Docker image drpsychick/arkserver

Docker image for a dedicated ARK Survival Evolved server with arkmanager.

UPDATE August 2022: I cloned this repo and split from the original, because my PR was never accepted. The original is here: thmhoag/arkserver.

Overview

This is an image for running an ARK: Survival Evolved server in a Docker container. It is heavily based off of TuRz4m's work located here: TuRz4m/Ark-docker. It uses FezVrasta's arkmanager/ark-server-tools to manage single-instances or a cluster of ARK: Survival Evolved server inside a docker containers.

This image builds on the drpsychick/steamcmd image to include the latest version of steamcmd.

For more information on arkmanager, see the repo here: arkmanager/ark-server-tools.

Features

• Automated install (pull the image and run, no additional commands necessary)
• Configuration via Environment Variables
• Easy crontab manipulation for automated backups, updates, daily restarts, weekly dino wipes, etc
• Simple volume structure for server files, config, logs, backups, etc
• Inherently includes all features present in arkmanager

Tags

Tag	Description
latest	most recent build from the master branch
x.x.x (semver)	release builds

Usage

Installing the image

Pull the latest (or any other desired version):

docker pull drpsychick/arkserver:latest

Running the server

To run a generic server with no configuration modifications:

$ docker run -d \
    -v steam:/home/steam/.steam/steamapps \  # mounted so that workshop (mod) downloads are persisted
    -v ark:/ark \  # mounted as the directory to contain the server/backup/log/config files
    -p 27015:27015 -p 27015:27015/udp \  # steam query port
    -p 7778:7778 -p 7778:7778/udp \  # gameserver port
    -p 7777:7777 -p 7777:7777/udp \ # gameserver port
    drpsychick/arkserver

If the exposed ports are modified (in the case of multiple containers/servers on the same host) the arkmanager config will need to be modified to reflect the change as well. This is required so that arkmanager can properly check the server status and so that the ARK server itself can properly publish its IP address and query port to steam.

Environment Variables

A set of required environment variables have default values provided as part of the image:

Variable	Value	Description
am_ark_SessionName	Ark Server	Server name as it will show on the steam server list
am_serverMap	TheIsland	Game map to load
am_ark_ServerAdminPassword	k3yb04rdc4t	Admin password to be used via ingame console or RCON
am_ark_MaxPlayers	70	Max concurrent players in the game
am_ark_QueryPort	27015	Steam query port (allows the server to show up on the steam list)
am_ark_Port	7778	Game server port (allows clients to connect to the server)
am_ark_RCONPort	32330	RCON port
am_arkwarnminutes	15	Number of minutes to wait/warn players before updating/restarting
am_arkflag_crossplay	false	Allow crossyplay with Players on Epic
ARKCLUSTER	false	If true, requires ShooterGame/Saved/clusters to be mounted
ARKSERVER_SHARED	``	To optionally share server binary files, use /arkserver volume, see below
LOG_RCONCHAT	0	Fetch chat commands every X seconds and log them to stdout, 0 = disabled

Adding Additional Variables

Any configuration value that is available via arkmanager can be set using an environment variable. This works by taking any environment variable on the container that is prefixed with am_ and mapping it to the corresponding environment variable in the arkmanager.cfg file.

For a complete list of configuration values available, please see FezVrasta's great documentation here: arkmanager Configuration Files

Some examples:

am_ark_ServerPassword=s3cr3t
am_ark_GameModIds=889745138,731604991
am_arkopt_clusterid=mycluster
am_arkflag_NoTransferFromFiltering=
am_arkflag_servergamelog=
am_arkflag_ForceAllowCaveFlyers=

Volumes

This image has two main volumes that should be mounted as named volumes or host directories for the persistence of the server install and all related configuration files. More information on Docker volumes here: Docker: Use Volumes The optional volumes can be used to share the server binary files or clusters files required to run an ARK cluster and be able to jump from one map to another.

Path	Description
/home/steam/.steam/steamapps	Directory of steamapps and workshop files. Should be mounted so that mod installs are persisted between container runs/restarts
/ark	Directory that will contain the server files, config files, logs and backups. More information below
/arkserver	(optional, $ARKSERVER_SHARED) Directory that contains the server binary files from steam, shared for multiple instances
/arkserver/ShooterGame/Saved	(depends) Directory that contains the game save files - must be mounted if using shared server files
/arkserver/ShooterGame/Saved/clusters	(depends) Directory that contains the shared cluster files required to jump from one ARK server to another - must be mounted if using shared server files

Subdirectories of /ark

Inside the /ark volume there are several directories containing server related files:

Path	Description
/ark/backup	Location of the zipped backups genereated from the arkmaanger backup command. Compressed using bz2.
/ark/config	Location of server config files. More information:
/ark/log	Location of the arkmanager and arkserver log files
/ark/server	Location of the server installation performed by steamcmd. This will contain the ShooterGame directory and the actual server binaries.
/ark/staging	Default directory for staging game and mod updates. Can be changed using in arkmanager.cfg

Running a cluster

In order to run an ARK cluster, all you need are multiple servers sharing the clusters directory and using a shared, unique clusterid - and a lot of RAM. Additionally you can share the server files, so that all servers use the same version and you don't have to store identical files twice on disk.

Example: (using the .env files in /test)

IMAGE=drpsychick/arkserver
TAG=bionic
mkdir -p theisland ragnarok arkserver arkclusters theisland/saved ragnarok/saved

# start server 1 with am_arkAutoUpdateOnStart=true
serverdir=theisland
docker run --rm -it --name $serverdir \
  --env-file test/ark-$serverdir.env \
  -v $PWD/$serverdir:/ark \
  -v $PWD/$serverdir/saved:/arkserver/ShooterGame/Saved \
  -v $PWD/arkclusters:/arkserver/ShooterGame/Saved/clusters \
  -v $PWD/arkserver:/arkserver \
  -p 27015:27015/udp -p 7778:7778/udp -p 32330:32330 \
  $IMAGE:$TAG

# wait for the server to be up, it should download all mods and the game

# start server 2+ with am_arkAutoUpdateOnStart=false
# using the SAME `arkserver` and `arkclusters` directory
serverdir=ragnarok
docker run --rm -it --name $serverdir \
  --env-file test/ark-$serverdir.env \
  -v $PWD/$serverdir:/ark \
  -v $PWD/$serverdir/saved:/arkserver/ShooterGame/Saved \
  -v $PWD/arkclusters:/arkserver/ShooterGame/Saved/clusters \
  -v $PWD/arkserver:/arkserver \
  -p 27016:27016/udp -p 7780:7780/udp -p 32331:32331 \
  $IMAGE:$TAG

# now you can reach your servers on 27015 and 27016 respectively

# cleanup
rm -rf theisland ragnarok arkserver arkclusters

To test jumping from one server to another:

• join one server, enable cheats with enablecheats <adminpassword>
• cheat your character the transmitter tek engram cheat GiveTekengramsTo <survivorID> transmitter
• cheat your character a transmitter item cheat gfi TekTransmitter 1 1 0
• place the transmitter, turn it on, enter the inventory -> you should see "travel to another server" button in the middle
• click it and select the server you want to travel to

The survivorID is the number displayed when you hover over the specimen implant (diamond shaped item) you always have (https://ark.fandom.com/wiki/Specimen_Implant).