How to Setup A Server In Ark: Survival Ascended (2026)

A full guide on how to host a community and/or modded Ark: Survival Ascended server on Windows or Linux with Wine.

September 20, 202612 min readUpdated September 20, 2026

How to Setup A Server In Ark: Survival Ascended (2026)

In this guide we will be downloading, configuring and running an ARK: Survival Ascended dedicated server.

ASA servers are heavier than most. The Unreal Engine 5 rewrite pushed the memory requirements up sharply, and there is one platform fact that shapes this entire guide: ARK: Survival Ascended has no native Linux dedicated server. Wildcard ship a Windows binary only, and Linux hosts run it through Proton or Wine.

We cover Windows properly, then the Proton route for Linux with apt and dnf instructions, since that is what most people running ASA on a Linux box are actually doing.

Requirements

Windows 10 22H2 or later, or Windows Server 2016 or later. Both Microsoft and Steam need to support the version you pick.
Alternatively, a modern Linux distribution running the server under Proton or Wine.
A 64-bit system. The server binary is 64-bit only.
Around 11 GiB of disk space per server install, plus room for saves, profiles, logs, updates and mods. Budget 20 GB to be comfortable.
4 logical cores per server instance is the recommendation. Single-thread performance still matters more than core count, since gameplay outside of physics runs on one thread.
A lot of RAM. See below.

Memory Per Map

This is the number that surprises people coming from ARK: Survival Evolved. These are for an empty map with default settings and nobody connected:

Map	Level name	Memory on an empty map
The Island	`TheIsland_WP`	8 - 10 GiB
The Center	`TheCenter_WP`	10.5 - 12 GiB
Scorched Earth	`ScorchedEarth_WP`	7.5 - 9 GiB
Aberration	`Aberration_WP`	8 - 10 GiB
Extinction	`Extinction_WP`	7 - 8.5 GiB

Memory climbs from there with connected players, with the age of the world as structures and tamed creatures accumulate, and with mods. Usage also spikes during the creature respawn phase, which lasts several minutes.

For comparison, the same maps on ASE sit around 3 - 5 GiB. Plan for 16 GB minimum on an ASA box and more if you want a busy server on The Center.

The Licence Restriction

Worth knowing before you spend money on hosting. Under ARK's end-user licence agreement, dedicated servers may only be hosted for personal, non-commercial purposes unless you obtain a dedicated server licence from Nitrado.

Donations are fine as long as the donor gets nothing of value in return, and so is recovering your operational costs. Making money beyond that is not.

Downloading The Server Files

The ASA dedicated server is Steam app 2430930, and it is free with an anonymous login.

You will want SteamCMD for this. We have a separate guide on it:

ArticleHow To Download & Run SteamCMD (2026)A guide on how to download and run SteamCMD on both Linux and Windows.1.3k00

Once SteamCMD is installed:

login anonymous
force_install_dir C:\ark-asa
app_update 2430930 validate
quit

Or as a single command:

steamcmd.exe +login anonymous +force_install_dir C:\ark-asa +app_update 2430930 validate +quit

NOTE - Steam's CDN sometimes deprioritises or outright rejects anonymous logins when it is busy, which is especially common when a server tries to pull several mods at once. If the download keeps stalling, logging in with a real Steam account instead usually clears it up.

The server executable ends up at:

<install folder>\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ArkAscendedServer.exe

That is also where your startup script should live.

Windows Prerequisites

The server needs two runtimes that are not bundled:

Install both before your first launch. A missing VC++ redistributable is the single most common reason a fresh ASA server exits instantly with no useful error.

Windows Server And The Certificate Revocation List

If you are on a Windows Server edition rather than desktop Windows, there is an extra step, and skipping it means your server never appears in the browser.

Windows Server handles certificates and revocation lists differently, and TLS 1.2 has to be enabled and configured correctly. You also need to install a certificate revocation list manually:

Download r2m02.crl from dev.epicgames.com, or directly from crl.r2m02.amazontrust.com/r2m02.crl.
Right-click the downloaded file and choose to install it.
Select Place all certificates in the following store and pick Trusted Root Certification Authorities.
Restart the machine.

