Trying to host a private / non dedicated, but how?

[Zenith]

My wife and I just want to play for like 45 mins to 1.5 hour or so after work, we like to just chill with us two. I used to be able to host a non dedicated server before, with it's own password.

Now I can 'host' one in theory, but if I set it to private she can't locate or join using any method we've been able to find. I've even tried going into the GameUserSettings and setting a password for the server, nada. Any advice?

[godsrad]

This link https://hub.tcno.co/games/asa/dedicated_server/ helped me out (noticed later that the port #'s were 7778 and 8888, so may want to research that, but private or public it's working now that the ports have been configured correctly. Try his troubleshooting steps on turning off the Windows Firewall on both machines, if it works, awesome. If it doesn't, sounds like more configuring; check for additional AV/Firewall software that may be blocking LAN traffic to computers on the same network.....

[godsrad]

My issue I'm having now is the server runs, i try to join from 127.0.0.1:7777 or another computer on my network and bam, same issue, shows the initial joining globe screen, then a pure black screen...server console screen never shows anything trying to connect to it, so firewall or software may be my issue as well...will re-post if I'm able to fix it....open to suggestions...

[Niopha]

Hey, I run one from my own PC as a dedicated server that's not got the crappy host tether the built in game host has.
I play with someone from across the world so you should have no problem using it to play with your wife.

Here's roughly what I did from memory to set it up.

In steam library, above your games on the left, click the drop down and select tools as well.
This shows Ark: Survival Ascended Dedicated Server
Install this wherever you want to. For me its on a different SSD on my E: drive. Adjust the below to match your install directory.

File location for me is E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server.

Create a batch file in the directory below to start the server:

Notepad:

start ArkAscendedServer.exe TheIsland_WP?listen?SessionName=SERVERNAME?ServerPassword=SERVERPASSWORD?ServerAdminPassword=ADMINPASSWORD?Port=7777?QueryPort=27015?MaxPlayers=5 -NoBattlEye
exit

Save as ServerStart.bat in the directory "E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ServerStart.bat" and make a shortcut on your desktop for convenience.

Forwarded the ports 7777 and 27015 to the pc running the server.
Allow the server exe in windows firewall. in my case E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ArkAscendedServer.exe
Same for any anti-virus you use that has a built in firewall, it'll need to be allowed.

A quick note: I had GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini missing for some reason, so I created those in:
E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsServer
Modify the config with the server settings you prefer and save.

Note: add -Mods and the mob ID to the batch file to use mods on the server. e.g.
"-Mods=1234567,1234567,1234567"

Run the batch file to start the server - once its loaded (servers boot way faster than my ASE one ever did!) you'll see the green status at the bottom.

Launch Ark and connect to your server!
Give it a couple of minutes to show up in-game.

Note: for me, no matter what I do, the server is added to my favourites it never shows under my favourites list and "Join last session" never finds the server. I have to click unofficial, search for my server and then I can connect to it this way... no idea why, but it works this way.
I run the server and the game from the same PC too.

Hopefully this helps you/someone!

[godsrad]

Thanks will try it tonight!

[PanJan]

Originally posted by Zenith:

My wife and I just want to play for like 45 mins to 1.5 hour or so after work, we like to just chill with us two. I used to be able to host a non dedicated server before, with it's own password.

Now I can 'host' one in theory, but if I set it to private she can't locate or join using any method we've been able to find. I've even tried going into the GameUserSettings and setting a password for the server, nada. Any advice?

Solution play non dedicated and just kick not wanted players just ban from host cheat menu them no other working metod actualy.

[Zenith]

Thanks, this helps out a lot. Back in the day I used Ark Server Manager to just streamline the entire thing, but this'll help out a lot! Now we can get away from joiners AND we can get rid of the tether.

[Vig]

Same finding my server Niopha.. never shows in fav`s always unofficial and search for server name... rock solid that way tho`

[Vig]

Zenith i spent weeks trying to find/connect to servers i made under ASE... I dunno where you are in the world but here in the UK i was running with my ISP`s default router. I solved my problem by buying a new ASUS router. Bang .. it port forwards every time. The ISP`s router said it did but the ports never opened.

[Niopha]

Originally posted by Zenith:

Thanks, this helps out a lot. Back in the day I used Ark Server Manager to just streamline the entire thing, but this'll help out a lot! Now we can get away from joiners AND we can get rid of the tether.

