Setting Up an ARK: Survival Evolved Server

Step 1 — Install SteamCMD

add-apt-repository multiverse -y
dpkg --add-architecture i386
apt update
apt install steamcmd lib32gcc-s1 -y

Step 2 — Download ARK Server Files

adduser steam && su - steam
steamcmd +force_install_dir ~/arkserver +login anonymous +app_update 376030 validate +quit

Note: ARK is approximately 15–20 GB. This may take a while.

Step 3 — Create a Startup Script

nano ~/start-ark.sh

#!/bin/bash
cd ~/arkserver/ShooterGame/Binaries/Linux
./ShooterGameServer "TheIsland?listen?MaxPlayers=20?ServerPassword=yourpassword?ServerAdminPassword=adminpass"   -server -log -port=7777 -queryport=27015

chmod +x ~/start-ark.sh

Step 4 — Configure Game Settings

nano ~/arkserver/ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini

Add under [ServerSettings]:

XPMultiplier=2.0
TamingSpeedMultiplier=5.0
HarvestAmountMultiplier=2.0
DifficultyOffset=1.0

Step 5 — Open Firewall Ports

ufw allow 7777/udp
ufw allow 7778/udp
ufw allow 27015/udp

Step 6 — Start the Server

screen -S ark ~/start-ark.sh

Available Maps

Replace TheIsland with: ScorchedEarth_P, Ragnarok, Aberration_P, Extinction, Genesis, CrystalIsles.