ARK Survival Evolved Server: Setup, Maps, Admins and RAM
Run an ARK: Survival Evolved server: the Linux dedicated server, ports, the twelve maps, settings, admins by Steam ID, the RCON commands and how much RAM it needs.
An ARK Survival Evolved server is where your tribe keeps its tames, its breeding lines and its base between sessions, on rules you choose. This guide covers the official Linux dedicated server, hosting it yourself, the maps, the settings, admin rights, the console commands and the RAM it needs on our ARK: Survival Evolved server hosting.
- What it is: Studio Wildcard's free ARK: Survival Evolved Dedicated Server, Steam app 376030, with a native Linux build.
- Maps: twelve, from The Island to Fjordur, all in the server download. Five need the DLC on the player's side.
- Players: Steam edition only. Epic Games Store and console players cannot join a Steam server.
- On 1up: the server needs 8 GB of RAM. On Free it runs with the hourglass at ×4.5 (40 minutes of server time a day), and 24/7 from Pro at €10/month.
This is the original ARK from 2015, not ARK: Survival Ascended. Ascended is a separate game with its own server, its own saves and its own ARK: Survival Ascended hosting; worlds do not move between them.
1. Self-host or hosting?
The dedicated server is free on Steam and runs on Windows or Linux.
- Install: with SteamCMD,
steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 376030 validate +quit. The download is about 22 GB. - Start: on Linux,
ShooterGame/Binaries/Linux/ShooterGameServer "TheIsland?listen?SessionName=MyServer" -server -log. SwapTheIslandfor the map you want. - Ports: UDP 7777 for the game, UDP 7778 (always the game port plus one) and UDP 27015 for the Steam query. RCON, if you turn it on, listens on TCP 27020.
- Config:
ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini(WindowsServeron Windows) holdsServerPassword,ServerAdminPassword,DifficultyOffsetand the message of the day;Game.iniholds the deeper rules.
At home, plan for the RAM: an empty The Island already holds close to 6 GB, and the PC has to stay on while anyone plays. A hosted server skips the ports and the file, and keeps the world up when you log off.
2. Create an ARK: Survival Evolved server on 1up
- Create an account and press Create server.
- Choose ARK: Survival Evolved and a region, London or Paris. The wizard measures your ping and suggests the nearest one.
- Pick a plan. On Free the wizard shows the hourglass at ×4.5 before you create the server; Pro and up keep it online 24/7.
- Pick a map. The Island is the classic start; Ragnarok, Valguero and Fjordur are larger and free for every player.
- Set a server password if only your friends should get in, and create the server.
- Follow the Console: the first start downloads a little over 20 GB, about 15 minutes, then the map loads in under two minutes. Every start brings the server to the newest build.
3. The settings in the Game tab
| Setting | What it sets | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Difficulty (%) | DifficultyOffset, which caps the level of wild creatures | Restart |
| Starting map | the map on the launch line | Restart |
| Max players | the slots, 20 by default, at most the slots of your plan | Restart |
| Server password | ServerPassword | Restart |
| MOTD | the message of the day every player sees on joining | At once |
| Admin password | ServerAdminPassword | Restart |
The admin password starts as a random secret nobody is shown, so nobody can type EnableCheats until you set your own. The panel console does not need it.
Each map keeps its own save, so switching the Starting map and switching back brings the old world back. Saves live in ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks, on storage that outlives the server process; the server saves on a timer and every time it stops.
4. The twelve maps
| Map | Players need |
|---|---|
| The Island | nothing |
| The Center | nothing |
| Scorched Earth | the Scorched Earth DLC |
| Ragnarok | nothing |
| Aberration | the Aberration DLC |
| Extinction | the Extinction DLC |
| Valguero | nothing |
| Genesis: Part 1 | the Genesis Season Pass |
| Crystal Isles | nothing |
| Genesis: Part 2 | the Genesis Season Pass |
| Lost Island | nothing |
| Fjordur | nothing |
A player who does not own the DLC of a paid map cannot enter that server; the server itself needs nothing extra.
5. How friends join
- In the game, open Join ARK and switch the session filter to Unofficial.
- If the list stays empty, tick Show Player Servers and search for the exact server name.
- Type the server password when the game asks for it.
To save the server in Steam, open View, Game Servers, Favourites, Add a server and paste the Steam favourites address from the Server tab, not the join address: ARK answers Steam queries on another port. To skip the browser, open the game console and type open followed by the address shown on the panel.
Every player needs the Steam edition of ARK: Survival Evolved on the same build as the server. After a game patch, restart the server so it pulls the new build.
6. Admins and the console
Admin rights in the game. Add a player's 17-digit Steam ID to the admin list in the Players tab. It is written to AllowedCheaterSteamIDs.txt and applies at the next start; those players use cheat commands without the admin password. Remove the ID to take the rights back. The list starts empty, so nobody joins as an admin.
The panel console speaks the server's RCON, which never leaves the server. The commands you will use most:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
ListPlayers | Lists the players with their Steam ID |
Broadcast <message> | Shows a message to everyone |
ServerChat <message> | Writes in the chat as the server |
KickPlayer <SteamID> | Kicks a player |
BanPlayer <SteamID> / UnbanPlayer <SteamID> | Bans or lifts a ban |
SaveWorld | Saves the world now |
SetTimeOfDay <hh:mm> | Sets the time of day |
DestroyWildDinos | Wipes the wild creatures so they respawn; asks for confirmation first |
7. How much RAM, and what it costs
We measured 5.8 GB on an empty The Island, so the server starts at 8 GB, and a busy tribe with large breeding pens is more comfortable on 16 GB. The install and the saves fit in 40 GB of disk, with room for the next update.
Real prices, as on our pricing page:
| Plan | Price | RAM | Slots | Backups | ARK: Survival Evolved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | €0 | up to 2 GB, ARK with the hourglass | 4 | none | 40 minutes a day, 6 hours 40 minutes a month |
| Pro | €10/month | 8 GB | 30 | 5 | 24/7, the game's minimum, 60 GB of disk |
| Studio | €20/month | 16 GB | 50 | 10 | 24/7, room for big tribes and Genesis, 80 GB of disk |
Free includes 3 hours of server time a day and 30 hours a month. ARK needs four times the RAM and more than six times the disk of Free, so the hourglass runs at ×4.5 and those 3 hours become 40 minutes of real play: enough to try the server, not to raise a tribe. Casual and Starter do not fit ARK, because they stop at 2 and 4 GB.
8. If something goes wrong
- The server is not in the list: it may still be registering with Steam, or the filter is not on Unofficial. Search the exact name with Show Player Servers ticked.
- Version mismatch after a patch: restart the server so it pulls the new build.
- A friend cannot enter a DLC map: they need to own that DLC.
- The console reports a stop for memory: move to a plan with more RAM, or pick a lighter map than Genesis.
If your group likes survival with friends, our guides to a Valheim dedicated server and the best co-op survival games to host are good next reads, and for another dinosaur game, our The Isle Evrima server guide.
Written on 2026-10-28. Ports, paths, maps and memory come from our ARK: Survival Evolved image (Steam build 21241282, measured on 2026-10-07); panel fields, commands and plans come from 1up v1.49.0 of 2026-10-28.
Change log
- 2026-10-28: first version.