Before You Begin

You have two options when creating an Ark Server, you can set it up on your own computer, or you can pay a small monthly fee and host one online.

If you want to set up a reliable and affordable Ark game server online, ServerMania offers cheap cloud hosting starting at $5 per month. With a cloud server, you can setup a high-performance Ark game servers on the best hardware, ensuring the lowest possible latency. Hosting the Ark Server online will deliver the best gaming experience since the server will be hosted on a blazing fast network and will be online 24×7.

What Are the ARK Dedicated Server Requirements?

  • 8GB RAM
  • 20GB Disk Space Minimum (50-75GB Recommended)
  • 2 CPU Cores @ 3.0GHz+ (For 10-15 players)
  • 64 Bit Windows or Linux OS (CentOS Linux Recommended for a standalone server)
  • A reliable network connection, 100Mbps+ recommended

Before you begin using an ARK Survival dedicated server, your system must meet certain criteria.

You need to be running at least a 64-bit Windows system or be on the Linux Operating System. You also need to have at least 6 GB of RAM–but we recommend 8GB for better performance. Depending on how many players will use the server, you may need more RAM.

In addition, the computer hosting the server should be separate from the computer used for gaming. This computer should have at least two CPU cores per ARK server at 3.0GHz+. This configuration should host about 10-15 players, and additional CPU cores would be recommended for more players to use the server.

If you don’t have enough CPU and RAM, you’re going to experience game lag and slow startup speed. Both of these make gaming clunky for players. More expansive maps and spread-out players require much more CPU power. The bigger and more amazing your world is, the more power drag there is on your CPUs. So, if you’re wanting a world with many players and enormous maps, consider adding more CPUs than the minimum requirement.

It seems like a no-brainer, but you want to pay attention to what is powering this powerhouse of a server. Your dedicated server hosting computer should be plugged into an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). If a power surge causes your server to crash, all of its data will crash right along with it. You’ll lose everything since the last save. In some cases, a power failure can even corrupt the save file.

Worlds will fall. Players will be sad…or angry. You don’t want this.

Before you go trying to install this, make sure you have at least 20 GB of disk space. These servers take that much just for the install folder.

Once you have made sure you have all of this in place, it’s as simple as downloading the steamcmd.exe file and getting it going.

Start Riding Those Dinosaurs!

Now that you know the basics of ARK dedicated server requirements, you should have the confidence to continue working towards building your dream world.

Don’t worry–you’ll be prancing about the mountainside cliffs with your dinosaurs and mammoths in no time.

Now that you have been armed with this knowledge, go forth to defeat thy enemies and conquer whole worlds–or just jump around on a super cool velociraptor.For more info on servers, check out our Dedicated Game Hosting page.