diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a6ada92..ef086d3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,18 +1,9 @@
-# ---> Rust
-# Generated by Cargo
-# will have compiled files and executables
 debug/
 target/
 
-# Remove Cargo.lock from gitignore if creating an executable, leave it for libraries
-# More information here https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/guide/cargo-toml-vs-cargo-lock.html
+/*.json
 Cargo.lock
 
-# These are backup files generated by rustfmt
 **/*.rs.bk
-
-# MSVC Windows builds of rustc generate these, which store debugging information
 *.pdb
-
-# Visual Studio crap
 .vs/
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 66b0ddc..f6c97d7 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [workspace]
-members = ["gameserver", "protocol", "qwer", "qwer/qwer-derive", "sdkserver"]
+members = [ "common","gameserver", "protocol", "qwer", "qwer/qwer-derive", "sdkserver"]
 resolver = "2"
 
 [workspace.package]
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.18", features = [
 ] }
 tracing-bunyan-formatter = "0.3.9"
 
+common = { version = "0.1.0", path = "common" }
 protocol = { version = "0.1.0", path = "protocol" }
 qwer = { version = "0.1.0", path = "qwer", features = ["full"] }
 qwer-derive = { version = "0.1.0", path = "qwer/qwer-derive" }
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c756911..6cc82ed 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -55,14 +55,9 @@ run the following in a terminal:
 
 ## Configuration
 
-The game server can be configured using a `.env` file. The file contains one configurable
-option, `SKIP_TUTORIAL`, which is set to 0 by default.
-
-If you have a `.env` file in the **same** directory as your executable, then this
-is the file that will be loaded. Otherwise, upon _first_ running the `gameserver`
-executable, it will create `{FOLDERID_RoamingAppData}\nap-gameserver\.env`
-(`C:\Users\{user}\AppData\Roaming\nap-gameserver\.env`) for you, and will source
-from this config instead.
+The game server can be configured using a `gameserver.json` file.
+Configuration file with default settings will be created in
+the working directory upon first startup.
 
 ## Contributing
 
diff --git a/common/Cargo.toml b/common/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..53bc00c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+[package]
+name = "common"
+edition = "2021"
+version.workspace = true
+
+[dependencies]
diff --git a/common/src/lib.rs b/common/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..812d1ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+pub mod util;
diff --git a/common/src/util.rs b/common/src/util.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..685ebdd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/src/util.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+pub fn load_or_create_config(path: &str, defaults: &str) -> String {
+    std::fs::read_to_string(path).map_or_else(
+        |_| {
+            std::fs::write(path, defaults).unwrap();
+            defaults.to_string()
+        },
+        |data| data,
+    )
+}
diff --git a/gameserver/Cargo.toml b/gameserver/Cargo.toml
index 1badcab..a31462e 100644
--- a/gameserver/Cargo.toml
+++ b/gameserver/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ ansi_term.workspace = true
 anyhow.workspace = true
 atomic_refcell.workspace = true
 dirs.workspace = true
-dotenv.workspace = true
 env_logger.workspace = true
 hex.workspace = true
 lazy_static.workspace = true
@@ -27,6 +26,7 @@ tracing-log.workspace = true
 tracing-subscriber.workspace = true
 tracing-bunyan-formatter.workspace = true
 
