If you spent hours grinding through ARK: Survival Evolved’s brutal vanilla lobbies back in the day, you’ve probably dreamed of running your own space where you set the rules, skip the toxic spawn campers, and add all your favorite mods. Most old-school players first searched how 2 make a online ark server 2017 when the game’s first big modding update dropped, and even today, that 2017 build remains one of the most popular for private servers thanks to its stable performance and massive library of compatible mods. You don’t need a fancy IT degree to pull this off, either. I’ve set up over a dozen of these servers for my friend group over the years, and I’ve streamlined the process to skip all the unnecessary headaches that used to trip up new hosts.
Prerequisites to Check Before You Learn How 2 Make a Online Ark Server 2017
You don’t need top-of-the-line hardware to host a small 2017 ARK server, but there are a few non-negotiables you’ll need to sort out before you start downloading files. Minimum hardware specs for 10 players are 8GB of RAM, a 4-core CPU running at 3GHz or higher, and 100GB of free SSD storage to avoid slow load times. If you plan to host more than 10 players or use lots of mods, bump that up to 16GB of RAM and 150GB of storage.
Internet requirements are just as important as hardware. You’ll need at least 10Mbps of upload speed for 10 players, plus an extra 1Mbps per additional player you want to host. If your home internet has a low upload cap, you’re better off using a cheap VPS to host the server, since you’ll get consistent speeds and won’t eat into your home data limit.
Software prep is simple: you’ll need a legal copy of the 2017 ARK legacy build in your Steam library, the free SteamCMD tool to download server files, and a file archiver like WinRAR if you plan to use pre-built mod packs. Make sure you opt into the 2017 legacy beta in your Steam library settings first, so you don’t accidentally download the newer, less mod-friendly version of the game.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough to Get Your Server Online
Once you have all your prerequisites sorted, the actual setup process only takes around 30 minutes if you follow these steps closely. I’ve cut out all the extra steps that most old guides included that don’t actually matter for the 2017 build:
- Install SteamCMD on your host device, then log in with your Steam account that owns ARK. Double check you’ve opted into the 2017 legacy build, or your server will run the wrong version and no one will be able to join.
- Create a dedicated folder for your server files, then run the SteamCMD command to download the 2017 ARK server package. This usually takes 10 to 20 minutes depending on your download speed, so you can grab a snack while you wait.
- Edit the server configuration file to set your server name, player limit, PVP or PVE rules, and spawn rates. Don’t forget to open port 27015 on your router and firewall – this is the most common mistake that makes servers invisible to other players.
- Add any mods you want to use by pasting their mod IDs into the mod list section of the config file. Stick to mods released before 2018 to avoid compatibility crashes with the 2017 build.
- Run the server executable file, wait 5 minutes for it to fully load, then test connecting from a separate device to make sure everything works correctly.
I used to skip the port forwarding step when I first started hosting, and I spent three hours troubleshooting why none of my friends could join. If you’re not sure how to forward ports on your specific router model, a quick search for your router brand plus “port forwarding guide” will give you simple, model-specific steps. If you’re using a VPS, most hosts will have these ports open by default, but you can double-check in your account control panel to be safe. If you’ve followed every step correctly, you’ll have a fully functional server that’s exactly what you pictured when you first searched how 2 make a online ark server 2017.
How to Customize Your 2017 ARK Server for Your Player Base
The best part of running your own server is that you get to set every rule exactly how you want it, no compromises. The 2017 build is so popular for private servers because it doesn’t have the later updates that broke most of the custom content players loved when they first looked up how 2 make a online ark server 2017.
For casual PVE groups, you can turn up harvest rates by 3x to 5x, reduce taming time by 75%, and disable friendly fire so you don’t accidentally shoot your friend’s tamed Rex while you’re fighting off a raptor pack. You can also enable creative mode for building if you just want to mess around with huge bases without grinding for resources.
If you’re running a public PVP server, you can add anti-griefing rules, set a maximum tribe size of 6, and disable offline raiding to keep the gameplay fair for players who can’t log on 24/7. Popular 2017 mods include Structures Plus, which lets you build more seamlessly, and Classic Flyers, which restores the old flying dino stats that were nerfed in later updates. Don’t add more than 20 mods at a time, even if they’re all compatible – too many mods will slow down load times for players and increase the risk of random server crashes. I once added 40 mods to a server for my friend group, and we spent more time waiting for the server to restart than actually playing, so stick to the mods you actually use regularly.
Troubleshooting Common Issues With 2017 ARK Online Servers
Even if you follow every step perfectly, you’ll probably run into a couple of small issues when you first launch your server, but most of them are easy to fix with a little troubleshooting. The most common issue I see is mod mismatch errors, which happen when a player has a different version of a mod than the server. To fix this, lock all your mod versions to their 2017 releases so they don’t auto-update to newer, incompatible versions.
If you’re getting bad rubberbanding or lag on the server, check if you have too many wild dinos spawned. You can lower the dino count in the config file to reduce CPU load, which will fix most lag issues for home-hosted servers. If you have players joining from across the country or world, their ping will likely be high if you’re hosting from home, so it’s worth switching to a VPS located close to most of your player base to cut down on latency.
If your server crashes randomly on startup, the most likely cause is a conflicting mod. Remove mods one by one until you find the one causing the issue, and always test mod combinations on a private test server before adding them to your public main server. I’ve had mod conflicts that took me hours to track down in the past, so now I always test any new mod on a separate test server first to avoid ruining gameplay for my players.
At the end of the day, learning how 2 make a online ark server 2017 is one of the best ways to enjoy the classic ARK experience exactly the way you want to. You don’t have to put up with the random rules and toxic players that populate public vanilla lobbies, and you can tailor every part of the game to fit what you and your friends find fun. Start small with a private server for 5 to 10 players first, test out different mods and settings, and scale up if you want to open it to the public later. You’ll be surprised how easy it is once you get past the initial setup steps, and you’ll have a go-to server to come back to for years of ARK gameplay.