Server Types
Four ways to host btw from dead simple free co-op all the way up to the enterprise grade stuff that costs actual money, and I've tried basically all of them at some point and they each have their place depending on what you're trying to do, ngl some of them suck and some are great but it really depends on how many people you're playing with and what kind of experience you want. So yeah.
So this one runs right on your own PC or Xbox and honestly it's fine for messing around with a couple friends, you get 4 players max and the host has to be online obviously or the whole thing just stops dead, the real killer though is that tether distance which basically means your friends can't wander too far from you without the game yelling at them and it gets annoying fast, I used this when I first started and after about an hour I was already looking at dedicated options because it's just not great for anything beyond messing around honestly. But I mean.
This is what I run personally and tbh it's the sweet spot if you've got some old hardware lying around, you can host up to 70 players and it runs 24/7 as long as you don't turn off the machine like I've definitely done by accident more times than I wanna admit, and you get full mod support and can tweak literally every setting known to man, no slot fees or monthly bills which is kind of the whole point of doing it yourself, and the control you get over every little thing is honestly addictive once you get into it. So anyway.
Rent from a hosting company and you get 100 plus player slots with proper DDoS protection and auto backups and one click mod installs and basically all the headache taken care of for you, I mean you're paying monthly but imo it's worth it if you're running a public server with randoms joining all the time etc, the support teams at good hosts have literally saved my server at 3am before and you can't put a price on that, and anyway most of the good hosts have pretty reasonable pricing when you actually look at what you're getting. And also.
These are the ones Studio Wildcard runs themselves and honestly they're the pure unfiltered ARK experience, 70 players with vanilla settings no mods standard rates, it's kind of brutal sometimes like really brutal but that's also what makes it feel real you know, no admin babysitting no weird boosted rates no custom rules or whatever, just the game as intended and sometimes that's exactly what you want even if you hate it half the time, and kind of sort of love it the other half because nothing beats the feeling of surviving on official rates. But tbh.
Dedicated Server Requirements (Self-Hosted)
Here's something most people don't realize when they start looking at server hardware, ARK servers are super single-thread CPU bound so throwing 32 cores at it doesn't really help at all, what you actually need is high clock speed because the main game loop runs on one thread and beyond maybe 4 cores you're not getting much benefit, I learned this the hard way after spending way too much on a dual Xeon setup that ran worse than a cheap gaming CPU and I'm still kinda mad about it honestly, and so then I switched to a consumer CPU and the difference was night and day literally. And no joke.
| Component | Minimum (20 players) | Recommended (70 players) |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 4 cores / 8 threads @ 3.5 GHz+ | 8 cores / 16 threads @ 4.0 GHz+ |
| RAM | 16 GB | 64 GB |
| Storage | 50 GB SSD | 200 GB NVMe SSD |
| Network | 10 Mbps upload | 100 Mbps upload (unmetered) |
| OS | Windows Server 2022 / Ubuntu 22.04 | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS |
ngl the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is pretty much the perfect CPU for self-hosting, that 3D V-Cache thing actually makes a real difference for ARK's memory-bound server tick rate and idk what kind of magic AMD did but it just works, I've seen people run 50 plus player servers on this chip without breaking a sweat and it's not even that expensive compared to some of the server CPUs people waste money on, because honestly you don't need a Threadripper or whatever for an ARK server. So trust me.
Recommended Hosting Providers
These are the hosting companies that'll probably support ARK 2 at launch, at least based on how they handled ARK 1 and their track record, your mileage may vary obviously but these are the ones I'd bet on and I've used most of them at some point, and also there might be new hosts that pop up specifically for ARK 2 when it launches. Who knows.
Starting around $13.99 a month for 10 slots and they're the official ARK partner so setup is basically instant and mods update automatically, honestly they're the most popular ARK host for a reason and I've used them myself without any major complaints, the interface is pretty clean and you can get a server running in like 5 minutes which is kind of amazing, and their support actually responds which is more than I can say for some other hosts. And anyway.
