How to Enable Crossplay on Your ARK Server (Steam + Epic Games)
Let Epic Games Store and Steam players join the same ARK server by adding a single launch flag. Covers crossplay limitations, Epic-only mode, and how to verify it's working.
What Crossplay Does
By default, an ARK server hosted through Steam is only visible to Steam players. Adding the -crossplay flag opens the server to players on the Epic Games Store as well. Both platforms play on the same world, see the same chat, and interact normally.
This guide covers ARK: Survival Evolved (ASE). If you are running ARK: Survival Ascended (ASA), the setup is different — check the ASA documentation.
Enabling Crossplay
Add -crossplay to your server's launch parameters.
In your DustBowl.Games control panel, find the Startup Parameters or Command Line Arguments field and add:
-crossplay
Your full launch line will look something like:
ShooterGameServer TheIsland?SessionName=MyServer?listen -crossplay
Restart the server after adding the flag. Epic players can now find and join your server.
Epic-Only Mode
If you want to run an Epic Games exclusive server (no Steam players), use -epiconly instead of -crossplay:
ShooterGameServer TheIsland?SessionName=MyServer?listen -epiconly
Using both flags at the same time is not supported — pick one.
Xbox / Windows Store Players
When -crossplay is enabled, players on the Microsoft Store version of ARK (Xbox Play Anywhere) can also join. You do not need an additional flag for this.
Critical Limitation: No Mods with Crossplay
This is the biggest catch: crossplay disables mod support.
When -crossplay is active, the server cannot load Steam Workshop mods. If you have mods in your mod list, they will be ignored (or cause errors). This is an ARK engine limitation, not a host restriction.
Your options:
- Run a vanilla server with crossplay enabled
- Run a modded server without crossplay (Steam only)
You cannot have both mods and crossplay on the same ARK: Survival Evolved server.
Verifying Crossplay Is Working
Have an Epic Games player test the connection:
- In ARK (Epic version), go to Join ARK
- Search for your server name — it should appear in the list
- Alternatively, use Direct IP to connect by IP address and port
If they can connect, crossplay is working. If they cannot see the server in the browser but can direct connect, it may be a server browser propagation delay — wait a few minutes and try again.
Common Issues
Epic player gets "Session Not Available" error:
- Confirm
-crossplayis in the launch parameters (not just inGameUserSettings.ini) - Check that the server restarted after adding the flag
- Verify the server is not running any mods (mods break crossplay)
Server not showing in Epic browser:
- The Epic server browser can be slow to populate — try direct connect first
- Make sure game port (default 7777) and query port (default 27015) are open in your firewall