Best server hosting company?

[John the hun]

Hello

I am looking for a good server hosting for ARK.
I am fairly new to that whole thing, so I hope you guys can help me clarify some things.

- Which server hosting company is best in terms of stability / up-time?

- What is the difference between dedicated server hosting and unofficial servers?

- What is the most important server specs for an ARK server? (I hear a lot about powerful single-threaded CPU's)

- What is the best company if I wish to run two or three maps in a "cluster" with cross-travel (Island, SE and Center) ? and how does this change the price?

- Which server hosting companys offer REAL servers, and not "Virtual servers" (where you have like 6 servers running off the same machiine)
And is virtual server really that bad?

- I would also like a server hosting where it is very easy to configure the server settings. Everything from which dinos spawn to XP-rates, egg hatching and all that. Including which dinos are allowed to be tamed, which dinos spawn.. things like that. Building restrictions and so on - you get the idea.

- Also, the server must be placed in Europa. Preferably Germany, as it is the most central location.

Thank you in advance.

[GobboKirk]

We've been using https://www.gtxgaming.co.uk/ since launch.
Been very happy with them. Got locations in EU/US/AUS.
Very good control panel with full access to the files.

[Lock-in]

Hi John

I recommend ServerBlend[serverblend.com]

To answer your questions:
- You can see their 100% up-time here[uptime.serverblend.com], if you ever do go down, they have an SLA so you'l be credited for anything under 99.9%!

- Dedicated server hosting and unofficial servers are basically the same, as an unofficial server can be a dedicated server, however they can also be a virtual server. An unofficial server is just a type of ARK server.

- Fast single threaded CPU is mainly only important for servers that can't multi thread, if the game server can multi thread, slower cores are fine too. Aslong as its say above 2.5ghz you'l be fine for ARK. There will of course be some improvement with a faster CPU, but you may not even notice it. It depends how active your server is. You can choose your CPU with ServerBlend custom game servers, and can upgrade at any time as your community grows!

- ServerBlend offers clustering, when you cluster, you're just running a second (or third) etc server which are then all put together. So the price is pretty much the same as buying a second. ServerBlend offers a 5% discount on the first cluster, and bigger discounts on more

- ServerBlend game servers are all hosted on dedicated servers, no virtual machines involved. Although do note that all game server hosts run with multiple game servers on the same machine. Depending on the host, its either multiple on a dedicated server or virtual server.
For game servers virtual machines are generally bad as of how demanding game servers can be, although it depends what speed it is and where its purchased. I would recommend sticking to dedicated hosted game servers

- ServerBlend has a configuration editor for all the server settings, so just tick boxes etc for most settings, super easy. Or a simple text editor for other settings, although they'l help with anything that's not in the config editor. You can use ARK remote here too. They also have 1 click install and updating of Workshop mods!

- ServerBlend can provide ARK servers in France or Germany in the EU. Other locations in the US too

They also have a best price guarantee and backed by lots of positive reviews.

Full disclosure, I do work for ServerBlend. But everything above is truthful and hopefully shows our knowledge and experience here :)

[Keno]

If you happen to have a sufficiënt amount of RAM, CPU power and a good internet connection, you could try and set up a server on your own machine using ARK Server Manager .

This way, running one or more servers won't cost you a dime. Downside ofcourse is that you'll need to keep your computer running if you want to allow other players to continue playing when you're afk. If you think of it that way, you'll pay a small surplus on your electricity bill, but that's it. ;)

[Nabbs1]

I used hosthavoc .. they were awesome

[eliteangler]

Originally posted by Turbs:

Hi John

I recommend ServerBlend[serverblend.com]

To answer your questions:
- You can see their 100% up-time here[uptime.serverblend.com], if you ever do go down, they have an SLA so you'l be credited for anything under 99.9%!

- Dedicated server hosting and unofficial servers are basically the same, as an unofficial server can be a dedicated server, however they can also be a virtual server. An unofficial server is just a type of ARK server.

- Fast single threaded CPU is mainly only important for servers that can't multi thread, if the game server can multi thread, slower cores are fine too. Aslong as its say above 2.5ghz you'l be fine for ARK. There will of course be some improvement with a faster CPU, but you may not even notice it. It depends how active your server is. You can choose your CPU with ServerBlend custom game servers, and can upgrade at any time as your community grows!

- ServerBlend offers clustering, when you cluster, you're just running a second (or third) etc server which are then all put together. So the price is pretty much the same as buying a second. ServerBlend offers a 5% discount on the first cluster, and bigger discounts on more

- ServerBlend game servers are all hosted on dedicated servers, no virtual machines involved. Although do note that all game server hosts run with multiple game servers on the same machine. Depending on the host, its either multiple on a dedicated server or virtual server.
For game servers virtual machines are generally bad as of how demanding game servers can be, although it depends what speed it is and where its purchased. I would recommend sticking to dedicated hosted game servers

- ServerBlend has a configuration editor for all the server settings, so just tick boxes etc for most settings, super easy. Or a simple text editor for other settings, although they'l help with anything that's not in the config editor. You can use ARK remote here too. They also have 1 click install and updating of Workshop mods!

