ARK packet loss: What is it and how to fix it?

ARK: Survival Evolved, or shortly just ARK, is an awesome action-adventure game released in 2017. You find yourself stranded on a mysterious island and need to do everything you can to survive.

However, don’t expect ARK to treat you like a basic wood camper. No, building a fire is the last thing you’ll need to worry about in this game. In fact, you’ll have to tame or kill primeval creatures on the island.

In your survival-based journey, you might even find other players. It’s your choice whether you help each other survive, or engage in some good player-vs-player action.

Now if you choose to play ARK all by yourself, you might not even need this article. However, it’s the multiplayer that bugs us all every now and then with the same old issues.

High latency/ping, jitter, random disconnection, and even the infamous packet loss are among these issues.

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What is packet loss in ARK?

Generally speaking, packet loss has the same behavior regardless of where you encounter it, even in ARK. It occurs whenever packets of data that you send or receive never reach their destination point.

That shouldn’t be such a problem, considering that we transmit tens of millions of packets daily. Some of them might not make it to their destination, but they are usually quickly replaced by others.

However, in online games such as ARK, it can get problematic if such an episode lasts for several seconds, or minutes. Usually, packet loss triggers other issues such as unbearable latency, rubberbanding, and even disconnection.

More often than not, network congestion is the one causing packet loss. Thus, leaking packets usually fixes itself if you just give it time. Additionally, you might want to avoid peak hours, if you’re aware of them.

How to fix packet loss in ARK?

1. Try using a VPN

1. Download Private Internet Access to your PC
2. Install it
3. Launch PIA and log into your account
4. Choose a fast server
5. Launch ARK
6. Check to see if the problem still persists

Private Internet Access is a great all-round VPN from Kape Technologies. This VPN can improve your packet loss, but only if the issue occurs on your ISP’s side.

For instance, if your network is improperly routed, or if your ISP throttles your bandwidth, PIA might improve things.

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However, the reasons for using a VPN shouldn’t be reduced to improving ping or packet loss. VPNs are outstanding tools that can help you enhance your privacy, secure your connection, and even circumvent geoblocking.

Thus, even though it might not improve packet loss 100% of the time, it’s still wise to invest in a VPN.

2. Troubleshoot your connection

1. Launch CMD with administrator rights
2. Locate the address of the ARK server that leaks packets
3. Run the pathping x.x.x.x (x.x.x.x = address of the ARK server) command in CMD
4. Locate the hop that’s losing packets
5. Depending on your test results, take any of the following actions:

• • Check and replace/repair/upgrade/update any faulty components of your home network (PC, cables, router)
  • Switch to wired if you’re using Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi leaks packets more often)
  • Call your ISP to look into the matter if there’s something wrong on their side
  • Contact the server host and inform them of your findings

Truth be told, there’s no immediate magic fix for packet loss. As we’ve mentioned above, most of the time it’s caused by network congestion and fixes itself.

However, if you notice a pattern in its occurrence, stepping in might be the smart thing to do.

ARK packet loss can be solved most of the times

To sum it up, if you’re having problems with packet loss in ARK, the best thing would be to wait it off. More often than not, it’s caused by network congestion, which, given enough time, passes as swiftly as it came by.

The next best thing would be trying to fix it by yourself, and sometimes using a VPN is the simplest way to tackle this issue. If the VPN didn’t work as expected, try troubleshooting your connection, isolating the issue, and fixing it one step at a time.

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