How do you join a modded server?

[sSubtl🔱]

Title

[retsam1]

They're under the unofficial server tab in the dropdown menu in the bottle left of your server selection screen.

You can filter search via that and click to joing, or google and use one of the various 3rd party sites that list ark such as battlemetrics. From there you use the connect button which will start you up in steam.

From there if its your first time to your server of choice and you have not previously subscribed or downloaded mods that server uses, you will see in the bottom right of the screen and in your server browser that you'll be downloading mods for that server.

However, typically you will time out from joining the server due to still downloading mods. Just click to join again and do so each time it happens so that you get eventually all the mods they use downloaded.

From there, you'll then load into the server just like any server. If you use an SSD loading will be pretty fast but on an HDD, you may take a while due to how mods and the game loads from HDDs.

Only other points to remember: If you get a "check to make sure mods are updated" sort of message it means that server owner hasnt upated their mods yet and you'll either need to wait until they do(some times for bad owners that can be days) or move on to trying to play another server.

Also if you attempt to connect to a server from a 3rd party site and nothing comes of it, it also could be down or removed or something similar. It happens since there are over 26000+ actives at any given time.

Good luck.

[My7h]

ark-servers.net

[My7h]

arkservers.net

theres 2 links too 2 different sites for ark servers

[retsam1]

Originally posted by Kronos:

arkservers.net

theres 2 links too 2 different sites for ark servers

Battlemetrics has much better search paramter filters and there's actually more than just 2 ark server list sites btw.

[Hundezahn]

Originally posted by retsam1:

However, typically you will time out from joining the server due to still downloading mods. Just click to join again and do so each time it happens so that you get eventually all the mods they use downloaded.

This is so badly implemented... wonder how that fits with the whole "the game is MADE for modding" scheme

[retsam1]

Originally posted by Hundezahn:

Originally posted by retsam1:

However, typically you will time out from joining the server due to still downloading mods. Just click to join again and do so each time it happens so that you get eventually all the mods they use downloaded.

This is so badly implemented... wonder how that fits with the whole "the game is MADE for modding" scheme

Because you're confusing steam's Workshop architecture, a person's download speed, and more with Wildcard's game's architecture, that's why. Blame primarily steam and/or secondarily a player's ping/dl speed not Ark.

[heroicidiot]

by joining one...I don't see what's so hard about that