda hard to see them with all the grass and whatnot - so I have the bright idea, I'll put foundations in the pen.

Hour or two later building thatch foundations, redoing the pen, putting up thatch railing on the bottom, with wood railing on top (looks good).... I think I'm good. But no, Ark is going to Ark.

Now, I have Ovis getting stuck in foundations, stuck in fences, etc. Remove the foundation to get them to pop up. three immediately sneak out. get one unstuck, replace foundation, get Argy, hut three down, air drop them back in... Now see two more stuck in a railing.

Rinse and repeat that mess a half dozen times. Now they are all set to not wander, no breeding and I'll deal with it later... (like when I actually need the hide).


r/ARK 4h ago

Help i can't play please help me

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13 Upvotes

r/ARK 1d ago

MEME The ARK 2 wait goes on...

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927 Upvotes

My guess is that it will be in 2028.


r/ARK 8h ago

Help My beavers keep dying for no reason

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18 Upvotes

I’m at hidden lake, I turn on their wandering to farm wood, first one died in middle of the lake so I thought it drowned, second one died near the tree

I have sealed off the hidden lake from all three entries with bemonths doors so keep out predators even if any animal spawn in, I have my dilo (6 30+ and 2 90+) raptor (4 50+) on aggression and wandering too clean them up,

My animal keep dying idk what happened


r/ARK 14h ago

Discussion I can't decide which color to keep. What do you think?

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41 Upvotes

I personally think green looks more interesting, but the blue one is awesome too


r/ARK 13h ago

ASA A really lucky tame.

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15 Upvotes

Just went to check on this fella and my god. 57 levels off the bat to me is just wild to me. Will definitely need to find a way to move this guy to genesis (when I get there).


r/ARK 8h ago

Help Returning player looking for help

6 Upvotes

We have returned to ark after many years. I have over 1000 hours solo and pve in survival evolved. We have bought ascended recently and played scorched earth and loved it. The survival mechanics the dinos and the lore were incredible. We enjoy the game most at metal tier and aren’t too keen on the tek level of the game. We are looking for the next map to ascend to. I’m thinking aberration then extinction but unsure what would best suit us? We’ve played the island to death. Iv never played genesis and I only dipped into extinction. They seemed a bit much for me with all the tech.
Which maps do you think we’d both enjoy playing nondedicated by ourselves?


r/ARK 7h ago

Ark Moments Quarter reef

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4 Upvotes

r/ARK 1d ago

ASE yall what should i name my big boy

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154 Upvotes

i think he looks awesome. Wanted to hear your suggestions on what to name him .


r/ARK 3h ago

ASA Can someone PLEASE make a mod that triples the brightness of the hunt markers?

2 Upvotes

These should be blinding beacons that can be seen from anywhere, not these dim little candles in the swamp.


r/ARK 4h ago

Help Ship skills for PVE

2 Upvotes

Hey,

Pretty new to the skill tree in Ark.

Tell me which skills i need for my ship in PVE. I mostly play solo. Im kinda lost.

Thanks :)


r/ARK 7h ago

Help A strange T-rex...

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3 Upvotes

Okay...is that an Alpha T-rex? I'm playing on mobile and that guy seems a little bit too big for a normal T-rex and has a dark skin color,I don't have a spyglass and I red the wiki,but it said that the alphas have that specific aura which radiates off them,and I don't see any of the actuall aura itself,and since I already killed a normal T-rex I am kinda confused and puzzled.


r/ARK 7h ago

Help Is there a good solution in map hopping for Singleplayer?

3 Upvotes

Hi there,

Wanted to start a fresh new round in ASA and asked myself, If Singleplayer will be a good experience for maphoppers Like me. Grab some wyvern eggs, Cosmos and bloodstalkers but build on TheCenter. (Just an example)


r/ARK 23h ago

MEME Comic from yesterday, colored, color vs no color?

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54 Upvotes

Colored the comic from yesterday, do you prefer color or no color, also changed a few things like clothes on bob, tried to do better water bubbles, still learning everything with drawing!


r/ARK 2h ago

Discussion The End of Oak Street (New Dino movie)

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0 Upvotes

Looks pretty good (and the Dinos look sick!)


r/ARK 2h ago

Discussion Which one should I use?

0 Upvotes

I'm playing right now ASE, and I'm going to kill bosses, so, I'm asking, should I use Paleo Rexes to it, or Yangchuanosaurus(from the mod Prehistoric Beasts)? I'm not entirelly sure of which one I should use, because the Rex deals some more damage, but the Yangchu has a bit more of life and supports my other tames with it's healthing, so... I don't know which one I should use? or I go with theris instead? or even with things like Indoraptors(I have Moro's Indomitable duo too)?


r/ARK 3h ago

Tribe Recruitment AsA anyone looking to do a ascension run? Starting on the island

1 Upvotes

You dont have to join the tribe. I have already started with a small group. 2x server

Lf people


r/ARK 7h ago

Help Ark corrupted file

2 Upvotes

So I crashed and went back in time to a different point I was playing and now anytime I go do something the crash happens and I go back to the same loop all the progress I made was for nothing now I’m on pS5 any idea how it got corrupted