How To Make an ARK: Survival Evolved Online Dedicated Server

Exploring ARK: Survival Evolved with others online enhances the gaming experience significantly. It offers a blend of teamwork, resource management, and community-building in a prehistoric setting. Understanding the importance of a dedicated game server for an optimal online experience is also key.

This guide provides the necessary steps and considerations for setting up your server, helping ensure that you and your community can fully immerse yourselves in the exciting world of ARK: Survival Evolved. With these insights and practical tips, players can embark on their ARK adventure with confidence, whether they're battling dinosaurs, crafting shelters, or simply exploring the vast prehistoric landscape.

Benefits of Playing ARK: Survival Evolved Online

ARK: Survival Evolved is made to be a collaborative gaming experience between you, the player, and your friends or community. Since the game requires gathering resources to progress and continuously craft better weapons and tools, it's best to have as many hands on deck as possible. This increases the rate of progression, making the "grind" feel less prevalent as the group shares the workload.

Playing with others, especially people you know well, enhances the gaming experience. Multiplayer gaming provides an opportunity for social interaction, fostering friendships and community-building. It's an enjoyable way to connect with friends or make new ones who share a common interest in the game. Whether you're fighting dinosaurs, crafting, or gathering, you can create memorable experiences in this virtual world.

Another advantage of playing with others is the ability to trade knowledge. More experienced players can more quickly show you the ropes, or you can share your own tips with your group. If you're the type of player who is focused more on the crafting and building side of the game, you can rely on other players for tips on combat, for example.

Working together is key in a survival game. If you encounter a challenging enemy or end up dying, other members of the party can step up to lend a hand. This lowers the barrier to entry for players who may not be as adept at survival games. However, while teamwork is essential, it's also possible to engage in PvP (player vs. player), which allows players to fight each other. This additional layer of threat heightens the survival aspect of the game, forcing you to fend off nature as well as other players.

Why You Need a Server To Play ARK: Survival Evolved

While it's common for multiplayer games to provide servers to users, many popular survival games expect players to use their own servers. For a game like ARK: Survival Evolved or Valheim, it's possible to use one player's computer as a server, which can host somewhere between two and four players depending on the computer's specifications.

This is a workable solution for smaller groups of players, but it relies on one player, which can be a huge drawback. If that player is unavailable, the rest of the group can't play, or if the player suddenly disconnects, whether through network issues or a random PC shutdown, everyone else is booted from the game. Also, the game can slow down as more players are added.

Making your own server is an option, albeit an expensive and time-consuming one. For a majority of players, renting a dedicated cloud server is a much better option for these reasons:

• World Hosting and Persistence: A server hosts the game world, helping ensure that it is always active and persistent. This means the game world continues to exist and evolve even when individual players are not logged in.
• Game World Management: Servers manage and maintain the game's world data, including player progress, structures, tamed creatures, and in-game events. They ensure that this data is consistently updated and synchronized across all players.
• Performance and Stability: Hosting the game on a server offloads the processing and memory demands from individual players' devices. This setup can lead to better performance, reduced lag, and a more stable gaming experience, as servers are typically more powerful and have higher bandwidth than personal computers or consoles.
• Backup and Data Integrity: Servers often have systems in place for regular backups, ensuring that the game world and player progress are not lost due to unforeseen issues like data corruption or hardware failures.
• Cost-effective: The cost of renting one dedicated game server like OVHcloud's Rise-GAME-1 server may be too much for one player, but it's affordable when the cost is split among multiple players. An even more affordable alternative is to rent a gaming virtual private server (VPS), which only charges you for what you use and can be scaled up or down when necessary.

How To Setup a Game Server With ARK: Survival Evolved

Setting up ARK: Survival Evolved on a dedicated game server involves several key steps. This guide assumes you have a dedicated server (either your own hardware or a rented one) and are familiar with basic server administration tasks.

Here’s how you can set it up:

1. Prepare the Server

●      System Requirements: Ensure your server meets the minimum requirements for hosting ARK: Survival Evolved. This includes a suitable processor, enough RAM (16GB+ recommended), ample disk space, and a stable internet connection.

●      Operating System: The server should be running a stable version of Windows or Linux, as ARK server software is available for both.

2. Install SteamCMD

Windows:

●      Download SteamCMD for Windows from the Steam website.

●      Extract the contents to a folder on your server, like C:\steamcmd.

●      Run steamcmd.exe to update and get ready for use.

Linux:

●      Install SteamCMD using your distribution's package manager, or download it from the Steam website and extract it.

●      Update and install any required dependencies.

3. Install ARK Server

●      Use SteamCMD to download and install the ARK server files.

4. Configure the Server

●      Once installed, navigate to the ARK server directory (where the game files are located).

●      Create a basic configuration file (GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini) in the /ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer (or LinuxServer) directory.

●      Configure your settings, such as server name, password, game settings, and more.

5. Start the Server

●      Run the server using a script or command line.

●      For Linux, the command is similar but adapted for the Linux file structure and execution.

6. Port Forwarding

●      Forward the required ports on your router to allow external connections to your server.

●      You can find the required TCP and UDP ports to forward in your startup batch file.

7. Test the Server

●      After starting the server, test it by attempting to connect to it through the ARK game client.

●      Check for any connectivity issues or errors in the server logs.

8. Regular Maintenance

●      Regularly update the server and game files using SteamCMD.

●      Monitor the server’s performance and make adjustments as needed.

9. Additional Steps (Optional)

●      Set up automated backups to protect your server data.

●      Consider installing mods or custom maps for a unique experience.

Important Considerations

• Security: Ensure your server is secure. Regularly update the OS and the ARK server software. Cloud providers like OVHcloud offer features such as game DDoS protection, which is designed to protect your server from attacks by bad actors.
• Performance: Monitor server performance and optimize settings as needed.
• Community Management: If you’re setting up a public server, consider how you will manage your player community.

This guide provides a basic outline for setting up an ARK server on a dedicated game server. Instructions for setting up a virtual private server (VPS) may differ slightly. For more detailed instructions, especially for specific operating systems or advanced configurations, it’s advisable to consult the official ARK community forums or dedicated server hosting guides available online.

Set Up Your ARK: Survival Evolved Server With OVHcloud

Playing ARK: Survival Evolved online offers a richer, more collaborative experience. It combines the excitement of shared adventures with the practicality of a dedicated server for stable gameplay. This guide aims to equip players with the knowledge to set up their server, helping ensure a seamless and engaging gaming journey.

With OVHcloud's selection of dedicated game servers, you can easily enhance your gaming experience. Whether you're playing with friends and family a few times a month or playing daily with a larger community, you can find the server that suits your needs at OVHcloud.