How to set up an ARK: Survival Evolved server (mods & clusters)

Step 1 — Respect the RAM

ARK is famously hungry. Plan generously:

• 6 GB — a small vanilla map with a few friends.
• 8–12 GB — a populated map with a moderate mod list.
• 16 GB+ — heavy mods or running several maps in a cluster.

Step 2 — Deploy

1. Order an ARK plan (size for your mods) and pick ARK at checkout.
2. Your game panel login arrives by email within minutes; the egg installs the dedicated server via SteamCMD.
3. Choose your map (The Island, Ragnarok, etc.) in the startup variables and start it.

Step 3 — Steam Workshop mods

With full file access you add mods by listing their Workshop IDs in your server's mod setting; the server downloads and loads them on start. Order matters for some mods (stack maps/overhauls correctly), and every mod must match the server version — keep them updated together.

Step 4 — Rates & rules (GameUserSettings.ini)

This is where ARK becomes your server. Edit GameUserSettings.ini (and Game.ini for advanced tuning) to set XP, harvest and taming rates, day/night length, structure limits, PvP/PvE, and dozens of other options. The panel's file manager and config editor make this painless — change, save, restart.

Step 5 — Clusters (multiple maps)

Want players to move characters and tames between maps? Run several ARK instances and link them as a cluster by giving them a shared cluster ID and directory. Players then transfer through obelisks/terminals. It multiplies RAM needs, but it's how the big ARK communities work.

Step 6 — Admin

Set an admin password in your config, then use enablecheats in-game (or the panel console) for admin commands. Take a backup before big mod changes — our plans include daily backups and you can snapshot manually.