The complete guide · 6 min read
PixARK Server Hosting Guide: Tribes, Maps and Memory
This guide covers what changes when a PixARK world moves onto a rented server: picking a map and ruleset, sizing slots and memory, living with frequent patches and keeping a voxel world safe. It is written for whoever in the tribe ends up holding the admin password.
By Matthew Griffin, Owner, Gaming DeluxePublished · Updated
In this guide
- Why a PixARK World Needs Its Own Server
- Main World, Skyward and Terracrypt
- PvE or PvP: Choosing the Ruleset
- Choosing Slots and Memory
- Living with Frequent Patches
- Running a Tribe Server Day to Day
- Mods and What Is on the Roadmap
- Saves, Backups and Moving a World
- What to Compare Before Renting a PixARK Server
- PixARK Server Glossary
- PixARK Server Help and Next Steps
Why a PixARK World Needs Its Own Server
PixARK is a survival game built from cubes. You tame creatures, craft tools that range from stone axes to magic wands and rocket launchers, and build a base block by block. Steam counts more than 100 creatures to tame, train and ride. All of that only lives while a world is running. Play on your own machine and the world pauses the moment you quit, which stalls breeding, crops and every project your friends wanted to finish without you.
A dedicated server runs the world on a separate machine around the clock. Friends in different time zones can play when it suits them, nobody depends on one person's home connection, and the save sits on hardware built for the job. Renting one means the hardware, the network and the backups are somebody else's problem, and there is a support team to contact at two in the morning.
Main World, Skyward and Terracrypt
Snail Games' patch notes name three areas: the main PixARK world, Skyward and Terracrypt. Every recent patch lists fixes for all three, and new creatures such as the Gigantoraptor spawn in each of them. Terracrypt is a separate DLC, which means each player needs to own it to use its content.
PixARK maps are procedurally generated from a seed. Two servers with the same seed share a layout; a different seed gives a fresh world. That makes a seed worth writing down: if the tribe loves a particular coastline, the seed is how you rebuild it later on a clean save.
- Main world: the place most tribes start, and the safest choice when players own different DLC.
- Skyward: worth it when your group wants a change of scenery; patch 1.242 fixed creature uploads between Skyward and the main world.
- Terracrypt: the DLC area, best kept for groups where everyone owns it.
PvE or PvP: Choosing the Ruleset
The Steam store page describes PixARK as having PvP and PvE servers, plus the option to create your own. On your own server the choice is yours, and it shapes everything that follows.
| Question | PvE server | PvP server |
|---|---|---|
| Can bases be raided? | No, players only fight the world | Yes, tribes can attack each other |
| Typical building style | Big, open, decorative | Walled, layered, defended |
| Best for | Friends, families, creative groups | Competitive tribes and public servers |
| Admin workload | Light | Higher: rules, disputes, griefing reports |
Many groups start on PvE, then open a second PvP world once they want competition. If you run both, keep each one's backups separate and label them clearly in the Backup Manager.
Choosing Slots and Memory
Slots set how many people can be online at once. A tribe of eight friends fits easily on 20 slots; a server you advertise publicly needs room for the evening peak, not the average. Our PixARK plans come with 20, 30, 50 or 70 slots, and the order form also sells 40 and 60.
Memory matters more than people expect in a voxel game. Every dug tunnel and placed block changes the stored world, and each tamed creature stays in memory whether its owner is online or not. That is why our plans step up together: 8GB on 20 slots, 12GB on 30, 16GB on 50 and 20GB on 70. Snail Games publishes no official figure, so these are our own sizes from running survival worlds of this kind.
Watch the memory graph in the panel during your busiest evening. If it sits near the limit, move up a tier from the client area; the order form goes to 32GB, and the save does not move.
Living with Frequent Patches
PixARK has had an active autumn. Between 16 September and 15 October 2026, Steam lists seven numbered patches, from 1.237 to 1.243, including the 1.240 Autumn Reunion update. Most were bug fixes; 1.241 added the Gigantoraptor. Snail Games' own notes admit to ongoing loading problems and promise more frequent fixes, so expect this pace to continue for a while.
- When a patch lands, take a quick snapshot in the Backup Manager.
- Run Steam Update in the panel to fetch the new server build.
- Restart and read the log to confirm the world loaded cleanly.
- Tell the tribe to update their clients, because mismatched versions cannot connect.
Running a Tribe Server Day to Day
Most problems on a shared PixARK world are social, not technical. Write down the basics before you invite anyone: whether creatures may roam outside pens, how close to another tribe people may build, and what happens to abandoned bases. A short rules post saves long arguments.
- Use a join password while the tribe sets up, then decide whether to open the server.
- Schedule a daily restart for the quietest hour so memory stays tidy.
- Keep one admin in charge of updates, so two people are never patching at once.
- Snapshot the world before a tribe merge, a wipe or any large rebuild.
Mods and What Is on the Roadmap
Snail Games' September and October 2026 roadmap lists mod developer tools alongside a new Terracrypt creature and a Keep Inventory option for single player and local multiplayer. None of that is out at the time of writing, so we treat it as planned rather than promised. Once the tools ship and the patch notes explain how servers load mods, we will add the steps here.
Until then, your server already gives you full file access. The File Manager and SFTP let you edit settings files, keep copies of configurations you like, and move saves in and out.
Saves, Backups and Moving a World
There are three layers of safety on a hosted PixARK world. The Backup Manager takes a snapshot whenever you ask. Scheduled Tasks can take one automatically every night. And we keep offsite copies for the last 7 days, so even a bad week is recoverable.
Moving a world is a file copy. Stop the server, upload the save with SFTP, start it again and watch the log for errors. Keep the original copy on your PC until the tribe has played a session on the new server and everything checks out.
What to Compare Before Renting a PixARK Server
Offers look similar until a busy evening. These are the details worth checking first.
- RAM in the base priceA voxel world grows over months. Check how much memory the plan includes, not just how many slots.
- Update speedPixARK patches often. You want a one-click update you can run yourself, not a ticket.
- Backups you controlLook for on-demand snapshots, scheduled backups and offsite copies you can restore without waiting.
- Locations near your tribeRun a ping test and choose a site close to most players; it matters more than raw CPU.
- File accessA browser file manager and SFTP make it easy to move saves and keep settings safe.
- DDoS filteringPublic PvP servers attract attacks. Filtering should be included, not an extra.
- Billing termsCompare monthly against 3, 6 and 12 month prices, and check for setup fees or minimum terms.
PixARK Server Glossary
- Dedicated server
- A program that keeps a PixARK world running on its own machine, with nobody playing on it.
- Voxel
- A cube-shaped block. PixARK's terrain and buildings are made of them.
- Seed
- The value a procedural map is generated from. The same seed gives the same layout.
- Tribe
- A group of players who share a base, creatures and progress.
- Taming
- Turning a wild creature into one that follows, fights for or carries you.
- Knockout taming
- Taming by knocking a creature out first, then feeding it, as the Gigantoraptor requires.
- Skyward
- One of the three PixARK areas named in the patch notes, alongside the main world and Terracrypt.
- Terracrypt
- A PixARK DLC area with its own creatures and armour sets.
- Gigantoraptor
- The feathered creature added in patch 1.241 on 29 September 2026.
- PvE and PvP
- Player versus environment, or player versus player: whether tribes can attack each other.
- Slots
- How many players can be on the server at the same time.
PixARK Server Help and Next Steps
Where to go next.
How this guide was made: researched from PixARK's Steam store page and Snail Games' official patch notes, drafted with AI assistance, checked against our live order form for every plan, price and location, and reviewed by Matthew Griffin before publishing. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
