Game Server Protection

    ARK server DDoS protection

    Keep your ARK: Survival Evolved or Ascended server and the host you already rent. Players connect to a Sterile IP, attacks are filtered on our network, and only clean traffic reaches your server over a GRE tunnel.

    View pricing

    What hits ARK servers

    What gets thrown at a public ARK server, and what happens to it behind Sterile.

    UDP floods during raids
    Knocking a server offline mid-raid is a tactic, not an accident. The flood is filtered on our network, and your server's real address stays hidden so nobody can aim around us.
    Server-browser query floods
    Survival Evolved answers Steam server-browser queries, which spoofed requests can bury. The A2S challenge answers real ones without letting fake requests through.
    Traffic bursts on join
    Floods of connection attempts that never become players are filtered before they reach the server, so a full tribe can still log in.
    RCON left open
    RCON is for your admins, not your players. Without a rule it is not reachable on the protected IP.

    Premade protection for every ARK port

    Every port a ARK server uses has a premade profile, tuned for that traffic. In the dashboard you pick the port and its profile from a list; there are no filter rules to write. Traffic to a port you have not added does not reach your server.

    • GamePlayers joining and playing7777 UDP
    • Second game portSurvival Evolved onlySurvival Evolved's raw game traffic7778 UDP
    • Steam querySurvival Evolved only; Ascended lists itself without itThe Steam server browser27015 UDP

    Leave RCON (TCP 27020 by default) without a rule, so it is not reachable on the protected IP. Reach it over SSH or a VPN instead.

    Set up in a few minutes

    Download the installer from the dashboard and run it as root on the Linux server that hosts ARK. It brings up the GRE tunnel; then add a rule for 7777 and give players the Sterile IP. Add your SSH port to a profile first, or the install can cut your session.

    root@your-server

    Guides

    Questions about protecting ARK

    No. You keep your host and your server. Traffic reaches Sterile first and is delivered to your server over a GRE tunnel, so the only thing that changes for players is the address they connect to.

    If they join by domain name, point its A record at the Sterile IP and nothing changes for them. If they join by IP address or a saved favourite, give them the new one.

    Yes, one premade profile covers both. Ascended needs only its game port; Survival Evolved also uses a second game port and a Steam query port, and each gets a rule.

    Every map is its own server with its own ports, so add the rules for each one. They can all use the same premade profile.

    The installer runs on Linux, as root, and needs a kernel that can load the GRE module. If your server runs Windows, talk to us before you buy and we will look at your setup with you. Contact support

    A little, because traffic takes one extra hop through our edge. How much depends on where your players, our edge and your server are. Read the latency guide

    You choose the reserved speed, clean traffic and protected IPs you need, and pay monthly for that. View pricing

    Keep your ARK server online

    Protect the server you already run, and be filtered before the next attack arrives.

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