WARNING - If you set a server up before 18 November 2023 and installed the r2m02.cer certificate, that certificate has since been revoked and has to be removed or your server stays invisible. Run certmgr.msc and certlm.msc, search both for Amazon RSA 2048 M02 under Trusted Root Certification Authorities, remove it, and restart.

Map Names

ASA uses World Partition level names, which end in _WP and differ from the ASE names. Getting this wrong means the server refuses to start.

Map	ASA level name
The Island	`TheIsland_WP`
The Center	`TheCenter_WP`
Scorched Earth	`ScorchedEarth_WP`
Ragnarok	`Ragnarok_WP`
Aberration	`Aberration_WP`
Extinction	`Extinction_WP`
Astraeos	`Astraeos_WP`
Lost Colony	`LostColony_WP`
Club ARK	`BobsMissions_WP`

The map name comes immediately after the executable, before any other option.

Launch Options

ASA mixes two syntaxes on one command line, which is the root of most configuration problems.

Question mark options come straight after the map name, chained with ?:

Option	Description
`?SessionName=<name>`	The server name shown in the browser.
`?ServerPassword=<password>`	Password players need to join. Omit the whole option for an open server.
`?ServerAdminPassword=<password>`	The admin password, also used by RCON.
`?RCONEnabled=True`	Turns RCON on.
`?RCONPort=27020`	The RCON TCP port.

Hyphen options come after those, separated by spaces:

Option	Default	Description
`-port=<port>`	`7777`	The UDP game port.
`-WinLiveMaxPlayers=<n>`	`70`	Maximum players.
`-mods=<id1,id2>`	N/A	CurseForge Project IDs, updated automatically on startup.
`-NoBattlEye`	off	Runs without BattlEye.
`-log`	off	Writes a console log.
`-MULTIHOME`	off	Binds to a specific IP. Needs `MULTIHOME=<ip>` set too.
`-NoTransferFromFiltering`	off	Disables ARK Data transfers between single player and non-clustered servers.

The Three ASA Syntax Traps

These catch nearly everybody once.

?ServerAdminPassword= must be the last ? option. ASA parses everything after it as part of the password. Put it at the end of the ? chain, before your hyphen options.
ASA needs -port=<port>, not ?Port=<port>. Use the ? form and it silently ignores you and stays on 7777. This is a change from ASE.
ActiveMods in GameUserSettings.ini does nothing. It is an ASE setting. ASA uses -mods= on the command line and does not use Steam Workshop at all.

Starting The Server On Windows

Open a terminal in ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64 and run:

.\ArkAscendedServer.exe TheIsland_WP?SessionName="My ASA Server"?ServerPassword=joinme?ServerAdminPassword=changeme -port=7777 -WinLiveMaxPlayers=20 -log

First start takes a while, since the server generates the world. Watch for it appearing in the in-game unofficial server browser to confirm it is up.

Creating A Startup Script

Typing that out every time gets old. Create start.bat in the same folder as ArkAscendedServer.exe:

@echo off
setlocal

set SESSIONNAME=My ASA Server
set MAP=TheIsland_WP
set PORT=7777
set MAXPLAYERS=20
set ADMINPASS=changeme
set RESTART_DELAY=10

:restart
cls
echo Starting ARK: Survival Ascended server...
echo.

.\ArkAscendedServer.exe %MAP%?SessionName="%SESSIONNAME%"?RCONEnabled=True?RCONPort=27020?ServerAdminPassword=%ADMINPASS% ^
    -port=%PORT% ^
    -WinLiveMaxPlayers=%MAXPLAYERS% ^
    -log

echo.
echo Server stopped or crashed. Restarting in %RESTART_DELAY% seconds...
timeout /t %RESTART_DELAY% /nobreak > nul
goto restart

Edit the variables at the top, save, and double-click it. The script restarts the server automatically if it crashes or is shut down.

TIP - Note where ?ServerAdminPassword= sits: last in the ? chain, immediately before the hyphen options. That ordering is deliberate.

