How to port forward a ARK: Survival Evolved server
Survival Evolved needs the game port on UDP, the port immediately above it, and the Steam query port. All three go to the same machine.
Your setup
Pick the firmware family, not the exact model — the menus are identical across a range.
Default is 7777. If you changed it, it is the value of ?Port= in the launch line.
The private address of the machine running the server — ipconfig on Windows, ip addr on Linux. It starts with 192.168, 10. or 172.
Open these
This firmware accepts ranges, so each line below is a single rule.
- 7777-7778 UDP
- 27015 UDP
7777UDPGame trafficThe port in your connect string.7778UDPRaw socketSurvival Evolved silently claims game port + 1 as well. Miss it and the server is reachable but unstable.27015UDPSteam queryQueryPort. Required for the unofficial server list.
Do not open these
These are administrative sockets. Plenty of guides list them next to the game ports; opening them puts a remote console for your server on the public internet.
27020TCPRCONRCONPort. Never forward — ARK RCON authentication is a single plaintext password.
If you need remote administration, reach the machine over SSH or a VPN and talk to the port from there. The port stays closed to everyone else.
Step by step: your router
- 1
Give the server a fixed local IP
A forward points at one address. If the server picks up a different one after a reboot, the rule silently starts pointing at nothing — this is why forwards "stop working" on their own.
On this router:look for DHCP Reservation, Address Reservation, Static Lease or Manually Assigned IP
- 2
Open the router admin page
Try these addresses in a browser on the same network:
- 192.168.0.1
- 192.168.1.1
- 192.168.2.1
- 10.0.0.1
Almost always printed on a sticker on the router itself.
- 3
Find the port forwarding page
Port Forwarding, Virtual Server, NAT, Applications & Gaming, or Port Mapping
Vendors use at least six names for the same feature. Whatever it is called, the page you want is the one asking for a port, a protocol and a device on your network. If the external and internal port fields both exist, set them to the same number.
- 4
Create one rule per line
a description field, if there is one External / WAN / Public / Service port Internal / LAN / Private port Protocol Internal IP / Device / Server IP ARK: Survival Evolved 7777-7778 7777-7778 UDP your server’s local IP ARK: Survival Evolved 27015 27015 UDP your server’s local IP External and internal port are the same number here. Changing the external port is possible, but then everyone connects on the new one, so keep them matched unless you have a reason.
- 5
Let the server through its own firewall
The router now sends traffic to the machine, and the machine can still refuse it. Windows Defender Firewall in particular blocks a freshly installed dedicated server by default, which looks exactly like a failed forward.
Take it with you
ARK: Survival Evolved — port forwarding rules --------------------------------------------- 7777-7778 UDP -> <server local IP> 27015 UDP -> <server local IP>
Check whether it worked
Test from outside your own network. Connecting from a machine in the house proves nothing — that traffic never leaves the LAN and never touches the rule you just wrote.
What usually goes wrong
The port one above the game port is the one people miss, because nothing in the configuration file mentions it — the server claims it silently. A setup missing that port behaves strangely rather than failing outright: players connect, then get disconnected or see the world fail to stream in. If your server is reachable but unstable, this is the first thing to check.
Not forwarding at all
Running two ARK maps at once means two full sets of ports, and a cluster means as many sets as you have maps. That multiplies quickly on a home connection, which is where most people decide the machine belongs somewhere else.