Short answers to the questions ARK: Survival Ascended server owners ask most on PlayNHost: joining and crossplay, setup, rates, mods, admin, wipes, backups and updates. Each answer links to the full guide.
Joining and crossplay
How do my friends find the server? In the game's unofficial server list, by the Server Name from Game Settings. PC players can also press ~ and type open with the address. Full guide
Can Xbox and PlayStation players join? Yes. Crossplay is on by default, and console players search the unofficial list. Full guide
Can ARK: Survival Evolved players join? No. Evolved and Ascended are separate games.
Why is my server not in Steam's server browser? Ascended lists through Epic, in the game's own unofficial list. Full guide
How do I make it private? Set a Server Password in Game Settings and restart. Full guide
Is there a whitelist in the panel? No. Use a Server Password to keep strangers out, and Ban on the Active players card for anyone who misbehaves.
Players cannot join after a patch. Click Restart: the server installs the new build as it starts. Full guide
Setup
How long does the first start take? A new server first installs the game server, about 11 GiB, so it is ready later than on any later start. On an installed server with an empty The Island, the badge reached Online about 1.5 minutes after Start on our servers. Full guide
How many players can join? As many as your plan's slots. Lower it with Edit slots. Full guide
How do I change the map? Type the map name, such as TheCenter_WP, in Server Map and restart. Your old world is kept. Full guide
How do I make it PvE? Switch on PvE Mode in Game Settings and restart. Full guide
How much RAM does it need? The ARK wiki says 8 to 10 GiB for an empty The Island world; ours used 10.06 GB at start. Full guide
Rates and rules
How do I make a 2x or 5x server? Stop the server, set Experience rate, Taming speed and Harvest amount in Game User Settings, then Save & start. Full guide
Where are the breeding settings? In Game Rules (Game.ini), which you create once in Files on a new server. Full guide
My rates changed back after a restart. They were saved while the server ran. Stop it first. Full guide
How do I get level 150 wild dinos? Set Official difficulty override to 5. Full guide
How do I limit tribe size? Tribe size limit in Game Rules (Game.ini). Full guide
Can I turn off structure decay? Yes: No structure decay in Game User Settings. Full guide
Mods
Where do mods come from? CurseForge. Put the project IDs in Mod IDs, separated by commas, and restart. Full guide
Do Steam Workshop mods work? No. Workshop mods are for ARK: Survival Evolved.
Can console players use mods? Only mods marked for every platform on CurseForge. Full guide
How do I update mods? Restart: mods update at every start, including the Daily restart. Full guide
How do I run Fear Ascended or another event? Add the event's mod ID to Mod IDs and restart. For Fear Ascended, Studio Wildcard gives 877752. Full guide
Admin and players
What is my admin password? The one in Admin Password under Settings, Game Settings. Every new server gets a random one of its own there, and you can change it. Full guide
How do I use admin commands? In the game: enablecheats and your password, then cheat before each command. In the panel Console: no prefix. Full guide
How do I kick or ban? Open the menu at the end of the player's row on the Active players card and choose Kick or Ban. Full guide
How do I unban someone? Bans on the same card, with their EOS ID from Activity. The server must be running. Full guide
How do I message every player? Type broadcast and your message in the Console. Full guide
Can a friend help run the server? Yes, with a role on Team & Roles. Full guide
Running the server
Does the server restart by itself? Yes, early every morning with Daily restart, so it installs ARK updates. Full guide
Does Stop save the world? Yes. The Console shows Saving world and stopping server and ends with Server Closed. Full guide
Is my world backed up? Every night if your plan has backup space, and whenever you click Start backup. Full guide
How do I wipe? Run World Reset on Quick Tasks. It stops the server, waits for Offline, deletes every map's world and starts it again. Settings and mods are kept. Full guide
Can I wipe on a schedule? Yes. Add the ready-made World reset schedule (day 1 of every month at 04:00, arrives off), or choose Schedule… on World Reset to pick your own day and hour. Both stop the server first and delete only once it is Offline. Full guide
Can I bring my world from another host? Yes: upload the map folder into ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks. Full guide
Can I try the panel first? Yes: the public demo of the panel shows an ARK: Survival Ascended server: panel demo.
Something is broken. ARK: Survival Ascended server problems and fixes