Running On Linux Through Proton

There is no native Linux build of the ASA server. What follows is the community approach, and it works well, but it is not something Wildcard supports.

Installing Dependencies

You need SteamCMD and a Proton or Wine runtime.

Debian and Ubuntu:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository -y multiverse
sudo apt install -y steamcmd lib32gcc-s1 wine winetricks screen curl tar

Fedora, RHEL and Rocky:

sudo dnf install -y glibc.i686 libstdc++.i686 wine winetricks screen curl tar
# SteamCMD is not packaged on all RHEL-family distros, so fetch it directly:
mkdir -p ~/steamcmd && cd ~/steamcmd
curl -sqL "https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz" | tar zxvf -

Then download the server files exactly as on Windows, using the Windows platform override so SteamCMD fetches the Windows binaries:

./steamcmd.sh +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows +login anonymous \
    +force_install_dir /home/ark/asa +app_update 2430930 validate +quit

That +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows line is essential. Without it SteamCMD looks for a Linux depot that does not exist.

NOTE - Most people running ASA on Linux use GE-Proton rather than plain Wine, since it handles the Epic Online Services bits more reliably. Several community wrapper projects exist that set the whole prefix up for you, and they are worth looking at before you build one yourself.

Running It

With a Wine prefix set up, the launch command mirrors the Windows one:

export WINEPREFIX=/home/ark/.wine-asa
export WINEARCH=win64

wine /home/ark/asa/ShooterGame/Binaries/Win64/ArkAscendedServer.exe \
    "TheIsland_WP?SessionName=My ASA Server?RCONEnabled=True?RCONPort=27020?ServerAdminPassword=changeme" \
    -port=7777 -WinLiveMaxPlayers=20 -log

Expect this to be rougher than a native server. Startup is slower, memory use is higher, and diagnosing problems means working out whether the fault is ASA's or the Wine prefix's.

Keeping It Running

Wrap the above in a script and run it under screen:

screen -S asa ./start_asa.sh

Detach with CTRL + A then D, and reattach with screen -r asa.

For something more permanent, a systemd unit at /etc/systemd/system/asa.service:

[Unit]
Description=ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=ark
WorkingDirectory=/home/ark/asa/ShooterGame/Binaries/Win64
ExecStart=/home/ark/start_asa.sh
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=30
TimeoutStopSec=180

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now asa

The generous TimeoutStopSec is deliberate. ASA takes a while to save and shut down, and cutting it short risks losing progress.

Ports And Port Forwarding

The server listens on these local ports. Forward them on your router and allow them through the OS firewall.

Protocol	Port	Purpose
UDP	7777	Game port
UDP	7778	Peer port, always game port + 1
UDP	27015	Query port, for the Steam server browser only
TCP	27020	RCON, if enabled

WARNING - ARK's server does not support UPnP or any other automatic port forwarding, so you have to do this by hand on your router.

The peer port is used by Steam's P2P protocol for in-game browser advertising. Epic clients use standard ports 80 and 443 with TLS 1.2 instead.

On Linux:

# Debian/Ubuntu with ufw
sudo ufw allow 7777:7778/udp
sudo ufw allow 27015/udp
sudo ufw allow 27020/tcp

# Fedora/RHEL with firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=7777-7778/udp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=27015/udp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=27020/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Multiple Servers On One Machine

Supported, and the usual approach is to step the ports up in blocks:

Instance	Game (UDP)	Peer (UDP)	Query (UDP)	RCON (TCP)
1	7777	7778	27015	27020
2	7779	7780	27016	27021
3	7781	7782	27017	27022

Completely different port numbers work too. The one constraint is that the Steam server browser cannot find servers with a query port above 27020 unless the query port is provided explicitly.

Remember the memory table when you do this. Three ASA instances on The Island is 30 GiB before anybody joins.

Configuration Files

Beyond launch options, the bulk of server configuration lives in two .ini files:

<install folder>\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\GameUserSettings.ini
<install folder>\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsServer\Game.ini

They are only created after the first launch, so start the server once before editing them.

