UPDATED 2026 · UNREAL ENGINE 5

How to Play ARK: Survival Ascended With Friends

Connecting to an Ascended server works differently to the old Survival Evolved setup — here’s exactly what’s changed and how to actually get everyone in.

Before you start

Ascended uses separate game and query ports

Unlike a lot of games, ARK: Survival Ascended splits its networking into two distinct ports — a game port (default 7777) that players actually connect through, and a query port (default 27015) the server browser uses to list your server publicly. Both need forwarding if you’re self-hosting, and both need to be correct in your host’s panel if you’re renting. Get this wrong and you’ll usually see “server not responding” even though it’s genuinely running fine.

Step by step

Getting everyone connected

1
Get the server running first
Whether you’re renting or self-hosting, the server needs to be fully up before anyone tries to join. If you’re setting one up yourself for the first time, our server settings guide covers the config files you’ll need to touch.
2
Find your connection details
You need the server’s IP address and game port (not the query port). On a rented host this is shown directly in your control panel; self-hosting, it’s whatever public IP your connection has plus the port you set with the -port= launch argument.
3
Search the in-game server browser, or connect directly
From the main menu, go to Join ARK → Unofficial and search by session name. New or reconfigured servers can take 5–10 minutes to appear in the browser due to how Epic Online Services propagates the listing — if it’s not showing up yet, use Direct Connect with the IP and game port instead to confirm the server itself is reachable while the browser catches up.
4
Check crossplay filters if playing across platforms
If your group spans PC and console, make sure nobody has a platform-lock filter switched on in the server browser — it’s a common reason a server that’s genuinely crossplay-enabled still doesn’t show up for everyone.
5
Still can’t connect?
The most common self-hosting blocker is CGNAT — if your public IP doesn’t match your router’s WAN IP, port forwarding won’t work no matter how it’s configured, and a rented server sidesteps the problem entirely. Our troubleshooting guide covers this and the other common connection failures in detail.
Once everyone’s in

Mods sync automatically — nobody needs to install anything themselves

If the server is running mods, players connecting don’t need to track them down separately — the client auto-downloads whatever the server advertises, based on the mod IDs in its ActiveMods list. Server owners still need to install those mods on their end first, and our mods guide covers exactly how. Once you’re ready to actually run the server, admins will also want our admin commands guide to manage things day-to-day.

FAQ

Connecting to an Ascended server — common questions

New or recently reconfigured servers can take 5-10 minutes to appear due to how the listing propagates. Try Direct Connect with the IP and game port in the meantime to confirm the server itself is reachable.
The game port (default 7777) is what players actually connect through. The query port (default 27015) is what the server browser uses to list and ping your server publicly. Both need to be correctly configured, but players only ever need the game port to connect directly.
No, Ascended supports crossplay between PC, Xbox and PlayStation on a properly configured server. Just make sure no one has a platform-lock filter enabled in the server browser, which can hide a genuinely crossplay-enabled server from other platforms.
No, the client automatically downloads and activates whatever mods the server is running when they connect. Only the server owner needs to install mods directly, covered in our mods guide.
If you’re self-hosting, CGNAT is the most common blocker — if your public IP doesn’t match your router’s WAN IP, no port forwarding configuration will fix it. Our troubleshooting guide covers this and other common causes in detail.
Keep reading

More ARK: Survival Ascended guides

Server Settings GuideGameUserSettings.ini & Game.ini Mods ExplainedCurseForge, ActiveMods & more Admin CommandsEnable cheats & manage your server Free HostingTrial before you commit Best ARK: Survival Ascended Hosting UKCompare all providers
About the author
Linus — author at Game Server Hosting
Linus GSH Founder

SEO & Digital Marketer · Avid survival gamer · Sweden/UK

I'm an avid gamer from Sweden with a lot of time spent in England in the last 5 years who loves survival games — ARK, Palworld, Valheim, Sons of the Forest, V Rising and plenty of WoW and Dota 2 on the side. I created this site to help other gamers find the best server hosting without wasting money on laggy providers.

By day I work in SEO and Google Ads, helping businesses rank and convert. I've been hosting game servers since the Minecraft + Hamachi LAN days and have learned the hard way what separates a good host from a bad one. Every ranking on this site is based on real testing and price-to-performance — no paid placements.

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