There’s no faster way to kill an ARK multiplayer vibe than the dreaded non dedicated server tether. You and your friend are halfway to the northern snow biome to grab black pearls, and suddenly they get teleported straight back to your base right as a mammoth charges them. I dealt with this exact frustration for months playing with my roommates, and if you’re looking for how 2 remove tether on ark non dedicated server, you’re in the right place. All the methods in this guide are tested personally, no fancy tech skills or expensive subscriptions required.
Why the ARK Non Dedicated Server Tether Exists (And When You Can Remove It)
A lot of players assume the tether is just a lazy feature Studio Wildcard added to annoy people, but it actually serves an important purpose. Non dedicated servers run entirely on the host’s personal gaming device, rather than a separate remote server, so the game limits player range to keep performance stable. If there was no default limit, the host’s CPU and RAM would get overwhelmed processing activity across the entire map for all players, leading to constant lag, crashes, or lost save data. If your host device has less than 8GB of RAM, I don’t recommend fully removing the tether, as you’ll almost certainly run into constant performance issues. In most cases, if you have 16GB of RAM or more and only play with 2 to 4 friends, you can remove the tether completely with barely any noticeable performance drop. I ran a server for 3 people on a 5-year-old mid-tier gaming laptop for 6 months post-tether removal, and we never had a single crash on The Island or Scorched Earth maps.
How to Remove Tether on ARK Non Dedicated Server Without Mods
The easiest and most reliable way to get rid of the tether is to edit your game’s config file directly, no downloads or third-party tools needed. This method only works for PC players on Steam or Epic Games, as console players don’t have access to these internal game files. First, close ARK completely and make sure no background ARK processes are running via your task manager. Next, navigate to your ARK config folder: for most Steam users, this is located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\ARK\ShooterGame\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor. Find the file named Game.ini, open it with Notepad or any simple text editor. Scroll to the bottom of the file, and make sure you have the header [/script/shootergame.shootergamemode] – if it’s not there, add it first. Under that header, paste the line TetherDistanceMultiplier=99999.0. Set the TetherDistanceMultiplier to no higher than 99999.0, as any higher value can cause unintended desync issues even on high-end devices. Save the file, then right click on Game.ini, select Properties, and make sure the “Read Only” box is unchecked. If that box is checked, the game will overwrite your changes the next time you launch. That’s all you need to do for the config file method of how to remove tether on ARK non dedicated server, no extra steps required. If you don’t want to fully remove the tether, you can set the multiplier to 5 or 10 for a smaller range boost that uses less of your host device’s resources.
Mod-Based Tether Removal For All Platforms (Including Consoles)
If you don’t want to mess with config files, or you play on Xbox or PlayStation, you can use a pre-made mod to remove the tether in one click. Mod-based removal works exactly the same as the config edit, but the mod adjusts the settings for you automatically so you don’t have to dig through game files. For PC players, head to the Steam Workshop or Epic Games mod browser and search for “ARK No Tether” or “Unlimited Tether” to find popular, well-rated options. For console players, open the in-game ARK mod browser and search for the same terms, then download the mod you want to use. Before you launch your server, make sure the mod is enabled in your server settings. There are a few key things to keep in mind when using mod-based tether removal to avoid issues:
- Make sure all players joining your server have the exact same mod installed and updated, otherwise they won’t be able to connect to your game
- Avoid obscure, low-download mods for tether removal, as many contain untested bugs that can corrupt your save file or break other game features
- Always back up your saved game before enabling any new mods, just in case something goes wrong and you need to revert your progress
Common Tether Removal Issues And How To Fix Them
Even if you follow the steps perfectly, you might run into small issues after removing the tether, most of which have super simple fixes. The most common issue is the tether still being present after you edit the config file. That’s almost always because you forgot to uncheck the “Read Only” box on the Game.ini file, or you added the TetherDistanceMultiplier line under the wrong header. Double check your edits, save again, and restart your game to fix it. If you notice constant lag, frame drops, or server crashes after removing the tether, that means your host device can’t handle the extra load of processing activity across the whole map. Try lowering the TetherDistanceMultiplier to 10 first to reduce the range, or turn down the host’s in-game graphics settings to free up extra RAM and CPU power. If players are getting desynced or kicked from the server when they’re far from the host, that’s usually a network issue, not a tether issue. Make sure the host is using a wired internet connection instead of WiFi, especially if you’re playing with people outside your local home network. If you're playing with more than 4 people total, even after removing the tether, you'll probably get better performance by switching to a cheap dedicated server instead of running a non dedicated one. Never remove the tether if you're playing on a public non dedicated server, as it can leave your device vulnerable to network attacks from unknown players. These risks don’t apply if you’re only playing with friends you trust on a private server.
Removing the non dedicated server tether completely changes how you get to experience ARK with friends. No more pausing your exploration to wait for the host to catch up, no more missing out on faraway resource runs because you can’t go more than a few hundred meters from their character. Whether you use the simple config file edit or a pre-made mod, you now know how 2 remove tether on ark non dedicated server safely without risking your save or breaking your game. My tribe and I put off removing the tether for almost a year because we thought it would be too complicated, but now we can’t imagine playing without it, even on our shorter casual playthroughs. If you try these methods and still run into issues, try restarting your host device before tweaking anything else, most small glitches get fixed with a simple reboot.