There’s nothing more frustrating than loading up your single Ark raft with all your ocean loot, tamed dinos, and crafting stations, only to realize you’ve got zero space left for the new supply crate you just spotted floating 100 meters away. If you’ve found yourself staring at your tiny raft platform and wondering can you put 2 rafts together in Ark, you’re not alone. I’ve spent over 700 hours playing Ark across official PvE and PvP servers, and I’ve tested every raft building trick in the book to maximize mobile base space. This guide will break down exactly what works, what doesn’t, and how to build a linked raft base that won’t fall apart mid-voyage.
Can You Put 2 Rafts Together in Ark Vanilla? Official Rules First
The short answer is no, vanilla Ark does not have a built-in snap feature that lets you permanently attach two rafts together as a single entity. Each raft counts as a separate, independent vehicle in the game’s code, so if you just park them next to each other and leave, waves or dino attacks will push them apart in minutes. Vanilla server limitations also mean you can’t use glitches like merging raft hitboxes, as most official servers will ban you for exploiting if you get caught. That said, there’s a completely legitimate, glitch-free workaround to hold two rafts together securely, even on official servers, that most veteran Ark players use for their mobile sea bases.
Step-by-Step Method to Link 2 Rafts Safely
This method works for both standard wooden rafts and upgraded motorboats, and it won’t get you in trouble on any official or legitimate unofficial server. First, you’ll need to gather the right supplies to make the link durable and stable. Here’s what you’ll need before you get started:
- 2 standard wooden rafts (crafted with 250 wood, 125 fiber, 75 hide each) or 2 motorboats if you want faster travel
- 10+ wooden ceilings (upgrade to metal if you frequent areas with aggressive sea creatures like Leedsichthys)
- 4-6 wooden pillars for extra support if you plan to build multi-story structures on your linked rafts
- 1 stack of repair resources (wood, fiber, hide) to fix any accidental damage during the building process
Start by sailing both rafts to a shallow, calm area of water, preferably near a flat shoreline where wave movement is minimal. Line the edges of the two rafts up as perfectly as possible, leaving no gap wider than a single ceiling tile between them. Raft weight capacity limits are important here: make sure neither raft is more than 70% loaded before you start building the link, so they sit at the same height in the water. Next, build out ceilings from the edge of the first raft, extending them until they snap to the edge of the second raft’s platform. Add reinforced wooden walls along the joined edges to lock the rafts in place, so they don’t slide apart when waves hit. Once you’re done, test the link by jumping across both rafts a few times, and gently steer one raft to make sure the other moves with it.
Pros and Cons of Linked Raft Builds in Ark
Linked rafts are one of the most underrated early to mid-game base builds for players who spend most of their time exploring the ocean, but they aren’t right for every playstyle. Let’s start with the biggest benefits: you get almost double the space of a single raft, so you can fit a full crafting suite, storage boxes, a small dino pen for aquatic tames, and even a small crop plot for fresh vegetables on long voyages. In PvP, linked rafts give you an extra escape option: if one raft is damaged by enemy turrets or a sea dino attack, you can cut the link and escape on the other one before it sinks. You also have more space to place defensive turrets, so you’re less likely to get raided by other players looking for easy ocean loot.
There are also some pretty big downsides to keep in mind before you build. Linked rafts are much harder to maneuver than single rafts, especially through narrow reefs or small ocean channels, so you’ll want to avoid shallow, rocky areas if you’re sailing long distances. Server performance lag can also cause the rafts to clip through each other if you sail too fast, especially on high-pop servers during peak hours. I learned this the hard way a few years back, when my linked 2-raft base clipped apart during a storm on an official PvE server, and I lost my tamed Basilosaurus and 300 units of polymer I’d been farming for weeks. Linked rafts are also a bigger target for raiders in PvP, since they’re easier to spot from a distance and usually hold more valuable loot than a single small raft.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Linking Rafts
Even if you follow the step-by-step method perfectly, small mistakes can cause your linked raft base to fall apart when you least expect it. The first mistake most new players make is building the link with thatch materials. Thatch ceilings and walls get destroyed in one hit by even small aggressive sea creatures like Megalodons, so always use at least wood for the link, and preferably metal for high-traffic ocean areas if you’re sailing in areas with Alpha sea dinos or Leedsichthys. Another common mistake is overloading one raft more than the other. If one raft sits 6 inches lower in the water than the other, the link will break within a few minutes of sailing, as the waves push the two rafts up and down at different rates.
You also don’t want to skip testing the link before you sail out into open water. Push each raft gently from the side to make sure they don’t slide apart, and test the steering for a few minutes near the shore before you head out on a long farming run. Finally, always keep spare repair materials on both rafts, not just one. If the link breaks mid-voyage and you only have repair supplies on one raft, you could lose the second raft entirely if it drifts away or gets attacked by a sea dino before you can reach it. If you’re playing on modded servers, you’ll find plenty of mods that add dedicated raft linking features, but these tips will work perfectly for any vanilla playthrough.
At the end of the day, if you’ve been wondering can you put 2 rafts together in Ark, the answer is a definite yes, as long as you use the legitimate linking method we covered instead of risky exploits. It’s one of my go-to early game builds for ocean-focused playthroughs, and it’s way cheaper than crafting a full metal motorboat right off the bat. Just make sure you stick to calm waters when you’re first testing your linked base, avoid overloading either raft, and keep spare repair supplies handy for unexpected damage. Whether you’re farming underwater oil nodes, taming aquatic dinos, or just exploring the far edges of the map, a linked 2-raft base gives you all the space you need without sacrificing mobility.