How do servers work in ARK: Survival Ascended?
Summary
Q.How do servers work in ARK: Survival Ascended?
A.ARK: Survival Ascended supports official, dedicated, and non-dedicated servers. Official servers are managed by Studio Wildcard (with partners like Nitrado) and currently have no mods; dedicated servers offer full control (mods and admin access) and can be self-hosted or rented; non-dedicated sessions are player-hosted and less persistent.
More info
ARK: Survival Ascended uses three primary server models. Official servers are run by Studio Wildcard and partners (including Nitrado) and are designed to be persistent but are subject to studio actions; they do not support mods initially and admin commands are restricted on official servers. Dedicated servers—whether rented from providers like Nitrado or hosted on your own hardware—provide full control, allowing mods, custom rules, and persistent worlds. Non-dedicated sessions, by contrast, are hosted from a player’s game instance for friends to join, but they are less persistent and depend on the host remaining in the session. These distinctions shape how players plan communities, with official servers offering reliability, and dedicated servers offering customization and mod support. official guidance and provider options help players choose the right route. Dedicated server setup explains the technical layout and launch syntax. Self-hosting guide covers SteamCMD setup and API/mod options for custom servers.
