diff --git a/code/__DEFINES/maps.dm b/code/__DEFINES/maps.dm
index 9a5222bef7f..aba2b715b8d 100644
--- a/code/__DEFINES/maps.dm
+++ b/code/__DEFINES/maps.dm
@@ -26,9 +26,15 @@ require only minor tweaks.
 
 #define SPACERUIN_MAP_EDGE_PAD 15
 
+
 /// Path for the next_map.json file, if someone, for some messed up reason, wants to change it.
 #define PATH_TO_NEXT_MAP_JSON "data/next_map.json"
 
+/// List of directories we can load map .json files from
+#define MAP_DIRECTORY_MAPS "_maps"
+#define MAP_DIRECTORY_DATA "data"
+#define MAP_DIRECTORY_WHITELIST list(MAP_DIRECTORY_MAPS,MAP_DIRECTORY_DATA)
+
 /// Special map path value for custom adminloaded stations.
 #define CUSTOM_MAP_PATH "custom"
 
diff --git a/code/_compile_options.dm b/code/_compile_options.dm
index 6d654f5a094..83038d30137 100644
--- a/code/_compile_options.dm
+++ b/code/_compile_options.dm
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
 
 #ifdef LOWMEMORYMODE
 #define FORCE_MAP "runtimestation"
+#define FORCE_MAP_DIRECTORY "_maps"
 #endif
 
 //Update this whenever you need to take advantage of more recent byond features
diff --git a/code/controllers/configuration/configuration.dm b/code/controllers/configuration/configuration.dm
index 2c35f1bbc65..d1b5c728da1 100644
--- a/code/controllers/configuration/configuration.dm
+++ b/code/controllers/configuration/configuration.dm
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ Example config:
 
 		switch (command)
 			if ("map")
-				currentmap = load_map_config(data)
+				currentmap = load_map_config(data, MAP_DIRECTORY_MAPS)
 				if(currentmap.defaulted)
 					log_config("Failed to load map config for [data]!")
 					currentmap = null
diff --git a/code/controllers/subsystem/mapping.dm b/code/controllers/subsystem/mapping.dm
index 7ac377c15ea..220a9f5509a 100644
--- a/code/controllers/subsystem/mapping.dm
+++ b/code/controllers/subsystem/mapping.dm
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ SUBSYSTEM_DEF(mapping)
 /datum/controller/subsystem/mapping/New()
 	..()
 #ifdef FORCE_MAP
-	config = load_map_config(FORCE_MAP)
+	config = load_map_config(FORCE_MAP, FORCE_MAP_DIRECTORY)
 #else
 	config = load_map_config(error_if_missing = FALSE)
 #endif
diff --git a/code/datums/map_config.dm b/code/datums/map_config.dm
index 33fdec46219..7d28390bd5b 100644
--- a/code/datums/map_config.dm
+++ b/code/datums/map_config.dm
@@ -45,16 +45,29 @@
  * Proc handling the loading of map configs. Will return the default map config using [/proc/load_default_map_config] if the loading of said file fails for any reason whatsoever, so we always have a working map for the server to run.
  * Arguments:
  * * filename - Name of the config file for the map we want to load. The .json file extension is added during the proc, so do not specify filenames with the extension.
+ * * directory - Name of the directory containing our .json - Must be in MAP_DIRECTORY_WHITELIST. We default this to MAP_DIRECTORY_MAPS as it will likely be the most common usecase. If no filename is set, we ignore this.
  * * error_if_missing - Bool that says whether failing to load the config for the map will be logged in log_world or not as it's passed to LoadConfig().
  *
  * Returns the config for the map to load.
  */
-/proc/load_map_config(filename = null, error_if_missing = TRUE)
+/proc/load_map_config(filename = null, directory = null, error_if_missing = TRUE)
 	var/datum/map_config/config = load_default_map_config()
+
 	if(filename) // If none is specified, then go to look for next_map.json, for map rotation purposes.
-		filename = "_maps/[filename].json"
+
+		//Default to MAP_DIRECTORY_MAPS if no directory is passed
+		if(directory)
+			if(!(directory in MAP_DIRECTORY_WHITELIST))
+				log_world("map directory not in whitelist: [directory] for map [filename]")
+				return config
+		else
+			directory = MAP_DIRECTORY_MAPS
+
+		filename = "[directory]/[filename].json"
 	else
 		filename = PATH_TO_NEXT_MAP_JSON
+
+
 	if (!config.LoadConfig(filename, error_if_missing))
 		qdel(config)
 		return load_default_map_config()
@@ -174,4 +187,4 @@
 		. += "_maps/[map_path]/[file]"
 
