How to create private server to play with friends

[Alastor's Alibi]

I know its dumb question but I've only ever played single player. Finally convinced my friend to try out this great game

[KippenKaasBaas]

More than one way to do it.
Simple way is to host a co-op server. Just select it in the main menu and invite your friend.
The down side to this is that your friend can't play if your not there and he can't be far away from you in game.
You could also just find a public server.

Nice profile pic btw.

[Alastor's Alibi]

Originally posted by KippenKaasBaas:

More than one way to do it.
Simple way is to host a co-op server. Just select it in the main menu and invite your friend.
The down side to this is that your friend can't play if your not there and he can't be far away from you in game.
You could also just find a public server.

Nice profile pic btw.

Cool I think Ill just find a public server. Its just that I didnt play in an official server in the first place cuz I wont log in very frequently so Im worried that my character would just randomly get yeeted out of existence,

And thanks lmao

[KippenKaasBaas]

Originally posted by Zireael:

Originally posted by KippenKaasBaas:

More than one way to do it.
Simple way is to host a co-op server. Just select it in the main menu and invite your friend.
The down side to this is that your friend can't play if your not there and he can't be far away from you in game.
You could also just find a public server.

Nice profile pic btw.

Cool I think Ill just find a public server. Its just that I didnt play in an official server in the first place cuz I wont log in very frequently so Im worried that my character would just randomly get yeeted out of existence,

And thanks lmao

Stay very far away from the hell that is official server Ark.

[Liralen]

You can also make your own dedicated server. See https://arkservermanager.freeforums.net/thread/5193/downloads for example, although certainly you can make a dedicated server without it if you know how.

With a dedicated server, your friend would not be limited to being near you nor even need to have your character to be online as long as you keep the server running. There are also some bugs in the solo game that carry over to a non-dedicated server (i.e, via the method mentioned earlier).

[Liralen]

Originally posted by KippenKaasBaas:

Originally posted by Zireael:

Cool I think Ill just find a public server. Its just that I didnt play in an official server in the first place cuz I wont log in very frequently so Im worried that my character would just randomly get yeeted out of existence,

And thanks lmao

Stay very far away from the hell that is official server Ark.

I second that advice.

[Alastor's Alibi]

Originally posted by KippenKaasBaas:

Originally posted by Zireael:

Cool I think Ill just find a public server. Its just that I didnt play in an official server in the first place cuz I wont log in very frequently so Im worried that my character would just randomly get yeeted out of existence,

And thanks lmao

Stay very far away from the hell that is official server Ark.

Okay but why tho

[KippenKaasBaas]

Originally posted by Zireael:

Originally posted by KippenKaasBaas:

Stay very far away from the hell that is official server Ark.

Okay but why tho

Wildcard is not that good at server management.
Also every official server is inhabited by toxic ''alpha'' tribes who hunt down any compeditors.
You most likely won't last more than a few hours before you and all you own is destoyed.
Also they made sure you can't build in anywhere.

[Liralen]

Originally posted by Zireael:

Originally posted by KippenKaasBaas:

Stay very far away from the hell that is official server Ark.

Okay but why tho

Operating a server requires active involvement from the server operator to make people play nice. Even if the server is PvE only, there are still ways to grief other players, like consuming all the buildable space.

[Liralen]

Look here to find a server that meets your preferred playstyle, or post with your preferences.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/346110/discussions/10/

Edited Note: These servers are run by other players. If the server operator goes on vacation, you may not be able to play if an update occurs that causes a client/server mismatch. It could get much worse than that.

[Noeat]

Originally posted by Zireael:

Originally posted by KippenKaasBaas:

Stay very far away from the hell that is official server Ark.

Okay but why tho

wheb u will play on offi, ut take some time untill u will find place to build
on other hand, ur sure server will be live and they dont shut it down next day, or next week, next month.. or after half year.
with unofficial u never know
and on unoffi u will run into more bugs, because mods.. any update can broke whole unoffi server, because collisions between official content / update and mods.

both have pros and cons
at unoffi servers u have higher rates, even pay2win content, where u can pay real money for ingame packages with high lvl dinos, Bluperints, mats, items..
on offi server u dont, but ur sure u will find that server tomorrow

[MacDeltaOne]

Originally posted by Noeat:

even pay2win content, where u can pay real money for ingame packages with high lvl dinos, Bluperints, mats, items..
on offi server u dont, but ur sure u will find that server tomorrow

You definitely have pay2win on Official servers. You can buy anything with IRL money, top of line dinos that have been bred for years, saddle bps, weapon and armor bps, mats, structures, boss fights and ascensions. You can even buy pre made bases with everything. Pearl Caves sell for a lot of money. Probably more pay2win on Official than Unofficial, especially since Official clusters have been around for many years. There are a few Trader organizations on every Official Cluster since selling Ark assets is very profitable.

[Noeat]

Originally posted by MacDeltaOne:

Originally posted by Noeat:

even pay2win content, where u can pay real money for ingame packages with high lvl dinos, Bluperints, mats, items..
on offi server u dont, but ur sure u will find that server tomorrow

You definitely have pay2win on Official servers. You can buy anything with IRL money, top of line dinos that have been bred for years, saddle bps, weapon and armor bps, mats, structures, boss fights and ascensions. You can even buy pre made bases with everything. Pearl Caves sell for a lot of money. Probably more pay2win on Official than Unofficial, especially since Official clusters have been around for many years. There are a few Trader organizations on every Official Cluster since selling Ark assets is very profitable.

nope.. offi isnt and cant be P2W
its even against CoC

[MacDeltaOne]

Originally posted by Noeat:

nope.. offi isnt and cant be P2W
its even against CoC

Well, you clearly play on Official but are unaware of Alpha tribe life. If you were, you would know about Traders and the underground market of selling Ark assets, which have been going on for many years. No one cares it is against the TOS. They use Discord and avoid talking about it in public chat so Bobs have no clue and they don't get reported and banned.

[Noeat]

Originally posted by MacDeltaOne:

Originally posted by Noeat:

nope.. offi isnt and cant be P2W
its even against CoC

Well, you clearly play on Official but are unaware of Alpha tribe life. If you were, you would know about Traders and the underground market of selling Ark assets, which have been going on for many years. No one cares it is against the TOS. They use Discord and avoid talking about it in public chat so Bobs have no clue and they don't get reported and banned.

even when ppl steal it dont means its legal and is better help them steal more or support them

[retsam1]

Originally posted by Zireael:

Originally posted by KippenKaasBaas:

Stay very far away from the hell that is official server Ark.

Okay but why tho

The 1300ish Official servers have their issues due in part to how Wildcard intentionally wishes for them to be maintained and the types of people that they attract to play on them. That's not to say there aren't great people on official servers but the evidence is compelling that there are lots of frustrations to be had on official servers that you can take a few hours and search 5 full years of complaints about that are almost found weekly on here.

By contrast there are 60,000+ unofficial servers(where the majority of the player base play on) which have all manner of choices to be had in relation to settings, communities, mods and more. Many are pro-actively policed by their owners(vs re-actively otherwise).

Another factor and flaw to ark is ecocide. Most tend to not try to play on congested servers since instead of dodging dinos rocks and trees on low population maps, you're dodging mall sized bases, pillars, and dino parking lots just to find spots to place fires on. Also the more built over the less things spawn including resources and dinos of course.

At any rate, use a website like battlemetrics and take the time to find a community server that best fits you and your friend. Good hunting.