No problem, hopefully you can get it working!
I used to use Ark Server Manager too, sadly it doesn't work for Ascended as far as I know, but installing the server via steam dedicated server I described above really isn't so bad. Let us know if you get it working :)

[Zenith]

Originally posted by Niopha:

Originally posted by Zenith:

Thanks, this helps out a lot. Back in the day I used Ark Server Manager to just streamline the entire thing, but this'll help out a lot! Now we can get away from joiners AND we can get rid of the tether.

No problem, hopefully you can get it working!
I used to use Ark Server Manager too, sadly it doesn't work for Ascended as far as I know, but installing the server via steam dedicated server I described above really isn't so bad. Let us know if you get it working :)

The server works fine, but I'm having an issue getting OptimizedHarvestingHealth turned off (it's not in gameusersettings.ini by default, and adding it and =False didn't fix it), and then, ctrl + c didn't close the server command prompt window either. And clicking the X deletes our characters, we're lowbies so no big deal but I'd like to find a safe method to close the server without losing our characters

[Niopha]

Originally posted by Zenith:

Originally posted by Niopha:

No problem, hopefully you can get it working!
I used to use Ark Server Manager too, sadly it doesn't work for Ascended as far as I know, but installing the server via steam dedicated server I described above really isn't so bad. Let us know if you get it working :)

The server works fine, but I'm having an issue getting OptimizedHarvestingHealth turned off (it's not in gameusersettings.ini by default, and adding it and =False didn't fix it), and then, ctrl + c didn't close the server command prompt window either. And clicking the X deletes our characters, we're lowbies so no big deal but I'd like to find a safe method to close the server without losing our characters

Hmm, not sure I've really played around with the optimized harvesting health. I have our rates set really high because I enjoy building random stuff so I use

HarvestAmountMultiplier=15
HarvestHealthMultiplier=5

under GameUserSettings.ini specifically under the [ServerSettings] section, try tweaking those to find what you're looking for.

As for closing the server, I've never had that problem - what is your auto save period set to? Mine's set to save every 10 minutes.

Under the same section in GameUserSettings.ini
AutoSavePeriodMinutes=10

or admin save the world and you should see the save in directory:

Steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server\ShooterGame\Saved\SavedArks\TheIsland_WP

As far as I know that's everything from tribe, character and world data.

[Niopha]

I'm glad you got it working! and shutting the server down before it could save explains it! haha

As for mods, I don't put them in the gameusersettings or anything, I just add -mods to my batch file, at the end. This is mine without server name/passwords:

start ArkAscendedServer.exe TheIsland_WP?listen?SessionName=name?ServerPassword=password?ServerAdminPassword=adminpassword?Port=7777?QueryPort=27015?MaxPlayers=5 -NoBattlEye -ForceAllowCaveFlyers -Mods=929110,928708,933489,928621,928728,926956,916922,914844,912902,900062,929578,930347,932953
exit

This works for me, not sure what else that could be. All I do when adding a new mod is add it to the list.

Edit: the formatting of that in steam looks weird, but just to be clear there are no spaces after the "-" so it reads "-Mods=number,number,number" etc. I don't think it's case sensitive but you could try it?

[Zenith]

Originally posted by Niopha:

I'm glad you got it working! and shutting the server down before it could save explains it! haha

As for mods, I don't put them in the gameusersettings or anything, I just add -mods to my batch file, at the end. This is mine without server name/passwords:

start ArkAscendedServer.exe TheIsland_WP?listen?SessionName=name?ServerPassword=password?ServerAdminPassword=adminpassword?Port=7777?QueryPort=27015?MaxPlayers=5 -NoBattlEye -ForceAllowCaveFlyers -Mods=929110,928708,933489,928621,928728,926956,916922,914844,912902,900062,929578,930347,932953
exit

This works for me, not sure what else that could be. All I do when adding a new mod is add it to the list.

Edit: the formatting of that in steam looks weird, but just to be clear there are no spaces after the "-" so it reads "-Mods=number,number,number" etc. I don't think it's case sensitive but you could try it?

Alright, I've successfully got the server up; I've got the server running and saving every 10 minutes. Mods are running. Everything's clear, except Admin controls.

