diff --git a/code/controllers/configuration.dm b/code/controllers/configuration.dm
index 1d3970e2b98..ceb65c71ab2 100644
--- a/code/controllers/configuration.dm
+++ b/code/controllers/configuration.dm
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ var/list/gamemode_cache = list()
 	var/admin_legacy_system = 0	//Defines whether the server uses the legacy admin system with admins.txt or the SQL system. Config option in config.txt
 	var/ban_legacy_system = 0	//Defines whether the server uses the legacy banning system with the files in /data or the SQL system. Config option in config.txt
 	var/use_age_restriction_for_jobs = 0 //Do jobs use account age restrictions? --requires database
+	var/sql_whitelists = 0	//Defined whether the server uses an SQL based whitelist system, or the legacy one with two .txts. Config option in config.txt
 
 	var/simultaneous_pm_warning_timeout = 100
 
@@ -674,6 +675,9 @@ var/list/gamemode_cache = list()
 				if("aggressive_changelog")
 					config.aggressive_changelog = 1
 
+				if("sql_whitelists")
+					config.sql_whitelists = 1
+
 				else
 					log_misc("Unknown setting in configuration: '[name]'")
 
diff --git a/code/game/jobs/whitelist.dm b/code/game/jobs/whitelist.dm
index f1dc546aeaf..ebcd4dcb3e1 100644
--- a/code/game/jobs/whitelist.dm
+++ b/code/game/jobs/whitelist.dm
@@ -3,49 +3,91 @@
 var/list/whitelist = list()
 
 /hook/startup/proc/loadWhitelist()
-	if(config.usewhitelist)
+	if (config.usewhitelist)
 		load_whitelist()
 	return 1
 
 /proc/load_whitelist()
-	whitelist = file2list(WHITELISTFILE)
-	if(!whitelist.len)	whitelist = null
+	if (config.sql_whitelists)
+		establish_db_connection()
+
+		if (!dbcon.IsConnected())
+			//Continue with the old code if we have no database.
+			error("Database connection failed while loading whitelists. Reverting to legacy system.")
+			config.sql_whitelists = 0
+		else
+			return
+
+	whitelist = file2list(WHITELISTFILE)
+	if (!whitelist.len)
+		whitelist = null
+
+/proc/check_whitelist(mob/M)
+	if (config.sql_whitelists)
+		var/head_of_staff_whitelist = 1
+		if (M.client && M.client.whitelist_status)
+			return (M.client.whitelist_status & head_of_staff_whitelist)
 
-/proc/check_whitelist(mob/M /*, var/rank*/)
-	if(!whitelist)
 		return 0
-	return ("[M.ckey]" in whitelist)
+	else
+		if (!whitelist)
+			return 0
+		return ("[M.ckey]" in whitelist)
 
 /var/list/alien_whitelist = list()
 
 /hook/startup/proc/loadAlienWhitelist()
-	if(config.usealienwhitelist)
+	if (config.usealienwhitelist)
 		load_alienwhitelist()
 	return 1
 
 /proc/load_alienwhitelist()
+	if (config.sql_whitelists)
+		establish_db_connection()
+
+		if (!dbcon.IsConnected())
+			//Continue with the old code if we have no database.
+			error("Database connection failed while loading alien whitelists. Reverting to legacy system.")
+			config.sql_whitelists = 0
+		else
+			var/DBQuery/query = dbcon.NewQuery("SELECT status_name, flag FROM ss13_whitelist_statuses")
+			query.Execute()
+
+			while (query.NextRow())
+				if (query.item[1] in whitelisted_species)
+					whitelisted_species[query.item[1]] = text2num(query.item[2])
+
+			return
+
 	var/text = file2text("config/alienwhitelist.txt")
 	if (!text)
 		log_misc("Failed to load config/alienwhitelist.txt")
 	else
 		alien_whitelist = text2list(text, "\n")
 
-//todo: admin aliens
 /proc/is_alien_whitelisted(mob/M, var/species)
-	if(!config.usealienwhitelist)
+	if (!config.usealienwhitelist)
 		return 1
-	if(species == "human" || species == "Human")
-		return 1
-	if(check_rights(R_ADMIN, 0))
+
+	if (!M || !species)
+		return 0
+
+	if (lowertext(species) == "human")
 		return 1
+
 	if(!alien_whitelist)
 		return 0
-	if(M && species)
-		for (var/s in alien_whitelist)
-			if(findtext(s,"[M.ckey] - [species]"))
-				return 1
-			if(findtext(s,"[M.ckey] - All"))
-				return 1
+
+	if (config.sql_whitelists)
+		if (M.client && M.client.whitelist_status)
+			return (M.client.whitelist_status & whitelisted_species[species])
+	else
+		if (M && species)
+			for (var/s in alien_whitelist)
+				if (findtext(s,"[M.ckey] - [species]"))
+					return 1
+				if (findtext(s,"[M.ckey] - All"))
+					return 1
 	return 0
 
 #undef WHITELISTFILE
diff --git a/code/modules/client/client defines.dm b/code/modules/client/client defines.dm
index 1155882b82e..bbb2359f13e 100644
--- a/code/modules/client/client defines.dm	
+++ b/code/modules/client/client defines.dm	
@@ -45,5 +45,6 @@
 	var/player_age = "Requires database"	//So admins know why it isn't working - Used to determine how old the account is - in days.
 	var/related_accounts_ip = "Requires database"	//So admins know why it isn't working - Used to determine what other accounts previously logged in from this ip
 	var/related_accounts_cid = "Requires database"	//So admins know why it isn't working - Used to determine what other accounts previously logged in from this computer id
+	var/whitelist_status = 0						//Used to determine what whitelists the player has access to. Uses bitflag values!
 
 	preload_rsc = 0 // This is 0 so we can set it to an URL once the player logs in and have them download the resources from a different server.
diff --git a/code/modules/client/client procs.dm b/code/modules/client/client procs.dm
index 53e41dd808b..6fe3abb30b3 100644
--- a/code/modules/client/client procs.dm	
+++ b/code/modules/client/client procs.dm	
@@ -221,13 +221,14 @@
 
 	var/sql_ckey = sql_sanitize_text(src.ckey)
 
-	var/DBQuery/query = dbcon.NewQuery("SELECT id, datediff(Now(),firstseen) as age FROM ss13_player WHERE ckey = '[sql_ckey]'")
+	var/DBQuery/query = dbcon.NewQuery("SELECT id, datediff(Now(),firstseen) as age, whitelist_status FROM ss13_player WHERE ckey = '[sql_ckey]'")
 	query.Execute()
 	var/sql_id = 0
 	player_age = 0	// New players won't have an entry so knowing we have a connection we set this to zero to be updated if their is a record.
 	while(query.NextRow())
 		sql_id = query.item[1]
 		player_age = text2num(query.item[2])
+		whitelist_status = text2num(query.item[3])
 		break
 
 	var/DBQuery/query_ip = dbcon.NewQuery("SELECT ckey FROM ss13_player WHERE ip = '[address]'")