How to Set Up an ARK Survival Server (ASA & ASE)

A dedicated ARK server lets you set the rates, mods and rules your tribe actually wants — and the map stays persistent whether you’re online or not. This covers both ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA) and Survival Evolved (ASE); the setup is nearly identical.

What you need

• A strong box. ARK is heavy: ~16 GB RAM per map is realistic for ASA, 8–10 GB for ASE; a cluster of maps multiplies that.
• SteamCMD and the dedicated server app (2430930 for ASA, 376030 for ASE).
• Ports 7777 UDP (game) and 27015 UDP (query) open, plus an RCON port if you use it.
• Plenty of disk — maps and mods are large.

Step 1 — Install with SteamCMD

Download the dedicated server with SteamCMD, then write a launch script that sets the map (e.g. TheIsland_WP for ASA), session name, max players and an admin password. Launch once to generate the config files, then stop and edit them.

Step 2 — Set rates in GameUserSettings.ini

• XP, harvesting, taming and breeding multipliers — these define your server’s identity (authentic-slow vs boosted).
• Day length, weather and difficulty (which sets max wild dino level).
• Put the headline rates in the session name so players know what they’re joining.

Step 3 — Add mods (ASA uses CurseForge)

ASA mods are managed through CurseForge: list the mod IDs in your config and the server downloads them on boot. Start with one stacking/quality-of-life mod and at most one map or creature mod — a giant mod list is the top cause of boot failures and lag.

Step 4 — Protect saves and run a clean cluster

ARK saves grow large and corrupt on hard crashes. Schedule automatic save-folder backups and a daily restart. If you run several maps as a cluster, they share one cluster ID and folder so players transfer characters and dinos between them.

Step 5 — Get tribes to join

A fresh server fills through visibility. List it so it appears in the ARK ranking, keep it online 24/7, and seed a Discord for transfers, rules and events.