The Best Unofficial PVP Ark Servers

With the recent release of Studio Wildcard’s latest ARK map, Crystal Isles, and the latest announcement of the upcoming Ark Genesis Part 2 DLC, you may be wondering which Ark server to invest your time into.

After sinking in thousands of hours into Ark (now my top-played game in my Steam library), I’ve experienced my fair share of unofficial Ark servers. Whilst I enjoy the grind of official Ark server rates, I desperately wanted them to implement S+ (Structures Plus) because it makes the game so much more enjoyable.

This is what made me explore the unofficial options, taking me on a journey of some pretty awesome servers that weren’t too far off official rates. I still got the satisfaction from building a base and putting time into the game, without the annoying parts of official servers.

Here’s a list of my favorite unofficial Ark servers for you to enjoy! I hope to see you on the Ark.

1. Astral Ark (PvP) Steam Only

The first Astral Ark server was launched in July 2015, part of Astral Imperium which was founded in 2014.

Astral now host 9 (soon to be 10 when Genesis Part 2 is released) Ark Survival Evolved servers. If you head on over to their website, you’ll see the list of servers they host and links to each of them.

• The Island
• The Center
• Ragnarok
• Valguero
• Crystal Isles
• Scorched Earth
• Aberration
• Extinction
• Genesis 1
• Genesis 2

Astral Ark Server Rates

Astral is my all-time favorite unofficial Ark server because their rates are so similar to official rates, which I enjoy, with the added benefit of some useful mods.

On top of this, the community is absolutely fab and their admins are more than happy to answer any questions in-game or via Discord.

• Experience: 1x
• Resources: 2x
• Taming: 2x
• Hatching: 4x
• Maturation: 4x

Rewards

You can earn various rewards through Astral’s voting system, resulting in Metal Ingots, Element, shop points, and even a chance of getting a saddle blueprint or Chibi’s.

Items are delivered to players in-game, instantly. It’s easy to vote by clicking on the Vote Resources button or Vote BP/Chibis button on Astral’s website.

Shop

Astral’s shop allows you to buy starter kits, resources, and dinos from their shop, using in-game points which you can earn from voting.

Points are awarded for a daily vote, meaning you can gradually earn enough points to spend at the shop. Whilst some players may be put off by the fact you can buy dinos like Fire Wyverns, points do take a long time to accumulate.

2. The Kaos Island (PvP) Steam Only

The Kaos Island is an English and Spanish speaking server cluster with x10 unofficial server rates. Each server has a maximum capacity of 70 players across the following maps:

• The Island
• The Center
• Scorched Earth
• Ragnarok
• Aberration
• Extinction
• Valguero
• Genesis

The Kaos Island Features

The Kaos Island servers have an admin team around the clock 24/7 to address any issues or questions their players may have. All of their servers are updated at 06:00 AM GMT to ensure servers are updated to the latest version.

For every 15 minutes a player is active on The Kaos Island servers, they will earn 1 point to spend at the shop. Players can also vote daily to receive rewards, as well as getting involved in regular events to win prizes like dino eggs.

Upon entering the server for the first time, a tribe can have up to 3 days of protection against their structures being attacked. During this time, protected players cannot attack other structures either.

3. Ethereal Dominion (PvE) Steam Only

Ethereal Dominion is a modded PvE server with an in-game shop and events across the following servers:

• Ragnarok
• Extinction
• Valguero
• The Island
• Aberration
• Genesis
• Crystal Isles
• Primal Fear

Ethereal Dominion Server Rates

• 1.5x XP
• 5.0x Taming
• 3.0x Harvest Amount
• 16.0x Egg Hatch Rate
• 10.0x Maturation Rate
• 0.25x BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier
• 0.5x Egg Lay Interval
• 0.05x MatingIntervalMultiplier
• 1.30x Fishing Loot Quality
• 0.7x Day Speed / 1.3x Night Speed

In-game Shop

Players can access the in-game shop by learning and crafting the Exchanger. Once the Exchanger has been placed in a player’s base they can access the shop and spend their Gold Coins.

Gold Coins can be earned by voting daily for their Ragnarok, Valguero, and Crystal Isles servers, as well as by attending server events.

4. Ark Speed (PvPvE) Steam Only

Ark Speed is a great server if you’ve already invested a lot of time into Ark and simply want to build an awesome base without the grind of lower rates. With a whopping x100 rates, here are Ark Speed’s servers:

• Ragnarok
• Genesis

Ark Speed Server Rates

Whilst I would naturally choose an unofficial Ark server with lower rates, sometimes you’ve got to let loose and have some fun. Ark servers with higher rates can be a great way to build epic bases and access end game content that you may otherwise not be able to experience.

• Harvesting x25
• Mating x100
• Breeding x100
• Crosshair ON
• Hardcore OFF
• 3rd Person ON
• ~50 Minutes Day, ~10 Minutes Night
• Dinos: max Wild Level 180 + 100 level instant + 150 level by leveling = + 250 level
• Player: Instant Level 300

5. MTS (PVP) Steam Only

MTS servers provide a competitive Ark experience across a huge cluster which wipes on average every 3+ months. MTS’ main cluster includes:

• Aberration1
• Crystal Isles1
• Crystal Isles2
• Extinction1
• Genesis1
• Ragnarok1
• Ragnarok2
• Scorched Earth1
• The Center1
• The Center2
• The Island1
• The Island2
• Valguero1
• Valguero2

MTS Server Rates

If you’re looking for a more balanced unofficial Ark server experience, MTS offers rates that are much more in-line with official rates, without that added grindy feeling.

• Experience = 2.5
• Harvesting = 2.5
• Taming = 2.5
• Breeding = 5.0
• Mating Interval = 0.5
• Baby Imprint Interval = 0.5
• Imprint Amount Scale = 1.5
• Crop Growth = 3.0
• Cave Damage = 6.0
• Player Food/Water Consumption = 0.5
• Loot Quality = 1.0
• Fishing Loot Quality = 1.2
• PlayerFortitudePerLevelStatsMultiplier = 5.0
• PerPlatformMaxStructuresMultiplier = 0.5
• Day Time Speed = 1.0
• Night Time Speed = 1.0
• Saddle Armour Clamp = 124%/99.2%
• Weapon Damage Clamp = 298%
• Flak Armour Clamp = 496
• Max Durability Clamp = 1250

MTS Server Mods

When I’m looking for an unofficial modded Ark server, I like to find one like MTS, where the mods are balanced and useful, without going too over the top.

• Structures Plus+
• MTS Stacking Mod 500-50
• Bitou2k’s Binocular
• Pickup Gun (with Anti-Dupe)
• MTSARK.co.uk Community Mod
• Auto Engrams!
• WShopUI

MTS Features

MTS have made a really big effort to make their server unique, offering other in-game features like a shop where you can redeem kits and buy/sell items.

You can also gamble your in-game points in MTS’s lottery, rolling a number between 1-1000 where the highest roll wins the entry pot.

If you don’t fancy talking in global, but want to message someone that isn’t in your tribe or ally group, you can private message other players on your map on MTS’s servers.

Check out our latest guide on the best PVE Ark servers this year.