- ServerBlend can provide ARK servers in France or Germany in the EU. Other locations in the US too

They also have a best price guarantee and backed by lots of positive reviews.

Full disclosure, I do work for ServerBlend. But everything above is truthful and hopefully shows our knowledge and experience here :)

Add me here on Steam and let's talk.

[Nabbs1]

I still say host havoc

[MogaPapi]

Originally posted by cylon8:

if you want a server company that has that level of ease of access i would reccoment survival servers. they have a control panel that allows you to customize everything and access to ini via ftp. the only drawback right now is you can only host 2 maps on a cluster and they must be official maps not custom (yet.) currently a 20 slot single server is 22$us. They charge a one time fee for clustering (another 22$). You can upgrade slot numbers at anytime. My ping on their serves never goes above 60

I went with then and i been having nothing but problems. It keeps on kicking us out for no reason. The server keeps on loosing connection. I'm currently looking for another host.

[DJBtheGamer]

I highly reccomend https://arkservers.io/ pay $14 bucks a month for a single server wih 60 slots, my ping never goes above 60 and they have several server locations, including germany.
and they support clusters, which are an extra $14 a month per server, so a 3 server cluster (Island Center SE) would be $44 a month, and on top of it all, they have amazingly easy to access server settings with a huge control panel with pretty much every setting imaginable, they also have a 24 hour free server trial, where you get full access to a server and you can see how good the ping is, and how many settings they have, and you dont even have to create an account or anter any payment method, you just start the trial.

Ps. they also have one click mod installs for the server.

[Letoric]

If you can deal with the work involved in setting up your own environment, and the cost, I recommend OVH. They give you a server, you configure it to host what you want. It requires more technical expertise, but in the end, you get what you pay for.

**Note I do not work for, or have any financial relation to OVH other than occasionally renting servers from them. A lot of these responses seem like they are pawns of the hosting companies, so be careful what you trust**

[MogaPapi]

I just went with Havoc Host. So far so good. I had question about the set up and the replayed to my ticked in less then 1 hour. i got the deal of 30 spots for 15$ https://hosthavoc.com/games.php

[BAHAAMOT]

For all still searching, I tried several.

Survival Servers which were ok or even more than ok, also host-unlimited and one or two more...all more or less the same

Nc1 is a big scam! I can only warn everyone, don't rent from them! My Server was gone from one day to the other and they never replied to any ticket or E-Mail. You pay, Server dissappears and they dont care. Seems almost criminal to me...


I can only recommend the guys from server-blend to everyone! Their Support is just crazy good. Clearly the best one i've gone for so far. I was stunned there are companies with such a good service nowadays

[John the hun]

Originally posted by Bahaamot:

I can only recommend the guys from server-blend to everyone! Their Support is just crazy good. Clearly the best one i've gone for so far. I was stunned there are companies with such a good service nowadays

I ended up using Serverblend aswell. Super service.

Sadly had to stop cuz it turns out im poor xD

[Slaytanic]

I use arkservers.io $14 a month for 60 slots never had any issues super easy to setup and install mods etc if you use my referral link you will get the first month free as well https://arkservers.io/r/baxsbt

[-AKEVA-BANSHEE-]

Originally posted by Mogabie:

I just went with Havoc Host. So far so good. I had question about the set up and the replayed to my ticked in less then 1 hour. i got the deal of 30 spots for 15$ but stopped service a few months later. DO NOT USE HOST HAVOC IF YOU ARE A SERIOUS MOD USER.

I canceled my with host havoc due to their server setup being not as customizable as I need. As well as long lines of code can cause lag if not fommated properly on the sideof the hosting company. if you plan on running S+, Automated Ark, plus 20+ other mods do not use this host. Besides that the amount of micromanaging gets insane.

I now use SurvivalServers much less headache and their friendly to use setup has lowed server downtime by half when editing ini values. Besides host havoc did not have the ability to autoupdate one mod instead of all of them evertime.

https://www.survivalservers.com/services/game_servers/ark_survival_evolved/

[DreamAngelCore]

DO NOT use Logic Servers! PLEASE The service was not great and when I cancelled everything to go elsewhere they told me the $52 credit I had on my account was for "store credit" when NOWHERE on the site, including when I put the credit in there, does it say that. They sent me an invoice, and I put the money in that way. To me that means it was to go towards a product I then cancelled