+common.workspace = true
 protocol.workspace = true
 qwer.workspace = true
 
diff --git a/gameserver/gameserver.default.json b/gameserver/gameserver.default.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ffde53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gameserver/gameserver.default.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+	"gateway_endpoint": "0.0.0.0:10301",
+	"skip_tutorial": false,
+	"system_resources_logging": false
+}
diff --git a/gameserver/src/config.rs b/gameserver/src/config.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b295df5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gameserver/src/config.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+use common::util::load_or_create_config;
+use lazy_static::lazy_static;
+use serde::Deserialize;
+
+const DEFAULT_CONFIG: &str = include_str!("../gameserver.default.json");
+
+#[derive(Deserialize)]
+pub struct GameServerConfig {
+    pub gateway_endpoint: String,
+    pub skip_tutorial: bool,
+    pub system_resources_logging: bool,
+}
+
+lazy_static! {
+    pub static ref CONFIGURATION: GameServerConfig =
+        serde_json::from_str(&load_or_create_config("gameserver.json", DEFAULT_CONFIG))
+            .expect("Failed to parse server configuration file");
+}
+
+pub fn init_config() {
+    let _configuration = &*CONFIGURATION; // init static
+}
diff --git a/gameserver/src/config/mod.rs b/gameserver/src/data/mod.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from gameserver/src/config/mod.rs
rename to gameserver/src/data/mod.rs
diff --git a/gameserver/src/config/templates.rs b/gameserver/src/data/templates.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from gameserver/src/config/templates.rs
rename to gameserver/src/data/templates.rs
diff --git a/gameserver/src/game/globals.rs b/gameserver/src/game/globals.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 04c2dcd..0000000
--- a/gameserver/src/game/globals.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-use std::env;
-
-use lazy_static::lazy_static;
-
-lazy_static! {
-    static ref SKIP_TUTORIAL: i32 = env::var("SKIP_TUTORIAL").map_or(0, |v| v.parse().unwrap());
-}
-
-pub fn should_skip_tutorial() -> bool {
-    *SKIP_TUTORIAL != 0
-}
diff --git a/gameserver/src/game/mod.rs b/gameserver/src/game/mod.rs
index 7fb8650..e67697e 100644
--- a/gameserver/src/game/mod.rs
+++ b/gameserver/src/game/mod.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 mod context;
 pub mod data;
-pub mod globals;
 pub mod manager;
 pub mod util;
 
diff --git a/gameserver/src/logging.rs b/gameserver/src/logging.rs
index 63cf167..6b89231 100644
--- a/gameserver/src/logging.rs
+++ b/gameserver/src/logging.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@ macro_rules! log_error {
     };
 }
 
-pub fn init_tracing() {
+pub fn init_logging() {
+    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+    ansi_term::enable_ansi_support().unwrap();
+
     env_logger::init_from_env(env_logger::Env::new().default_filter_or("info"));
 }
 
diff --git a/gameserver/src/main.rs b/gameserver/src/main.rs
index 6c569ef..7bfad02 100644
--- a/gameserver/src/main.rs
+++ b/gameserver/src/main.rs
@@ -1,56 +1,28 @@
-use std::path::Path;
-
 use anyhow::Result;
-use config::init_assets;
 use tracing::Level;
 
 mod config;
+mod data;
 mod game;
 mod logging;
 mod net;
 
-use logging::{init_system_logging, init_tracing};
-
-const GATE_HOST: &str = "0.0.0.0";
-const GATE_PORT: u16 = 10301;
+use config::{init_config, CONFIGURATION};
+use data::init_assets;
+use logging::{init_logging, init_system_logging};
 
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> Result<()> {
-    #[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
-    ansi_term::enable_ansi_support().unwrap();
-
-    init_config()?;
+    init_logging();
+    init_config();
     init_assets()?;
-    init_tracing();
 
     let span = tracing::span!(Level::DEBUG, "main");
     let _enter = span.enter();
 
-    init_system_logging().await;
-
-    net::gateway::listen(GATE_HOST, GATE_PORT).await?;
-    Ok(())
-}
-
-fn init_config() -> Result<()> {
-    let local_dotenv = Path::new(".env");
-    if local_dotenv.exists() {
-        dotenv::dotenv()?;
-    } else {
-        let config = dirs::config_dir()
-            .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("No config directory found"))?
-            .join("nap-gameserver");
-
-        std::fs::create_dir_all(&config)?;
-
-        let env = config.join(".env");
-
-        if !env.exists() {
-            std::fs::write(&env, "SKIP_TUTORIAL=0")?;
-        }
-
-        dotenv::from_path(&env)?;
+    if CONFIGURATION.system_resources_logging {
+        init_system_logging().await;
     }
 
