How to setup a dedicated server for Ark: Survival Evolved
Publisher: Psychz Networks, February 18,2021
You can set a high-performance Ark game server on the best hardware with a dedicated server, ensuring the lowest possible latency. Hosting the Ark Server online will deliver the best gaming experience since it will be hosted on a blazing fast network and will be online 24x7.
- Updating Server
- Adding Ark server user
- Opening required ports
- Installing Libraries
- Modify system settings
- Update Security limits
- Download and install Ark server
- Launch SteamCMD
- Create start script
- Connect to Ark server
This article will walk you through how to set up Ark: Survival Evolved on CentOS 8
Requirement
To install Ark Dedicated Server on Linux, you'll need:
- Server with CentOS 8
- Root access
- 8GB
- 20 GB Storage space
Following are the steps involved in installing Ark on your dedicated server.
Step 1: Update the server.
Start by logging into the server via SSH. Before we begin, let's update the server:
# yum update -yAlways perform an update before initiating the installation.
Step 2: Add Ark server user
Create a new user to run the Ark server in:
# adduser arkserverSet a password for the new user "arkserver"
# passwd arkserverNote: Use a strong password of a minimum of 8 characters (mix of upper case, lower case, numbers, special characters)
Step 3: Open ports on the firewall
Run these commands to open ports in the firewall. These ports allow the user from the outside world to connect to the server.
# firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=27015/udp
# firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=7777/udp
# firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=32330/udp
Step 4: Install libraries
You will need dependent libraries for Steam CMD. Please run the following command to install
# yum install nano wget screen glibc.i686 libstdc++.i686 ncurses-libs.i686 -yOutput:
Last metadata expiration check: 1:38:40 ago on Wed 17 Feb 2021 09:35:29 PM PST.
Package nano-2.9.8-1.el8.x86_64 is already installed.
Package wget-1.19.5-10.el8.x86_64 is already installed.
Package screen-4.6.2-10.el8.x86_64 is already installed.
Package glibc-2.28-127.el8.i686 is already installed.
Package libstdc++-8.3.1-5.1.el8.i686 is already installed.
Dependencies resolved.
========================================================================================
Package Architecture Version Repository Size
========================================================================================
Installing:
ncurses-libs i686 6.1-7.20180224.el8 baseos 354 k
Transaction Summary
=========================================================================================
Install 1 Package
Total download size: 354 k
installed size: 1.1 M
Downloading Packages:
ncurses-libs-6.1-7.20180224.el8.i686.rpm 651 kB/s | 354 kB 00:00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 526 kB/s | 354 kB 00:00
Running transaction check
Transaction check succeeded.
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded.
Running transaction
Preparing : 1/1
Installing : ncurses-libs-6.1-7.20180224.el8.i686 1/1
Running scriptlet: ncurses-libs-6.1-7.20180224.el8.i686 1/1
Verifying : ncurses-libs-6.1-7.20180224.el8.i686 1/1
Installed:
ncurses-libs-6.1-7.20180224.el8.i686
Complete!
Step 5: Update system settings
SteamCMD requires a few changes to sysctl.conf to run properly. This command will update the max files open:
# echo "fs.file-max=100000" >> /etc/sysctl.conf
# sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.conf
Step 6: Update security limits file.
We'll input information into our limits.conf file with this command:
# echo -e "* soft nofile 1000000\n* hard nofile 1000000" >> /etc/security/limits.conf
Step 7: Download and Install Ark Server
We will first switch to the Ark server user that we created previously.
# su - arkserverNow let us create another folder named 'Linux' where we will download and install the file.
download the installation file
# curl http://media.steampowered.com/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz > steamcmd.tar.gz
Unzip the downloaded file
# tar -zxf steamcmd.tar.gzRun the installation
# ./steamcmd.sh
The installation will take a while. When complete, you will get the following message.
Output
Redirecting stderr to '/home/arkserver/Steam/logs/stderr.txt'
/tmp/dumps is not owned by us - delete and recreate
Unable to delete /tmp/dumps. Continuing anyway.
[ 0%] Checking for available updates...
[----] Verifying installation...
Steam Console Client (c) Valve Corporation
-- type 'quit' to exit --
Loading Steam API...OK.
Step 8: Launch SteamCMD
We will now launch SteamCMD. Ark Survival Evolved Dedicated Server will be installed in the /ark directory:
# ./steamcmd.sh +login anonymous +force_install_dir ./ark +app_update 376030 validate +quitThe process will take a few minutes. Once done, you can see the following output on the screen.
Output
.
.
.
Update state (0x101) committing, progress: 82.56 (10454665193 / 12662995076)
Update state (0x101) committing, progress: 83.30 (10547725282 / 12662995076)
Update state (0x101) committing, progress: 84.70 (10725424681 / 12662995076)
Update state (0x101) committing, progress: 86.19 (10914293122 / 12662995076)
Update state (0x101) committing, progress: 87.00 (11016783241 / 12662995076)
Update state (0x101) committing, progress: 99.49 (12598707201 / 12662995076)
Success! App '376030' fully installed.
Step 9: Create a start script
Create a file called arkserver.sh in the nano text editor using the following command:
# nano /home/arkserver/Linux/ark/arkserver.shPaste the following content into the file
SessionName="ServerName"
port="7777"
queryport="27015"
rconport="32330"
ServerAdminPassword="YourAdminPassword"
maxplayers="50"
screen -dmS ark ShooterGame/Binaries/Linux/ShooterGameServer TheIsland?listen?Multihome=0.0.0.0?SessionName=$?MaxPlayers=$?QueryPort=$?RCONPort=$?Port=$?ServerAdminPassword=$ -server -log
Press Ctrl + x and type 'y' to save and exit
Update the permissions of the file
# chmod +x /home/arkserver/ark/arkserver.sh
To run the server, execute:
# sh /home/arkserver/ark/arkserver.shTo quit the server, execute:
# screen -S ark -X quit
Step 10: Connect to your server.
Your server is now ready and you can connect to Ark: Survival Evolved game server using a steam console from a local machine.
Open Steam > click View > Server > and add your server to the Favorites list. Once you open the game, click Join Ark, and your server will be available to connect.