ARK: Survival Ascended server RAM: how much do you need?
If you are moving from Survival Evolved, do not bring your old numbers — Survival Ascended needs a good deal more, and ASE figures will come up short.
Recommendation
You need a server with at least
16GB
- Engine / Base OS:
- 10 GB
- Player Overhead:
- +3.0 GB
- Estimated Raw Usage:
- 13 GB
- Suggested cores:
- 6
- Disk to allow:
- 60 GB+
The UE5 rebuild is heavier across the board than Evolved and benefits from real core count.
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What uses the memory in ARK: Survival Ascended
Rebuilding on Unreal Engine 5 lifted the starting point considerably, and what builds up in ARK never goes away: each structure a tribe places and each dino it tames lives on in the save, and in memory. Unlike most games on this site, an ARK server's requirement keeps rising from one month to the next even when the number of players holds steady.
ARK: Survival Ascended server RAM by player count
The calculator above, run for 4 common sizes. Each figure is rounded up to a plan size people actually sell.
| Players | Standard Server | Heavy Modded |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | 16 GB | 24 GB |
| 20 | 16 GB | 24 GB |
| 35 | 16 GB | 24 GB |
| 70 | 24 GB | 32 GB |
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Where people get it wrong
Copying an ASE allocation, or sizing an empty map. The server to plan for is the one you will be running three months from now, with several tribes well into their bases — not the one you are starting up this afternoon.
A Windows server, even on Linux
The Ascended dedicated server is only built for Windows. Linux hosts run it through a compatibility layer such as Proton or Wine, which works but adds its own overhead. Whichever you use, the operating system needs memory of its own on top of the figures above, and Windows needs noticeably more than a minimal Linux install.
Mods and the save file
Mods are loaded from CurseForge with the -mods= launch argument, and each one adds memory and startup time. Large map mods and creature packs cost the most. Separately, the world save lives in ShooterGame/Saved/SavedArks/, in a folder per map, and it grows with every structure and tame. TheMaxStructuresInRange caps how much can be built in one area, and raising it is the usual route to a server that eventually runs out of memory.