Skip to content
ZAP Help Center

ARK: Issues with Server Listing in Steamworks-Based Steam Games

Discover why popular games face server listing problems due to Steamworks limits and how this affects your multiplayer experience → Learn more now

10 November 20262 min read2 Views0 helpful

Unfortunately, many popular games like ARK or Valheim have major issues displaying all servers in the in-game server list.

This is because these games use the software “Steamworks” for their server listing.

Steamworks can list a maximum of 4,880 servers. If a game has more active servers than this number, only a small portion of the active servers will be shown to the player.

It is completely random whether player 1 sees server Y or not.
It can even happen that player 1 sees server Y, player 2 does not, and player 3 sees it again but misses another server that player 1 sees.

To rule out that the problem lies with the server provider, you can search for the server under “Steam” → “View” → “Servers” using the IP and port. If it is found there, the connection between player and server is perfect because this is a direct query by the player.

A good example to confirm the problem: ARK players who launch the game via Steam often cannot find servers. However, if they open ARK via Epic Games, the servers are found without issues. Epic Games does not use Steamworks.

Various developers have also commented on the problem. For example, Garry Newman from Garrysmod initially thought the issue was with his server provider OVH. But that was not the case. The problem affects ZAP-Hosting and every other server provider because it is directly related to Steamworks:

Source: https://x.com/garrynewman/status/1334446218437681152?s=20

Or Rust, as they write in their blog:

Code
It’s not all sunshine when you suddenly experience such a surge in popularity.  
You start to see cracks in the foundation; the clearest sign for us was that the server browser was never designed to handle so many servers.  
Without getting too technical, this means many servers are not shown to users, causing a lot of frustration for server operators.  
We are currently working on solutions and exploring options, so please be patient with us.

Source: https://rust.facepunch.com/blog/

We continue to monitor the issue and will update here as soon as a solution is available.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

ARK uses Steamworks for server listing, which can display a maximum of 4,880 servers at once. If there are more active servers, only a random subset is shown—regardless of the server provider.
Search for your server in Steam under View → Servers using its IP and port. If found there, the connection between player and server is working fine since this is a direct query.
Yes, ARK players launching the game through Steam often can’t find servers, while those using Epic Games can find them easily because Epic does not use Steamworks.

Feedback

Was this article helpful?

Your feedback helps us prioritize and improve content.

0 of 0 Users found this article helpful.

Personal support

Need more help than the guide provides?

Our ZAP support team knows your product — briefly describe your issue and we'll help you personally.

Zappy knows this guide and answers you right in the chat.