Ark: Survival Ascended is the long-awaited remake of Studio Wildcard’s massively popular Ark: Survival Evolved. Released for PC at the moment, the early access console version will see its own launch sometime in November 2023. The player numbers for the game are certainly impressive, thanks to ASE’s own popularity with fans of the survival genre. One of the great things that made ASE such a beloved title was the ability to set up your own servers. Thankfully, Ark: Survival Ascended has that too. However, for newbies, it can be an overwhelming task. So, we have featured this guide, sharing all the details on how you can host a dedicated server in Ark Survival Ascended.
A major reason why players love to set up dedicated servers is the freedom it allows them. You can pretty much decide what goes on a server, including things like rules for PvP, PvE, and whatnot. Plus, Studio Wildcard’s official servers are kind of not that great. They are certainly good enough for players new to the genre and the game, but if you are looking for chaotic fun, dedicated servers are where it is at. So, consider reading until the end to get access to the detailed steps for hosting a dedicated server.
Ark Survival Ascended (ASA) Dedicated Server Setup Guide: How to Host a Server (Free Method)
Since you will be running a dedicated server for ASA, you are going to need a pretty good build that has to be running continuously. Ensure that there’s at least 16GB of free RAM or more installed on your system (total RAM on your system should be more than 32 GB); otherwise, you will see a lot of crashes. And the next obvious requirement is a good and consistent internet connection. Now, all you need to do is follow the given steps:
- To run an ASA dedicated server, you can do it through Steam. The Steam CMD application, to be exact. So, go ahead and download it first. You will be downloading a zip file, so have an extractor ready. Or you can just use the basic one.
- Extract the zip to your desired folder and open it. Don’t forget to name the folder. For the sake of this guide, we will name it ASADedicatedServer. Inside, you will find only one file: steamcmd.exe.
- Make a new folder inside, name it SteamCMD, and move the .exe file into it. Now run the SteamCMD.exe file and let it download the necessary files.
- After the download is complete, create another new folder beside the SteamCMD folder and name it server.
- Following that, open the SteamCMD folder, click on the path located in the address bar, type in CMD, and hit enter.
- Now, a command window will open. After this, type in or copy-paste the following command and hit enter: “-steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir ../server/ +login anonymous +app_update 2430930 validate +quit“.
- Your PC will now start downloading a dedicated server. It’s around 9 GB, so ensure that your connection is fast. All the downloaded files will be located in the server folder.
- Next, enter the Win64 folder inside the server folder and copy the path. The path should resemble something like this: “..\ASADedicatedServer\server\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64“.
- Now, go back to the main ASADedicatedServer folder and create a new .txt file beside the server folder and SteamCMD folder. Name it start. After this, make sure to change the .txt extension to .bat.
- After this, open the start.bat file with a text editor and paste the launch command from before: “-steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir ../server/ +login anonymous +app_update 2430930 validate +quit“. Don’t forget to paste or type in SteamCMD at the very start of the command. The .bat file should look something like this:
@echo off
echo ——————
echo Updating server
echo ——————
SteamCMD\steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir ..\server\ +login anonymous +app_update 2430930 validate +quitecho ——————
echo Starting server
echo ——————
start server\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ArkAscendedServer.exe TheIsland_WP?listen?SessionName=<SERVER_NAME>?ServerAdminPassword=<ADMIN_PASS>?Port=7777?QueryPort=27015?MaxPlayers=32 -NoBattlEye
**You can customize your server by replacing the <SERVER_NAME>, <ADMIN_PASS> and MaxPlayer options. As the name suggests, the first one is your server name, the second one is your admin password, and the last one is for deciding the maximum number of players that can join your dedicated server.
Additionally, if you want a password for your server that players will need, add “?ServerPassword=<password>” just before “?ServerAdminPassword”. The new last line should resemble something like the following:
start server\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ArkAscendedServer.exe TheIsland_WP?listen?SessionName=<SERVER_NAME>?ServerPassword=<password>?ServerAdminPassword=<ADMIN_PASS>?Port=7777?QueryPort=27015?MaxPlayers=32 -NoBattlEye
- Save and run the start.bat file. Let the server update finish, after which the server will start running.
- Now, launch the game, and from the main menu, open the console command by pressing the tilde key [~]. Next, enter the following: “open [server ip here]”.
- You will now be connected to your server. Congratulations on your new dedicated server in ASA.
Now that you know how to set up a dedicated server for Ark: Survival Ascended, why not check out how to change the in-game language? And if you want more such guides, don’t forget to follow DigiStatement. Also, read: Ark Survival Ascended (ASA) Best Settings for High FPS & Low Input Lag