GameUserSettings.ini holds most day-to-day settings under [ServerSettings]: harvest and XP multipliers, taming speed, day and night length, structure limits, PvP toggles. Game.ini holds the deeper tuning such as per-level engram points and individual creature stat multipliers.

The ARK Wiki server configuration page is the complete reference for both and is genuinely exhaustive. It is the page to keep open while you tune.

TIP - Stop the server before editing the .ini files. ASA rewrites them on shutdown and will happily overwrite your changes if it is running while you edit.

RCON

RCON lets you run admin commands against the server remotely, which is much nicer than alt-tabbing to the console window.

Turn it on with these ? options:

?RCONEnabled=True?RCONPort=27020

ServerAdminPassword doubles as the RCON password, so it has to be set for RCON to work. Make it a real password, and only give it to people you trust, since it grants full admin control.

Forward TCP 27020 to use RCON from outside your network, and only do that if you understand the exposure.

NOTE - Our own TMC App has RCON built in, with full command history and logging, commands sent to several servers at once, and commands scheduled for later. It also has a server browser with real-time latency and status graphs. If you are running more than one ARK server it is worth a look, with one caveat: it is in very early development and its README says as much, so treat it as partially tested. Trying it and telling us what broke is the most useful thing anyone can do for it at this stage. It is open source under GPL-3.0 at github.com/modcommunity/tmc-app, and bug reports and feature requests are welcome in the issue tracker.

Adding Mods

ASA mods come from CurseForge, not Steam Workshop, and they are added with -mods= using CurseForge Project IDs:

-mods=1163881

Several are comma separated with no spaces:

-mods=1163881,927131,893657

The server downloads and updates them itself on startup. Load order runs left to right, with the leftmost ID taking priority over those after it. A custom map mod normally goes first.

Players do not need to install anything in advance. Joining a modded ASA server downloads the mods to the client automatically, which is also how it works on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.

Our separate ARK: Survival Ascended mod guide covers the client side and how to find Project IDs.

Updating The Server

ASA clients refuse to connect to a server running an older build, so you update after every game patch.

Re-run the same SteamCMD command you used to install:

steamcmd.exe +login anonymous +force_install_dir C:\ark-asa +app_update 2430930 validate +quit

Stop the server first. Updating files underneath a running server is a good way to corrupt something.

Mods update themselves on the next server start, so there is nothing extra to do for those.

TIP - Back up ShooterGame\Saved before any update. It holds your world, player profiles and tribe data, and it is the only part that cannot be re-downloaded.

Troubleshooting

The server exits immediately with no message. Missing prerequisites. Install the VC++ 2013 x64 redistributable and the June 2010 DirectX runtimes.

The server runs but never appears in the browser. On Windows Server, this is almost always the certificate revocation list. Follow the steps above. On desktop Windows, check the query port is forwarded.

It always uses port 7777 no matter what I set. You used ?Port= instead of -port=. ASA needs the hyphen form.

The admin password does not work and nothing after it applies. ?ServerAdminPassword= is not last in your ? chain, so everything after it got swallowed into the password.

Mods do not load. Check you used -mods= rather than ActiveMods, that you used Project IDs and not file IDs, and that there are no spaces after the commas.

The server is killed by the OOM killer on Linux. Look at the memory table again. ASA needs a lot, and The Center needs the most.

Steam downloads keep stalling. Anonymous logins get deprioritised when Steam is busy. Log in with a real account instead.

Everything is slower on Linux. Expected. You are running a Windows binary through a translation layer. If performance matters, Windows is the supported platform.

Can I run the ASE server on Linux natively? Yes, and that is a genuine difference between the two games. ASE supports Linux natively and needs glibc 2.17 or newer. ASA does not.

Conclusion

An ASA server is mostly a memory and syntax problem. Pull app 2430930 with SteamCMD, install the VC++ and DirectX runtimes, and build a command line that puts ?ServerAdminPassword= last in the ? chain and uses -port= with a hyphen.

The two things to check before committing: you have the RAM, since an empty Island map already wants 8 - 10 GiB, and you are on Windows or prepared to deal with Proton, because there is no native Linux server.