 /datum/map_config/proc/MakeNextMap()
-	return config_filename == "data/next_map.json" || fcopy(config_filename, "data/next_map.json")
+	return config_filename == PATH_TO_NEXT_MAP_JSON || fcopy(config_filename, PATH_TO_NEXT_MAP_JSON)
diff --git a/code/modules/unit_tests/_unit_tests.dm b/code/modules/unit_tests/_unit_tests.dm
index c4cb3d07687..b40fb5cfeae 100644
--- a/code/modules/unit_tests/_unit_tests.dm
+++ b/code/modules/unit_tests/_unit_tests.dm
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@
 #include "hydroponics_harvest.dm"
 #include "hydroponics_self_mutations.dm"
 #include "keybinding_init.dm"
+#include "load_map_security.dm"
 #include "machine_disassembly.dm"
 #include "medical_wounds.dm"
 #include "merge_type.dm"
diff --git a/code/modules/unit_tests/load_map_security.dm b/code/modules/unit_tests/load_map_security.dm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a06f184adea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/code/modules/unit_tests/load_map_security.dm
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// replace runtimestation with another valid _maps .json if not present
+#define VALID_TEST_MAP "runtimestation"
+
+/// Tests to ensure we can load a map from a whitelisted directory (_maps), but not a non-whitelisted directory (i.e "fartyShitPants")
+/datum/unit_test/load_map_security
+
+/datum/unit_test/load_map_security/Run()
+
+	// Copy our valid map into a bad directory
+	// We can technically load from /unitTestTempDir by passing it in our map name
+	// But it should fail when passed as a directory
+	fcopy("_maps/[VALID_TEST_MAP].json", "data/load_map_security_temp/[VALID_TEST_MAP].json")
+
+	//Attempt to load our configs
+
+	// test load from _maps - this should pass
+	var/datum/map_config/maps_config = load_map_config(VALID_TEST_MAP, MAP_DIRECTORY_MAPS)
+
+	// test load from data - this should pass
+	// this also confirms that our fcopy worked for our bad_config test
+	var/datum/map_config/data_config = load_map_config("load_map_security_temp/[VALID_TEST_MAP]", MAP_DIRECTORY_DATA)
+
+	// data/load_map_security_temp/ is not in our whitelist, this should fail
+	var/datum/map_config/bad_config = load_map_config(VALID_TEST_MAP,"data/load_map_security_temp")
+
+
+	// Check we can load from _maps
+	TEST_ASSERT(!maps_config.defaulted, "Failed to load: _maps/[VALID_TEST_MAP]")
+
+	// Check we can load from data and ensure that our fcopy setup worked
+	TEST_ASSERT(!data_config.defaulted, "Failed to load: data/load_map_security_temp/[VALID_TEST_MAP]")
+
+	// Check we can't load from "bad directory"
+	TEST_ASSERT(bad_config.defaulted, "Loaded from non-whitelisted directory: data/load_map_security_temp/[VALID_TEST_MAP]")
+
+
+/datum/unit_test/load_map_security/Destroy()
+	// Clean up our temp directory
+	fdel("data/load_map_security_temp/")
+	return ..()
+
+#undef VALID_TEST_MAP