Docs overview

YARK is a Windows desktop app for managing local ARK: Survival Ascended dedicated servers. These docs are written for operators using the public prerelease — not for reading the Electron source tree.

Start with Getting started ← Back to the product site

What YARK is responsible for

• Multiple server profiles in one app (install path, ports, passwords, mods, cluster fields)
• SteamCMD install / update / verify of ASA dedicated files into each profile
• Start / stop / restart / force close, with readiness gated on RCON
• Launch tab for structured ASA flags, Extra arguments, and a live command preview
• Quick jump (Ctrl+K) to pages and servers
• Backups (world / players / INI), including portable export/import and critical-path snapshots for safe update & restart
• Move installation and opt-in Auto-start with YARK
• INI editing (visual + raw) and an on-demand configuration assistant
• Copy configuration between stopped server profiles
• RCON console (commands, players, ban list) while a server is running
• CurseForge mod IDs on the launch line (-mods=), plus metadata lookup and Maps packs via Map select
• Logs (events, runtime, update files, backup history) with retention for YARK-owned data
• YARK updates from GitHub Releases (Settings / accented sidebar version)
• Cluster create, membership, INI templates, and compliance (shared Cluster ID + directory)

What it is not

• Not a cloud host, game client launcher, or official Wildcard product
• Not a CurseForge mod downloader/installer
• Not production-ready — builds are unsigned prereleases

Browse by job

First serverInstaller → SteamCMD → profile → install files → start.

Keep worlds safeManual, scheduled, and fail-hard pre-update / pre-restart backups.

Patch ASA filesShared cache, Update vs Verify, safe update + rollback.

Copy configurationSelective INI, mods, and policy copy to stopped targets.

Mods & map packsProject IDs, enable/disable, and CurseForge Maps → Map select.

RCON consoleCommands, players, and ban list on a running server.

Something brokeCommon start, update, backup, and log pitfalls.

Source of truth

Operator guides here are distilled from the engineering runbooks in the repo (docs/backups.md, docs/updates-steamcmd.md, docs/server-lifecycle.md, docs/logs.md). When behavior changes in a release, prefer the app + changelog, then these pages.