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How to Connect to your Ark Server

Getting your ARK Server in the public server list is a game of chance and longevity, so you can’t rely on your server showing up there for your players. As a result there are a couple of methods to add your server to a players list and to give your server IP to players for easy connection.

Steam​

Using the Steam Launcher​

One method of adding an ARK Server to your server list is by using the Steam Launcher. You’ll start by navigating to ARK in your Steam Library and then using the View → Servers menu option. That will open a window similar to the one shown below. The Steam Servers pane with the Add a Server button highlighted The steam Add Server window with empty fields The steam Add Server window after adding a server

The steam context menu under the view servers tab With the server window open, you can use the “Add Server” button highlighted in the image above and you’ll get a window similar to the one on the upper left. Enter the primary IP/Port of your server into the address field and click “Find Games at this Address” to check the IP and Port combination.

If the server is running and you can connect to it you’ll get an image similar to the one shown on the lower left. Click “Add this Address to Your Favorites” and you’ll find the Server in your favorites in-game.

You can provide friends and users with a steam connect link that’s generated by the panel using the format below.

steam://connect/<Game Server IP>:<Primary Port>

A user can click on this link from their browser and grant the site it was sent on permission to open Steam in order to open a window that looks similar to the one shown on the right.

Your server will have to be online for any information about it to appear on this window and they’ll be able to join the server directly as the game launches from here.

The Steam Game Info page

You can find a pre-generated link on the Game Control Panel next to the Action Buttons as shown in the image below. You can right click on the button to copy the link and share it with others.
If you’d like to make your own, just take the format we showed above and enter your IP and Port shown on your server page. If you aren’t sure where to find that, check out this section of out Game Control Panel - The Basics page.

The Join Server button found on the Game Panel under the console