ark-survival-ascended

Dedicated server for the ARK survival game

TLDR

Start the server with a specific map

$ [path/to]/ArkAscendedServer [TheIsland_WP]

Start with session name, passwords

$ [path/to]/ArkAscendedServer [TheIsland_WP]?SessionName=[name]?ServerPassword=[pass]?ServerAdminPassword=[admin_pass]

Start with specific port and max player count

$ [path/to]/ArkAscendedServer [TheIsland_WP] -port=[7777] -WinLiveMaxPlayers=[1..70]

Enable PvE mode (disable PvP)

$ [path/to]/ArkAscendedServer [TheIsland_WP]?ServerPVE=true

Set difficulty multiplier

$ [path/to]/ArkAscendedServer [TheIsland_WP]?DifficultyOffset=[1.0]

Enable specific mods by ID

$ [path/to]/ArkAscendedServer [TheIsland_WP] -mods=[mod_id1,mod_id2,...]

Allow connections from specific platforms

$ [path/to]/ArkAscendedServer [TheIsland_WP] -ServerPlatform=[PC+XSX+PS5]

SYNOPSIS

ArkAscendedServer map [?options] [-flags]

ArkAscendedServer runs a headless dedicated server for ARK: Survival Ascended, the Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original survival game. It allows hosting multiplayer game sessions with configurable maps, mods, and gameplay settings.Server options are passed using URL-style query parameters (joined with ?) for gameplay settings and command-line flags (prefixed with -) for technical configuration.

PARAMETERS

SessionName=name

Set the server's display name in the server browser

ServerPassword=password

Require a password to join the server

ServerAdminPassword=password

Set the admin password for RCON and in-game admin commands

ServerPVE=true

Enable PvE mode, disabling player versus player combat

DifficultyOffset=value

Scale difficulty (affects wild creature levels)

-port=number

Network port for the server

-WinLiveMaxPlayers=count

Maximum number of players (1-70)

-mods=ids

Comma-separated list of mod IDs to enable

-ServerPlatform=platforms

Allow cross-platform connections (PC, XSX, PS5)

-clusterid=id, -ClusterDirOverride=path

Join a server cluster (shared player/dino transfers) using the given cluster ID and shared data directory

-NoBattlEye

Run the server without BattlEye anti-cheat (clients must also disable it)

CONFIGURATION

ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/GameUserSettings.ini

Main server configuration including session settings, admin passwords, player limits, and gameplay options.

ShooterGame/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/Game.ini

Advanced gameplay overrides for engrams, loot tables, creature spawns, and crafting recipes.

CAVEATS

Requires significant system resources (16GB+ RAM recommended). Server files must be installed via SteamCMD. Configuration persistence requires editing GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini files.