How to connect

Joining from Steam

Three methods, ordered by reliability. Try them in order.

Method 1 — Steam Favorites (most reliable)

The in-game ARK browser only shows a few thousand servers at a time and frequently hides unofficial / crossplay ones. Adding the server to Steam first guarantees it appears.

1. In the Steam client, click View (top-left) → Game Servers.
2. Open the Favorites tab and click Add a Server.
3. Enter 217.154.191.51:27015 (the query port, not the game port) and click Add this address to favorites.
4. The server appears in your Favorites within a few seconds. Do not double-click to launch from Steam — Steam's launcher doesn't reliably pass the password to ARK SE.
5. Launch ARK: Survival Evolved normally.
6. Main menu → Join ARK.
7. Click Session Filter (bottom-left) and set:
   • Server Filter: Favorites
   • Show Password Protected: enabled (checked)
   • Map: All Maps, Mode: All Modes
8. Select the server, click Join, enter password dodo936 when prompted.

Method 2 — In-game browser, search by name

1. Main menu → Join ARK.
2. Click Session Filter, set Server Filter to Unofficial, tick Show Password Protected, clear name/map filters.
3. In the search box (top) type part of the server name.
4. Wait 30–60 seconds — the unofficial list is slow and paginated.
5. Select → Join → enter dodo936.

Method 3 — Direct connect via console (fallback)

1. Launch ARK and start a singleplayer session (Host / Local → Play Single Player). The console only works from inside a loaded world.
2. Press Tab (or backtick `) to open the console.
3. Type open 217.154.191.51:7777 and press Enter.
4. When the password prompt appears, enter dodo936.
5. Don't try to put the password inside the open command on Steam — ARK SE has no syntax for that; let the game prompt you.

Quirks worth knowing

• Always use the query port (27015) in Steam's "Add Server" dialog, but the game port (7777) in the in-game open console command. Mixing these up is the #1 cause of "server not responding".
• Make sure Show Password Protected is enabled in the Session Filter, otherwise our server is hidden.
• If you get "session not found" right after a server restart, wait 5–10 minutes for the master refresh.
• This is ARK: Survival Evolved (game ID 346110), NOT Survival Ascended (2399830) — make sure you launch the right title.