How to Host an ARK: Survival Evolved Server in 2026
An ARK server is the island — and the tribe, the tames and the bases living on it only survive as well as whoever's running the box. This guide covers SteamCMD, GameUserSettings.ini, ports, BattlEye and RAM planning for a tribe that actually sticks around.
Size the server for your map and tribe
ARK is RAM-hungry and the biggest lever is your tamed-dino count and structure density, not player count alone — a modest tribe with a packed base needs more headroom than a larger tribe traveling light. Budget extra RAM above the bare minimum if you plan to keep dinos un-cryopodded.
Install via SteamCMD
The ARK Dedicated Server is Steam app ID 376030, installed anonymously through SteamCMD — one of the larger native-Linux installs at roughly 8-12 GB on disk. The game binary itself is x86_64 even though SteamCMD needs its 32-bit shim to run.
Configure GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini
GameUserSettings.ini (in ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/) controls server name, ports, admin password and multiplayer rates; Game.ini controls level progression and engram points. Edit both before first boot — some settings only take effect on a fresh world.
Open the ports
ARK needs UDP 7777 for the game itself and UDP 27015 for the Steam query port that server browsers and status checks use. RCON runs on TCP 27020 but is notoriously flaky on ARK — don't rely on it as your only admin path.
Decide on BattlEye
BattlEye is ARK's anti-cheat layer. Public servers generally want it on; private tribes running with friends often disable it (`-NoBattlEye`) since it adds overhead and occasional client-side conflicts without much benefit in a trusted group.
Plan for continuous autosaves
ARK saves the world continuously rather than on a fixed timer, so there's no single 'safe moment' to kill the process — always stop it gracefully with SIGTERM and give it time to finish writing before a reboot or migration.
Invite the tribe
Players connect through the in-game server browser (search by session name) or by direct IP. Pick your starting map — TheIsland is the default — before anyone builds, since map changes mean starting over.
FAQ
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Host your ARK server from €22.50/month
CoalHost runs ARK on dedicated Ryzen hardware in Helsinki, EU — UDP 7777 and 27015 open, BattlEye toggleable, scheduled auto-backups protecting your tribe's base, from €22.50/month with the 7-day refund.
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