ARK: Survival Evolved Updated April 26, 2026

How to Password Protect Your ARK Server

Set a join password to keep your ARK server private and an admin password to control who can use admin commands. These are two separate passwords with different purposes.

ARKPasswordSecurityConfigurationAdmin

Two Passwords, Two Jobs

ARK uses two separate passwords and it is important to know the difference:

  • ServerPassword — required to join the server at all. Anyone without it gets blocked at the door.
  • ServerAdminPassword — unlocks admin commands inside the game. Does not affect who can join.

Set them both in GameUserSettings.ini under [ServerSettings].

Setting the Passwords

Stop your server, then open:

ShooterGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/GameUserSettings.ini

Add or edit these lines:

[ServerSettings]
ServerPassword=YourJoinPasswordHere
ServerAdminPassword=YourAdminPasswordHere

Save the file and restart your server. Both passwords take effect on the next startup.

How Players Enter the Join Password

When a player tries to connect to a password-protected server, ARK prompts them to enter the password. This happens in two places:

Steam server browser:

  1. Find your server in the Steam server browser or the in-game browser
  2. Double-click to connect
  3. ARK shows a password prompt — enter ServerPassword and click OK

Direct connect:

  1. In ARK, go to Join ARK → Direct IP
  2. Enter your server IP and port
  3. Hit connect — the password prompt appears immediately

If they enter the wrong password, they get a connection refused message.

How Admins Use the Admin Password

The ServerAdminPassword is separate from the join password. A player can be on the server and still need to authenticate as admin separately.

In-game:

  1. Press Tab (or Insert on some systems) to open the admin console
  2. Type enablecheats YourAdminPasswordHere
  3. Press Enter — you now have access to all admin commands

The admin password is never shown on screen and does not appear in the server browser listing. Players who know the join password but not the admin password cannot use admin commands.

Security Tips

  • Use different strings for each password. If your join password leaks (someone shares your Discord link with the wrong person), you do not want that to also hand out admin access.
  • Change both passwords when staff changes. A former admin who still knows the admin password can log in and run commands. Update it and restart.
  • Avoid simple passwords. Especially for ServerAdminPassword — this is the key to god-mode on your server. Use something long and non-obvious.
  • Do not post the admin password in public channels. Share it privately with trusted staff only.

Removing Password Protection

To make your server public again, delete the ServerPassword line from GameUserSettings.ini (or set it to empty: ServerPassword=) and restart. The server will appear in the browser without a lock icon.

Keep ServerAdminPassword set at all times — you always want admin access protected even on a public server.

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