-    Ok(())
+    net::gateway::listen(&CONFIGURATION.gateway_endpoint).await
 }
diff --git a/gameserver/src/net/gateway.rs b/gameserver/src/net/gateway.rs
index e003697..325b28e 100644
--- a/gameserver/src/net/gateway.rs
+++ b/gameserver/src/net/gateway.rs
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ use crate::log_error;
 
 use super::NetworkSession;
 
-pub async fn listen(host: &str, port: u16) -> Result<()> {
-    let listener = TcpListener::bind(format!("{host}:{port}")).await?;
-    tracing::info!("Listening at {host}:{port}");
+pub async fn listen(bind_addr: &str) -> Result<()> {
+    let listener = TcpListener::bind(bind_addr).await?;
+    tracing::info!("Listening at {bind_addr}");
 
     loop {
         let Ok((client_socket, client_addr)) = listener.accept().await else {
diff --git a/gameserver/src/net/handlers/world.rs b/gameserver/src/net/handlers/world.rs
index 8ee0305..1a45c3a 100644
--- a/gameserver/src/net/handlers/world.rs
+++ b/gameserver/src/net/handlers/world.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@ use qwer::{
     pdkhashmap, phashmap, phashset, PropertyDoubleKeyHashMap, PropertyHashMap, PropertyHashSet,
 };
 
-use crate::config;
-use crate::game::{globals, util};
+use crate::config::CONFIGURATION;
+use crate::data;
+use crate::game::util;
 
 use super::*;
 
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ pub async fn on_rpc_run_event_graph_arg(
     let unit = scene_unit_mgr.get(arg.owner_uid);
 
     let SceneUnitProtocolInfo::NpcProtocolInfo { tag, id, .. } = unit;
-    let main_city_object = config::get_main_city_object(tag, id).unwrap();
+    let main_city_object = data::get_main_city_object(tag, id).unwrap();
 
     let mut ptc_sync_event_info = PtcSyncEventInfoArg {
         owner_type: EventGraphOwnerType::SceneUnit,
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ pub async fn on_rpc_interact_with_unit_arg(
     let unit = scene_unit_mgr.get(arg.unit_uid);
 
     let SceneUnitProtocolInfo::NpcProtocolInfo { tag, id, .. } = unit;
-    let main_city_object = config::get_main_city_object(tag, id).unwrap();
+    let main_city_object = data::get_main_city_object(tag, id).unwrap();
 
     let mut ptc_sync_event_info = PtcSyncEventInfoArg {
         owner_type: EventGraphOwnerType::SceneUnit,
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ fn create_player(id: u64) -> PlayerInfo {
         z: 11.18,
     });
 
-    if globals::should_skip_tutorial() {
+    if CONFIGURATION.skip_tutorial {
         let beginner_procedure = player.beginner_procedure_info.as_mut().unwrap();
         beginner_procedure.procedure_info.replace(6);
         player.nick_name.replace(String::from("xeondev"));
@@ -207,7 +208,7 @@ pub async fn on_rpc_enter_world_arg(
     item_manager.add_resource(10, 228);
     item_manager.add_resource(100, 1337);
 
-    for avatar_id in config::iter_avatar_config_collection()
+    for avatar_id in data::iter_avatar_config_collection()
         .map(|c| c.id)
         .filter(|id| *id < 2000)
     {
@@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ pub async fn on_rpc_enter_world_arg(
     }
 
     let unlock_manager = session.context.unlock_manager.borrow();
-    for unlock_id in config::iter_unlock_config_collection().map(|c| c.id) {
+    for unlock_id in data::iter_unlock_config_collection().map(|c| c.id) {
         unlock_manager.unlock(unlock_id);
     }
 
@@ -257,7 +258,7 @@ pub async fn on_rpc_enter_world_arg(
     let yorozuya_quest_manager = session.context.yorozuya_quest_manager.borrow();
     yorozuya_quest_manager.add_hollow_quest(102, HollowQuestType::SideQuest, 10010002);
 
-    if globals::should_skip_tutorial() {
+    if CONFIGURATION.skip_tutorial {
         Box::pin(enter_main_city(session)).await?;
     } else {
         let fresh_scene_uid = *dungeon_manager.create_fresh().unwrap();