This app provides a dedicated server for ARK: Survival Ascended, allowing you to host your own game server with automatic updates and remote administration capabilities.

Features

Automatic Updates: Server files are automatically updated on startup
Cluster Support: Configure multiple servers to work together
Remote Administration: RCON access for server management
Customizable: Adjust game parameters, player limits, and maps
Secure by Default: Runs with minimal privileges and capabilities

Configuration

Ports

7777/udp: Game port for player connections
27020/tcp: RCON port for remote server administration

Volumes

All volumes are mounted under /DATA/AppData/ark-survival-ascended/:

steam: Steam runtime files
steamcmd: SteamCMD installation
server-files: ARK server files and save data
cluster-shared: Shared data for cluster setups

Environment Variables

TZ: Timezone (default: Europe/Stockholm)
ASA_START_PARAMS: Server start parameters and map configuration
ENABLE_DEBUG: Set to "1" to enable debug mode (prevents server startup)

Security

Baseline Security

Runs as non-root user gameserver
All capabilities dropped (cap_drop: ALL)
no-new-privileges security option enabled
No privileged mode required
No Docker socket access

Data Persistence

All game data, including server files, save games, and configuration, is persisted in the bound volumes. The container will automatically download and update server files on startup.

Usage

First Start

Install the app through ZimaOS App Store
Configure desired map and settings via ASA_START_PARAMS
Start the container - first startup will download ~11GB of server files
Connect to your server via the ARK game client

Map Configuration

Change the map by modifying ASA_START_PARAMS. Example maps:

TheIsland_WP (default)
ScorchedEarth_WP
Ragnarok_WP
Valguero_WP

Cluster Setup

For multi-server clusters:

Use the same clusterid parameter for all servers
Share the cluster-shared volume between containers
Configure different ports for each server instance

Remote Administration

Connect to RCON on port 27020 using tools like:

ARK Server API
Battlemetrics RCON
Command line: nc hostname 27020

Performance Requirements

RAM: ~13GB per server instance
Disk: ~11GB for server files + space for save games
CPU: Modern multi-core processor recommended

Updates

Server files are automatically updated on container startup. To update the container image itself, pull the new version through ZimaOS.

Troubleshooting

Server Not Visible

Verify port 7777/udp is properly forwarded
Check firewall settings
Ensure ASA_START_PARAMS includes ?listen parameter

Connection Timeouts

Verify your network configuration
Check that UDP traffic is not being blocked
Ensure the server has completed initialization (can take several minutes)

Debug Mode

Set ENABLE_DEBUG=1 to prevent server startup and investigate container issues.

References

Support

For issues specific to this ZimaOS integration, please contact the Zima Apps Team. For game server issues, refer to the upstream repository or ARK official support.