If you’ve ever spent hours taming a T-Rex alone only to get jumped by a pack of raptors right before you finish the tame, you know how much better Ark Survival Evolved is with a friend. Figuring out how to do 2 player on Ark Survival Evolved doesn’t have to be the confusing, error-ridden process many new players make it out to be, either. I’ve tested every setup method across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch over the last three years, so I know which tricks work, which glitches to avoid, and how to get your co-op session running smooth in 10 minutes or less. This guide covers every possible 2 player setup, from local split screen to online private lobbies, so you can pick the option that fits your setup best.
How to Do 2 Player on Ark Survival Evolved: Local Split Screen Setup
Local split screen is the easiest option if you’re playing with someone in the same room, and it works natively on all modern consoles without any extra downloads or fees. PC players will need a widely used community mod to enable split screen, since the base Steam version doesn’t support it out of the box, but the mod is free, safe, and takes less than two minutes to install. Before you start, make sure you have all of the following items ready to avoid mid-setup delays.
- Two active user profiles on your console or PC (guest profiles work for most platforms, but you’ll lose save progress if you use a guest)
- At least two compatible controllers (mouse and keyboard only works for the first player on most split screen setups)
- Enough storage space to save both player’s progress and any map data you’ve already downloaded
- Updated game files, as outdated versions almost always cause split screen crashes mid-session
Once you have everything ready, launch the game on the main profile, load your save, then have the second player press the start button on their controller to join. Split screen only works for same-platform play, so you can’t mix PC and console for local co-op. You’ll also notice reduced draw distance on split screen, so turn down foliage density and shadow quality in settings if you’re running into frame drops. If you’re playing on Switch, you can use split joycons for two players, but I recommend using full separate controllers for better control when taming or fighting aggressive dinos.
Online 2 Player Setup for Private Lobbies
If you’re looking for a more flexible option than local play when learning how to do 2 player on Ark Survival Evolved, online private lobbies are your best bet. There are two main online setup options, and each has its own pros and cons depending on your playstyle and available hardware. Non-dedicated sessions are the easiest to set up for casual play, while dedicated sessions work better for players who want more freedom to explore separately.
For non-dedicated sessions, the host selects “Host/Local” from the main menu, adjusts their preferred settings (tame speed, harvest rate, PvE or PvP rules), checks the “non-dedicated session” box, sets a password, then invites the second player via their platform’s friend list. The biggest downside to this setup is that the second player can’t go more than 200-300 meters away from the host before they get teleported back, which limits how much you can explore separately. The host has to stay online the entire time for the session to run, too, so if they log out or lose power, both players get booted immediately.
If you want no tether limits and the ability to play even when the other person is offline, you can run a dedicated server on a spare PC or rent a low-cost small server from a trusted Ark hosting provider. This option costs a few dollars a month if you rent, but it eliminates almost all common online co-op issues, and you can add other friends later if you want to expand your group. For crossplay online 2 player, just make sure both of you have crossplay enabled in your in-game settings, and that you’re running the same version of the game (modded and vanilla versions won’t connect to each other).
Common 2 Player Co-op Issues and Quick Fixes
One of the most common questions I get from players figuring out how to do 2 player on Ark Survival Evolved is why their second player keeps losing their save data. I’ve run into almost every co-op glitch possible over hundreds of hours of 2 player Ark runs, so all of these fixes are tested and work for all platforms. Most issues don’t require any fancy technical knowledge to fix, either.
The most frequent error is connection timeouts when the second player tries to join an online session. 9 times out of 10, this is because the host’s router has UPnP disabled, so you just need to turn that on in your router settings, or port forward the 7777 and 27015 ports for Ark. If the second player loses their entire inventory and character progress when they log back into a non-dedicated session, that’s a common bug that happens when the host loads the save before the second player joins. Always have the second player join the session right after the host loads the save to avoid this issue entirely.
Mod mismatch errors are another common problem for modded 2 player runs. Both players need to have exactly the same mods, same load order, and same mod versions to connect, otherwise you’ll get a mismatch error before you even load into the map. The easiest fix here is to create a mod collection on Steam or your platform’s mod library, then share the collection with the second player so they can download all the right files in one click. If you’re dealing with split screen input lag, close all other background apps on your console or PC before launching the game, and turn off HDR if you have it enabled, as it adds extra input delay for the second player.
Tips for a Smooth, Fun 2 Player Ark Experience
When you’re first testing how to do 2 player on Ark Survival Evolved, start with a small, easy map like The Island before jumping into more complex maps like Aberration or Extinction. There are a few small tweaks you can make to your settings and playstyle to make your co-op runs way less frustrating and way more fun, even if you’re both brand new to the game.
Split roles early on to avoid wasting time doing the same task twice. One player can focus on taming, building, and base defense, while the other focuses on hunting, gathering resources, and scouting for good base locations. This lets you progress twice as fast as you would alone, and you won’t end up with two stacks of the same rare resource taking up space in your inventory. Always build a shared storage chest near your spawn point so you can drop off resources even if the other player is offline, and you don’t risk losing all your loot if you die far from base.
If you’re playing on a dedicated server, turn on the “tether ignore” setting so you can explore separate parts of the map without being pulled back to each other. If you’re playing PvE, you can turn off friendly fire to avoid accidentally shooting each other while fighting dinos, but I personally leave it on for PvP runs to keep things more realistic. For split screen players, adjust the UI scale in settings so the second player’s HUD isn’t cut off at the edges of the screen, which is a common oversight for new split screen players. You can also crank up tame and harvest speeds if you don’t have hours to wait for dinos to tame, or turn up the difficulty slider if you want a bigger challenge when you’re exploring higher level areas.
At the end of the day, half the fun of Ark is getting to share your wild taming fails and unexpected base raids with someone else. Now that you know how to do 2 player on Ark Survival Evolved, you can skip the annoying setup errors and jump straight into building your first base, taming your first flyer, and taking down your first boss with a friend by your side. Don’t be afraid to tweak the server settings to fit your playstyle, either—there’s no “right” way to play 2 player Ark, as long as you’re both having fun. The next time you spawn in and see a raptor pack circling your base, you’ll be glad you have a friend to back you up.