preaquatica branch can join and you cannot.In July 2025 the ARK: Aquatica update changed ARK: Survival Evolved for everyone. Studio Wildcard then published a Steam branch called preaquatica, "available for clients and dedicated servers", so that people can keep playing the version from before ARK: Aquatica. Patch 360.35 (20/10/2025) and a developer post of 25/11/2025 say the branch "will remain a permanently available branch for all users".
A game and a server only meet when they run the same build, so both must be on the same branch. Our ASE maps are pinned to the pre-Aquatica build on purpose: the server plugins this cluster relies on are proven on it, and when one map updated itself out of that build on 10/09/2026 it was rolled back. Players join through Steam's preaquatica branch. On the current Aquatica build the ARK Wiki lists server plugins as unsupported, which is why plugin-based unofficial clusters such as ours stay on preaquatica.
This is not a ban and not a fault on your PC: your game simply moved to a newer build than our maps.
Check first: compare the version on the card on the Servers page with the version in your game's main menu. If they differ, switch the branch.
How long to wait: if your version matches and one map still refuses you while the others work, look at its card. A red Offline dot or a version highlighted as different from the other maps means the admins already see it, and the map comes back by itself — see the join guide.
The admins keep every ASE map on the pinned build; a map that updated itself by mistake is rolled back to that build. Ask an admin when:
preaquatica, your version matches the card, and you still cannot join;Tell an admin the map, the time (the clock in your profile menu shows the server's time), your character's name, what you carried or had uploaded, and the exact message on the screen. For a transfer: both maps and both times. Report the same day — the backups reach back only about two days. Contact admin is in your profile menu; the Guides page has a question box.
preaquatica branch and do not opt out of it: Studio Wildcard says the branch stays available permanently.