Fits your load
VPS Elite
8 vCPU, 16 GB DDR5, 180 GB NVMe, 10 TB traffic
₹7,120$74.99/mo
Deploy EliteAbout EliteARK: Survival Ascended server requirements
What a ARK: Survival Ascended server needs in CPU, memory, disk and bandwidth, by player count. Change the numbers for your own server; the sources are listed below.
What it needs
- CPU
- 4 coresSingle-thread heavy: clock speed matters more than core count.
- Memory
- 16 GB
- NVMe storage
- 26 GB
- Traffic per month
- 1.1 TB
- Busiest upload
- 9.8 Mbit/s
On Clouduxe
Room to grow
VDS FusionCore
4 dedicated cores, 16 GB DDR5, 200 GB NVMe, 10 TB traffic
₹9,940$104.49/mo
- 4 dedicated cores instead of 8 shared vCPU: the game's main thread gets cores no other customer uses.
- 20 GB more NVMe.
- Headroom for busy evenings, more players, and the mods and updates you add later.
By player count. Without mods (curseforge); each step up in the calculator adds memory, disk and sometimes a core.
| Players | CPU | Memory | NVMe | Traffic a month | Fits your load | Room to grow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 4 cores | 13 GB | 26 GB | 556 GB | VPS Elite | VDS FusionCore |
| 20 | 4 cores | 16 GB | 26 GB | 1.1 TB | VPS Elite | VDS FusionCore |
| 30 | 5 cores | 19 GB | 26 GB | 1.7 TB | VDS OmniCore | VDS PrimeCore |
| 50 | 5 cores | 25 GB | 26 GB | 2.8 TB | VDS PrimeCore | VDS TitanCore |
| 70 | 6 cores | 31 GB | 26 GB | 3.9 TB | VDS PrimeCore | VDS TitanCore |
| 100 | 7 cores | 39.5 GB | 26 GB | 5.6 TB | VDS TitanCore | VDS UltraCore |
Traffic assumes 35% of the player cap online on average across the month; change it under Assumptions in the calculator.
Where the numbers come from. Published figures first, then how the calculator turns them into a model.
Published requirements
TheIsland_WP (empty server) uses 8-10 GiB. CPU requirements are not strict, but it is recommended to have 4 logical cores per ARK: Survival Ascended's server instance. Each ARK: Survival Ascended server installation takes around 11 GiB of drive space. Each connected player may require up to 60KiB/s of bandwidth.
16 GB RAM minimum per map (the server process uses around 10 GB, plus the operating system), 32 GB recommended for comfortable operation with mods and more players. All RAM figures in this article are community experience, not an official spec sheet.
ASA Server RAM: How Much Does ARK Survival Ascended Need? - RespawnHost
How the model is built
- Memory
- 10 GB plus 300 MB per player. Base 10GB matches the ARK official wiki's own figure that an empty single map (e.g. The Island) uses 8-10 GiB before any player connects. Per-player growth is a moderate estimate since the wiki says memory 'varies by the map' and gives no fixed per-player figure for ASA; the mods multiplier carries most of the jump to the widely-cited 32GB 'recommended for comfortable operation with mods and more players' tier.
- CPU
- 4 cores, one more for every 25 players. The ARK official wiki recommends 4 logical cores per ASA server instance and notes gameplay logic (other than physics) runs on a single thread, so clock speed matters more than core count. playersPerExtraCore=25 adds cores slowly for larger populations while keeping the 4-core floor from the wiki.
- Disk
- 11 GB for the server plus 15 GB for saves and backups, on SSD or NVMe. installGB is the official wiki's figure ('around 11 GiB' for the ASA server installation). growthGB covers saves, logs, update staging and mods, landing in the 20-30GB total that hosting guides recommend budgeting for a single-map server. SSD/NVMe is called essential across sources.
- Bandwidth
- 490 kbit/s of upload per player. Derived from the ARK official wiki's VPS guidance that each connected player may need 'up to 60 KiB/s' of bandwidth (60 KiB/s x 8.192 = ~490 kbps). ASA's per-player network cost is high because of dinosaur, structure and inventory sync.
- Mods (Curseforge)
- Memory times 1.4 for some and 2 for heavy; a heavy load also adds a core.
Studio Wildcard publishes no official minimum-spec sheet for ASA dedicated servers; the official community wiki (ark.wiki.gg) gives real measured baselines (empty-map RAM, install size, bandwidth) but no official per-player RAM figure, and every hosting guide checked explicitly says its RAM numbers are community experience rather than an official spec. Mods can raise RAM and CPU needs substantially and unpredictably.
Before you set it up. The ports it listens on and what the guides say drives its load.
Ports
| Port | Protocol | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 7777 | UDP | game |
| 27020 | TCP | rcon (optional) |
Game server hosting: every game we size, the protection each one gets, and the plan for it.
DDoS protection is on every Clouduxe plan. How Prism protects ARK: Survival Ascended servers.
What drives the load
- The loaded map is the biggest driver of RAM, not player count; an empty map already uses 8-10 GiB.
- Gameplay logic (other than physics) runs on a single thread, so a fast CPU core matters more than adding cores.
- Mods (Curseforge) push RAM use up substantially; the community-cited jump from 16GB to 32GB 'recommended' is driven mainly by mods and larger populations together, not player count alone.
- SSD/NVMe storage is treated as essential, not optional, by every source consulted.
ARK: Survival Ascended server questions
How much RAM does a ARK: Survival Ascended server need?
About 13 GB for 10 players and 39.5 GB for 100, before mods (curseforge). Base 10GB matches the ARK official wiki's own figure that an empty single map (e.g. The Island) uses 8-10 GiB before any player connects. Per-player growth is a moderate estimate since the wiki says memory 'varies by the map' and gives no fixed per-player figure for ASA; the mods multiplier carries most of the jump to the widely-cited 32GB 'recommended for comfortable operation with mods and more players' tier.
How many CPU cores does a ARK: Survival Ascended server need?
4 for 10 players, 7 for 100. The server is single-thread heavy, so the clock speed of one core matters more than how many cores it has. The ARK official wiki recommends 4 logical cores per ASA server instance and notes gameplay logic (other than physics) runs on a single thread, so clock speed matters more than core count. playersPerExtraCore=25 adds cores slowly for larger populations while keeping the 4-core floor from the wiki.
How much bandwidth does a ARK: Survival Ascended server use?
About 490 kbit/s of upload per connected player, so 9.8 Mbit/s with 20 players online and about 1.1 TB a month if 35% of that cap is online on average. Derived from the ARK official wiki's VPS guidance that each connected player may need 'up to 60 KiB/s' of bandwidth (60 KiB/s x 8.192 = ~490 kbps). ASA's per-player network cost is high because of dinosaur, structure and inventory sync.
Which Clouduxe plan should I pick for ARK: Survival Ascended?
For 20 players, VPS Elite fits the load and VDS FusionCore leaves room to grow. Every plan includes DDoS protection: 17 Tbps of upstream mitigation plus Clouduxe Prism on the server.
Other games. The same calculator, sized from each game's own documentation.
All calculatorsHost ARK: Survival Ascended on VPS Elite.
Sized for 20 players, with DDoS protection included. Or talk to us about a bigger server.