Does Ark Survival Ascended have tether distance? Explained

Ark Survival Ascended has a tether distance feature that co-op players must keep in mind when playing the survival title. Tether distance essentially dictates how far you can go from the main host. Friends who want to play the game together may want to understand how it works, as it is a key aspect of co-op map exploration.

This guide goes through the basics of the title's tether feature and whether you can change it for the player's preference and convenience.

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What is tether distance in Ark Survival Ascended?

In Ark Survival Ascended, tether distance dictates how far players can venture from the host player. It's a crucial mechanic for non-dedicated servers and is often used for groups of friends who want to play together. Hence, this does not apply to dedicated servers.

Essentially, a larger tether distance permits greater exploration. However, the size of the tether distance directly impacts hardware load, so larger distances put more stress on your PC or console. Meanwhile, a smaller tether distance can be used to enhance game performance, particularly on hardware grappling with the game's load.

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Can you change tether distance in Ark Survival Ascended?

There used to be an option to change tether distance in the pre-2024 Ark Survival Ascended PC client (Image via Studio Wildcard)

The option to manipulate tether distance for non-dedicated servers used to be available in the PC client of the game, under the Game Rules > Rules > Non-Dedicated Tether Distance setting.

However, this was shadow-patched out of the game sometime in February 2024. As of right now, you cannot change tether distance for Ark Survival Ascended on PC or consoles.

In a PC-only v34.65 minor patch of Ark Survival Ascended, the default tether distance in all non-dedicated games was changed from 180 to 800. While this will help your friends explore more freely in privately hosted non-dedicated lobbies, users have reported bugs and performance issues related to this.

To counter this extended tether distance on weaker PCs, you can tune down some settings like Shadow Quality and View Distance to get better performance in Ark Survival Ascended.

For those who are experiencing issues with the tether distance restriction, there is unfortunately no other solution than to find or rent a dedicated server.

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