ARK: Survival Evolved Dedicated Server Hosting 2026

ARK: Survival Evolved remains one of the most popular survival games despite being the older version. It's well-optimized, has thousands of mods, and a massive active community. Hosting a dedicated ASE server is more affordable than ASA — here's everything you need to know.

ARK: Survival Evolved vs ARK: Survival Ascended

ASE (Survival Evolved) runs on Unreal Engine 4 and is significantly lighter on resources than the newer ASA (Survival Ascended, UE5). If you want:

• Lower server costs — ASE wins, needs half the RAM of ASA
• More mod selection — ASE has years of Steam Workshop mods
• Better server stability — ASE is battle-tested after years of patches
• Best graphics/newer content — ASA is the way to go

Many communities still prefer ASE for its performance and the sheer volume of available mods.

RAM Requirements for ARK: Survival Evolved

Players	Setup	Recommended RAM
2–10	Vanilla, single map	6 GB
10–20	Vanilla, single map	8 GB
20+	Modded	10–12 GB
Cluster (multiple maps)	Per map	6–8 GB each

ASE is significantly less RAM-hungry than ASA. A 6 GB instance handles a small-to-medium vanilla server comfortably.

Steam Workshop Mods on ASE Servers

ASE uses Steam Workshop for mods. Adding mods to a dedicated server:

1. Find the mod ID on Steam Workshop (it's in the URL: ?id=XXXXXXX)
2. Add the ID to your GameUserSettings.ini:

   ActiveMods=731604991,566885854,1404697612
   

3. The server will automatically download mods on startup
4. Restart the server after adding new mods

Popular ASE mods in 2026:

• Structures Plus (S+) — Building quality of life, used on nearly every server
• Awesome SpyGlass — View stats on dinos and players
• Death Recovery Mod — Retrieve your inventory after death
• Dino Storage v2 — Soul orbs to store dinos efficiently
• Ultra Stacks — Increased item stack sizes

ASE Server Configuration

Key settings in GameUserSettings.ini:

[ServerSettings]
ServerPassword=yourpassword
MaxPlayers=20
DifficultyOffset=1.0
XPMultiplier=2.0
TamingSpeedMultiplier=5.0
HarvestAmountMultiplier=3.0
AllowFlyerCarryPvE=True
ServerCrosshair=True

Performance-focused settings:

[/Script/ShooterGame.ShooterGameMode]
bDisableStructureDecayPvE=False

Startup command flags worth knowing:

-NoBattlEye -noundermeshkilling -noantispeedhack -useallavailablecores

Cluster Setup for ASE

A cluster allows players to transfer characters, dinos, and items between maps. This is what keeps communities on multiple maps active.

To cluster two maps (e.g., The Island + Ragnarok):

• Run two separate server instances
• Both need to use the same ClusterDirOverride path
• Or use the same -clusterid=YOURID launch parameter
• Both instances need the same ClusterID in GameUserSettings.ini

[ServerSettings]
ClusterID=myrenzomcluster

Each map needs its own query port, game port, and RCON port — no two instances can share ports.

Renzom ARK: Survival Evolved Hosting

Renzom offers ARK: Survival Evolved servers from €10.60/month on EU hardware in Falkenstein, Germany.

What's included:

• Full file manager access for mod and config management
• Steam Workshop mod auto-download on startup
• Easy GameUserSettings.ini editing in the panel
• Daily restart scheduling
• DDoS mitigation on the Hetzner EU backbone

Configure your ASE server →

Summary

ARK: Survival Evolved is a proven, affordable hosting option with a huge mod ecosystem. Start with 6–8 GB RAM for a vanilla server, add more if you're running a heavy mod pack. EU-based hosting keeps latency low for European players, and mods auto-download from Steam Workshop on startup.

Start your ARK: Survival Evolved server on Renzom →