If you’ve ever wanted to farm metal on one ARK map while taming a max-level Giga on another, or help your tribe hold a PvP point without switching accounts every two minutes, you’ve probably wondered how to play 2 windows of ARK Steam at the same time. I’ve tested every method out there over 6 years of playing ARK, and I’ve cut out all the glitchy, ban-risk tricks to leave you with a setup that works 99% of the time, no sketchy downloads required. This guide works for both PvE and PvP servers, as long as the server you’re playing on allows multiple accounts per IP (we’ll cover how to check that later too).
What You Need Before You Learn How to Play 2 Windows of ARK Steam
You don’t need any fancy third-party tools to pull this off, but there are a few non-negotiable requirements to avoid headaches later. First, two separate Steam accounts with ARK access on both. You might be tempted to use a family shared copy of ARK for the second account, and that works for most unofficial servers, but official ARK servers block family shared accounts from joining, so you’ll need a separate purchased copy if you want to run two windows on official servers.
Second, PC hardware that meets minimum performance requirements for two instances. At an absolute minimum, you’ll need 16GB of RAM, a 6-core CPU, and a GPU with 6GB of VRAM, but 32GB of RAM and an 8GB VRAM GPU will give you a far smoother experience. If your PC barely meets the minimum requirements for a single ARK instance, running two will likely lead to constant crashes or unplayable lag.
Third, confirmation that your server allows multiple accounts per IP. A lot of smaller community PvP servers ban dual accounts to prevent solo players from gaining an unfair advantage over small tribes, or to stop bot farming. You can usually find this rule in the server’s description page or Discord, and it’s better to check first than risk getting both of your accounts banned from a server you play on regularly.
Step-by-Step Setup for Two ARK Steam Windows
Start by logging into your first Steam account, launching ARK, and loading into the server you want to use for your main play session. Once it’s fully loaded, open your settings and switch the game to borderless windowed mode if it’s not already. You can also lower non-critical settings like post processing and shadow quality at this point to free up resources for the second instance.
Next, open your Steam installation folder (usually located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam by default), find the Steam.exe file, right click it, and select “Run as administrator”. A new Steam login window will pop up, and you can log into your second ARK-owned Steam account here. Make sure to run both windows in windowed or borderless windowed mode so you can switch between them easily without crashing.
Once the second Steam account is logged in, install ARK if you haven’t already, then launch the game and log into your desired server. You can run both accounts on the same server or different servers, depending on what you need. If running the second Steam as administrator doesn’t work for you, a foolproof backup method is to create a second local Windows user account, log into that account, and launch Steam from there with your second account details. That method works 100% of the time, and it’s just as safe as the first method.
If you get a “game already running” error when you try to launch the second ARK instance, just restart your PC first to clear any leftover Steam processes. That fixes this specific error 90% of the time, and it’s far faster than trying to hunt down stray processes in Task Manager.
Optimization Tips to Avoid Crashes and Performance Drops
Even with a high-end PC, running two ARK instances at once will put a lot of strain on your system. I’ve tested dozens of tweaks to get the most stable dual instance setup possible, and these are the only ones that made a noticeable difference for me:
- Lower the view distance and foliage quality on your secondary ARK window to the lowest possible settings, as these two settings use 70% of your GPU and RAM resources for minimal gameplay benefit if you’re just using the second account for farming or idle taming.
- Close all unnecessary background apps while running two instances, including browser tabs with video streaming, Discord screenshares, or other games that use GPU resources. Even a single open Netflix tab can drop your FPS by 10 or more across both ARK windows.
- Set both ARK instances to "high priority" in your Windows Task Manager under the Details tab, to make sure your PC allocates enough resources to the game instead of random background processes.
- Use a wired internet connection if possible, as two ARK instances will use double the bandwidth, and Wi-Fi is far more likely to cause lag or disconnections for both accounts when you’re switching between them.
I usually run my main account on high settings for PvP, and my secondary account on the lowest possible settings parked near a metal node or a taming pen, and I rarely get drops below 30 FPS on either with a 3060 GPU and 32GB RAM. If you only have 16GB RAM, you might need to lower the texture quality on both accounts to medium or low to prevent out of memory crashes. If you play modded ARK, only install the required mods on the secondary account, no extra cosmetic mods that add unnecessary resource usage.
Common Mistakes to Avoid With Dual ARK Windows
The biggest mistake I see new players make is using the same Steam account for both instances. There is no workaround for this, Steam will block you from launching the same game twice on one account, and any tool that claims to let you do this will either not work, or trigger Steam’s anti-cheat and get your account permanently banned. It’s not worth the risk, just use two separate accounts.
Another common mistake is forgetting to check server rules before logging in with two accounts. I once lost a level 85 character on a small PvP server because I didn’t realize they banned dual accounts, and both my accounts were wiped 2 hours after I logged in with both. Most servers will clearly state if multiple accounts per IP are allowed, so take 30 seconds to check before you join.
Don’t leave both accounts idle for too long either. Most servers have an AFK kick timer of 15 to 30 minutes, so if you’re using the second account for idle taming or resource farming, make sure to move your character around every 10 minutes or so to avoid getting kicked. You don’t want to come back from a 20 minute snack break to find your second account kicked and your taming Giga eaten by a wild Rex.
Finally, don’t download random multi-instance tools from the internet. A lot of these tools have malware, or inject code into Steam that can get your account banned. The methods we shared in this guide use only built-in Windows and Steam features, so they’re completely safe and won’t put your accounts at risk.
Running two ARK windows at the same time can completely change how you play the game, whether you're a solo player trying to grind faster or a tribe member looking to support your team without switching accounts nonstop. Now that you know how to play 2 windows of ARK Steam safely and reliably, you can test the setup first on a single player world to tweak your settings before you join a public server, so you don't run into crashes mid-tame or mid-PvP fight. I've used this setup for hundreds of hours of both PvE and PvP play, and it's never let me down as long as I follow the optimization tips we covered.