About $11.25 a month for 10 slots and they're based in the EU with really solid DDoS protection, they've got like 50 plus locations around the world which is kind of insane when you think about it, good cluster support too if you're planning to run multiple servers and the control panel is straightforward enough that even if you're new to this you won't get lost, and honestly their pricing is probably the best value for what you get. But idk.
Around $12 a month for 10 slots, these guys are US based and give you full FTP access which is great if you like tinkering with configs and custom launch parameters and all that geeky stuff, pretty good for advanced users who want more control over every little setting, and their support team actually knows what they're talking about which is rare in this industry tbh, but anyway if you like messing with server files directly this is the host for you. So yeah.
About $10.50 a month for 10 slots, UK based with 24/7 live support which is honestly a lifesaver when something breaks at 3am and you have 30 people messaging you asking why the server is down, one click mod installs and free DDoS protection comes standard and the live chat support is actually responsive which I can't say about every host, and also their control panel is one of the cleaner ones I've used fwiw. And tbh.
Literally just your electricity bill and internet and maybe a new CPU if your old one is ancient, full control over everything no slot limits and you can mod whatever you want with zero restrictions, the catch is you need to know what you're doing technically and have a machine that runs 24/7 without catching fire or driving your room temperature up 10 degrees, and also you're the one everyone yells at when something breaks so there's that too, but tbh for the control and cost savings it's kind of worth it if you're even slightly technical. Because honestly.
Server Configuration (Expected Settings)
ARK 2 uses the same INI based config system as ARK Survival Ascended more or less, these settings are based on dev interviews and might change before launch but they should give you a solid starting point, I've been tweaking these kinds of configs for years and tbh once you understand the structure it's pretty straightforward even if it looks intimidating at first, and also most of the multiplier settings are just numbers you adjust up or down depending on how fast you want things to happen. So anyway.
Game.ini - Core Settings
[/Script/ShooterGame.ShooterGameMode] bDisableStructureDecayPvE=true bAllowFlyerCarryPvE=true bUseSingleplayerSettings=false PvPZoneStructureDamageMultiplier=6.0 TamingSpeedMultiplier=1.0 HarvestAmountMultiplier=1.0 XPMultiplier=1.0 MatingIntervalMultiplier=1.0 EggHatchSpeedMultiplier=1.0 BabyMatureSpeedMultiplier=1.0 BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier=1.0 ResourcesRespawnPeriodMultiplier=1.0
GameUserSettings.ini - Player & World Settings
[ServerSettings] ServerAdminPassword=YourAdminPass ServerPassword= MaxPlayers=70 ServerPVE=false DifficultyOffset=1.0 ShowMapPlayerLocation=true EnableCrossplay=true ServerCrosshair=true AllowThirdPersonPlayer=true DayCycleSpeedScale=1.0 NightTimeSpeedScale=1.0
Admin Commands (Expected)
These are the admin commands you'll probably use the most based on ARK 1 syntax for now until ARK 2 actually drops and we can confirm everything, I've starred the ones I use constantly in my own server and tbh the enablecheats and forcetame commands are basically all you need 90 percent of the time, and also teleport and god mode of course. So you get the idea.
| Command | Effect |
|---|---|
enablecheats <password> | Enable admin privileges |
god | Toggle god mode |
fly | Toggle flight mode |
walk | Disable flight |
ghost | Toggle noclip (pass through objects) |
giveitemnum <id> <qty> <quality> | Spawn item by ID |
summon <creature_id> | Spawn a creature |
forcetame | Instant tame (aim at creature) |
dotame | Tame targeted creature |
teleport | Teleport to crosshair location |
teleportplayeridtome <id> | Teleport player to you |
saveworld | Force world save |
broadcast <message> | Send server-wide message |
banplayer <steam_id> | Ban a player |
Server FAQ
Stuff people ask me all the time about hosting ARK servers, you know the kind of questions that pop up at 2am when something breaks and you're frantically googling while your tribe is spamming your Discord, and honestly half of these I had to figure out myself by trial and error. And also.