Setting up logging and monitoring for your ARK: Survival Evolved server is crucial for maintaining optimal performance, ensuring security, and providing a seamless gaming experience for players. This guide will walk you through the essential steps to configure server logging options, set up monitoring tools, optimize server performance, and implement security and access control measures.
Key Takeaways
- Configuring server logging options such as enabling server admin logs and adjusting RCON buffer size can help you keep track of server activities and performance metrics.
- Setting up monitoring tools, including using RCON for remote monitoring and integrating third-party solutions, ensures you can keep an eye on your server’s health and respond to issues promptly.
- Implementing security measures like setting up admin passwords and preventing offline PvP is essential to protect your server from unauthorized access and maintain a fair gaming environment.
Configuring Server Logging Options
Setting up logging options for your ARK server is crucial for maintaining a smooth and well-monitored gaming environment. Here’s how you can configure various logging options to keep track of server activities and ensure everything runs seamlessly.
Setting Up Monitoring Tools
Using RCON for Remote Monitoring
RCON (Remote Console) is a powerful tool that allows you to manage your ARK server remotely. By enabling RCON, you can execute commands, monitor server performance, and even chat with players without being physically present at the server location. To enable RCON, you need to add the following parameters to your server’s command line:
?RCONEnabled=True
?RCONPort=32330
?ServerAdminPassword=YourPassword
Once RCON is enabled, you can use various RCON clients to connect to your server and keep an eye on server metrics like CPU and memory usage. This is crucial for maintaining optimal server performance and ensuring a smooth gaming experience for your players.
Integrating Third-Party Monitoring Solutions
While RCON provides basic monitoring capabilities, integrating third-party monitoring solutions can offer more advanced features. Tools like Grafana, Prometheus, and Datadog can be used to collect and visualize server data in real-time. These tools can help you track various metrics, such as player count, server load, and network latency. Here’s a quick comparison of some popular monitoring tools:
| Tool | Features | Ease of Use |
|---|---|---|
| Grafana | Customizable dashboards, alerting | Moderate |
| Prometheus | Time-series database, powerful query language | Advanced |
| Datadog | Comprehensive monitoring, integrations | Easy |
By using these tools, you can gain deeper insights into your server’s performance and make data-driven decisions to improve it.
Configuring Alerts and Notifications
Setting up alerts and notifications is essential for proactive server management. You can configure alerts to notify you when certain thresholds are reached, such as high CPU usage or low memory availability. This allows you to take immediate action before issues escalate. Most third-party monitoring tools support alerting features, and you can customize them to suit your needs. For example, you can set up email notifications, SMS alerts, or even integrate with messaging platforms like Slack or Discord.
Pro Tip: Use monitoring tools to keep an eye on server metrics like CPU and memory usage. Set up alerts for when resources reach critical levels.
By implementing a robust monitoring and alerting system, you can ensure that your ARK server runs smoothly and efficiently, providing a better experience for your players.
Optimizing Server Performance
Managing Memory and CPU Usage
To get the best performance out of your ARK server, you need to manage your memory and CPU usage effectively. Using all available CPU cores can significantly boost performance. You can enable this by adding -USEALLAVAILABLECORES to your server’s launch options. Additionally, consider using the -usecache option to speed up loading times by up to 70%. However, be aware that the first couple of loads might still be slow.
Adjusting Structure Destruction Settings
Structure destruction settings can have a big impact on server performance. For instance, you can use the -StructureDestructionTag=DestroySwampSnowStructures command to automatically demolish structures in swamp and snow zones. This is particularly useful for clearing out abandoned structures and improving server performance.
Using Shader Model Options
Shader models can also affect performance. By default, ARK uses Shader Model 5, but you can switch to Shader Model 4 for better performance on some systems. To do this, add -sm4 to your server’s launch options. This change can increase frame rates but may alter the game’s lighting slightly.
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Security and Access Control
Ensuring the security and proper access control of your ARK Survival Evolved server is crucial for maintaining a fair and enjoyable gaming environment. Here are some key aspects to consider:
Setting Up Admin Passwords
To manage your server effectively, you need to set up admin passwords. This allows you to access administrator commands via the in-game console or RCON. Use the following command to set your admin password:
?ServerAdminPassword=YourPasswordHere
Make sure to choose a strong password to prevent unauthorized access.
Preventing Offline PvP
Offline raiding can be a significant issue in ARK. To mitigate this, you can enable the offline raiding prevention option. This makes your tribe’s dinos and structures invulnerable when all tribe members are offline. Use the following command to enable this feature:
?PreventOfflinePvP=true
You can also set a delay interval before the protection kicks in:
?PreventOfflinePvPInterval=900
This command sets a 15-minute wait time before the protection activates.
Controlling Tribe Alliances
Managing tribe alliances is essential for maintaining balance and fairness on your server. You can control tribe alliances through various server settings. For example, you can enable or disable alliances using the following command:
?AllowTribeAlliances=true
Additionally, you can control the number of alliances a tribe can have:
?MaxTribeAlliances=5
This command limits each tribe to a maximum of five alliances.
Properly configuring these settings can simplify server management and selection, ensuring a secure and enjoyable gaming experience for all players.
Conclusion
Setting up logging and monitoring for your ARK Survival Evolved server is an essential step to ensure smooth and efficient server management. By implementing the various command line options and configurations discussed in this article, you can keep track of server activities, monitor player interactions, and maintain a stable gaming environment. Whether you are running a small private server or a large public one, these tools will help you manage your server effectively and provide a better gaming experience for all players. Stay vigilant and proactive in monitoring your server to address any issues promptly and keep your ARK world thriving.
