Set up RCON on ARK: Survival Evolved

RCON is ARK's remote console: a tool on your own computer or a Discord bot sends admin commands to your ARK: Survival Evolved server over the network. Your panel already uses RCON for the Console tab, so you only need this guide to reach it from outside.

What is already set up

Your server starts with RCON on, and its RCON password is your Admin Password. ARK's wiki lists RCONEnabled as off by default and RCONPort as the optional TCP port, with 27020 as its default. Our launch line turns RCON on and passes the port from the RCON Port field, so you change nothing to use the Console tab. It runs commands such as listplayers and saveworld straight into the server, with no login and no cheat prefix.

Why an outside tool cannot connect yet

RCON Port holds 27020 to begin with, and that port only exists inside your server. A tool on the internet can reach only the ports allocated to your server, so RCON needs one of your extra ports.

Point RCON at an extra port

1. Open the Settings tab and find the Network ports card. The line under the title shows how many extra ports your plan includes and how many slots are left. Two of those are ARK's own, the rows marked Game port, and they cannot be released.
2. Press Add port. Only the server owner can add ports. A new row appears marked Extra, as address:port.
3. Copy the port number from the row.
4. Open the Startup tab, paste the number into RCON Port (any number from 1024 to 65535 is accepted) and press Save.
5. Press Restart now in the alert that appears. The server reads the port only when it starts.
6. In your RCON tool, use the address from the new row, that port, and your Admin Password from the Startup tab.
7. Send listplayers to test. Any reply from the server means the connection works.

If the card says 0 slots left, your plan has no spare extra port. Release one you added earlier with Release, or move to a bigger plan. How to upgrade or downgrade your plan shows how.

When you are finished

Put RCON Port back to 27020, press Save, restart, then Release the extra port if you no longer need it. The Console tab keeps working either way, because it talks to the server from inside.

Common problems

1. Connection refused or a timeout: check the port in the tool is the one in Network ports, not the join address's port or the query port. Check you restarted after saving RCON Port.
2. Authentication failed: the password is the Admin Password exactly, and it is case-sensitive. If you changed it in the Startup tab, restart first.
3. The tool connects but commands do nothing: RCON commands take no cheat prefix, the same as the Console tab.

If none of these match, copy the exact error from your tool, and from the Console tab's Errors tab, when you ask for help.