ARK Server Setup: A Step-by-Step Guide for ASE and ASA

Setting up an ARK server comes down to five jobs: pick the right edition, install the server files with SteamCMD, write a launch command, open the right ports, and then keep the thing running with backups, updates and automatic restarts. The install takes an afternoon at most. The upkeep is what decides whether your tribe still has a world next month. This guide walks through all of it and ends with an honest look at when renting a server makes more sense than running your own.

TL;DR

• ARK: Survival Evolved (ASE) and ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA) use different server programs, app IDs and launch syntax. Decide which one you are hosting before you download anything.
• Install with SteamCMD (app ID 376030 for ASE), write a launch script, then open UDP 7777, UDP 7778 and UDP 27015 in both your firewall and your router.
• Put detailed tuning in GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini, not in one huge command line.
• Set up automatic startup, scheduled updates and tested backups of the ShooterGame/Saved folder from day one.
• If you do not want to manage ports, patches and hardware, a hosted ARK server removes most of that work.

Table of Contents

• Before you start: ASE or ASA
• What you need: hardware and operating system
• Step 1: Install SteamCMD and the server files
• Step 2: Write the launch script
• Step 3: Open the ports
• Step 4: Configure the world
• Step 5: Make it survive reboots
• Step 6: Back up before you change anything
• Maintenance checklist
• Self-hosting or renting: how to decide
• Our perspective
• Skip the setup: ARK hosting from inSave
• FAQ
• Sources

Before you start: ASE or ASA

This is the mistake that wastes the most time. The two games are separate products with separate dedicated servers. According to the official ARK community wiki, SteamCMD uses app ID 376030 for the ASE server, 445400 for Survival of the Fittest and 2430930 for ASA.

The launch syntax differs too. The server configuration reference lists ShooterGameServer.exe as the executable for ASE and ArkAscendedServer.exe for ASA, and notes that ASA has its own option behavior, including newer mod handling and special port syntax. A command copied from an ASE tutorial can fail silently on ASA, and the reverse is true as well. Validate every argument against the reference for your edition.

The steps below use ASE for the worked examples because its command line is the most widely documented. Where ASA differs, we say so.

What you need: hardware and operating system

The server is a 64-bit program, so you need a 64-bit operating system. The wiki says ARK supports both Windows and Linux natively. On Linux, the glibc 2.17 requirement is met by current supported distributions, and Windows hosts may need the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable that the wiki references.

On memory, the older community wiki states that the ASE server needs at least 6 GB of RAM just to start, and that the requirement grows with connected players, settings and mods. It reports about 2.3 GB in use on Windows Server 2012 R2 with no clients and about 3.2 GB on Linux. Treat those as floor figures from an older install, not a plan. A sensible approach:

• RAM: buy more than the floor. Mods and a full player list push usage up, and a server that runs out of memory crashes or restarts mid-session.
• Storage: the wiki's setup draft puts each installation at around 18 GiB, and that is before saves, backups and mods. Leave real headroom, and prefer SSD or NVMe storage so the map loads and saves quickly.
• CPU: ARK leans heavily on single-thread speed. A fast modern core matters more than a large number of slow ones.
• Network: a stable upload connection matters as much as raw speed. A home line shared with streaming and downloads is where lag usually begins.

OS compatibility is a prerequisite, not a performance guarantee. CPU, memory, storage and bandwidth still set how many players and mods you can run reliably.

Step 1: Install SteamCMD and the server files

SteamCMD is Valve's command-line Steam client. You use it to download and later update the server.

1. Create a dedicated folder for the server, for example C:\arkserver on Windows or /home/steam/servers/ark on Linux. On Linux, run the server as a normal user, not root.
2. Install SteamCMD and start it.
3. Run the install command from the official wiki:

steamcmd +force_install_dir <install_dir> +login anonymous +app_update 376030 validate +quit

For ASA, swap in app ID 2430930 and check the wiki for current notes on that edition. The download is large, so expect it to take a while on a slow connection.

Linux open-files limit

The community wiki carries a warning for Linux hosts: without a raised open-files limit, the server may not launch properly. A telltale sign is a server that seems to start but burns CPU without ever using about 5.5 GB of RAM, because it cannot open all the files it needs. Apply the limit change the wiki describes before you troubleshoot anything else. The systemd example on the same page sets LimitNOFILE=100000 for the same reason.

Step 2: Write the launch script

After installation, create a script that starts the server with your map and basic settings. The wiki's ASE example looks like this:

ShooterGameServer.exe TheIsland?SessionName=<server_name>?ServerPassword=<join_password>?Port=7777?QueryPort=27015?MaxPlayers=<max_players>?ServerAdminPassword=<admin_password>

Here is what each part does:

On Windows, save this as a .bat file in the folder with the executable. On Linux, save it as a shell script and make it executable with chmod +x server_start.sh.

Keep the command line short. For detailed tuning, the configuration reference points you to GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini, which is where rates, player limits, crossplay, mods and save backups are documented. One very long command line is hard to read and easy to break.

Step 3: Open the ports

Port forwarding is the most commonly missed step, because the server needs more than one port. For ASE the wiki lists:

Two things to get right:

• Configure both layers. Allow the ports in the operating system firewall and forward them on your router to the server's private LAN address. Doing only one leaves the server invisible or unreachable.
• Give the server a fixed local address. If your router hands out a new address after a reboot, your forwarding rules point at the wrong machine.

