The Isle is Afterthought's open-world dinosaur survival game, in early access on Steam since December 2015. You do not hunt dinosaurs here; you are one. You can play dozens of species, from small herbivores to predators such as Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus, and you start small, weak and hungry. The game's own advice sums it up: grow fast or die young.

The Isle exists in two versions that players still choose between: Legacy, the original game, and Evrima, the rebuilt version that development has moved to. Servers can hold a hundred players or more, and most of the scene runs on community servers whose rules on how dinosaurs should behave matter as much as the game itself.

Life as a Dinosaur

In survival play your dinosaur passes through several life stages, and every stage is a fight to eat, drink and stay out of something bigger's jaws. Carnivores hunt and scavenge; herbivores graze, keep watch and rely on their size or their numbers. Calls let members of a species find and warn each other, and once you are grown you can build a nest and defend your young. Die, and that dinosaur is gone: you start again from the beginning.

That permanence is what makes The Isle tense. A grown animal represents hours of careful play, so every river crossing and every encounter with a stranger matters. It is also why the behavior of other players, and the server rules that shape it, decide whether a server feels like a living ecosystem or a deathmatch.

What to Look For in a Server on The Isle

Evrima or Legacy

The two versions have different species, systems and maps, and your game has to be on the matching version to join. Evrima gets the new mechanics and ongoing development; Legacy servers keep the original game alive for players who prefer it. Pick the version first, then look for servers.

Realism, Semi-Realism or Casual

Realism servers ask you to play like the animal you are: eat when you are hungry, avoid fights you would not risk in the wild, and do not team up with species you would never travel with. Semi-realism servers keep the spirit with fewer rules. Casual servers have little or no behavior rules at all. Read the rules closely, because breaking realism rules is the fastest way to get banned.

Group Limits and Mixed Groups

Most servers cap how many players can group together and set rules on mixed-species groups. A tight cap keeps the island balanced and stops one large pack from controlling the best hunting grounds. If you plan to play with friends, check that your group size and your species fit the rules.

Growth and Server Settings

Community servers can change how fast dinosaurs grow and which species and systems are enabled. Faster growth gets you to adulthood sooner; default growth makes reaching adulthood an achievement. Check what a server has changed before you commit hours to a slow-growing species.

Admins and Rule Enforcement

Behavior rules only work when someone enforces them. Look for an active staff team, a clear ticket process on Discord and, on realism servers, guidance on what evidence a report needs. A server with strict rules and absent admins is the worst of both worlds.

Getting Started

Choose Evrima or Legacy, then a rules style that fits you, then a server whose population is awake when you are. Read the rules, join the Discord, and start with a species that can hide or run while you learn the map. The ranking below lists the servers for The Isle that players vote for here. Vote for the server you play on - rankings start again every month, so the list shows where the island is busiest now.