Stuck on "Joining server"

[Uhtred4K]

I am trying to join any server from official servers to my own nitrado server, but when I click join it sits on the server page saying "Joining <server name>" infinitely and i then have to alt + f4 to get off the game. I have waited up to an hour and there is no change. I don't even get an error message...

I have looked everywhere for solutions such as changing my time/date, verifying the integrity of files and even uninstalling and reinstalling the game but nothing works.

Sometimes it will just randomly let me into a server but this is becoming more rare now.
Any help would be brilliant as this is really bugging me..
Thanks :))

[wildbill]

This sounds like the game is actually locking up, which is similar to a crash. In other words, it isn't really the joining that fails, it is that the game just stops working at that point and has to be terminated.

I've seen this at character creation. In that case, using the Launch Option of -dx11 would get it past the character creation and into the game. This option disables many of the features of Direct X version 12 that are not in version 11. This is the Windows graphics driver. The performance of the game is much worse under -dx11 though, so is likely to give you very low FPS, so not suitable as a permanent fix, but points to a possible problem with your graphics driver. You might want to check that it has been upgraded to the latest version. You can try the -dx11 as a test to see if it allows you to join a server.

If you don't know about launch options, in your library, right click on ARK: Survival Ascended and select properties. Scroll down to where you can enter the Launch Options.

[Uhtred4K]

I don't think it's locking up as i can still access the options menu by pressing esc.. probably should've added that in. At first that is what i thought but i'm not too sure now. Its just the joining screen stops allowing me to access anything else so i have to end up quitting the game to actually do anything if you understand?

[Uhtred4K]

i will still try this anyway just in case :))

[Uhtred4K]

yeah doesn't work, the background is also moving so it isn't crashing at all
But thanks anyway for the suggestion :)

[Martin]

First I'd restart my pc.
Then verify game files.
Then reset to default settings in the game.
If still doing it. Scream and punch things.

[LipSlicker]

Alright, I've resolved the issue—at least for myself. I dedicated days speaking with my ISP (BT) regarding the problem, yet they ended up attributing it to either the game or me. We attempted disabling Parental Controls, which didn't fix the issue. However, a breakthrough came when I tinkered with my BT account settings. I left Parental Controls enabled but adjusted the filter by turning off all the categories, and lo and behold, the game began working flawlessly ever since.

[Uhtred4K]

i will try this, only thing that ive found that sounds promising..

[Uhtred4K]

it doesnt seem to be this as i can sometimes join the server and sometimes i cant. Usually when i play a different game before hand then load up ark and join the server it works. Im not sure if that is a coincidence but it seems to happen. Its really weird...

[Uhtred4K]

I updated the game last night, and after i was able to join servers. I have now just loaded the game up again and the problem has wriggled its way back... WHYYYY??!!!!

[Martin]

Sounds like something is updating externally and cutting you off. Firewall? Anti Virus? Isp? You don't have Norton installed do you?

[Uhtred4K]

Yeah i was just thinking that... and yes i do have Norton installed, could it be something to do with that?

[Uhtred4K]

Still no luck with anything, sometimes i can join sometimes i cant...

[Brownegg1]

It wont let me do anything at all either and it is really getting on my nerves

[StarDusty]

i have the same problem, whenever i try joining a server the game gets stuck on the joining server screen

[Supras]

Same