If friends can see the server in the list but cannot join, or can join only from inside your house, the problem is almost always a missing forward or a firewall rule on the wrong port. Remember that ASA uses its own port syntax, so check the ASA entry before copying the table above.

Step 4: Configure the world

Once the server boots, shut it down cleanly and edit the configuration files in the ShooterGame/Saved/Config folder. The configuration reference documents settings for:

• player limits and crossplay (the -crossplay option applies to supported ASE configurations)
• mods, including -automanagedmods for Steam ASE
• events and gameplay rates
• save backups, via -MaxNumOfSaveBackups
• memory-protection restarts, via -GBUsageToForceRestart on supported ASA versions

Change a few settings at a time. If you alter taming speed, harvest rates, mods and map in one go and the server breaks, you will not know which change did it. Edit, restart, test, and write down what you changed.

Mods deserve extra care. They are the biggest single source of crashes and memory growth, and the mod ecosystems differ between ASE and ASA. Add them one at a time, and keep a copy of the working config before each addition.

Step 5: Make it survive reboots

Installation is only the first phase. The official documentation gives Windows scheduled tasks and Linux systemd their own sections, which tells you something: automatic startup is standard hygiene, not an extra. Without it, a reboot, crash or unattended update can quietly take your world offline until someone notices.

• Windows: create a scheduled task that runs your launch script at startup.
• Linux: write a systemd service that runs as your steam user and restarts on failure. The wiki includes an example unit you can adapt.

Then decide how updates happen. When the game patches, clients update through Steam and refuse to connect to an older server. You can re-run the SteamCMD install command to update, ideally on a schedule during off-hours, with a warning to players before the restart.

Step 6: Back up before you change anything

Back up the ShooterGame/Saved directory before patches, configuration changes and mod changes. That folder holds your world and tribe data.

A backup plan that actually works has three parts:

1. A scheduled local copy, so you can roll back within minutes.
2. An external copy, on another disk or off the machine, so a dead drive does not take the backups with it.
3. A tested restore. A server can start perfectly and still load a damaged or wrong save, so practice restoring to a spare folder at least once.

Maintenance checklist

The wiki's page structure (firewall, forwarding, startup, updating, admin console) maps neatly onto a routine:

Self-hosting or renting: how to decide

Running your own box makes sense if you enjoy administration, have a spare machine and a solid upload connection, and your group is small. Costs hide in the details, though: electricity, a machine that stays on around the clock, exposing your home IP address, and being the person who fixes it at 11 p.m. when the map will not load.

Renting makes sense when you want uptime for a community, need more RAM than you own, or simply want to play. A hosted server gives you a control panel, a data-center network connection and no router configuration. The tradeoff is monthly cost and less low-level control, so check that the plan you pick supports the edition and mods you need.

Whichever way you go, ask the same questions: which edition is supported, how much RAM is guaranteed, whether storage is SSD or NVMe, how backups work, and how quickly someone answers when something breaks.

Our perspective

Most failed ARK servers we see described are not failed installs. The install is the easy part. They fail on the second week: a patch lands, the server restarts into an old config, the save folder was never copied, and a mod nobody remembers adding eats the RAM. That is why we treat hosting as an operations job, not a download.

Our customer sites are managed by experienced SRE and DevOps engineers in the EU and US, and the habits that matter for a web server matter just as much for a game world: daily backups, automatic startup, monitored resources and honest limits. If you self-host, copy those habits. Write the runbook before you need it, and test your restore before you trust it.

One more thing we would tell a friend: do not size hardware for the day you launch. Size it for the day you add mods and ten more players. ARK rarely gets lighter over time.

— Ihor

Skip the setup: ARK hosting from inSave

If you would rather spend your evenings playing than editing port tables, we run a dedicated ARK game server offering. It covers the heavy lifting described above so you can focus on your tribe. We also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can test it against your own group's needs. If you outgrow a game server plan or want full control over the machine, our dedicated servers and VPS hosting give you the root-level setup this guide describes, on hardware we maintain.

FAQ

Can I host an ARK server for free?

The server software downloads free through SteamCMD, and you need to own the game to play on it. Running it still costs electricity, hardware and a decent internet connection, and your PC must stay on whenever others want to play. Free is possible on a spare machine, but rarely free in practice.

How much RAM do you need to host an ARK server?

The community wiki says the ASE server needs at least 6 GB to start, and that demand rises with players, settings and mods. For anything beyond a couple of friends on an unmodded map, plan for comfortably more than that minimum. Check the current wiki figures for ASA, since it is a different engine.

Which ports does an ARK server need?

For ASE, forward UDP 7777, UDP 7778 and UDP 27015 to the server's local address, plus TCP 27020 only if you use RCON. Open them in both the operating system firewall and the router. ASA has its own port syntax, so confirm it in the official reference.

Can I use an ASE launch command for ASA?

No. The two editions use different executables, app IDs and option syntax, and some older options are obsolete in ASA. Build your ASA command from the ASA entries in the configuration reference rather than reusing an ASE tutorial.

Sources

• Dedicated server setup, ARK Official Community Wiki
• Server configuration, ARK Official Community Wiki
• Dedicated server setup (sandbox), ARK Official Community Wiki
• Dedicated server setup, ARK: Survival Evolved Wiki