diff --git a/dChatServer/CMakeLists.txt b/dChatServer/CMakeLists.txt
index 853345dd..3dc64c8a 100644
--- a/dChatServer/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/dChatServer/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 set(DCHATSERVER_SOURCES
-	"ChatHttpApi.cpp"
+	"ChatWebApi.cpp"
 	"ChatIgnoreList.cpp"
 	"ChatPacketHandler.cpp"
 	"PlayerContainer.cpp"
diff --git a/dChatServer/ChatServer.cpp b/dChatServer/ChatServer.cpp
index 7b72e8ec..41c9b1b0 100644
--- a/dChatServer/ChatServer.cpp
+++ b/dChatServer/ChatServer.cpp
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 #include "eWorldMessageType.h"
 #include "ChatIgnoreList.h"
 #include "StringifiedEnum.h"
-#include "ChatHttpApi.h"
+#include "ChatWebApi.h"
 
 #include "Game.h"
 #include "Server.h"
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ namespace Game {
 	AssetManager* assetManager = nullptr;
 	Game::signal_t lastSignal = 0;
 	std::mt19937 randomEngine;
-	PlayerContainer playerContainer;
+	PlayerContainer playerContainer;	
 }
 
 void HandlePacket(Packet* packet);
@@ -123,7 +123,8 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
 	uint32_t framesSinceMasterDisconnect = 0;
 	uint32_t framesSinceLastSQLPing = 0;
 
-	std::thread APIThread(ChatHttpApi::Listen, ourPort);
+	// start the web api thread
+	std::thread webAPIThread(ChatWebApi::Listen, ourPort);
 
 	Game::logger->Flush(); // once immediately before main loop
 	while (!Game::ShouldShutdown()) {
@@ -177,8 +178,11 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
 	delete Game::server;
 	delete Game::logger;
 	delete Game::config;
-	ChatHttpApi::Stop();
-	APIThread.join();
+	
+	// rejoin the web api thread
+	ChatWebApi::Stop();
+	webAPIThread.join();
+
 	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }
 
diff --git a/dChatServer/ChatHttpApi.cpp b/dChatServer/ChatWebApi.cpp
similarity index 82%
rename from dChatServer/ChatHttpApi.cpp
rename to dChatServer/ChatWebApi.cpp
index 8d652a32..c9cebc6a 100644
--- a/dChatServer/ChatHttpApi.cpp
+++ b/dChatServer/ChatWebApi.cpp
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
 
-#include "ChatHttpApi.h"
+#include "ChatWebApi.h"
 #include "dCommonVars.h"
 #include "eConnectionType.h"
 #include "eChatMessageType.h"
 #include "httplib.h"
 #include "dServer.h"
 #include "PlayerContainer.h"
+#include "dConfig.h"
 
 using json = nlohmann::json;
 
@@ -15,7 +16,13 @@ namespace {
 	httplib::Server m_APIServer;
 }
 
-void ChatHttpApi::Listen(const uint32_t port) {
+void ChatWebApi::Listen(const uint32_t port) {
+	if (Game::config->GetValue("enable_chat_web_api") != "1") {
+		LOG("Chat Web API is disabled");
+		return;
+	}
+	LOG("Chat Web API is enabled, starting web server...");
+
 	m_APIServer.Post("/announce", [](const httplib::Request& req, httplib::Response& res) {
 		const json data = json::parse(req.body);
 		if (!data.contains("title")) {
@@ -75,9 +82,12 @@ void ChatHttpApi::Listen(const uint32_t port) {
 		if (data.empty()) res.status = 204;
 	});
 
-	m_APIServer.listen("0.0.0.0", port);
+	m_APIServer.listen(Game::config->GetValue("enable_chat_web_api").c_str(), port);
 };
 
-void ChatHttpApi::Stop(){
-	m_APIServer.stop();
+void ChatWebApi::Stop(){
+	if (Game::config->GetValue("enable_chat_web_api") == "1") {
+		LOG("Stopping Chat Web API server...");
+		m_APIServer.stop();
+	}
 }
diff --git a/dChatServer/ChatHttpApi.h b/dChatServer/ChatWebApi.h
similarity index 75%
rename from dChatServer/ChatHttpApi.h
rename to dChatServer/ChatWebApi.h
index aafb29de..420a4087 100644
--- a/dChatServer/ChatHttpApi.h
+++ b/dChatServer/ChatWebApi.h
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #include "httplib.h"
 
-namespace ChatHttpApi {
+namespace ChatWebApi {
 	void Listen(const uint32_t port);
 	void Stop();
 };
diff --git a/resources/chatconfig.ini b/resources/chatconfig.ini
index 402534ed..ee990089 100644
--- a/resources/chatconfig.ini
+++ b/resources/chatconfig.ini
@@ -6,3 +6,10 @@ max_number_of_best_friends=5
 # Change the value below to what you would like this to be (50 is live accurate)
 # going over 50 will be allowed in some secnarios, but proper handling will require client modding
 max_number_of_friends=50
+
+# Enable or disable the chat web API, disabled by default
+# It will run on the same port the chat server is running on, defined in shardconfig.ini
+enable_chat_web_api=0
+
+# If that chat web api is enabled, it will only listen for connections on this ip address
+chat_web_api_listen_address=localhost