If you’ve ever trekked across the scorching dunes of Scorched Earth or the frozen peaks of Fjordur with a friend, you’ve definitely wondered can 2 people ride a wyvern in ARK at some point. Wyverns are some of the fastest, most powerful flying mounts in the game, perfect for escaping apex predators, raiding enemy bases, or hauling large loads of resources across vast distances. Many new players assume all large mounts support multiple riders, but wyverns have specific rules you need to follow before you try to bring a friend along for a flight.
Can 2 People Ride a Wyvern in ARK: Core Vanilla Game Rules
If you only play official ARK servers, the short answer is no, you cannot have a second passenger on a standard wyvern in unmodded gameplay. Wyverns of all types, including fire, lightning, poison, ice, and crystal variants, only come with a single rider slot by default in all official game modes and maps. Vanilla ARK wyverns do not come with a secondary passenger slot in any official map or game mode.
This design choice was made to keep PvP balanced for all players. If teams could have one skilled pilot and one rocket-wielding passenger on a wyvern, they would be nearly unbeatable in aerial combat, as wyverns are far faster and more maneuverable than multi-slot flying mounts like Quetzals or Argentavis. The only multi-slot flying mounts available in vanilla ARK are griffins, argentavis, quetzals, desmodus, and tropeognathus, all of which have lower top speeds or weaker combat stats than wyverns to balance their extra passenger space.
You might see clips of players riding wyverns with passengers online, but these clips are almost always filmed on modded community servers or single-player worlds with adjusted game settings. Official servers will never allow 2-person wyvern rides, so don’t waste time trying to glitch a second player onto your mount if you play on official PvE or PvP servers.
How to Enable 2-Person Wyvern Riding If You Want Extra Passengers
If you play on a private server or single-player world, you have full control over game rules, and can easily enable 2-person wyvern rides with a few simple tweaks. There are three main ways to add extra passenger slots to wyverns, depending on how much you want to modify your base game:
- Use dedicated creature mod packs that add multi-slot wyvern variants, including custom crystal wyvern skins and upgraded combat wyverns with 2-3 rider slots built in
- Adjust server configuration files to add passenger slots to all vanilla wyvern types, no extra mods required for this simple quality of life change
- Use a platform saddle mod that lets you attach a small buildable platform to the back of a wyvern, where 1-2 extra players can stand during flight
If you’re running a private server for your friend group, adding 2-person wyvern slots is one of the most popular quality of life changes you can make. It cuts down on the number of tamed wyverns you need to keep on your base, and makes group activities like boss fights or resource runs far more coordinated. Tweaking the server config only takes a few minutes, and most popular mod packs that add new wyvern variants already include multi-slot functionality built in, so you don’t have to make any extra changes. Never install untrusted mods from unknown creators, as they can corrupt your save file or introduce security risks to your device.
If you’re taking a break from tweaking server settings or waiting for mods to download for your group, casual mobile games are a great way to pass the time with your friends while you wait. Many ARK players who take 10-15 minute breaks between server resets or long taming sessions play quick, social games to stay connected, and Rummy Grand is a popular pick for groups that want a low-stakes, competitive game to fill short gaps without pulling them away from their ARK session for too long.
Best Use Cases for 2-Person Wyvern Rides in ARK
Once you have 2-person wyvern rides enabled on your server, they can completely change how you approach group play in both PvE and PvP game modes. For PvE players, 2-person wyvern rides are especially useful for taming rare high-level creatures that spawn in hard-to-reach areas. One pilot can hover close to the spawn point while the passenger shoots tranq darts, and if the creature starts to run away, the pilot can follow it without the passenger having to stop firing.
You can also use 2-person wyverns to haul rare resources like element or black pearls from dangerous biomes: the pilot can focus on avoiding dangerous creatures, while the passenger keeps an eye out for enemy players or wild apex predators that might attack. 2-person wyvern rides cut travel time for small teams by 50% if you don’t have enough high-level flying mounts for every group member. For PvP players, 2-person wyverns are perfect for hit-and-run raids: one pilot can maneuver to avoid turret fire, while the passenger shoots rockets or throws explosives at weak points in the enemy base.
The only major risk of riding as a passenger is that you have no control over the wyvern’s movement, so if the pilot crashes or gets shot down, you’ll go down with them. All passengers on a wyvern should equip a parachute as soon as they get on the mount, even if you’re only flying a short distance. It’s also a good idea to keep a set of spare gear in your inventory if you’re riding as a passenger, just in case you have to bail mid-flight and end up stranded in a dangerous biome.
Common Mistakes to Avoid With Multi-Person Wyvern Rides
Even if you have 2-person wyvern rides enabled on your server, there are a few common mistakes that can lead to frustrating deaths or lost gear. One of the most common mistakes new players make is assuming that 2-person wyvern rides are allowed on all servers. If you join a random community server, always check the server rules first before you try to bring a friend on your wyvern, because many servers disable multi-slot wyverns to keep PvP balanced.
Another common mistake is overloading your wyvern with weight. A passenger’s full inventory, including armor, weapons, and resources, counts towards the wyvern’s total carry weight, so if you’re already hauling 500 metal ingots, adding a 100 weight passenger might push your wyvern over its limit and make it unable to fly. You also don’t want to aggro wild creatures without telling your pilot first: if you’re a passenger and you shoot a wild Giga, your pilot might not have time to escape before the Giga attacks and kills both of you.
You also don’t want to let inexperienced players pilot a wyvern with a passenger, as small mistakes like flying too close to a mountain or running out of stamina mid-flight can get both players killed. Always test your multi-person wyvern setup in a safe, low-risk area before you take it into a raid or a dangerous biome like the Lava Biome or Aberration’s radiation zone. Fly around your base a few times, test the weight limit, and practice bailing out with parachutes to make sure everyone knows what to do if something goes wrong.
At the end of the day, the answer to can 2 people ride a wyvern in ARK depends entirely on what game mode and server settings you’re using. Vanilla official servers only allow one rider per wyvern, but private servers and single player worlds give you full control to adjust rules to fit your group’s playstyle. Whether you stick to vanilla rules or add modded multi-slot wyverns to your game, always prioritize safety, communicate with your team, and test new setups before you head into high-stakes situations.