Secure your ARK server with DDoS-protected hosting and active monitoring, and check ports, emergency contact, and traffic alerts.
The most reliable protection for ARK servers is a combination of hosting with integrated DDoS mitigation and active monitoring. Once you have this foundation, you should check three things right away: whether the game, query, and RCON ports are configured correctly, whether there is an emergency contact at your internet provider, and whether monitoring is running that reports unusual traffic early. Some providers already include this basic setup in their game server hosting.
In short:
- For ARK servers, a combination of hosting with integrated DDoS mitigation and active monitoring is essential to detect and fend off attacks early.
- For attacks that exceed the upstream bandwidth of the data center, BGP, GRE tunnels, or anycast are necessary to redirect traffic efficiently and reduce the load.
- It is essential to disable all unneeded UDP services, use strong passwords for RCON, and pay attention to port and access controls to prevent reflection and amplification attacks.
- In case of sudden traffic spikes, the monitoring values for packet rate, bandwidth, and connections should be checked regularly so you can react quickly to an attack.
- Managed hosting providers such as Nexthosting offer ready-to-use ARK servers with integrated DDoS protection, which makes sense for operators without in-depth network expertise.
For ARK servers, there are basically three mitigation models to choose from, and they differ considerably in effort, cost, and suitability. The guide from the Alliance for Cyber Security also describes these variants in a fairly practical way.
For private servers with only a few players, basic mitigation is often enough, as many hosts include it in their standard plan. Community servers with a growing player count benefit from a scrubbing approach, while public servers with high visibility or tournament operation need a combination of scrubbing and local rate limiting.
For smaller attacks, a host's standard mitigation is usually enough. As soon as an attack exceeds the upstream bandwidth of the data center, however, deeper network integration becomes necessary. This is where BGP, GRE tunnels, and anycast come into play.
BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) lets you dynamically redirect traffic over alternative routes to a scrubbing center as soon as an attack is detected. GRE tunnels then carry the filtered traffic back to the actual server. Anycast networks distribute incoming traffic across several geographically distributed nodes, which significantly reduces the attack surface of a single location.
A clear sign that the ISP needs to be brought in: the measured attack bandwidth exceeds your own upstream capacity, and local filter rules have no effect because the line itself is already clogged. The BSI (German Federal Office for Information Security) explicitly points out that in such cases, coordination with the internet provider about rerouting via BGP or DNS becomes necessary.
For ARK operators, this means in practice: if you are hosted with a provider that has its own network and a scrubbing connection, you do not have to deal with this technology yourself, as it runs in the background. Latency usually increases only minimally, which is barely noticeable for ARK with its fairly latency-tolerant mechanics.
ARK servers need several open ports at the same time: the game port, the query port, and optionally the RCON port for remote control. The ARK wiki documents the default ranges around port 7777 for game traffic and 27015 for query requests. If you run several instances on one server, you must assign unique ports to each instance. The arkmanager project describes exactly this requirement through the parameters ark_Port, ark_QueryPort, and ark_RCONPort, because collisions otherwise lead to dropped connections or crashes.
Concrete steps for more security:
In its CERT-Bund reports, the BSI documents that open UDP services such as DNS, NTP, SSDP, or SNMP are regularly used for such reflection attacks, often with considerable amplification of the original attack volume.
Without a baseline, you do not know what is normal, and you cannot tell an attack from an ordinary rush of players. That is why you should continuously monitor these values:
As soon as the values are well above the baseline and your own server responds noticeably slower, mitigation should be activated and, if needed, the ISP contacted. The BSI recommends clarifying emergency contacts and mitigation providers in advance rather than searching for them in the middle of an attack.
Pro tip: Create a contact list with the ISP emergency number, host support, and an internal point of contact before you need it. In an emergency, every minute counts.
A fixed routine prevents security gaps from going unnoticed for weeks. These items belong in every operations manual:
A discussion in the Steam community shows how often port collisions between several ARK instances are overlooked and only noticed during live operation. If you run these tests before going live, you spare yourself later outages.
Nexthosting offers game server hosting with a German location and included DDoS protection, including ARK servers in the game server category. For operators who do not want to manage firewall rules and network technology themselves, this is a practical foundation, because the basic mitigation already runs in the background.
If you want more control over configuration and port management, the VPS category offers an alternative with more freedom for your own firewall rules and several ARK instances on one system. Both paths make sense for different types of operators: managed hosting for a quick start, VPS for individual setups.
In my view, this order is worthwhile: first secure hosting with mitigation and monitoring, then refine the firewall and port configuration, and only consider your own appliances for very specific requirements. Most ARK operators overestimate the effort required and underestimate how much a clean baseline configuration already achieves.
— Erik
If you are looking for a protected environment for your own ARK server, Nexthosting offers preconfigured plans with a German location and support directly from the team.
The easiest way is to look at the ARK hosting overview to check availability and configuration directly.
The BSI provides the fundamentals on prevention and response to DDoS attacks, while the list of qualified mitigation providers names specific contacts for an emergency. For the technical side, it is worth taking a look at the ARK wiki and the arkmanager documentation on ports and server setup.
There is no universally best provider. What matters is a German location, integrated DDoS protection, and fast support. Hosts such as Nexthosting offer ARK servers with these core features in their game server category, but the specific choice depends on community size and the level of control you want.
The duration depends heavily on the type of attack, bandwidth, and the mitigation in place, so no fixed time span can be given. With active monitoring and prepared ISP contacts, the response time can be shortened significantly because mitigation rules take effect faster.
You join through the in-game server list, where you can search by server name or IP address. For private servers, you also need the stored password, which is set by the server operator.
Common reasons are misconfigured ports, a full server, or a server version that is outdated compared to your own game version. First check whether the game and query ports are opened correctly, as described in the ARK wiki, and whether the server is actually online.