Players in ARK: Survival Evolved are often faced with the question of whether they should play on private or official servers. It doesn’t matter if they start over or return to the survival hit. But what are the advantages of a private server?
What are private servers? In addition to the official servers from Studio Wildcard, ARK also offers the option of renting servers from third-party providers. These servers are called unofficial or private because they are run by private individuals.
What is the difference between private and official servers? On a private server you have the opportunity to adapt the gaming experience to your own needs.
So you can increase the speed at which you tame a creature, reduce the time it takes to raise a dino, and increase farm settings to harvest more resources.
Also, PC players can install mods on private servers.
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The advantages and disadvantages of private servers
The question of whether you should play ARK on a private server is not as easy to answer as you might think. While there are some advantages, there are also disadvantages. We at MeinMMO summarize for you what you should consider when making your decision.
That speaks for private servers
What are the advantages of private servers? Private servers in ARK have the advantage that you can adapt almost everything to your personal needs. For example, you can increase or decrease the max level of the dinos if the default setting is too easy or too difficult for you.
You can also increase the speed at which a dino is tamed or hatched from its egg. This can reduce the duration of a tame by many minutes or even hours, which is especially beneficial for survivors who are short on time.
On top of that, the harvesting of resources can be adjusted, which can also make building a base a lot faster.
But mods can also help with the game, improve certain game mechanics or increase the variety of available dinosaurs or playable maps. There are no comparatively individual settings on official servers.
That speaks against private servers
Are there any disadvantages? ARK is not only made far too easy by flying animals, but also by completely exaggerated server settings. A problem that can occur especially when you join free community servers.
If you’re playing on a server where there’s suddenly 17,000x wood from a single tree, you level up 12, if you slay a dodo or tame a brontosaurus in 21 seconds with 3 berries and 4 anesthetic darts, then the server doesn’t offer any challenge . Some want exactly that, but if you are looking for a challenge in ARK, you should choose your private server wisely.
Alternatively, you can also rent your own private server, but then you will incur additional costs. They are all the higher if you want to play on several maps, because you have to rent a separate server for each map and create a so-called cluster.
So let’s recap all the pros and cons of private servers:
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The advantages and disadvantages of official servers
Just like the private servers, the official servers have a whole list of advantages and disadvantages. Below you will find an overview that can help you decide for or against an official server.
That speaks for official servers
What are the advantages of official servers: Probably the biggest advantage of official ARK servers is the price: they are always free. Another advantage – even if that might seem like a disadvantage for many – is the interaction with other players. On official servers you are almost forced to meet other people and join a tribe, which in turn can lead to friendships.
In general, official servers convey the pure ARK experience. Without adjusted settings and mods, you play ARK there exactly as it was planned when the survival hit was released. Not everyone likes that, but it definitely offers a challenge.
That speaks against official servers
Are there any disadvantages? If you look at the disadvantages of official servers, the lack of setting options is particularly striking. You cannot influence the taming speed, the dino level or the harvest through settings and raise or lower them accordingly.
Playing on an official server is often significantly more time-consuming than on a private server due to the default setting. Taming, farming or breeding will take noticeably longer than if you set all settings to x2 on a private server, for example.
So let’s recap all the pros and cons of public servers:
Which server type will you choose, private or official? Are you already experienced ARK players and do you have a permanent server? Feel free to let us know what makes your server stand out in the comments here on MeinMMO!
If you want to know what to expect in the sequel to ARK: Survival Evolved and what information Studio Wildcard has already released about ARK 2, you should keep an eye on this post:
ARK 2: Release, Trailer, Gameplay – What we know so far