Running a dedicated server on a second machine.

[EmoKyl0Ren]

I have a dedicated server set up, everything is working 100%, port forwarded, the works. A few of us have been playing on it for a few days. Yesterday I thought I would try to start running the server on it's own machine so I copied all my ark files, threw them on the machine, changed the port forward setting to the IP of that machine and launched the server on it... and nothing. No matter what I do, if I run it on the machine I am playing on it works fine, on the other one the server starts up and all looks well but I just can't find it in game.

Anyone have any advice? Is it maybe because I just copied and didn't do a steam backup and then restore on the machine I want to run the server on?

To answer some potential questions :

Yes I am sure the port forwarding is perfect, if I just change the ip on the port forward and run it on my other machine then it works fine and I can find it.

The "server" machine I want to run it on :

Intel i3 3.3GHz
Geforce GTX 660 GTI
8Gb Ram
Windows 8.1

And yes I have checked the firewall.

Any help or advice on what to check appreciated!

[Zerim]

Lots of game servers don't place nicely when trying to access them internally, i.e., you might need to use the internal IP of the server to log into it; try setting it up and seeing if your friends can access it even if you can't. I'm not sure this applies to Steam or Ark in particular, but hey \o/

[Ghosticus]

Yeah, look into setting up a dedicated server a bit more. You can't just copy files over. Especially for dedicated servers, you'll most likely need to use SteamCMD to install and update Ark on your second computer.

[Chesty La'Rou]

Originally posted by Ghost:

Yeah, look into setting up a dedicated server a bit more. You can't just copy files over. Especially for dedicated servers, you'll most likely need to use SteamCMD to install and update Ark on your second computer.

If you want to run a server on a 2nd machine and you don't want to use SteamCMD. Just install the steam client on the 2nd PC and then connect to your account. Authorize the new PC to use your library (You can log into it from both PC's at the same time). Then just download the ARK dedicated server like you did on your original PC. After is it done downloading. Copy over your .bat launcher to the "Steam\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Evolved Dedicated Server\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64" folder and then copy your saved ARK info from the original server to the folder "Steam\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Evolved Dedicated Server\ShooterGame" onto the new machine. Fire it up and you should be good to go.

[EmoKyl0Ren]

Originally posted by Chesty La'Rou:

Originally posted by Ghost:

Yeah, look into setting up a dedicated server a bit more. You can't just copy files over. Especially for dedicated servers, you'll most likely need to use SteamCMD to install and update Ark on your second computer.

If you want to run a server on a 2nd machine and you don't want to use SteamCMD. Just install the steam client on the 2nd PC and then connect to your account. Authorize the new PC to use your library (You can log into it from both PC's at the same time). Then just download the ARK dedicated server like you did on your original PC. After is it done downloading. Copy over your .bat launcher to the "Steam\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Evolved Dedicated Server\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64" folder and then copy your saved ARK info from the original server to the folder "Steam\steamapps\common\ARK Survival Evolved Dedicated Server\ShooterGame" onto the new machine. Fire it up and you should be good to go.

I did almost exactly that, imo the Ark dedicated server runs much better and easier than steamCMD, also, it can't be a local issue as when I run it on my own machine while playing both myself and friends abroad can access it fine. I think it might be because I didn't download it on the new "server" machine and sign into my steam account, I just copied it over. So I think even though it is running fine it's not gaining permission to be used or found in the actual game. Will try backing up then copying the backup to the new machine and running a restore on my steam account to see if it works then.

[EmoKyl0Ren]

Logged in to steam, reinstalled the game on the new "server" Machine and still nothing, just doesn't show on lists after it runs :(

[iso]

Check your router. You may have port-forwarded for just your main computer, not the one which you host on.

[szalkerous]

Originally posted by Isotope:

Check your router. You may have port-forwarded for just your main computer, not the one which you host on.

You just necro'd a month-old post my friend.