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The open-world survival game ARK: Survival Evloved has been on Steam’s most played list for years. Official servers are offered in the game itself, but you can’t make any settings there or even play in Creative. Then there is the option to rent a server, which usually starts at 10€ per month. But if you already have a relatively powerful UNRAID server at home, you can also host your own server. This requires the Docker function and the Community Applications plugin.
Install ARK: Survival Evloved Docker
Under the Apps tab, simply search for “ARK” and “ARKSurvivalEvolved” by ich777 should appear in the first place. This must be downloaded with a click on “Install”. In the settings, a Steam user and password can be specified, but the Steam Guard must be disabled. (Attention, use an extra account, otherwise there may be problems!) but is not mandatory.
Optionally, a server password and an admin password can be set. The server password is requested when you want to enter the server, the admin password when you want to use the administrator interface or cheats.
Don’t be surprised, the installation takes a really long time because the server files still have to be downloaded. The Internet line is well stressed.
Further settings can be made in the corresponding config file. To do this, you must access the Unraid server via FTB. There you will find the configuration file under “User” →”Appdata”→”ark-se”→”Config”→”DefaultGameUserSettings.ini”. If you open this file you will find some rules which you can modify as you like.
Beginner’s Tip:
As a beginner you should set the “TamingSpeedMultiplie “r and the “HarvestAmountMultiplier” high. The “PlayerCharacterFoodDrainMultiplier” and the “PlayerCharacterWaterDrainMultiplier” should be set lower. (e.g. 0.25)
The settings become valid after a server restart. Also in case of an update the server must be restarted, then the server will be updated automatically.
Forward Ports
So that your friends can also play with you on your server, the ports must be released. By default, ports 27015 and 27020 are required. The first one has to be released as UDP and the second one as TCP. Then your friends can join you under your public IP followed by the port 27015.
With most Internet connections the IP address is changed every 24 hours and so you would have to send your friends a new IP every 24 hours. To avoid this, it is best to use a DynDNS service. For Unraid is especially suitable DuckDNS.