Did you run into any issues with that? The server password I had set in the batch file and gameusersettings.ini works just fine, but I can't make myself admin using enablecheats xxx (Where ServerAdminPassword would go). Any tips?

[Zenith]

Originally posted by Zenith:

Originally posted by Niopha:

I'm glad you got it working! and shutting the server down before it could save explains it! haha

As for mods, I don't put them in the gameusersettings or anything, I just add -mods to my batch file, at the end. This is mine without server name/passwords:

start ArkAscendedServer.exe TheIsland_WP?listen?SessionName=name?ServerPassword=password?ServerAdminPassword=adminpassword?Port=7777?QueryPort=27015?MaxPlayers=5 -NoBattlEye -ForceAllowCaveFlyers -Mods=929110,928708,933489,928621,928728,926956,916922,914844,912902,900062,929578,930347,932953
exit

This works for me, not sure what else that could be. All I do when adding a new mod is add it to the list.

Edit: the formatting of that in steam looks weird, but just to be clear there are no spaces after the "-" so it reads "-Mods=number,number,number" etc. I don't think it's case sensitive but you could try it?

Alright, I've successfully got the server up; I've got the server running and saving every 10 minutes. Mods are running. Everything's clear, except Admin controls.

Did you run into any issues with that? The server password I had set in the batch file and gameusersettings.ini works just fine, but I can't make myself admin using enablecheats xxx (Where ServerAdminPassword would go). Any tips?

CANCEL THAT. It's officially 100% up and running. I have no idea why I couldn't use admin access but it may have been something along this line - I had the original server name with a space in it, but it would only use the first word. After correctly including the two word server name in quotations, "XX XX", now the 'enablecheats XXX' works just fine.

I can only assume that was the issue. But regardless, thank you for all your help - I now have the server running, mods running, admin access, the whole shebang.

I do have a question, and this often up to the individual's ISP and their own network settings - Do you have any idea, maybe the most common answer as to why someone would time out when attempting to join a server? They say the mods are all installed and it attempts to join, it just times out. Outside of being in front of their PC I'm not sure there's a lot I can do besides referencing google lol

[Platvia12]

Originally posted by Niopha:

Hey, I run one from my own PC as a dedicated server that's not got the crappy host tether the built in game host has.
I play with someone from across the world so you should have no problem using it to play with your wife.

Here's roughly what I did from memory to set it up.

In steam library, above your games on the left, click the drop down and select tools as well.
This shows Ark: Survival Ascended Dedicated Server
Install this wherever you want to. For me its on a different SSD on my E: drive. Adjust the below to match your install directory.

File location for me is E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server.

Create a batch file in the directory below to start the server:

Notepad:

start ArkAscendedServer.exe TheIsland_WP?listen?SessionName=SERVERNAME?ServerPassword=SERVERPASSWORD?ServerAdminPassword=ADMINPASSWORD?Port=7777?QueryPort=27015?MaxPlayers=5 -NoBattlEye
exit

Save as ServerStart.bat in the directory "E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ServerStart.bat" and make a shortcut on your desktop for convenience.

Forwarded the ports 7777 and 27015 to the pc running the server.
Allow the server exe in windows firewall. in my case E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64\ArkAscendedServer.exe
Same for any anti-virus you use that has a built in firewall, it'll need to be allowed.

A quick note: I had GameUserSettings.ini and Game.ini missing for some reason, so I created those in:
E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Ascended Dedicated Server\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsServer
Modify the config with the server settings you prefer and save.

Note: add -Mods and the mob ID to the batch file to use mods on the server. e.g.
"-Mods=1234567,1234567,1234567"

Run the batch file to start the server - once its loaded (servers boot way faster than my ASE one ever did!) you'll see the green status at the bottom.

Launch Ark and connect to your server!
Give it a couple of minutes to show up in-game.

Note: for me, no matter what I do, the server is added to my favourites it never shows under my favourites list and "Join last session" never finds the server. I have to click unofficial, search for my server and then I can connect to it this way... no idea why, but it works this way.
I run the server and the game from the same PC too.

Hopefully this helps you/someone!

I followed this exact guide and got my server working, however my friend always gets the ''connection timed out' error when trying to join. The .exe is exempted from my firewall, the ports 7777/7778/27015/27020 are open for my LAN host adress. I don't know what the problem could be anymore. Everything is as it was for my ark:se server but for some reason it just doesn't work. Would you maybe know a fix?